Anybody cut the cord?

I'm going to cancel cable by Sunday for sure just curious who else has done it. I'm already subscribed to Netflix and plan and on getting Hulu as well as a Roku box with HBO and an antenna for local ota channels. Anybody else go this route? If I calculated this right I'll be able to watch everything I already am for half the cost.

 

This is a major topic in our house right now, I want to do away with the high cost of cable tv. We have Netflix and I could buy a decent antenna for local channels. The problem is two fold, my wife isn't all that impressed with Netflix and what the other streaming services have to offer, and with a 50 inch television in the livingroom she's not very keen on the idea of having a lousy picture.
I have until August 5th to try to figure it out, that's when my "great" one year pricing of $135 a month ends. That's AT&T U-verse 300.

 

i have a roku and it would be tough for me to completly cut the cord....i pretty much watch sports and more specifically hockey...granted i can get the hockey apps that gives me 98% of the games but any other sport would be tough without a "provider" since you can only get espn,history,A&E,HBO, etc. if you have a subscription...however if you have a friend/family member who is willing to give there account info then you are good.

 

I have basic DISH service, but there is rarely anything on that I care to watch. The NBA finals, the NFL—that wont be on until late August.
Most of my viewing is via Netflix either on my mac or iPhone.

 

I went this way two months ago. We use a digital antenna for over the air, which is broadcast in HD and provides a great picture. Netflix and HuluPlus on a Roku or Apple TV provides more TV than we can watch and I am saving almost $90.00 a month. We are never going back.

 

I hardly ever watch cable television. almost all my t.v. time is on the computer. I can watch whatever show or movie I want at anytime. over the past few years I have not been impressed with the stupid shows they have come up with and since I mostly watch older t.v. shows, they are not on the air anymore.

 

txskimo and all you others who have ditched cable!
I'm still connected(I do HATE my cable co), and have plans on disconnecting. I also have the $8 a month Netflix and I watch it often and enjoy it more than cable I think. It's my understanding your can buy an antenna and get many channels off of it, hopefully I'll be able to get the few cable channels I enjoy watching.. H0nestly the only thing keeping me connected is procrastination and I hate change, even good change.

 

I did this about 3 years ago and have never looked back! I've got a Roku with Netflix and Hulu+, and I use a lot of the other channels on Roku like Crackle and music channels. I've got an antenna that gets me most of the local TV stations.

Aside from saving $$ and not being beholden to the cable company, I've found that it really has impacted my life in a more positive way. I don't have a schedule built around watching TV, which is an amazing freedom you don't realize until you have it. I also have a lot more music on now. I use a lot of the music channels and if I'm home doing something and want noise in the background, it's easier to put on music instead of some garbage TV show which is what I would've done when I had cable.

The only station that drops off the map is CBS. They don't put their programs on Netflix or Hulu+, so you're forced to buy the series on Amazon or another service. CBS is for old people and drunks anyways, so meh on them.

 

I did this over a year ago and while you initially have to figure it out and potentially make compromises, it does get easier. We are never going back now. We have a OTA antenna, Roku, Chrome Cast and a media PC. If I can't do it with that then I don't need it. It's starting to get even easier, CBS for example now let's you watch the latest 5 episodes of shows online and it works with the Chrome Cast.

My favorite hidden benefit is telling those guys always trying to sell me satellite television in the stores that I am a chord cutter and not interested. I always get looks of disbelief lol. I love it!

I recommend everyone try it once, if you don't like it I promise the cable company will take you back.

 

Everything's digital now. It's either no pic or good pic. Netflix is fuzzy the first 30 seconds or so while it dials in the variable bitrate it does, but that's the only time I see a bad picture. Over the air it's either going to be there or not. There's no more snowy pics or anything like that. Also, while you can spend $100's on an HD antenna, there's really not any difference between a $10 HD antenna and a $150 HD antenna. It's not like the days of yore. The only issue you may have is not being able to get all of the local channels where you live. I would suggest buying a $10 RCA indoor antenna first, and seeing what you get on the TV with it. From there either keep it or maybe go for one that's mounted on the roof.

This is the antenna I have. It gets all of my local channels but one. It cost me $10 at Walmart. It's one of the highest rated HD antennas out there. There's a good reason it looks ancient -- the old UHF round antennas are actually what HD antennas are. Those rabbit ears aren't doing anything, it's all about the loop. So this model probably hasn't changed since 1954.


This fancy $125 HD pancake antenna? Yeah, it's just a loop antenna that's bendy and sandwiched between some rubber.

 

Glad to see so many people have already done this. I'm spending about 170 a month for triple play and I mostly only use the internet! This is ridiculous. Hopefully I can keep the same entertainment with half the cost.

 

Thanks for the info! As long as I can get the four networks I'd be very happy. Later this year AT&T mobile is including Hulu within the AT&T app for free, so that's another service I can add. I'm going to get one of those antennas from Walmart and see how it goes. And thanks!
Btw the network need is for sports, baseball and NFL

 

I did find that I couldn't get all of the local stations with the RCA antenna with the rabbit ears. I found that you don't have to spend $125.00 to get a good pancake antenna. I got the one in the following link and mounted it on the wall behind the entertainment center and now get all of the channels.
AmazonBasics Ultra-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna - 35 Mile Range https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DIFIO8E/?tag=thshde-20

 

That's a great price! I may have to look at the 25 mile version and see if I can get anything more that I didn't know I'm missing out on

 

As soon as I get back from vacation in July..... Goodbye DirecTV, U verse, Dish and anything else I may have to pay for to watch crap. 200+ channels of useless garbage. I'll read my books and this forum. They are way more enlightening, engaging, and entertaining. Great site here.:wave:

 

My wife teases me about reading this forum while watching TV

 

I cut the cord several months ago. Not missed it at all. I can get like 8 channels over the air local and subscribe to Netflix and Hulu. Saving about 100 dollars a month and don't have to watch commercials. I did buy a Roku stick to make it easier to watch internet channels.

 

I am about to cut the cord. Over the air TV is better quality than the same channels on cable or satellite. The difference is quite noticeable. Roku has a bazillion channels, including many free ones. I just use some of the free channels right now. Should I ever want a pay channel, the costs are reasonable and I pay only for the channels I want. No need to pay for a bunch of filler channels just so the price can be jacked up. The End of Television & Film article in The Metro (Silicon Valley's free alternative newspaper) describes this fast-accelerating trend and the impact on our TV viewing habits. Instead of watching video when the TV stations or movie theaters mandate, we will watch only what we choose and whenever we choose to do so. It is nice being able to watch Mantic's videos on the TV!

 

After years of threatening to quit with each price increase and getting the rate knocked back down and being tired of the crap programing that we were getting, we cut the chord 3 years ago and have not missed it a bit.

We use a use simple rabbit ears for broadcast TV and pick up some nice retro channels as a bonus. A Roku 3 streams Netflix and Hulu. Additionally a little investigation allows you to stream other channels including a pretty robust PBS, BBC channel. There is a YouTube channel, but it's pretty cumbersome - however you can chromecast YouTube from a phone, tablet or PC.

The only downside would be if you're a big sports fan.