If you watch alot of tv show.....cutting out

[Nayan]

Most of the clear QAM channels you'll get are the locals and their sub-channels in HD. For ESPN and the others you'll need a a cable/sat box if you want them in HD.

 

[timmac]

Only if your TV doesn't have a built-in QAM tuner. Most HDTVs nowadays have both ATSC (over-the-air) and QAM (non-encrypted cable) tuners built-in. Just plug the cable from Comcast coming out of the wall right into the TV and rescan for digital channels.

Although, that capability may change in the future. Cable companies are petitioning the FCC to encrypt everything:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/477203-NCTA_to_FCC_Let_All_Digital_MSOs_Encrypt_Basic_Tier.php

I don't know many cable providers that offer anything above the <99 channels in clear unecrypted form, and none that send their HD streams in the clear. Now, they do have to provide digital adapters for the lower numbered channels, but often times that's only a small subset of the programming.

 

[timmac]

I'm trying to be careful how I word this, so as not to come across in the wrong tone, but the first thought that comes to mind is this... You're cancelling DirecTV, which is a service you formerly had so that you and your family could get television programming and watch certain shows. You're now cancelling this service, which means losing the benefits that come with it. The question 'how will we watch our shows' is almost nonsensical. As others have already suggested, some stuff will be avilable via hulu, netflix, etc, but not everything. A great many networks on cable and satellite make their money simply by selling service via cable and satellite providers, and hence it would make no sense for them to provide the same content free of charge by other means.

I'm also a bit leery of the PP who suggested having a friend tape the shows, or sending the kids over to someone else's house to see their shows. At best, that seems in poor taste, and at worst, it may enter the realm of illegal. I can't say I'd be willing to, as a paying subscriber, record shows for someone who was cancelling their service... that just doesn't seem right. To make the point clearer, consider someone who doesn't want to pay for internet access because they can freely use their neighbors open wifi network; or why not use the neighbors' to water the garden, so as to reduce my own water bill. Hyperbolic examples, of course, but makes clear the flaw in the original suggestion.

 

[Nayan]

I'm trying to be careful how I word this, so as not to come across in the wrong tone, but the first thought that comes to mind is this... You're cancelling DirecTV, which is a service you formerly had so that you and your family could get television programming and watch certain shows. You're now cancelling this service, which means losing the benefits that come with it. The question 'how will we watch our shows' is almost nonsensical. As others have already suggested, some stuff will be available via hulu, netflix, etc, but not everything. A great many networks on cable and satellite make their money simply by selling service via cable and satellite providers, and hence it would make no sense for them to provide the same content free of charge by other means.

Folks need to remember that while Netflix, Hulu and the channel sites themselves have some programming, not all of it is available without cable/sat service. Either you keep it or you go without watching. More than 50% of what I watch isn't available online. Sports I can't watch online and why would I want to if I have a nice big HDTV with 5.1 surround sound? If you want to cut the cable go ahead, but just know in advance what you're in for, do research online (besides asking here, Google is you're friend) and decide if it's the right move for you.

 

[undertheradar]

I don't think cancelling cable qualifies as a hardluck story.

That would be why I said history.

 

[JDUCKY]

In our area, while you can get some cable channels using "clear QAM" (non-encrypted), you won't get all of them. The locals are on there as well as a few national. But the sports channels (ESPN) aren't I know.

Right...I was referring to the local broadcast channels.

 

[pigletto]

There's a bit of a mental block sometimes when it comes to cancelling tv. I thought about it and thought about it, and I always got caught up wondering if we'd really miss it.
It wasn't until we went ahead and finally did it that I realized how little tv we watched anyway!
DD 14 could care less. She's a Glee fanatic and can get it for free the next morning on the website of the our local station that runs it. DS only really watches it on the weekends or school holidays and he still has access to a lot of cartoons for those times.

And hubby and I LOVE not paying for all of the extras. We find a series we want to watch together and take it out of the library or find it online and watch at our convenience. That works better because it's unusual for us to be able to sit down the same night and time every week. But if we have a free evening we can watch 3 episodes in a row if we want.

Honestly OP your kids will adjust. And if they don't.. well then they were placing too much importance on it in the first place.

