# Cut the cable and it feels so good! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 15, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390 "2021-11-15T15:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/41 "2021-11-17T19:12:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > or for local Bball games (Root TV) RootTV is going to be your issue. IIRC, that’s a Regional Sports Network. Basically none of the streaming cable services (YouTubeTV, Hulu Live TV, SlingTV) carry those. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/42 "2021-11-17T19:13:47Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > > [@Dinsdale](#): > > > > You’ll all be disgusted, but my wife went to the Apple store to buy a cable, and returned a/ an AppleTV device. $160 and $5/month. > > Yikes. I really like Apple, but the Apple TV is a rip-off. I’d strongly suggest returning it and getting a Roku ($20, as mentioned above). The $5/month fee is for Apple+, Apple’s streaming service (like Netflix or Hulu), and is optional. It’s also available via a Roku. So even if your wife is committed to the Apple ecosystem and only buys media on Apple, a Roku is going to give you access to it all. I’ll disagree with this. If you have the money, an Apple TV or Nvidia Shield is the way to go. They are both a far more pleasant and faster experience than Roku and these days Roku is getting into fights with everyone (quite famously they had an issue with HBO Max and Peacock). ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/43 "2021-11-18T01:28:55Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Hulu has run a special the last few years over Black Friday weekend - 12 months of Hulu for only $2 a month. Each year, I re-up under a different email address and credit card (they check). They haven’t announced this year’s special yet, but it’s expected any day now, so keep an eye out. Otherwise, it’s about $6/month. > > I think the only show on Hulu I watch is _What We Do in the Shadows_ , and it’s great. I really wish people would not run scams like this. Guess who pays for your little yearly scheme. Just suck it up and pay the bill. And suggesting illegal, or at least inappropriate behavior is frowned on on the SDMB. It is by me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/44 "2021-11-18T01:38:33Z")
Yeah, I’m really sticking it to them for the 5 hours a year of Hulu I watch. And it’s not illegal to register a new email address. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/45 "2021-11-18T02:12:23Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I really wish people would not run scams like this. Guess who pays for your little yearly scheme. Nobody? I get the idea behind freeloaders increasing the costs for other consumers in other contexts, but does that apply to a streaming service? It’s not like Hulu had to spend money they wouldn’t otherwise have had to spend because someone is abusing the free month subscription offer. There’s no loss for them here that they need to spread out to the rest of their customers. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/46 "2021-11-18T02:16:11Z")
It’s a whole $4/month discount. Anyway, my point was next week is the time to jump on a Hulu Black Friday weekend special if you want to try it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/47 "2021-11-18T02:26:41Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Nobody? I get the idea behind freeloaders increasing the costs for other consumers in other contexts, but does that apply to a streaming service? It’s not like Hulu had to spend money they wouldn’t otherwise have had to spend because someone is abusing the free month subscription offer. There’s no loss for them here that they need to spread out to the rest of their customers. There are a couple of ways to look at this. Hulu has fixed costs and they base their subscription price on making their profit goals. If a large number of people use that trick to get a cheaper price, they may need to charge the rest of the people a bit more. However, if there are a group of people who will pay the lower price but would go without rather than pay the higher price, the added revenue will help keep the costs down for everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/48 "2021-11-18T04:35:32Z")
We cut the telecom umbilical cord when we started having kids. Back then (early 90s), there were no streaming services, and we could only get five channels. So that was a sacrifice, but saved us a lot, right when we needed that. These days, it’s painless to be cableless. Our rabbit ears (well, now a Leaf flat antenna) pulls in those five networks WITH all their digital “subchannels”. That comes close to 20 channels, _fo’ freeee!_ > [@snowthx](#): > > Sports could be an issue if someone at your house watches that a lot… Aye, there’s the rub. I’m a sports fan. Now, my brother-in-law spends hundreds a month to nap in front of every golf game ever, and to watch all the Sunday NFL games at once. And then he has to get yet another network that tells him what happened during those games. Me? I’ve made a deal with the family that, if there’s a basketball/baseball/football/fütbol/rugby game that I want to see, I walk down the block to the local tavern (and I let the owner spend a ton on sports networks). (Hmmm, while I spend money on bourbon and burgers and fried green beans and a classic fish fry… but I’m still ahead of the game, cost-wise, _I SWEAR!)_ ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/49 "2021-12-01T16:25:06Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Comcast increased our monthly triple play charge $70. You might have had a “special” rate which expired. Comcast reps are notorious for “neglecting” to mention that the price of that new package you’re signing up for is a temporary reduced rate, and that the actual rate will start in X months. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390/50 "2021-12-01T16:55:56Z")
Yeah - that’s what it was. In the past, if you called they would give you another “special rate.” But this time they said we could pound sand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cut-the-cable-and-it-feels-so-good/954390.md?page=2)