# A Year Without Cable **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213 "2006-07-12T18:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/1 "2006-07-12T18:16:11Z")
Here’s a nice mundane, pointless thing for me to post. It has now been a year since we’ve been without cable TV. We get 8 channels in just using our TV antenna, all of the networks and 2 different PBS stations, so it’s not like there is no TV. I really don’t miss it, Mythbusters is the only show I actually miss seeing, and I might just buy the DVDs of that show if they have them. I guess I also feel a minor tinge of regret that I don’t get to watch Adult Swim. So what have I missed? Could you do without? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/2 "2006-07-12T18:21:33Z")
I’ve got you beat. I got rid of my dish 5 or so years ago. No TV for me without a dish/cable, so my television is used just for dvds/tapes. I rent shows that I like (CSI, Sopranos, Boston Law). I am happy with the situation, although I find my eyes drawn to the TV when I am sitting in a bar, even for commercials! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/3 "2006-07-12T18:28:14Z")
An antennae would probably keep me sufficiently up on the news and cultural requirements (travel, gardening, home projects and food via PBS) but I’d sorely miss The NFL Network, The Discovery Channel, AMC, The Military Channel and The History Channel. Worst though would be no ESPN HD or HDNet. I could do it… but I’d bitch like there’s no tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/4 "2006-07-12T18:32:44Z")
> [@August West](#): > > So what have I missed? Could you do without? _Deadwood_ ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/5 "2006-07-12T18:34:23Z")
> [@August West](#): > > Could you do without? No ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/6 "2006-07-12T18:56:31Z")
Hah, I’m up to about four years myself. I occasionally feel a little sad when I hear about some great new sci-fi show, but I know that nearly all shows go rapidly downhill after the first season or two, plus I can buy them if they don’t. I don’t rent shows, although I suppose I would if I ever remembered. Mostly I watch DVDs and occasionally borrow from friends. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/7 "2006-07-12T19:18:39Z")
If you don’t count college, I have been without cable for my entire life. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/8 "2006-07-12T19:31:05Z")
sopronos deadwood Nova History Channel Daly show Cobert Report cspan movies uncut ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/9 "2006-07-12T19:37:52Z")
We’ve gone about three years without cable (moved from an apartment where it was included to a house that we bought – I hadn’t paid for cable in about a decade and dayum it got 'spensive) – the only show my wife and I miss is _The Daily Show_. I had seen promos for \*Deadwood \* and figured I would like it – I’ve been watching it through Netflix. I like it a lot. We’re both big \*Monday Night Football \* fans, so this fall could be a challenge. Whenever we visit my parents or hers, or friends, it seems that they spend the same amount of effort that we do flipping channels looking for something to watch – it just takes a lot longer if they get 300 channels. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/10 "2006-07-12T19:40:25Z")
I can very easily do without TV, and I’d like to, but my husband has to have it. And if it’s on, I watch it…I enjoyed seeing PeeWee’s Playhouse last night on Adult Swim. And tonight the Stephen King miniseries starts! ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/11 "2006-07-12T19:41:25Z")
I’m just the opposite of the OP. It’s been about four years since we’ve last had cable and we just had it re-installed last week. Roadrunner, phone and 170 channels + DVR, the all-in-one package. $99 per month. Not a bad deal since with just the cell phone and the Roadrunner (cable modem we’ve had forever) our monthly bills were over $100. I have yet to really appreciate all the digital cable offerings but so far History, TLC, Discovery, etc. have been entertaining. I suppose in a few weeks we’ll start noticing the re-runs of the more interesting shows and it will get boring again like last time. I like it that I can get most of the sports that I care to watch and the Simpsons now come in without snow, Yayy! And now we have two DVR’s (the computer and the Cable DVR) so we can just about record every and anything and watch it whenever we want. So far so good. The thing that will get annoying **August** is futzing with the antenna all the time. I got seriously annoyed after four years of getting up to move the antenna everytime I changed channels. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/12 "2006-07-12T19:54:24Z")
