Are you Ditching Your Cable Company?

[slipperybidness]

It has been over 10 years since I quit!
I'm not much of a sports fan, so it was a no-brainer.
I live close enough to Atlanta to pick up a pretty good assortment of over the air broadcasts and recognize a fair number of games are available OTA, but I can't give details because other than the SuperBowl and a couple of college meet-ups, I just don't care that much. I really only look at OTA if there is some seriously important local news. The free services through Roku plus Hulu plus NetFlix plus Amazon Prime offer more watchable programs than I am willing to spend time in front of the TV.
A few months ago, I bought a BDP that had been returned and the person who had it left his HBO account setup on it. I haven't checked to see if it is still active, but I am hoping it is still good when GOT comes back on! In the past, I have signed up for HBO and watched GOT then cancelled.
How good are the sports options now? I have generally advised anyone who watches sports to stick with cable!

Yup, I pay for HBO during GOT and West World, then cancel until the next seasons come around.

 

[its phillip]

I haven't had cable or satellite TV service in nearly two decades

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Anyone using SLING TV for $25/mo?

It's too bad SLING doesn't offer local channels; thus, people have to use OTA antennas w/ SLING.

 

[ryanosaur]

Anyone using SLING TV for $25/mo?

It's too bad SLING doesn't offer local channels; thus, people have to use OTA antennas w/ SLING.

Not certain what the lady subsribed to with Sling, but she likes it and its way less than D-TV was billing us for. (I think she's using it a la carte with "cloud dvr", or something like that.

I just usually go in my room at that point and play music and read speaker design books!

 

[Sef_Makaro]

This’ll be something I have to consider if I change jobs. Currently I work for my ISP/cable provider/cell carrier. So I have 3 cables boxes with one if the bigger channel packages and the upper middle tier internet speed for $33/mo. Plus they have a cell service now. We use a pay per gig package since we barely use any data away from home, that runs $18-$24/depending on if we break 1gb or not. The cell bill would be higher if I didn’t buy the phones outright.

It’s a pretty decent perk of the job.

 

[ryanosaur]

It’s a pretty decent perk of the job.

Or the weirdest golden handcuffs!

 

[Sef_Makaro]

Or the weirdest golden handcuffs!

Haha, both can be true.

 

[Phase 2]

From 2013 up to now I hadn't had cable, internet. Just had both installed last month. Not impressed at all HBO plays the same movies over and over I know I check it every night. The rest of the channels are mostly BS. I will have it disconnected next month it isn't worth $150 a month.

 

[Montucky]

Haven't had cable (or satellite) since my CRT days. I think I fired them in the early 00's. Haven't missed it one bit! Cable company's always badgering me to get a bundle for practically what I'm paying for just internet, but I'm not falling for the bait and switch. Really don't feel like haggling with customer retention specialists every 6 months when my bill magically doubles once the standard rates kick in. Nope! And now that you can stream HBO and more without requiring a cable bundle, it's easier than ever before!

Funny how every time I stay at a hotel and check out what's on TV, I am quickly reminded of how much I've come to LOATHE commercials and the total glut of lousy programming that network TV's so full of.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I will have it disconnected next month it isn't worth $150 a month.

I say after the 2 year contract, get a good home internet, then a good PC to connect to your audio system, then stream only what you like and cancel when you want.

 

[panteragstk]

Once we realized we almost never watch live TV (background for the little ones, but meh) and that the shows we do watch are either local OTA for free, or maybe 10 channels it was easy to ditch DTV for the $150 per month they charged. Once my equipment started having issues I was done.

Went to Sling TV and haven't looked back. Not missing anything. I do upgrade it for football season which makes the price double to a whole $70/mo

I tried YouTube TV and it's fantastic. Much better interface than sling, but their channel selection sucks compared to Sling. Hulu TV is good price wise, but still not as good as Sling, and Hulu's new interface sucks IMHO. I'd rather have the "old" interface that my Android TV has minus live TV.

I just wonder when all the networks will release their own streaming service for $5-$15 per month and do away with any sort of "cable" like service all together (Sling TV, Hulu TV, etc.);

 

[panteragstk]

Cell Phone - AT&T. $189/mo (include all tax, fees) for 4 cell phones. Unlimited Data up to 20GB for 4G.

This kills me. "Unlimited" data that is totally limited once you get to 20-25GB. Makes no sense. (Same boat BTW, ATT service has always been great, but too much for "unlimited" data).

 

[Montucky]

I'm sure many of you feel the same way, but another HUGE component discouraging me from wanting cable is the typically abysmal video (and often audio) quality associated with it. It's always highly compressed, often in SD, and also trying to run on the ancient, slow hardware the cable company requires we use. Even most of the "HD" stuff looks like poo. Sometimes a FEW channels can look halfway decent, but for the most part it's really sub-par. That in and of itself is enough for me to say nope.

 

[Phase 2]

I say after the 2 year contract, get a good home internet, then a good PC to connect to your audio system, then stream only what you like and cancel when you want.

Hell on their 2 year contract, I know my credit score will take a hit but COX isn't getting early cancellation fees.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Hell on their 2 year contract, I know my credit score will take a hit but COX isn't getting early cancellation fees.

Not afraid of their harassment if you cancel early?

You are brave. I am chicken when it comes to the harassment.

Cox is $90/mo x 2 YR for TV + Internet if you don’t have HBO?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Went to Sling TV and haven't looked back. Not missing anything. I do upgrade it for football season which makes the price double to a whole $70/mo

If DTV doesn’t offer me the same deal every year, I will go to Sling TV.

 

[Phase 2]

Their bronze package is $89 a month but by the time you add all the taxes and fees plus I added HBO + $15 a month. Bill comes up to $149 a mon

Not afraid of their harassment if you cancel early?

You are brave. I am chicken when it comes to the harassment.

Cox is $90/mo x 2 YR for TV + Internet if you don’t have HBO?

 

[Phase 2]

Not afraid of their harassment if you cancel early?

You are brave. I am chicken when it comes to the harassment.

Cox is $90/mo x 2 YR for TV + Internet if you don’t have HBO?

I've been harassed all my life I'm used to it..

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Their bronze package is $89 a month but by the time you add all the taxes and fees plus I added HBO + $15 a month. Bill comes up to $149 a mon

You have all the fees they don't tell you about. 89...HBO.. 15.99. then taxes, more fees. They charge for the modem, than the set box. Crazy!

So $150/mo is for 1) Internet, 2) Home phone, 3) TV, 4) HBO?

Let’s break down individual components.

1. home phone- Ooma $5/mo (pure government fees)
2. Internet - $80/mo 1-gigabit
3. Sling TV $35/mo
4. HBO streaming $15/mo

Total ~ $135/mo vs $150/mo. Not too bad.

 

[Phase 2]

So $150/mo is for 1) Internet, 2) Home phone, 3) TV, 4) HBO?

Let’s break down individual components.

1. home phone- Ooma $5/mo (pure government fees)
2. Internet - $80/mo 1-gigabit
3. Sling TV $35/mo
4. HBO streaming $15/mo

Total ~ $135/mo vs $150/mo. Not too bad.

I did watch all of Deadwood, all of the GOT, the on demand thing is pretty cool. Internet is fast the home phone has unlimited long distance. I'm getting a lot for 150 bucks. Can stream my ass off with all the apps on my new 4K TV.