So we’re back around to the new season of a lot of shows, and the website portals that let us watch some of them free have closed up. You now have to be a valid cable subscriber of the channel to get the episodes from the AMC, FX and other websites.
So I look at the season cost of the four or five shows we watch over the course of the year, about $25/season each, and think, hey, maybe it’s time to look at doubling up cable with our net connection.
So I go look at Comcast, and it’s only $20 a month to add preferred-tier cable.
For the first 12 months.
For months 13-24 of the required contract, it’s nearly $60/month.
Cord stays cut, not a regret in the world.
Those of you who argue that Double Play or Triple Play or other bundles are a good bargain, look at your total contract cost, not the teaser rates.
So an average of $40 a month. Sounds good enough to me as we tend to have the TV on quite a bit and $40 isn’t a hardship for us. Plus it’s nice to actually watch the stuff as it airs, have it available On Demand not have to futz with multiple websites and portals to watch it later.
That said, anyone who doesn’t think it’s worth it has a valid reason to cancel. It’s just one more luxury you decide if it fits into the budget and if its holds enough value to you.
No Ragretsfor me either. I’m satisfied with the content that is available on Hulu Plus plus my aerial antenna. I paid for the final season of Breaking Bad, and have paid for Justified. I’m already an Amazon Prime member, so I have that going for me too.
I hear ya. If it’s not on Netflix, the hubby & I don’t watch it, unless someone’s already posted stuff on Youtube.
If there’s a show the hubby really likes, he might pick up the collection for rewatch value over the long term.
We got to where we were spending $50/month (at the time) for 2 shows & a ton of commercials. We had a basic cable package + a few extra channels.
Between the ADHD method of broadcasting long commercials & a lot of shows being nearly half recaps, it was time to quit.
I can’t even stand watching TV at other people’s houses for all the redneck shows & constant commercial spam.
Is there any penalty for canceling after the first 12 months? The cable companies all have a temporary promo rate and then it goes up to the full rate. However, if you call to cancel when your rate goes up, they will usually agree to keep you at the lower rate. It’s the game they all play.
We just moved last week so have cut the cord. So far so good. I am watching less TV as we used to leave it on HGTV as white noise. Between Amazon Prime and Netflix, I think we have most of the kids shows that my older son watches covered.
We keep kicking it around, as our bundled package is about $250/mo for Comcast (includes HD and most all cable channels). Outrageous. We watch a number of series throughout the year, but it’s mostly a waste of money. We just need to decide to wait until series come out on Amazon, I guess, instead of watching them as they are aired. No idea what our Internet cost would go up to if we broke the bundle, though.
I cut cable last September and have few regrets. I have an antenna that gives me. ~ 15 OTA channels for evening news and any boredom watching I do. Netflix has movies and seasons of most stuff I want to watch.
Regret: I don’t receive any PBS stations. The topography in my area makes broadcast tv a bit quirky, so any fantastic series from public television is usually a gift DVD from friends.
Most of the stuff I like on PBS (Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Call the Midwife, etc.) is available to watch on their website almost immediately after broadcast. Sure, it includes commercials, but at least you can get most of their stuff if you dig around enough on their site. Better than nothing.
We did the “cord cutting” ourselves, about 3 years ago, and really, the #1 issue I have is not being able to (immediately) watch new Game of Thrones episodes. Other shows I don’t mind waiting, but Game of Thrones is the only one that still stings. It’s ONE SHOW though, and I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not worth it to get screwed over for cable again for one show, that won’t last forever anyway.
I cut cable about three years ago and have never looked back. Netflix and the network websites keep me covered. I also have a date with a friend every Sunday night to watch our show, she has satellite. Fall/Winter - The Walking Dead, Spring - GoT and for the final summer - TrueBlood. We are glad to see TB go, given how terrible it has been this year. We really like our Sunday night date, though. It makes TV a more social event for us.
Not live, but the NFL offers NFL Rewind. After the last game airs on Sunday, you can watch any game you want from that day, (or previous weeks I guess). It’s only $35 for the season. All you have to do is avoid the sports news that day.
So, as I ask in this thread, what’s the best way to figure out what’s the most financially viable option for me, given the possible circumstances outlined in the article I link in my OP?
Our local provider is Metrocast. On their site, you can see the prices of bundles plus a la carte options. So I put in the next-to-lowest cable tier, plus internet, but no phone. It came to about $50 less than we were paying. Part of the savings involved losing the digital box and getting a regular modem rather than the modem with the phone jack. We looked at replacing cable with satellite, but with the rate creep, our savings would pretty much disappear in a year.
At the moment, we have 3 GoPhones, but when the minutes on mine expire, it’s going away, too. (We dropped our expensive cell plan once both of us were retired.) My husband is keeping his, and if I go somewhere without him, I’ll carry our home phone as my cell. Even at 10¢/minute, it’s cheaper than having a land line plus cell phones - apart from our parents and occasionally our daughter, we hardly ever use the phones. And thanks to caller ID, we don’t have to pay for telemarketer calls.
Funny how retirement and a big cut in income makes economizing much easier…
NBC Sports does a thing for live football games they broadcast on… Sunday nights, I think?
Anyway, I stumbled into their site last year and was absolutely amazed by the quality (super sharp HD) and you could select your own cameras and make your own PIP setup. And you can view one of the cameras during the commercials, even.
Very nice, although not available for tons of game, and not outside of the US.
I recently re-subscribed to Netflix and am considering dropping my cable (AT&T) but GoT is actually one of the things holding me back. Well, that and a few other HBO offerings like Silicon Valley and their comedy standups…
Is there any way to get just HBO without a whole cable package? Is there another alternative? I’d save a bunch of dough if I didn’t have the monthly cable bill, but I’m kinda spoiled for my evening post-work wind-down time.
You can get almost any show on any channel via Vudu or Amazon Prime. You do have to wait up to one day, but at $20-40 it’s less than one month of cable.
We pay a shitload more than that, but the Dodgers makes it worth the cost. The rest of the channels are lagniappe - SportsNetLA is what I’m paying for!
I’ve thought about doing this several times, but we have FiOS, and with internet, cable is nearly free. We get the 50Mb down/25 Mb up internet and Prime HD cable for about $90 (plus like $25 extra in taxes and bullshit fees), and removing the cable only reduces the monthly by $5, so we just keep it.