> [@Gordon Urquhart](#): > > We’re both big \*Monday Night Football \* fans, so this fall could be a challenge. Visit your local pub. Football, booze, and snacks; also cute bartenders (if the misses stays home).😉 ---
**Author:** ![montana\_cricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@montana\_cricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montana_cricket)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/13 "2006-07-12T19:58:47Z")
> [@August West](#): > > snipSo what have I missed? Could you do without?snip You bet I could. We even have Dish, since we get 2 “local” channels. I hate TV. I turn it on for news now and then and I watch Discovery Times and such…but I could do without it completely. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/14 "2006-07-12T20:16:37Z")
Something that I’ve noticed: without cable, it really doesn’t take much time at all to find that there’s nothing on worth watching, and with a little effort, I can pry myself away from the television and go do something constructive. I’ve spent a whole lot more time in the last three years doing woodworking projects, tying flies, reading and landscaping – things that my friends say that they’d like to do but don’t have the time – but they seem to have plenty of time to watch television. Sure, a lot of television can be rewarding, but I \*\*know \*\* that I wasted a lot of my life watching a lot of crap on TV prior to saying g’bye to cable. > [@](#): > > Visit your local pub. Football, booze, and snacks; also cute bartenders (if the misses stays home). Good idea, \*\*vetbridge \*\* – so good that my wife already thought of it. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/15 "2006-07-12T20:25:20Z")
> [@Gordon Urquhart](#): > > Something that I’ve noticed: without cable, it really doesn’t take much time at all to find that there’s nothing on worth watching, and with a little effort, I can pry myself away from the television and go do something constructive. > > I’ve spent a whole lot more time in the last three years doing woodworking projects, tying flies, reading and landscaping – things that my friends say that they’d like to do but don’t have the time – but they seem to have plenty of time to watch television. Sure, a lot of television can be rewarding, but I \*\*know \*\* that I wasted a lot of my life watching a lot of crap on TV prior to saying g’bye to cable. > > . Yes, I am so there. Without cable, I have a life. And you know, I’m not criticizing people who do watch cable. I just know I don’t have the strength of character to have cable and not watch it! ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/16 "2006-07-12T20:26:22Z")
I have found that to be true also, **Gordon**. We live on a “hobby farm” and I spend a lot of time gardening and taking care of our animals outside, I never feel like I have to be inside at a particular time to watch something on TV. Here in the summer sometimes I find I don’t even come inside the house until after 9pm. **Uncommon Sense** , I don’t gave to get up and screw with an antenna, we have an old one on the roof of the house that I connected the TV to. But I can see how that would be maddening. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/17 "2006-07-12T20:29:48Z")
Hah! We have a tv that totally lacks reception! And we only got it last October! We occasionally watch _The Daily Show_ and _The Colbert Report_ at a friend’s place. Not very often, though. We have lots of dvds, but we really only turn the tv on about once every two weeks to watch _Lost_, _Buffy_, or _Firefly_. Or a movie. I had cable at my parents’ place and I don’t miss it. Most of the time there really isn’t anything interesting on tv. The downside of not being constantly exposed (my dad keeps the tv on all the tim) is that we’re a little more distractable in bars and other places with televsions. There’s some kind of gut-level “Ooh! Flickering lights!” reaction. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/18 "2006-07-12T20:41:38Z")
> [@August West](#): > > …snip… Could you do without? I could not, I need cable to get the 120 Yankee game that do not come over the air. I also really enjoyed My Name is Earl and the new Dr Who on SciFi this year. I would miss the Daily Show and Colbert Report and TCM. I like having On Demand, last summer I watch the first 70 Barney Miller’s in order and this Summer I am watch SOAP. 20 so far. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/19 "2006-07-12T21:25:20Z")
Who needs cable when you have the internet? I lived with cable for 22 years growing up. This is my first year without it, and I haven’t missed it at all. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/20 "2006-07-12T21:54:12Z")
Hahaha, I should add that all we have for an internet connection at home is a 26.4 kbps dial-up connection. My sister says that we live “like some kind of Amish!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213.md?page=2)