Is cord cutting finally catching on?

[stilllearning]

What do you think?

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/20/cord-cutting-q1-2013/

 

[boba]

We don't have cable available available in our small town so that leaves Directv and DISH or OTA. Both Directv and DISH need to renegotiate their programming offers removing EXPENSIVE SPORTS offerings from basic packages and offering optional packages. At 60 miles from Dallas I've got about 70 digital stations, the major networks and Cozi/Live Well Network/This/Antenna TV/RFTV & METV. There will be a FOX Movie channel next month and probably a few more offers.

 

[chapelrun]

It was a no brainer for me. I upgraded my OTA setup, purchased a Tivo HD with lifetime support - - - on Sunday I cancelled Dish saving $48 per month.

I also think it is the economy a bit. Folks are looking for value and if money is tight they try to find things thay can easily be cut without to much change in lifestyle.

I'm using OTA, FTA, NetFlix, Roku and Computer Streaming as good alternatives.

 

[jayn_j]

Pretty much the same for me. I cut the $100/mo cable a full year ago and haven't looked back. OTA, Netflix and Amazon cover the bulk, with some non-traditional feeds from the Roku. Also have a TIVO with lifetime.

 

[MikeD-C05]

And yet DISH is going UP on their new FEES for the Hopper on the 23rd. Even with all the negative future forecast for pay tv and they are going up a second time in 3 months this year alone on their prices and fees. The hopper is great but it isn't going to attract many new subs if they keep going up on their FEES. I am really close to cutting down to just the Welcome pack for ota and my hopper and using the roku for everything else. I could save a small fortune a year is I did this. The Bundling of channels needs to END and Sports need to be spun off in their own premium packs. IF you want them YOU pay for them. They already do this with Premium Movie packs ,it is way past time to do the same with sports ,especially since they are the main reason why everyones basic programming packs has to have ESPN in them. IF not I don't see the pay tv structure lasting to the end of this decade. Even networks are having trouble attracting subs to watch their shows. They had practically NO new hits this last season. NBC alone trashed their entire schedule of shows ,other than their one hit Revolution. It was only by the grace of God that show got any viewers to come back ,since NBC removed it from their schedule for close to 4 months. The whole pay tv industry , and the networks are a part of it, are pricing themselves out of business.

 

[stilllearning]

We dropped Direct last September. We put up an outdoor antenna (49 usable channels and we are not even in a major metro area) and bought a Channel Master DTV PAL DVR and a Roku. We were paying about $80/month for Direct so our ROI on the antenna, DVR, and Roku was about 4 months. The OTA HD rocks. Between OTA and Roku we have more than enough entertainment.

 

[eurosport]

We put Dish on pause. My wife was almost done watching the recorded shows she had when the DVR crapped out. We have a TIVO HD for OTA, plus Netflix & the FTA C/Ku system. The Dish DVR dying while on pause is a sign I think. I do believe we're not "un-pausing" but cancelling. I like the $125 extra each month & the family doesn't even miss it anymore!

 

[Blindowl1234]

I can't believe in this still shaky economy that some spend over $150 a month on cable etc..All these hoppers/joeys etc..too confusing. I keep the little dish on for the wife until summer when we spend most of our time outdoors. I think there are two different groups of cable/sat folks...those who are addicted and will pay whatever it costs to get those few channels they can't live without...and those who have what they can barely afford, but are shouting that they want ala carte at a reasonable price or we're done with sat/cable period. We've also got Roku, OTA, FTA, and a smart Tv with internet in our house so there's plenty to watch. Hopefully we'll begin to see more changes in the next few years

 

[R0ss]

Well I don't how much cord cutting is actually catching on, but we also did it back in February. I had put up an Antenna last summer, got a rotor (defiantly worth the investment made, have had to make minor adjustments to antenna direction as the seasons change) once I was sure everything was working well we picked a date and that was it. We also have a Roku, and I purchased a TIVO off eBay so we can do some time shifting. We get 18 channels plus our fox affiliate is supposed to be adding a movie channel soon as well.
I do miss watching the Red Sox, but not enough to subscribe to MLB and do the necessary to receive what is blacked out. Would somewhat defeat the purpose of saving money any way. There are times when we do miss cable news, never been a fan of the networks, we can get CNN on playon when we really need to.
I would have to say that four months in we are doing alright, withdrawal only lasted about a month, and we actually are watching things that we used to skip over, ie PBS, Create, and a lot of stuff one the ROKU...

Ross



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[Magic Static]

FTA and OTA and free streaming only. No TV bills at all. Plenty to watch

 

[Mr Tony]

Is cord cutting finally catching on?

no. People jump from provider to provider
People will downgrade but there are tons of people who just "grit it and bear it"

My grandma is one of them. She has comcast (only option) and she could easily be in the Digital Economy package (think standard cable minus sports and Viacom channels) because the few channels outside of the locals she watches are in that package. Its 34.95
But she NEEDS (her words) Fox Sports North....so now she has to be in Digital Starter...the cost? 68.99 (before any extra fees)

so she is paying double for one channel

 

[Blindowl1234]

That's when the cable companies say GOTCHA! we'll give you that one channel but at a price. I hope a la carte happens someday..gotta be better than what we have now

 

[SamCdbs]

no. People jump from provider to provider
People will downgrade but there are tons of people who just "grit it and bear it"

This.

