# Is cable TV (and satellite TV) obsolete now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2022, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010 "2022-09-05T19:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/21 "2022-09-06T00:54:43Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > YouTubeTV has all the channels we want, including local channels, plus unlimited DVR capability at one-third of the cost of DirectTV. When you say “including local channels” do you mean that the local channels stream on YouTube, or that YouTube sends you a little in-home antenna for the back of your set? Because poor reception of local channels is one of the main reasons for hanging on to cable. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/22 "2022-09-06T01:10:41Z")
The thing with Apple/Peacock and baseball is that each of those services shows one or two games a week and it’s always different teams so you can’t really follow a particular team through the whole season. Prime Video had something like 21 Yankee games this year - which pissed off a lot of people but that still leaves 141 games not on Prime. The Prime games were apparently the games that used to be shown on a broadcast channel so the other 141 games were probably on the YES network which means only available to cable subscribers. As far as I can tell, football has always been different from the other sports in the number of games in a season and in how the broadcast rights are sold so ditching cable might work for football - if ESPN has a game a week and Amazon has a game a week, all the other games will be on broadcast channels. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/23 "2022-09-06T01:15:03Z")
Thanks. As I said, not a sports fan. Some of the streaming services have _really_ deep pockets (Prime Video, Apple TV+, YouTube) so over time, I expect them to be major players in competing for sports rights. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/24 "2022-09-06T01:17:51Z")
There are quite a few live sports on over the air TV, enough for me but admittedly not big sports fan. Brian ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/25 "2022-09-06T03:00:36Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > When you say “including local channels” do you mean that the local channels stream on YouTube, or that YouTube sends you a little in-home antenna for the back of your set? I mean they stream just like all their other channels. I don’t have a TV antenna. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/26 "2022-09-06T13:20:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I read someplace that the cable companies actually don’t mind cord cutters as much as you might expect, since they’re generally the only game in town for fast internet (so you’re likely still going to be their customer) and supplying it to consumers is more profitable than supplying cable service. This is us. We cut our cable years ago because XFinity was nickel-and-diming us to death, but were still dependent on them for our internet connection because they’re quite a bit faster than the next fastest internet in our area, AT&T. Cable companies are far from obsolete, just mutating into broadband companies. The main cable providers in the U.S. have a monopoly stranglehold on the industry, keeping prices high and internet speed low compared to other countries: > **[How do the cable giants get away with it? Americans deserve better | Opinion](https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/2021/10/01/how-do-cable-giants-get-away-their-monopoly/5930006001/)** > > Regulating the cable industry will be messy and controversial but it is worth the journey — for consumers and citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/27 "2022-09-06T13:45:49Z")
I got an evaluation from a cord-cutting consultant who said he could save me $250 a month on my cable bill (My internet + cable bill is $119). What he meant was that he could set up some incredibly complex arrangement for $150/month and could show me how if I did it in some even more incredibly complex way it would be $400 per month. He somehow made me feel like an old fogey who just didn’t get why I NEEDED all that stuff I’ve barely heard of and gave no intention of ever consuming. BTW, my cable TV nominally costs me $49 + taxes and fees per month. But if I deleted it and just kept the level of broadband I need for work and play, my bill including taxes and fees would only come down by less than $20. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/28 "2022-09-06T14:05:06Z")
A little over five years ago, I started dating a woman who absolutely hated tv so it was never on when she was around. I wasn’t watching it all that much anyway when she wasn’t around so I finally cut the cord. It saved me a bunch of money to cut out something that I barely used. As others have said, if you’re a fan of major US sports, you don’t have much of a choice if you want to watch them a lot. I like to watch sports but not enough to pay for cable tv. I have Amazon Prime which I would have anyway for the free shipping. I have Netflix streaming. I’ll occasionally sign up for Hulu or HBO and binge for a month or two and then cancel them. That suits my needs perfectly. My tv isn’t on that much. At the homes of my sisters, the tv is on every waking moment just as background noise. I’ve been so spoiled by streaming and DVRs before that that commercials drive me insane. One of my sisters watches one of those morning shows every day. The entire thing is one long commercial. Their families love sports too so the cable package makes sense for them ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/29 "2022-09-06T14:18:32Z")
