anyone give up cable TV and survived it?

danger boy

although I can't live without cable internet. I'm pretty sure I can live without cable TV. it's gotten so dang expensive. I won't name any cable companies, but I have finally gotten to the point where it's just not worth it anymore.

I love watching TV, and I know I watch to much of it.. but dang, I could use the money toward upgrading the stereo rig or home theater for what I pay a year or cable TV.

So i'm asking if anyone here has gotten rid of their cable TV and survived? winter will be tough with only the local channels.. but i'll prob be so busy shoveling snow I wont have time to watch TV.

messiah

If you have a nice computer monitor, you can probably watch 90+% of what you would watch on tv on your pc and enjoy it just as much. Just a thought.

BlueFox

What bugs me is I pay $80+ a month and watch 15-20 minutes a night while eating dinner. I might Tivo some show but rarely watch it. Until hockey season starts, and Caprica returns on Scifi, the TV is idle. I really should disconnect it.

WilliamM2

I was going to drop cable, but my wife likes to watch the local news, and we can't pick up a single OTA channel where we are. I don't really miss any of the channels we no longer have, we still get about 20 (5 of those in HD) for $16 a month.

decal

I have not watched TV(cable or otherwise) for 6 months now,don't miss it a bit.

joeparaski

Count me as one of those that does not have cable t.v. My wife and I watch very little t.v. and my daughter even less. So we got rid of the cable a few years ago (going on 3 years now I think) and we don't miss it at all.

Joe

HB27

I gave up satellite and cable. My son was too engrossed in TV and since we've gone "rabbit ears" only it's nicer around here.
Theres's still a lot of quality programming around here so it's not like we're missing cable/satellite at all.
The withdrawals were over in a couple of days.

bobman1235

Sigh, folks, he didn't ask about how much you do or do not like TV, he asked about canceling his TV services but still watching things. No one cares whether you do or don't find anything on TV entertaining.

DB, I also watch quite a bit of TV, and I canceled cable at the beginning of the summer. Nearly EVERY show I watch, which is a decent-sized list, is available for free on Hulu. I pay per episode for Mad Men, and that's the ONLY show I watch that I can't find (legally) for free. There are lots of programs out there that will help you try and get this stuff on your TV, but honestly having tried most of them I just prefer going to hulu.com (and other sites when necessary) directly.

If you can't get OTA channels, you can usually keep "basic" cable for a pittance (it costs me 21/month, but with the "multi-service discount" of $15 it's a whopping six dollars so I can watch the news and, soon, football.

Best 60+ dollars I've ever saved. Do it and don't look back.

Oh, and I recommend "clicker.com". It's a great site for managing all of the shows you watch and it tells you when there's a new episode available online, for free or not, and where to find it.

advancedman

We cancelled are cable about 4 months ago saving about $100.00 a month. Only kept the high speed internet for $54.99 a month.

I do miss watching the Yankee games.

dkg999

I got rid of my cable TV and went with a Roku box and Netflix instant TV. Upgraded my comcast internet service and get all my news via the internet and Droid phone. I don't miss a thing except the monthly bill. I still get local channels via the cable TV feed (it's a requirement in my town, even if you don't have cable TV service). There's just nothing on cable or broadcast TV that's worth the monthly fee or rearranging your life to watch something at a specific time.

Bobsama

decal wrote: »

I have not watched TV(cable or otherwise) for 6 months now,don't miss it a bit.

I've not watched TV for more than a day in a row in over 2 years now. I don't think I've missed it one bit--I'm a little more out-of-touch with recent news but that's fine with me. 90% of what's on CNN is "OMG WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE OR GO (MORALLY) BANKRUPT". I could care less about listening to Fox and other news networks seem to be more syndicated reruns than news. I can list the channels I watched on one hand:

1) "News"/weather
2) Adult comics
3) Discovery
4) History
5) Food

That's it. I could care less about the other 70 channels: MTV doesn't play music, Comedy isn't very funny, SciFi is loaded with made-for-TV movies, and the rest are often infomercials. Why the HELL would I want to pay for infomercials?!? Just the same, why watch TV when 1/3 or 1/4 of the time, you're simply watching commercials?

Even over summer, me watching an hour of TV is very rare. While at school, I neither have nor want a TV in my room.

Face

The only thing keeping me hostage is the local traffic station. Otherwise, my cable box is sometimes unplugged for days or weeks at a time.

howie777

Yeah going on about 6 months of no cable either just the internets. I just netflix the DVD's or watch netflix on ipad/xbox360. Life is much cheaper now.

You just have to learn to yell at your co-workers to no talk about shows your waiting for the DVDs on! If your not behind when you cancel, then Hulu is good to keep you up to date. Although with football season starting soon, cable may be cheaper than the weekly bar tabs!

Howie

Sherardp

I've been without cable for 7 yrs. I download any and everything I want to watch. Then again cable is not an option here unless you live on a military base and I don't.

j allen

I gave up cable 5 years ago. As stated above, you can watch a lot of things online, and I find that I have a lot more time for reading when I'm not glued to the T.V.

exalted512

I would if the wife would let me...but she loves TV the way I love internet, so I leave it alone...haha.
-Cody

Bobsama

On a side-note, it's not the cable provider's fault that it's getting so expensive. The vast majority of the bill goes to the companies putting the stations on the air. Disney, Viacom, Turner, NBC Int'l, and other entertainment conglomerates have been demanding higher rates per subscription. Your Cable and Satellite providers are stuck between a rock and a hard place--they get blamed for any and all issues and are barred from revealing how much all x00 channels cost and are forced to either increase rates or allow it to eat into their thinning margins.

devani

even if you only have high speed internet, you can still have OTA channels when you split the cable and connect to TV....granted your TV must be new equipped with digital tuner...these are all LCD LED, Plasma TV....