The whole "cord cutting" themeatic has been bubbling though the media for about two or three years. Backed up by anechdotial stories of what OTA can do, which, best case scenario, are the big 4 networks, multi-preachers, multi-PBS (which is really just an alternative form of preaching), and 10 to 20 channels that are more or less TV Land remixes. And people that are "perfectly happy with that".

Fine. Enjoy. There are a few people that really don't like television. Nothing to see here, move along.

 

[jayn_j]

This.

The whole "cord cutting" themeatic has been bubbling though the media for about two or three years. Backed up by anechdotial stories of what OTA can do, which, best case scenario, are the big 4 networks, multi-preachers, multi-PBS (which is really just an alternative form of preaching), and 10 to 20 channels that are more or less TV Land remixes. And people that are "perfectly happy with that".

Fine. Enjoy. There are a few people that really don't like television. Nothing to see here, move along.

BTW, congrats on the 1000th post.

Hi, my name is Jay and I am a cord cutter.

You are pretty much correct concerning what is on broadcast, but you learn to adapt a bit. PBS has a lot of homebuilding porn like appears on HGTV and a lot of cooking porn like on FOOD. In case you didn't notice, TVLand stopped showing old series years ago, so networks like ME, RTV and Antenna are actually showing unique content these days.

Still, we couldn't live on broadcast alone, especially during the summer. That's why we have a streaming Netflix account and are Amazon Prime members. We also have a Roku box.

When we cut the cable, our monthly bill went down $100. We put some of that into BluRays and adding to an already extensive library of BR, DVD and older Laserdiscs. Basically, I seldom, if ever have a problem finding something to watch. When we were on cable, we seemed to ignore most of the other options and would do the 500 channels and nothing on lament during the odd hours.

Short answer, it seems to be working for us, and has for over a year now. But I respect the fact that YMMV. Enjoy your cable.

 

[Bob2011]

There will always be people who cut the cord because they have to, have other avenues of entertainment, or for elitism.

I would say there are more cord cutters with young liberals because they are more internet absorbed and know how to get free shows online. Believe it or not I have met several of the elitist type where they feel TV or cable TV is for the unwashed masses. Some of them don't own a TV or only have one for news, PBS and the rare indie or educational DVD.

The economy I'm sure knocked several hundred thousand or more folks out of pay TV but they were offset by the digital conversion scare that sent older folks into cable and satellite.

 

[dhashd]

We cut the cord with Dish Network almost 3 months ago. When Dish tried to make us change our mind they told us that they will do "almost anything" to keep us. I told them that we will be happy to stay with them if they will let us pick and pay only for the channels that we watch. It was not possible. I told them to call us back when it will be possible. Until then we are very happy with OTA, Roku and Netflix. From $80/month for TV, now we pay only $8, that's 90% less. At least now we don't have to pay for the repeats and the ads.
One month after that some friends of us did the same thing after they visited us and saw our setup and how much TV is available for free (OTA) or for very little money (Netflix).
My message for the pay TV industry: Transform and give us what we want (a la carte programming) or die!

 

[Mr Tony]

My message for the pay TV industry: Transform and give us what we want (a la carte programming) or die!

wont happen as long as channel providers fight to keep their channels bundled together. Want Discovery? Well then you have to take our 8 low viewership sister channels too

 

[SatelliteAV]

My sister has been interested on my cord cutting for the past 4 years. After seeing my HTPC with Silicon Dust tuner, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, she asked me to install an antenna and HTPC.

Next week she is eliminating $100+ per month Comcast subscription and cutting the cord. Complete HTPC (for DVR) with sound bar, dual terrestrial tuner and outdoor antenna for less than $500.

 

[Mr Tony]

When I lived in my house I thought of getting rid of satellite and just being OTA & FTA only. But for me the pickings are slim. I dont watch much OTA TV and FTA filled the need for sports but lots of providers were encrypting their feeds so that wouldnt work. Too many times there was something I wanted to really watch...only to see it scrambled.

But the big thing is people say "oh I'll get netflix and a roku". Well thats fine and Jim Dandy if you can get a great internet connection. But when I lived in the house the BEST I could get was 1.5MB download and that ain't gonna cut it for a Roku.

Three reasons why people will continue to pay for cable/satellite and not drop to OTA & a Roku (or some other streaming device)
1a. Their OTA reception sucks because they are too far away from the towers
1b. Their OTA offerings are not that good. I grouped these together. Yes some markets have a great OTA offerings (Minneapolis would be one of them) but for every 1 market of "good offerings" there are probably 4 or 5 markets where its the Big4 + PBS and thats it (or a CW/My subchannel. My buddy lives in the Fargo market and the only subchannels he gets are CW and MeTV. PBS has some but I think every PBS has a subchanel or two. Where I use to live (Duluth, MN) only subchannels are CW, My and MeTV.
2. Either poor internet connection or no "real" one (ie: satellite is the only option). That wont work for most streaming devices

But I guess if it came down to economics I probably would get rid of my Directv setup...but since its included in my rent why bother

 

[dhashd]

My personal view about sports:
Baseball, basketball, hockey - too many games, they play almost every day.
Football - too violent for my taste.
But enough games are on OTA TV anyway.

The only sport that I watch when I have the opportunity and ready to pay for is soccer. But to get the soccer channels with Dish, BeIn Sport and FOX Soccer, I needed to subscribe to their most expensive package, Top 250. That means that I had to subsidy all the junk channels and give money to all the whores that dominate some cable channels. It was enough for me after the last price increase from Dish.

Right now I'm watching the European League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund on FOX. Last World Cup was on OTA TV, on Univision, probably it will be the same next year, from Brasil. For me it's enough.