My Roku has numerous channels that I can only access if I ALSO have cable. Phooey. **That** dog won’t hunt. Cable will fight, then fade. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/30 "2022-09-06T15:01:45Z")
My cable package includes the internet - I don’t have any of the premium channels. I do have Netflix and Prime. I HATE paying the cable bill every month but I’m not willing to cut the cord either. If I did, I’d have to get an antenna to watch local/regular TV. I don’t think I could live without my DVR either. I rarely watch anything live, I watch after it’s been recorded so I can zip through the commercials. I think Sling has a DVR service but you can only record one show at a time. I sometimes have multiple shows recording at once. I’m guessing by the time I paid for all of the other streaming channels I’d be pretty close to my current cable bill. Cable keeps things simple for me. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/31 "2022-09-06T15:12:07Z")
I was one of the first people ever to have a DVR. Back when they were being developed, there were two competing companies. Everyone knows about TiVo but my good friend worked for the other one, ReplayTV\*. He gave me one of the early beta units. It could only record ten hours of content but quickly became indispensable. Eventually of course DVRs effectively became part of the cable box but now with streaming it’s not really needed except for things that are played live like sports. \*TiVo went public in 1999 and the original employees became very rich. ReplayTV was set to go public in April of 2000 and my friend conservatively was set to make around $25 million. The crash happened in March so they pulled the IPO to wait for a more favorable time which didn’t come. They ran out of money and sold to Panasonic for a bargain and my buddy’s $25 million turned into a couple hundred grand. Not bad money but still…what a difference a few months made. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/32 "2022-09-06T17:41:26Z")
The only internet and TV available where I live is Satellite. I used to have two dishes. One for TV, one for Sat ( long story ) We decided to go with the Starlink dish (E. Musks thing). Works fantastic. Much better than our old set up. We bought a couple of ChromeCast dongles that plug into the back of TV’s and finally have choices. I work from home, and now my computer speed is much, much better. I did keep the [Hughes.net](http://Hughes.net) dish for now, In case Starlink starts falling out of the sky. But it’s been rock solid, even in very heavy snow (dish is heated to melt the snow) ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/33 "2022-09-07T05:20:00Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > As far as I can tell, football has always been different from the other sports in the number of games in a season and in how the broadcast rights are sold so ditching cable might work for football - if ESPN has a game a week and Amazon has a game a week, all the other games will be on broadcast channels. DirectTV isn’t reupping its NFL Sunday Ticket package when it expires in 2023. About a month ago there was a story saying Apple, Amazon and Google were making bids and that Apple was the front-runner. So whoever lands it, it’s probable that Sunday Ticket will be exclusively a streaming-only package going forward. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/34 "2023-08-25T18:57:11Z")
I have Hulu with live TV. I get all my local broadcast channels for live news and sports, on Hulu. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/35 "2023-08-25T20:24:31Z")
I didn’t see this mentioned in the old thread. The reason we’re not getting rid of DishNetwork is that our mode of watching is to record stuff, including the news, and then play it back skipping ads. One of the local stations streams, so we could watch there (and did when our dish went out) but it is a pain when all you want, say, is weather. We get CNN on Roku, but we watch it on the Dish recorded. We, my wife especially, hates commercials. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/36 "2023-08-25T21:26:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Are there really no streaming services for live sports? It’s fitting that this thread got bumped today, because I just heard on NPR this morning that ESPN is in talks with Amazon to create a streaming service for live sports (Although I can’t seem to find the story on [NPR.org](http://NPR.org)… maybe I heard it on Marketplace, which isn’t actually an NPR show). Well, this isn’t the specific story I heard, but here’s a cite from another source: > **[Amazon, Disney discussing ESPN streaming deal: Report](https://finance.yahoo.com/video/amazon-disney-discussing-espn-streaming-202622848.html)** > > Amazon (AMZN) and Disney (DIS) are in early talks about a potential ESPN streaming partnership, according to a report from the Information. Axios Media Deals Reporter Tim Baysinger joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss what this means for the sports... ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010/37 "2023-08-25T22:04:06Z")
I have AT&T Uverse with the Showtime package. A few years ago when I upgraded my internet access to AT&T Fiber they included free HBO (now MAX) streaming service. On my FireTV I have several streaming apps set up, including the aforementioned MAX. I recently had to start paying for Netflix, as I got caught up in their “you’re not in the household connected to this account” policy. Since I have no interest in sports I don’t need to worry about having cable access in order to watch them (in fact, I have to keep hiding sports channels from my DVR display). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cable-tv-and-satellite-tv-obsolete-now/971010.md?page=1)