OK all I am SEROIUSLY thinking about "Cutting the Cable" any suggestions on...

30 June 2015 | US Navy Vet

[Mr. K]

I also watched on youtube how to field dress a dear then cut it up for meat storage-

never know when that might come in handy, but at least now I’ve seen it.

Also how to raise and dress chickens for eggs and meat

[MHGinTN]

In this area, with the cable lines owned by a single party, I pay *% per month just for phone and Internet. In Dalton, GA where I have a condo I pay Charter 50 per month for the exact same services and they even run more efficiently!

[Mr. K]

YouTube also has some great videos of car crashes

I MADE my daughters watch them and i could see them cringing at how fast things can go very very wrong when you are not driving defensively and looking for and preventing accidents, rather than just coasting along oblivious to whats happening around you

[Mr. K]

The ROKU will also connect to your computer as a second display so you can watch movies from the internet on your computer and on the big screen TV too

[TomGuy]

Netflix ... triggering a downward spiral for cable-TV and state-run TV.

I read an article yesterday that Netflix will have about 70 million subscribers by the end of the year. That is more than the combined viewership of CBS and ABC and possibly NBC.

Networks now claim 'hit' programs for programs that garner as few as 6 million viewers. When there are only 3 major networks, their viewership was typically 20+ million. Now, only NCIS and Big Bang Theory even come close to that number.

Netflix has also developed about a dozen original series the last 2-3 years. Netflix may help kill the ad-based TV/Streaming. [I contend that the more ads-per-hour TV programs have, the less viewership they have. Many 1-hour venues now have 39-41 minutes of content and the remainder in commercial breaks.]

[dennisw]

http://www.xfinity.com/internet-service.html

Internet Plus
$39.99 per month for 12 mo.
No term agreement
25 Mbps
Local TV Channels
Showtime® included

[NEMDF]

It’s okay. All FReepers know that you meant “seriesly”.

[smoky415]

1000’s of channels free over the internet. I use squidtv . net

[Kozak]

Apple TV

[atc23]

Might want to check out Apple TV or Amazon “Fire” TV - I cut the cable 2 years ago and I’m fine - total bill for TV services is 24.00 / month

[TomGuy]

Over-the-air provides a solid number of channels. Everyone should do this,

Location, location, location! as the Real Estate agent would say.

I live in an area where I 'might' pick up 3 over-air channels. I live in an apartment, so an outside antenna is not going to happen.

Over the air is not always a viable option. Most area stations figure that viewers have cable or satellite, so their direct broadcast signals have reduced in strength in recent years.

The small town I live in did not even have ANY local internet service until the phone company was purchased by a bigger entity and started offering dial-up about 2001. Cable company started offering internet about a year later.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Suggestion #1: Read all the previous FR threads on cord-cutting...
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=cable+roku+cut+cord

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Yep...just changed the capacitor and contractor on my outdoor AC unit for $70 in parts. Probably would have been $500 parts & labor for an AC company to come out. Also straightened out all my bend fins with a $10 fin comb saving another $150 or so.

[Rodamala]

I don’t own a television set.

[TomGuy]

I have heard that there is a movement ongoing to have congress pass legislation allowing consumers to choose their channels. Anybody hear of the movement?

All bluster.

When GW was president, John McCain was promising cable ala-carte. It still has not happened -- because the network concerns like the cable/satellite bundling. The more channels for the networks, the more money from their cut of the cable/satellite invoice.

Ala carte may happen if/when networks see the end of the media paradigm they have been using for decades.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I have Roku, Apple TV, TIVO, Panasonic TV, and DVD player — every item is connected to the net. I had to buy an 8-port switch to connect all of them (outgrew my Linksys 4-port switch). Since dumping DSL and switching to Comcast Blast service a couple years ago (initial 50 Mbps, then bumped to 100 Mbps and just got notice from Comcast yesterday that it is bumped again to 150 Mbps.

We’ve had Amazon Prime since Year 1 of the service mainly for the low-cost shipping benefits. They really sweetened it when they tossed in video and then added music. Also have Netflix streaming with one DVD because there is still so much content not yet available on streaming (or it can be streamed for a few months and then disappears).

I hardly ever watch DVDs any more. Watch the TIVO for the occasional movie (but HATE the infernal, frequent, and long commercials I have to fast forward through) as well as a couple of home shows (TOH, Hometime). Probably 95% of my viewing is shows and movies I’ve selected on Prime and Netflix.

By the way, a friend at work recommended “Damages” with Glenn Close, a 2012 TV series. Highly recommended. There are some really nasty manipulative people and an innocent naive new law grad learning how to be a vicious lawyer. Incredible plot twists.

[Auslander154]

I have Netflix and am on a Hulu trial run.
I am not going to keep Hulu as I just don’t get the point of it. What is the point of Hulu ? I just see a bunch of idiot sitcoms, trailers,and clips.

I thought with Hulu one could get the TV programs that one missed last week or the week before. But programs like Homeland are not even available on Hulu. Or a program like Suits ( best writing on TV) one can only get clips of.

Is subscribing to Showtime the only way to get current episodes of programs like Homeland ( which will be filmed in Germany next year )?

The only thing that appeals to me about Hulu is its BBC programs - the rest has no rhyme or reason ( some network shows have full seasons others don’t ???. I like certain shows on AMC and USA network, but Hulu does not carry them. Hulu confuses me.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Try turning your TV off for a week.

I haven’t had a TV in years. There’s nothing heroic about that. If you have a family with kids, you probably should have one.

Even though I am front of a computer all day trading, I find information conveyed through a TV to be buzzy, rattle-y, sheer neural agitation for the sake of agitation. When I had one, the tendency to veg out and go gaga in front of the thing was strong. And sometimes useful, more often, time-wasting, I think.

In short...for me....there’s nothing there to miss.

[rhoda_penmark]

I also recommend the ROKU - it’s versatile for the stuff I am already paying for. I use Amazon Prime video, Amazon Music, Netflix, my SIRIUS XM account from the car, etc. all on the ROKU. It can access all of the major pay TV (HULU PLUS etc.) and there is a lot of free stuff on it too.

The ROKU itself is just a one-time purchase and you can subscribe or pay for services as desired.

ROKU has no controls on it. If your dog chews up the remote, you can get another one from Amazon for about 10-15 bucks. (LOL Don’t ask.)

[lesko]

Ditch cable, satellite, whatever. Haven’t had any of that in my house since early 2008. Ride bike, go on a walk, do arts and crafts, lift weights, work out, read a book - the list is endless. My daughter and I occasionally watch rented movies but that’s it.