I cut the imbecilical chord today - No more cable

[Xipe Totec]

Internet + Sling + Roku gave me what I needed; CNN, MSNBC. The rest was gravy.

I cut my bill in half.

[Clarity2]

1. I'd love to do this

my cable bill is now at $259 a month (from $159 3 yrs ago). It's insane.

I have a lot of channel requirements though, and can't figure out if it's doable, or if the boys in my house will be on board.
I need SHO/HBO too.

I already have Roku, but it seems like it's not live news (MSNBC etc) and more clips. Haven't played around with it much yet except for regular netflix use.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Need to add Sling Television as a service,

I have the blue package to $25/mo, which gives me plenty of channels and up to three simultaneous streams. Then I added the news package for $5/mo. I have an Amazon prime subscription which give me plenty of movies and TV series and can be accessed via Roku. I have several choices on how to access HBO, at around $15/mo. I'm waiting for GoT series to finish, will connect to HBO for one month, binge watch the series and then disconnect.

Showtime is $10/mo.

This is an a-la-carte service, so you pay for what you want, and you don't pay for the rest.

The orange/blue packages give you a limited number of TV channels to which you can add more depending on which of them you want. CNN comes free with the Blue package, but I had to add the news package to get MSNBC.

[Clarity2]

3. I heard of sling

I didn't realize it was an actual a la carte service. Looking at it now - I am definitely looking into this. I've got one roku, so hopefully this is accessible from difference devices? I could have sworn HBOnow/HBOGO was $10/mo.

I also have a tivo, so don't know how that would work out with it. Another thing to research.

In previous years, you use to be able to call cable & threaten them with cancellation, or negotiate a better price. Now another company has acquired cablevision (Altice from the Netherlands), and they are hard core non-negotiators. I told them I wanted to cancel, and they were like *see ya*. Apparently you can't even get a new land line in NY with verizon anymore, and satellite networks don't offer the full package of cable/phone/internet, so they have become quite the monopoly here.

Thanks for the info!

[Xipe Totec]

4. You can get HBO for $10/mo, if you already have cable. That's the catch. nt

[Clarity2]

5. Gotcha

thanks ; )

[mockmonkey]

10. HBO NOW

I pay $15.74 a month for HBO NOW after taxes.

[BowlLikeAChicken]

6. I'd love to cut the cable,

but I watch syfy, msnbc, cnn, cartoon network and comet tv for my retro sci-fi needs, can the non-cable alternatives get me those ?

[Xipe Totec]

7. Yes, actually they can. Many new options available

I went with Sling, but it is not the only option. There's HULU Tv also and many others. So I want to make clear that I'm not peddling Sling as the be-all, end-all.

Having said that, I did find all the channels that I wanted and more.

I have syfy, msnbc, cnn, and comet. I don't have the cartoon network but only because I don't watch it.

The service is a-la-carte, and you may have to buy one or more extra packages to get the exact channels you want, But I'm fairly certain you can get them.

The only extra package I got besides the basic blue was the news package in order to watch msnbc. That cost an extra $5/month.

Worth exploring your options.

I just double checked, and Cartoon Network is included in the Blue package I have. So, I think the only extra package you need it the news.

[blogslut]

8. I get Comet via antenna.

See if that's the case where you live:

http://www.comettv.com/#find

I have one of those thin digital antennas that I got through Amazon Basics. It costs less that the Mohu Leaf and works just fine.

I have a Roku Express and subscribe to a bunch of free channels. I pay for Netflix. I am using a two-month free trial of HBO Now - which is fine but I am going to drop it after the trial. I'm pretty sure HBO Now forces higher resolution despite the fact that I have my Roku set to 720p. The higher the resolution, the more date usage per month. I also unplug my Roku when I'm not using it to save data because the device likes to run in the background.

As for live MSNBC, well, I am a bad person.

[avebury]

19. I cut the cable months ago and I get Comet TV

over the air for free. It is amazing how many channels I get over the air. Add Netflix and Hulu and I have lots of options of what to watch. MSNBC or CNN - I stream it for free on my computer.

[KG]

9. no TV for almost 20 years.

[Zorro]

11. There is a tremendous number of programs on Youtube

Full documentaries, obscure program episodes, comedy clips from late night, HBO, etc.

I really like my Roku.

[LeftInTX]

23. I watch alot from YouTube

Lots of documentaries. My faves

Also lots of old Bollywood. Made for TV movies, except I cannot find "Someone I Touched" anywhere. It is a movie where a 50 year old pregnant Cloris Leachman gets syphilis.

[Skittles]

12. curious what you use for the internet

[Xipe Totec]

13. The only provider I have available - Spectrum nt

[Skittles]

14. so you had Spectrum cable / internet and ditched the cable?

[Xipe Totec]

15. Had cable/internet/phone and ditched cable & phone

Now I only have cell phone and internet.

I had cell phone already via Verizon. I never used the phone line from Spectrum anyway.

A little explanation is in order.

Time Warner, now called Spectrum, had bundled service which they offered at a discount for one year. It was cheaper for me to buy the three bundled services than it was for me to but just internet and cable, even though I never used the phone service at all. After a year, of course, the fees jump.

So coming up on that year, I reviewed my options and discovered that it was cheaper for me to get internet service at full price and ditch the cable, than it would be to continue with the bundled service.

Now I have Sling TV over internet which gives me all the channels I watch, and none of the channels I don't. One thing that was particularly irksome for me with cable was that it came bundled with sports channels which I never watch, and these came with additional sports-related fees and taxes. Now I don't pay for that.

[Skittles]

18. OK thanks

I am looking into getting internet (changing service I have now) but am not interested in cable - I do just fine with a Mohu leaf antenna

[Highway61]

16. Good for you!

It has been two years for us...If you have Amazon Prime they have some movies and shows as well.

[Xipe Totec]

17. As a matter of fact I do have Amazon Prime!

I love it.

In fact, that's where I went for most of my movies and shows. The only thing I didn't have, and the only reason I had not cut the cord, is because I'm addicted to MSNBC & CNN.

Once I discovered Sling TV, it was game over for the cable.

[avebury]

20. You don't have to have cable or satellite to watch

MSNBC or CNN. You can find it for free streaming online.

[Xipe Totec]

21. I don't have cable or satellite.

I did explore other options to watch these channels besides sling, but all that was available was apps on cell phones that were mostly unwatchable, and recorded episodes. I did not find a free MSNBC or CNN streaming service.

[avebury]

22. I watch MSNBC and CNN on my laptop all the time.

Here are some choices:

CNN: http://www.freeintertv.com/view/id-200
http://www.playlivenewz.com/2010/08/watch-cnn-news-live/

MSNBC: http://www.livenewschat.eu/politics/
http://www.playlivenewz.com/2010/06/watch-msnbc-news-live/

I am sure that there are other options as well.

[hunter]

24. Our TV is a movie player. That's all it does.

No cable, no satellite, no broadcast, best of all, no advertising.

A medium speed DSL connection from a local provider, and Netflix, care of child who likes what Netflix does. I also buy DVDs and video cassettes at the thrift stores.

It's been so many years now that I've cut the cable I can't watch U.S. television news. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with television news, it appeals to a part of the human mind that is not always rational.

The worst thing about cable was that some of my cable costs were supporting scum like Fox News whether I watched them or not. I pay to have garbage removed from my house, not delivered. I told Comcast they could hook me back up when their first monthly special check to me cleared, but that I couldn't promise I'd watch anything.