I recently got an apple tv and am loving it. Now I am thinking can I get rid of my cable completely ? The only reason I use cable is to mainly watch news channels (cnn, msnbc, bloomberg, etc) , and the standard tv channels (fox, cbs, abc, tbs etc). I dont need the on demand or hbo or any other special packages. I pay $50 a month for this.
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Get Rid of cable
- Thread starter caughtintheweb
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Depending on your proximity to the broadcast towers, all of the local networks are available by hooking up an antenna to your HDTV...PLUS they will come in at a higher-level of quality than through cable or sat, which adds an additional layer of compression to the signal. Nothing cleaner than OTA HDTV. PLUS, you will get at least one sub-channel for each of the OTA channels. Here in Houston, there are easily 50 discrete 'channels' I can get over the air, although probably one third of those are in foreign languages (Spanish and Vietnamese locally).
I am approximately 30 miles from the towers and I can get all of my locals with a set-top Terk brand antenna. Cost about $20 I think? Avoid amplified antennas though, for some reason they tend to screw-up the digital signal and may actually lead to a poorer ability to receive your locals.
I am approximately 30 miles from the towers and I can get all of my locals with a set-top Terk brand antenna. Cost about $20 I think? Avoid amplified antennas though, for some reason they tend to screw-up the digital signal and may actually lead to a poorer ability to receive your locals.
I second that, but with a twist. If you have anything like a month or two months cancellation time, cancel it now and just abort the cancellation should you feel the need to keep cable. That way you don't have to waste more money than necessary on subscription fees.
I use cable right now only for cnn and msnbc. I rarely watch any movies or tv shows on cable. I would prefer renting them or using netflix if i need.
I don't know where you guys all live but in CT, NY and Boston. All places I live in you have to have cable tv to have internet. We are forced by Comcast to do this. It's like 70 bucks just for internet and $80 or $90 for TV and internet. Are you guys using dial up? O and we can't get Verizon fios because we live in the City and even then their price structure is pretty much the same as Comcast.
I keep reading of people doing this but no internet would make me insanely sad. How do you guys work around it and how much does it cost? I live with roommates so it doesn't hurt so much but I don't see how an average family not splitting a cable bill can afford over $100 bucks for it plus $100 bucks for a cell phone.
I keep reading of people doing this but no internet would make me insanely sad. How do you guys work around it and how much does it cost? I live with roommates so it doesn't hurt so much but I don't see how an average family not splitting a cable bill can afford over $100 bucks for it plus $100 bucks for a cell phone.
What on Earth are you talking about? You can get internet unbundled from TV from all the cable companies. I pay TWC about $40/month for internet and don't have any TV service attached. I did the same with Cablevision in a different part of Brooklyn.. You can also get DSL from your phone company in most areas. The speed isn't great most places, but it's an option.
I live in Houston and use the local cable company for my internet while NOT having TV service through them. I pay around $50 a month.
Sounds like even in your situation you don't NEED to pay the extra $20 for TV. You certainly have to pay something for internet. If you want to to forgo the cable option, look into some of the wireless providers out there. One will still need to pay a minimum of 30 to 50 bucks these days for a broadband connection, regardless of method of delivery.
Right now I pay $40 for fios high speed internet and $60 for cable. I can still forgo cable and get internet at same cost. I live in manhattan upper east btw.
I gave up on Direct TV for about a week, and I went ahead and took advantage of one of those comcast deals and bought a tivo, I'm so weak.. oh well I love tv, I like watching stuff I like to watch, and I have some nice TV's to do it on, it's not like I'm rich enough to travel and see the world. I'm a working slob who likes to come home at the end of the day, put my feet up and enjoy a program or two. Plus I like Baseball so it was a hard thing to give up.
Unless you are paying for some extremely fast connection package, I think you are either getting ripped off or exaggerating. And in most cases, when someone gives a price and uses the word "like", it's most often nowhere near that price.
Unless you are paying for some extremely fast connection package, I think you are either getting ripped off or exaggerating. And in most cases, when someone gives a price and uses the word "like", it's most often nowhere near that price.
