cord cutting question

**disneysteve** · 02-10-2019, 04:33 PM

We have not cut the cord but I would love to. My wife and daughter are a little resistant. I almost never watch live TV but they do more than me. Probably 90% of my TV viewing is Netflix and most of the rest is network shows that I watch on the network websites. We do have Prime. DD uses it more than us but we did watch Mrs. Maisel and I think the two of them have used it for some other shows.

You really just have to figure out which channels and shows are important to you and check if you'd still have access to them. Most shows can be viewed on the channels' websites, just not until a day after they air. For example, I watch Blacklist on NBC. I never watch it when it's on. I catch it later at nbc.com. You don't need cable to do that. Just an internet connection.

**creditcardfree** · 02-10-2019, 06:09 PM

We have AT&T internet for $70 and Hulu for $39.99, about to go to $44.99 soon. We picked up Hulu during college football season and have yet to eliminate it. I've noticed there are about three network shows we watch each week. But not always live, we tune in soon after original airing. But we watch other shows as well. None of which if we went back to over the air tv would we be able to do. I really want to let go of Hulu until the fall...need to convince my husband. AND we have Netflix...and Amazon Prime. I'm not happy this is where we are at with entertainment financially, but there are four of us that have different entertainment preferences.

The nice thing about Hulu (and probably YouTube TV) is that you can put the subscription on hold for a period of time. That's what we need to do until fall to same some money!

**corn18** · 02-11-2019, 03:20 AM

We cut the cord when we moved in Jan. We are in the middle of trying to figure out what service we want to keep. Frankly, I'm surprised my wife was willing to give it a go. We had DirecTV and it was just like using cable TV since cable TV has existed. To get the most from streaming, you need to let go of channel guides and thinking about live TV or recorded live TV. I didn't want to switch just to save money, but to break the chains of the box and endless fees for everything.

Before:

$162 / mo DirecTV
$67 / mo internet (20 Mbps)
$229 Total

Now:

The biggest decision for us, at least to start out, was what interface to use to access all of this content. Laptop, cell phone, Roku, Firestick, Chromecast, AppleTV. We have tried them all. We picked Roku. I'm sure there are extensive comparisons of each, but my wife likes the Roku, so that is what we picked. I like the sticks because I just plug the stick into the HDMI port and the USB port on the back of the TV and now I have full access to everything. No boxes, no extra cables. We can put a TV anywhere in minutes without any hassle.

Now that we have the interface sorted, we'll work through what service to use. We have subscriptions to everything so we can figure out what we want to keep. DirecTV Now ($62), Netflix ($13), YouTube TV ($40), Hulu (not sure), Amazon Prime, Spotify ($13), and maybe a few others. So far, YTTV is the winner for us. It's just missing HGTV and TRVL, so we have DTVN for those. The coolest part is discovering all of the free content that is out there. Last night I spent an hour or so watching some oddball engineering channel from a guy teaching at the University of Illinois in Champagne. I thought I knew how a retractable pen worked, but his show was cool. My wife even watched it. I think this discovery of non-conventional media will be what makes unplugging the best. Screw the cable company and them deciding what I like. And making me pay for a boatload of stuff I don't want, to get what I do want. My guess is we won't save a lot of money.

One oddball effect we have seen so far is we watch less TV. Seem to prefer reading and listening to music instead. Haven't figured out why that is, but it's nice.

**~bs** · 02-11-2019, 03:42 AM

i have netflix online only. Not much left of a cord to cut.

**mo0n** · 02-11-2019, 12:33 PM

I cut the cord when I bought my previous house in 2013. I started with Netflix and Hulu, and picked up Amazon Prime because of the free 2 day shipping/streaming. I dropped Hulu some time after because I just wasn't using it. I had a wall antenna that caught the Over the Air channels. The only thing I was lacking as a sports fan was ESPN, but after being away from it for so long, I don't really miss it.

That said, I did pick up Sling for a month each year for the NCAA March Madness. I never kept it longer than a month.

My internet bill was $45, Netflix was $9 and Amazon Prime was less expensive than it is now (I think $79 a year?), Antenna was $30 upfront. I used a Roku and/or a Smart TV to stream.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 02-11-2019, 01:56 PM

I was thinking of using sling. But I'll wait until September when we go back to internet only. We don't watch enough to make it worth it and i'm done with boxes and stuff.

**Wolf_278** · 02-12-2019, 05:56 AM

We pay roughly $70 a month for Hulu, Netflix and Prime add the internet and it is a total of $140 a month and still $50 cheaper a month than with cable tv alone. That is also after the upcoming price increases. Don't even miss all the crap that we used to get on cable. Didn't watch half of it anyway. I also find that I don't watch as much tv, since there aren't as many stations to veg out on.

**JoeP** · 02-12-2019, 07:01 AM

Kind of philosophical, curious if other have had similar observations.

When some people embrace technology, it is easy to get caught on a slippery slope. It used to be people were happy enough buying a TV, getting 5 channels, and going out to the movies. Now it is internet, multiple streaming, HD TV, DVR, satellite, subscriptions, viewing on your phone, sling...I get that technology is changing. I am just fascinated how much have this has become the norm. It's not about the money as much as it is about: Do we really want that much content and all the associated bells and whistles?

**disneysteve** · 02-12-2019, 08:00 AM

Originally posted by Wolf_278 View Post

I also find that I don't watch as much tv, since there aren't as many stations to veg out on.

Funny but I find just the opposite. I watch a lot more TV than I used to because of Netflix. With cable, there is hardly ever anything on that I want to see. With Netflix, there is always another show to see. Plus I can watch on my phone, my tablet, my computer, our Apple TV in the family room, and our new smart TV in the bedroom. It's just way too easy to get onto Netflix now.

**msomnipotent** · 02-12-2019, 09:45 AM

I was thinking of cutting the cord since our cable contract expires next month. Of course, now my husband is saying to just keep it because Game of Thrones comes on in April, so I don't know. We watch a lot of tv during the winter but I think we can get away without having one during the summer. It is a shame that Comcast doesn't do vacation holds anymore.

**~bs** · 02-12-2019, 12:05 PM

well if youre tech savvy, you could just download it

**mo0n** · 02-12-2019, 03:06 PM

Originally posted by msomnipotent View Post

I was thinking of cutting the cord since our cable contract expires next month. Of course, now my husband is saying to just keep it because Game of Thrones comes on in April, so I don't know.

You could always cut the cord, and sign up for HBO Now. It's $15 a month

**JBinKC** · 02-14-2019, 02:20 AM

Cut the cord in 2012. I have a couple of Roku and Kodi boxes and whatever I can get over the antenna which is very little given my remote location. DSL is my only expense.

**veronak** · 02-16-2019, 08:26 PM

Honestly if it was up to me I’d cut everything except for the internet. I don’t watch that much TV

cord cutting question