# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/21 "2006-07-13T00:09:18Z")
I only have the extremely bare-bones, $13 cable - the cheapest option available from the local provider. Aside from the standard broadcast networks, this gives me about 3 or 4 channels I’d ever care to watch, plus a lot of foreign-language channels. Before that I could get no TV at all, even with antennae. When I went from dial-up to cable modem, I decided it would be nice to have access to news in case someone blew up another building. The only channel I really miss is Comedy Central. However, I am never in danger of accidentally stumbling across MTV, so that’s a fair trade-off. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/22 "2006-07-13T05:14:42Z")
I’ll clock in at ~3 years cable-free here too. The good shows are all on DVD anyway. (South Park, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under…) ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/23 "2006-07-13T05:50:36Z")
Not only have we not had cable for over two years, but we don’t have a VCR or DVD player :eek: ! Our tv sucks, too. It’s a hand-me-down from one of my husband’s elderly relatives. It doesn’t have a remote and has little buttons to push for the channels (1-8). It takes several hours for it to warm up (remember when tvs used to have to warm up?), so we’re usually watching a horrendous picture. We _still_ watch plenty of tv. When we move back to the US in a few months, my husband has deemed cable to be a priority so that he can watch rugby and cricket. I’ll be happy to get my \*Daily Show \* back. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/24 "2006-07-13T07:03:30Z")
It won’t be too long before “TV” as we know it will be available on TV’s and PC’s(and iPods, and…). We’re not too far from that being a reality right now. When my “introductory rate” runs out on the cable service I have now, I’ll ask them to extend it. If they don’t, I’ll cancel. I can watch a lot of my favorite programs on the web, and the rest I won’t miss in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/25 "2006-07-13T11:46:51Z")
I don’t have cable for reasons simililar to **Gordon Urquhart** If I had cable, I’d watch WAY too much TV. I still watch, maybe a bit “too much” (im my own opinion), but with cable I’d be in trouble. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/26 "2006-07-13T12:18:48Z")
When I got out of college I didn’t have any cable at all for a year or so. Then I wanted to watch the Olympics so I got it. A few years later the women I was living with wanted the huge digtial cable when it came out and I hated it. I hated the box, waiting for the channel to change. When she left I ditched cable and went to an antenna. When I bought a house I couldn’t use my antenna so got basic cable. I’ve had that for the last couple of years with no problem. Now, I just bought a new HDTV when my last one died. I’ve been looking into it for the last couple of weeks and have decided to go with an antenna again. I just got one yesterday that looks a bit like a dish so I’m going to install it on my roof where the dish is and not worry about it. I think once I get it pointed the right way I will get 20-25 HD channels. I have it set up inside now and picked up most of them really well, I figure when I get it outside it will work great since all the stations are within a couple of degrees and a mile or so apart. I would totally ditch cable if I could find a DVR that had a digital tuner in it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/27 "2006-07-13T12:40:22Z")
Well of course I _could_ do without, anyone _could_ do without, but I choose not to. I watch almost nothing on the networks. I don’t think I’ve watched a CBS show, for example, regularly in five years or more. Oh, except for The Amazing Race. If I didn’t have cable I’d miss all the poker shows I watch semi-obsessively and Veronica Mars. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/28 "2006-07-13T16:16:23Z")
I forewent subscribing to cable when I moved into my own place last November. I didn’t own a television over 15" and I wasn’t about to spend $200 on a 21" box when I have a perfectly good 21" monitor for one of my computers. I watch the 15" tv - broadcast - when I am falling asleep at night (PBS rocks!) and the 21" computer monitor is my television in the living room. Hooked up to a powerful computer with Region 1 and Region 2 DVD players, surround sound, 30GB of music and 400GB of “watchables.” 🙂 Plus I have a subscription to Netflix. Cable? pffft. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/29 "2006-07-13T16:50:03Z")
I dropped the premium movie channels on DirecTV about 5 years ago. Every now and then, they’ll offer a free weekend on one of the movie networks. When they do, I check out the listings and I flashback to the scene in Crocodile Dundee where he sees the I Love Lucy rerun on the hotel TV. “Yep, that’s what I saw.” They’ll be showing the same movies that they were repeating before I dropped them. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/30 "2006-07-13T17:02:10Z")
I’m hoping I can - I’m moving to a new (to me) house next week (fingers crossed), and just to be different I’m planning to use an old green-screen monitor + VCR to handle my TV needs for a while. Hopefully my PC + DVD drive + local library DVD collection will prevent withdrawal symptoms. 😉 Mythbusters _will_ be a problem… ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/31 "2006-07-13T17:21:11Z")
I haven’t had any sort of cable except rabbit ears for about six years now. Everytime I go to the gym to work out (each treadmill etc, has it’s own tv and cable or you can plug in a dvd or cd) I always end up watching tbs and catching a very funny rerun of Enright3 Loves Raymond (as my son calls it), or Friends or a Braves baseball game. I don’t miss it at all. If I got it, it would only be for the reception. I’m of the opinion that they’re losing a customer base. If they offered me a true basic cable of only the channels that I could get on antenna, then I’d pony up the bucks just for the reception (assuming that coverage like that should only be about $5/ months). ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/32 "2006-07-13T17:22:44Z")
Oh and I forgot to add… thanks to NetFlix, I’m one step further away from ever getting cable again. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/33 "2006-07-13T18:40:55Z")
I haven’t had cable for about ten years. I almost broke down last year for NFL Sunday ticket, but I ended up moving to a house that was walking distance to a prety decent sports bar. Why flip between games when you can have them all on at once? The only things I ever watch on TV now are news, Simpsons reruns and PBS specials. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213/34 "2006-07-13T18:52:19Z")
There’s no way I could go without hockey. I don’t watch much TV other than sports, but I am a huge fan and couldn’t go without it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-year-without-cable/364213.md?page=1)