I get HBO, their 2nd tier internet speed and HD for $100 with 3 cable boxes.
I went a while ago to turn off my cable and they offered the "antenna" channels for like $8 a month. For me that was like the first 20 channels. Better that than hook up some antenna on my roof.
Do you still get the internet at a discount? For me there is no point in tv without HD but the only channel I want is HBO and they only let you get it if you have a cable service which is lame.
The internet went up a little like from $40 to $45 or something like that, it was getting crazy. For cable (with DVR) + internet it was probably about $75 a month when I first started, and it started creeping up every year, until last year when I said, when the ***** did my time warner bill start being $135 a month.
I recently shut off everything and my wife did the all in one for $89 a month, it's going to suck when the 12 months are up. (we don't even have a phone hooked up to it, but it was cheaper than tv+internet)
There should be a cheap cable option for anyone who does not really need cable. Considering that netflix is $8 a month for unlimited movies and tv shows, the main advantage of cable for many people is news and sports. Paying $60 more for that seems to be pretty high.
As others mentioned, the unbundled prices are higher. For me, Comcast's bundle of their lowest tier of Internet service costs about $50 and their lowest tier of TV costs about $14. I called to cancel the TV part and the unbundled price of Internet service cost <drumroll> $64. I pay the same with or without TV so I kept it.
I think a lot of people are in the same boat as you are - either looking to cut the cord, or have already done it.
The first thing I'd do is look to see if there are apps available for those channels that don't require that you have cable or satellite. CNN is out (I'm already using it, and the first thing it requires is that you enter in your cab/sat id info.)
The Bloomberg app exists (I'm using that too, but it's print and pictures only - no video content YET. I use it primarily for watching certain stocks and keeping up with their latest news).
There is also an MSNBC App, that is very full-featured, with articles, pics, and select videos (it also doesn't require you have cab/sat). The videos are also Airplay-able, which will make it something you can watch on the ATV, even if it makes you do an extra step to do it.
For network shows, I would use an over-the-air antenna. And, add a Tivo box (same price as the ATV2) for an easy way to do DVR functionality. That way you don't have to have your Mac doing that service all the time, tying up its resources when you may actually want to be playing a game or something else resource-intensive. Tivo charges about $20 a month for its channel guide (no contract needed), and you can't beat it for search flexibility. The new Premiere box (even though it has a slow interface) can do double-duty as a streaming box, with pretty much the same apps as most smart TVs and blu-ray players.
Unless you are paying for some extremely fast connection package, I think you are either getting ripped off or exaggerating. And in most cases, when someone gives a price and uses the word "like", it's most often nowhere near that price.
I have Verizon Fios service for my home phone, cable, and internet.
Home phone has all the usual stuff - caller ID, voice mail, call waiting, and other features.
On TV, I have 57 premium move channels, 45 in HD. Approximately 3000 on demand titles, most in HD. And then there are about 1000 HD pay-per-view titles.
My internet is 35 up/ 35 down with ethernet connection, 18-20.5 up/ 17-20 down wireless.
I pay EXACTLY $175.74/month.
mstrze, I don't know if you think that is a lot for the service, or not. I just wanted to present information without the "like" - the price (good, bad, or indifferent) is exact.
I hope this didn't come out sounding snotty - I didn't intend it that way. Apologies if it did sound that way.
I've been without cable for exactly a year this month. I have hulu and netflix on an xbox connected to our tv.
I just bought an Apple TV for my parents just for them to have netflix. I may have missed something when I was setting it up but I didn't see a way to add hulu to it.
I just bought an Apple TV for my parents just for them to have netflix. I may have missed something when I was setting it up but I didn't see a way to add hulu to it.
tvWhen my husband and I moved into our first apartment, I called up the local cable company to ask about getting just basic (no premium channels). "Oh, no! We can't possibly do that! You'll have to order the super duper delux package! Only $85 per month! I'll be happy to send someone over between 6am and 11pm tomorrow!"
I told them not to bother. That was ten years ago and I haven't missed having cable one bit.
I told them not to bother. That was ten years ago and I haven't missed having cable one bit.