Every year, like clockwork, my cable/internet bill doubles because my “promotional pricing” period expires and “regular rates” go into effect. So I play the game of calling and threaten to cancel until they find a new promotion to put me in.
It started off where I refused to go above $120 a month. Find a plan for that amount or I bail. “Well, we have this plan at $128, blah blah blah.” Oh, all right; I can accept that. Then next year, “Well, our best promotion is $139 per month, blah blah blah.” OK. But each year, the “new promotion” is just that much more and now I’m up to $182 per month. I’m like the proverbial frog in the pot of boiling water.
But now I’m ready to jump out. I’m tired of playing the game. Plus, I’ve assessed my viewing habits and realize there’s no way I should be paying this much for what I use.
Based on my viewing habits (listed below), what are my options?
–I don’t watch TV shows. Any show with “must see” word of mouth, I’m content to get from Netflix after the fact. I’ve watched Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, The Wire, Lost, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, etc. all on DVD discs sent to my house. I am perfectly content with this arrangement.
–I don’t watch TV news–I get the Washington Post delivered every day and read it religiously. The only time I watch TV news of any sort is once every 4 years on election night.
–I don’t watch movies on TV. Between the 800 DVDs I have on my shelf and my Netflix subscription, I’m all set for movies.
–95% of what my wife watches is Korean internet. As far as she is concerned, the TV only needs one channel: HGTV, which she will watch as a nighttime “pass the time while waiting for sleep” aide or as background while folding the laundry or something.
So what does that leave? LIVE SPORTS. Just about everything I watch has a final score. In roughly descending order: Major League baseball. College football. NFL. College baseball. The Olympics. College basketball March tourney. NBA playoffs (but only if the Celtics are playing).
I’ve already figured out how to get my daily baseball fix: MLB.com subscription, which I am happy to pay for. ESPN generally has a lot of college football games on its “internet 360” or whatever they are calling it these days, but they always ask about my cable subscription before allowing me to watch anything. Not sure how that would work if I no longer have a cable subscription. In a pinch, I could pay per view a college football/baseball game from my alma matar’s website. The NCAA tourney appears to be streamed free by CBS.com.
So is there is a way for me to “cut the cord” and still be able to watch all the sports I love? (Aside from camping out at Buffalo Wild Wings all weekend). It makes no sense for me to pay for a full cable TV subscription when all I watch are, at most, 5 channels dedicated to sports.
Any help is appreciated.