Willow

We have thought about it and every time we go to cancel they offer us a great deal so we sign on again for another year. We don't watch much and I know I can find everything on the internet. We are seriously considering cancelling it after this term is up.

decal

bobman1235 wrote: »

Sigh, folks, he didn't ask about how much you do or do not like TV, he asked about canceling his TV services but still watching things. No one cares whether you do or don't find anything on TV entertaining.

DB, I also watch quite a bit of TV, and I canceled cable at the beginning of the summer. Nearly EVERY show I watch, which is a decent-sized list, is available for free on Hulu. I pay per episode for Mad Men, and that's the ONLY show I watch that I can't find (legally) for free. There are lots of programs out there that will help you try and get this stuff on your TV, but honestly having tried most of them I just prefer going to hulu.com (and other sites when necessary) directly.

If you can't get OTA channels, you can usually keep "basic" cable for a pittance (it costs me 21/month, but with the "multi-service discount" of $15 it's a whopping six dollars so I can watch the news and, soon, football.

Best 60+ dollars I've ever saved. Do it and don't look back.

Oh, and I recommend "clicker.com". It's a great site for managing all of the shows you watch and it tells you when there's a new episode available online, for free or not, and where to find it.

Nor did he ask for recommendations for other services.
No one cares what service you use or what shows you watch.

jflail2

I'm through about 6 months with no cable, and I cancelled for the same reason as you. The only thing I really watched with any consistency was football, and I can get a decent selection of games OTA.

I refuse to pay 70-80 a month for something that can be replaced (in my mind) with OTA channels and $10 a month on Netflix.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I can't get the OTA channels where I'm at, so I'm stuck with cable. I can get the shows I watch online, so that's not a problem. But, No Football = FAIL so I'm stuck with cable. Between football, baseball and golf there's always something on during the weekends, so my cable isn't going anywhere.

I could downgrade to basic cable, but I'm not going back to watching stuff in standard definition.

bobman1235

decal wrote: »

Nor did he ask for recommendations for other services.
No one cares what service you use or what shows you watch.

Oh, hey, bite me. I was trying to be productive, rather than an elitist snob who has to announce how they're too good for TV. Kind of a difference, if you have an IQ more than 6.

billbillw

I gave up my Satellite feed last Fall and I've been living with OTA only.
I supplement with the basic <$10 Netflix 1-out unlimited plan which gives me streaming to my Tivo.

Oh, I should mention, I can live without cable/satellite, but I cannot live without a DVR, hence the reason for me purchasing a couple of HD Tivo units used for pretty cheap. So, instead of $80 per month to Directv, I pay Tivo and Netflix a combined $30 a month.

For the most part, I have no regrets and don't miss the service. One exception: college football season! Its going to be tough, but I'll just have to get by with the ABC, CBS, and some local coverage by the SEC network. I know I can pull in some games on the computer if I really want to watch them.

jawhog

decal wrote: »

Nor did he ask for recommendations for other services.
No one cares what service you use or what shows you watch.

Oh, I get it, we should just stick to literally the question and not jump to the next logical question or try to be helpful.

Then in my case the answer is "yes".

I guess everyone here should have just written yes or no.

PS - I dumped cable 7 years ago. Record TV ota using windows 7 media center on a Dell Zino. Use Hulu, netflix and red box to fill in the gaps. All other good shows not available for free can be purchased by the episode (as someone stated above, or eventually come out on DVD (I use netflix and just live 6 months behind everyone else).

cstmar01

gave it up for about 2 years when I went to college then went and worked at a place that you couldn't get cable or internet...The net killed me for those 4 months I was there, cable not so much. Its easy to get over once you get used to not having it and I really still don't watch a whole lot. Only reason I have it is to watch the football games and that its cheaper for me to do a "bundle package" instead of just internet through charter....

decal

bobman1235 wrote: »

Oh, hey, bite me. I was trying to be productive, rather than an elitist snob who has to announce how they're too good for TV. Kind of a difference, if you have an IQ more than 6.

You chastised people for getting off topic then did the same thing yourself,so no difference there.Who are these so called "elitist snobs" that said they were too good for tv? So,stooping down to your low level, BITE ME!!

bobman1235

Using bold text does not make your point any more insightful or less idiotic.

decal

jawhog wrote: »

Oh, I get it, we should just stick to literally the question and not jump to the next logical question or try to be helpful.

Then in my case the answer is "yes".

I guess everyone here should have just written yes or no.

PS - I dumped cable 7 years ago. Record TV ota using windows 7 media center on a Dell Zino. Use Hulu, netflix and red box to fill in the gaps. All other good shows not available for free can be purchased by the episode (as someone stated above, or eventually come out on DVD (I use netflix and just live 6 months behind everyone else).

No,he chastised people for getting off topic then did the same thing himself.My comments were directed at him and no one else.

Demiurge

I lived without it growing up and only had it a few times as an adult. Anyone can live without it.

Just last week I had my DirecTV dish installed at my house, though, since OTA is a near impossibility where I live. The deals these companies are offering in this economy are great.

Nothing beats watching NFL football in HD on my 120" screen.

Life is good.

decal

bobman1235 wrote: »

Using bold text does not make your point any more insightful or less idiotic.

If you say so,but it does help out the folks who don't see so well.