Tell me it will be alright.

[hjohnson6]

DH and I have been talking about getting rid of DISH Network. We pay about $78 per month to them and they keep slowly raising the rates. We would switch to an antenna and internet streaming. Sounds great right? I am trying to accept that fact that once we do away with DISH, I will be without my two favorite channels that don't stream or rarely stream at all. I don't watch a whole lot of tv but some of my favorite shows are on TLC and Bravo. We could really use the money for something else. I just wish these two channels would stream. NBC Universal owns Bravo and it is the only channel that doesn't have much on Hulu. Every show from NBC is on there so I don't understand it.

 

[SDSorority]

DH and I have been talking about getting rid of DISH Network. We pay about $78 per month to them and they keep slowly raising the rates. We would switch to an antenna and internet streaming. Sounds great right? I am trying to accept that fact that once we do away with DISH, I will be without my two favorite channels that don't stream or rarely stream at all. I don't watch a whole lot of tv but some of my favorite shows are on TLC and Bravo. We could really use the money for something else. I just wish these two channels would stream. NBC Universal owns Bravo and it is the only channel that doesn't have much on Hulu. Every show from NBC is on there so I don't understand it.

You'll be fine. We have been without cable for a year, and though it took a little tiny bit of getting used to, I honestly don't miss it. We watch Netflix and YouTube streaming through the Wii in the family room (and get the basic cable channels like NBC, FOX, ABC, PBS, and CBS) and the tv in the bedroom has a Roku box that we watch Netflix, Crackle, and Vimeo. That TV doesn't even get basic cable, though (it's an old TV without that digital converter thing) so that's why we got the Roku. We also watch hulu on the computer.

We honestly LIKE not having cable. That way, we can watch what we WANT to watch, not just whatever happens to be on. The only downside is that we don't know about the latest commercials...

 

[leadfootlevi]

I completely agree with SDSorority. I don't miss having the premium channels at all. I have watched shows that I never would have watched if we hadn't change our tv-entertainment game plan that I absolutely love. The same is true for my DH, and especially for our 6 year old DS.

If you find you are missing it too much, they'll have you back.

 

[MsPoppinsTX]

I've just made it through my first week without cable and it has really been a blessing. I used to watch shows on Bravo, Oxygen, and lots of TBS, but then one day just woke up realizing how tired I was of being distracted by TV and paying a crap load for cable. I'm putting the savings from cable towards other bills (that free-loading nuisance named Sallie Mae)!

I still have my DVR so I can watch the network shows that I really like without commercials.

Loving it so far!

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

We dropped Directv and use Hulu plus and Netflix. We love it. I thought I would miss a couple of shows but I don't. We also watch alot of things on youtube.

As the pp wrote, we now watch what we want, not just what happens to be on tv.

It is like having the DVR because you can watch the things on huluplus at your own convenience.

 

[leadfootlevi]

I completely agree with SDSorority. I don't miss having the premium channels at all. I have watched shows that I never would have watched if we hadn't change our tv-entertainment game plan that I absolutely love. The same is true for my DH, and especially for our 6 year old DS.

If you find you are missing it too much, they'll have you back.

 

[SDSorority]

We dropped Directv and use Hulu plus and Netflix. We love it. I thought I would miss a couple of shows but I don't. We also watch alot of things on youtube.

As the pp wrote, we now watch what we want, not just what happens to be on tv.

It is like having the DVR because you can watch the things on huluplus at your own convenience.

But you don't have to plan ahead of time for it

 

[budafam]

I have a question about this. My DH LOVES football & Nascar. Is there a way to get those through the internet somehow? Our Directv bill went from $55 to $110 in 2 months!!! I've had it.

 

[pixeegrl]

I want to do this so bad but we live in the country and don't get hi speed interent. We have verizon's usb modem but it still buffers too much when streaming to be enjoyable

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Is there any way to get live sports (hockey, baseball, football) with out the cable? Honestly that is all that is on our tv!

 

[Nayan]

You can't stream sports for free. You can buy season packages for your favorite sports but they can be very expensive. DirectTV let's you buy the Sunday Ticket but it's well over $300 . MLB and NHL have packages you can buy but these are only good if your team is out of market (same with the NFL package). If you root for your local team the games are blacked out. It's one huge reason I keep cable is for sports and channels like Ovation, Bravo, Food Network, etc. A lot of those channels/shows aren't streamed.

 

[hsmamato2]

what would the minimu internet have to be to stream thru Roku? I know our fairly low speed worked ok with Netflix when we had it....

 

[PrincessSteph]

You will be fine without cable. DH and I haven't had cable and have it is fine. We don't have many options regarding tv stations (abc, nbc, cbs, cw, fox and pbs), so when you flip through and find nothing to be on, you get up and do something else.

When I miss a show on tv, I check out hulu or the network's website.

 

[Colleen27]

I have a question about this. My DH LOVES football & Nascar. Is there a way to get those through the internet somehow? Our Directv bill went from $55 to $110 in 2 months!!! I've had it.

Sports can be tricky because of local blackout rules that are built into their broadcast contracts. Even when streaming services exist they will exclude live broadcasts of home team games.

NFL isn't usually a problem because most games are aired on broadcast networks rather than cable so you can pick them up with an antenna.

NASCAR is a problem. There is no subscription-based streaming service to cover the races that air on TNT. For the Fox part of the season you can get Sprint Cup and some Nationwide races with an antenna, but for the TNT part of the season you're out of luck.

MLB is the entire reason we still have satellite service in our home. The subscription streaming service they offer is excellent if you're a fan of an out-of-market team, but their blackouts for "home" teams are extremely broad and overlapping (I'm in the blackout area for Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland last I checked).

 

[DawnM]

I do sometimes miss it, but I don't miss the bill that went with it.

We have Roku boxes with Hulu+ and Netflix and we are fine. We also have an antenna.

 

[Nayan]

MLB is the entire reason we still have satellite service in our home. The subscription streaming service they offer is excellent if you're a fan of an out-of-market team, but their blackouts for "home" teams are extremely broad and overlapping (I'm in the blackout area for Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland last I checked).

I found this out the hard way. Both Miami and Tampa are blacked out for me and since I am a fan of both there was no way to see them except to keep cable. Nascar is the same way later in the season. We're huge sports nuts here and there's usually some kind of event everyday. Don't forget if you want to watch any of the Olympics this year quite a bit of it will be on cable channels, not NBC itself.

 

[Brer Shay]

We cut to have just basic cable (about 10 channels) two years ago. I have to admit it was an adjustment. For me it was Food Network, TLC, and Discovery. For DH it was ESPN. There are absolutely times when I miss them, but not enough to go back to paying for them. We also Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime for other entertainment.

 

[SDSorority]

I forgot to mention that by cutting the cable and using just the basic stations (NBC, ABC, etc) and streaming through the Roku/Wii, we save $575 per year. Of course DH has an iPhone now so that money is going toward THAT, but still. Saving is saving!