 

[Marionnette]

I'm trying to be careful how I word this, so as not to come across in the wrong tone, but the first thought that comes to mind is this... You're cancelling DirecTV, which is a service you formerly had so that you and your family could get television programming and watch certain shows. You're now cancelling this service, which means losing the benefits that come with it. The question 'how will we watch our shows' is almost nonsensical. As others have already suggested, some stuff will be avilable via hulu, netflix, etc, but not everything. A great many networks on cable and satellite make their money simply by selling service via cable and satellite providers, and hence it would make no sense for them to provide the same content free of charge by other means.

I'm also a bit leery of the PP who suggested having a friend tape the shows, or sending the kids over to someone else's house to see their shows. At best, that seems in poor taste, and at worst, it may enter the realm of illegal. I can't say I'd be willing to, as a paying subscriber, record shows for someone who was cancelling their service... that just doesn't seem right. To make the point clearer, consider someone who doesn't want to pay for internet access because they can freely use their neighbors open wifi network; or why not use the neighbors' to water the garden, so as to reduce my own water bill. Hyperbolic examples, of course, but makes clear the flaw in the original suggestion.

Stealing someone's internet service or water is not the same thing as watching television in their home with their permission. That's a strawman argument. And recording a television show to watch sometime in the future is not illegal as long as you erase the show after it has been viewed. You are not supposed to record them for posterity.

As to the moral or ethical side of asking someone who has something, which the OP can no longer afford herself, to loan or give that something to her...well the OP has asked for and gotten things in the past using this same logic. So I see no harm in suggesting that she try it again and see who helps her out this time.

 

[sam_gordon]

And recording a television show to watch sometime in the future is not illegal as long as you erase the show after it has been viewed. You are not supposed to record them for posterity.

I've never heard that before.

 

[scra]

I'm trying to be careful how I word this, so as not to come across in the wrong tone, but the first thought that comes to mind is this... You're cancelling DirecTV, which is a service you formerly had so that you and your family could get television programming and watch certain shows. You're now cancelling this service, which means losing the benefits that come with it. The question 'how will we watch our shows' is almost nonsensical. As others have already suggested, some stuff will be avilable via hulu, netflix, etc, but not everything. A great many networks on cable and satellite make their money simply by selling service via cable and satellite providers, and hence it would make no sense for them to provide the same content free of charge by other means.

I'm also a bit leery of the PP who suggested having a friend tape the shows, or sending the kids over to someone else's house to see their shows. At best, that seems in poor taste, and at worst, it may enter the realm of illegal. I can't say I'd be willing to, as a paying subscriber, record shows for someone who was cancelling their service... that just doesn't seem right. To make the point clearer, consider someone who doesn't want to pay for internet access because they can freely use their neighbors open wifi network; or why not use the neighbors' to water the garden, so as to reduce my own water bill. Hyperbolic examples, of course, but makes clear the flaw in the original suggestion.

ITA. I would take an extremely dim view of someone, even a close friend, who asked me if they could use a service that I pay for because they didn't feel like paying for it anymore. I would not say yes and I would reconsider my friendship with that person to see how reciprocal the relationship really is.

OP, giving up cable means giving up certain things. Weigh for yourself whether you really want to give them up before you make the choice, and do not listen to the person who is advising you to try to bum off other people just because you don't feel like paying for cable.

 

[timmac]

Stealing someone's internet service or water is not the same thing as watching television in their home with their permission. That's a strawman argument. And recording a television show to watch sometime in the future is not illegal as long as you erase the show after it has been viewed. You are not supposed to record them for posterity.

I should have been clearer in what I was saying. I lumped all the suggestions together in what I described as ranging from poor taste to potentially illegal. I meant "poor taste" to sending kids to others homes, while exchanging recordings as being potentially illegal.

The problem isn't length of time that you keep the recording; the issue is giving it to someone else... at that point it becomes (potentially) infringing, as it's no longer for personal use.

I didn't even call out the first time that your original post also suggested to possibility of putting a slingbox on someone else's cable... that's absolutely illegal; it's homologous to running a cable splitter from their house to yours.

As to the moral or ethical side of asking someone who has something, which the OP can no longer afford herself, to loan or give that something to her...well the OP has asked for and gotten things in the past using this same logic. So I see no harm in suggesting that she try it again and see who helps her out this time.

I don't necessarily have issue with asking someone else for help, and don't even see it as a moral issue... more just something that may very quickly wear out their welcome with neighbors.

 

[lovemygoofy]

We have a pretty large family, and there are many shows that each have as favorites.

We are disconnecting Directv and I am trying to figure out how the kids/DH will watch their shows???

They like:

TLC - tons of shows
Disney Channel

iCarly
Victorious
House of Anubus

Moonshiners
Gold Rush
Dance Moms

Glee
Survivor
American Idol
Law & Order

Not to mention the movie channels.

So, what is the best way to handle this: Hulu, antenea, Netflix.
HD is pretty important too.

I hope you have internet some other way because you can't stream without internet to your house.

I think kids are pretty resilient and there is alot on netflix that can be streamed.

Is joining another cable company a possibility? You can usually lock in a good rate with another company.

I do have to say though, I simply don't understand something. If you are as broke and on hard times as you claim to be, why in the world are you worried about HD tv? Really?? All of the problems you supposedly have and the big money problems and you never thought to reduce your cable first to save some money and now being broke you want to keep the HD cable? That would have been the first thing to go!

I hope you find the tv answers you are researching and continue to work on your financial issues.

 

[aymekae]

Have not had cable/satellite since 2003, and for 3 years we had access to local channels via rabbit ears. When we moved to a place where rabbit ears wouldn't get us access to local channels anymore, we tried out cable for about 3 months. We barely turned it on, the company was a pain to work with (they screwed up our bill every month), and we didn't even miss the shows that we used to watch on the local channels. So we cancelled it, no regrets. We subscribe to Netflix, streaming and 1 DVD per month for those movies we can't get through streaming, and we have a queue so long I can't imagine ever being bored. But we really enjoy watching or re-watching TV series and don't have to watch anything "live", we don't mind waiting for it to come out for rentals.

 

[momxx5]

UPDATE: Day 2 without satellite and doing fine!!!!

DH found our antenea (with booster) and we get over 20+ stations, all networks and others are digital. There is plenty to keep anyone occupied if needed.

All the kids are fine with it all, again hormonal 13yr old girl is fussing a bit, but as my DS said "maybe everyone will be more productive in other ways". Love him.

FofFive: since you seemed so concerned,
I would love to get more hours. Sadly this week I got a whopping 9 hours at Old Navy, and since the first of the year only 2 days of substitute teaching. January is tough for retail....especially around here(one day we had more returns than purchases). Most places are laying off. School has exams and 4 teacher workdays this month too.
SOOOO.....giving up Directv is a better choice in the long run, I thought for sure you'd agree. Unless of course you would like me to send my Directv bill to you......just kidding

I have talked to a lot of people in our area and so many have dropped the cable and satellite that Netflix is in more homes than I realized.

Going to others' homes is not an option. We just do not do that.

Thank you to all for the great advice and encouragement.

 

[ilovemk76]

We have a pretty large family, and there are many shows that each have as favorites.

We are disconnecting Directv and I am trying to figure out how the kids/DH will watch their shows???

They like:

TLC - tons of shows
Disney Channel

iCarly
Victorious
House of Anubus

Moonshiners
Gold Rush
Dance Moms

Glee
Survivor
American Idol
Law & Order

Not to mention the movie channels.

So, what is the best way to handle this: Hulu, antenea, Netflix.
HD is pretty important too.

You post all the time about how you don't have money for laundry detergent, Christmas presents, food and many other things but you kept HD DirecTV for years after your income plummeted. This should have happened the day your DH lost his job.

HD is not important. You can see a show in non-HD and survive.

 

[momxx5]

FYI: TV tonight.

ABC is showing the Extreme Makeover Home Edition Series Finale.
It is sure to be touching.

 

[AlwaysMoving]

FYI: TV tonight.

ABC is showing the Extreme Makeover Home Edition Series Finale.
It is sure to be touching.

Downsized is another good one.

 

[JB2K]

To OP and others cutting the cable for the first time, I would consider starting with just an antenna -- if you still find youself missing certain programs, then I would research Hulu/Netflix to see if they are carried, there.

Word of caution (if someone hasn't already mentioned it) - CBS has no ownership/relationship with Hulu, so if your favorite show(s) aris on CBS, you won't find it with the two big streaming services.

 

[DawnM]

Downsized is a cable show.

Dawn

Downsized is another good one.

 

[DawnM]

We have Roku to stream Netflix and HuluPlus to the TV and are very happy with it.

We dumped Directv about 6 months ago now. Noone is asking for it back.

Dawn