Cut the cord, anyone else ?

[02ebz06]

Finally did after about 30 years with Dish. Worked for them in the early days of the company at their uplink center in Cheyenne, WY.
Got tired of their disputes with providers and leaving customers without channels. DirecTV is same.
Taking channels away, raising prices, just had enough.

So I bought a TabloTV 4 tuner DVR with 1TB storage for OTA broadcasts.
All my TV's are TCL with ROKU built in.
ROKU can add the Tablo app.
Primarily record the 4 major networks with it.
93 local channels, but most we don't watch.
Got Sling as well (ROKU has their app as well).
We can record (Cloud storage) all the other channels we used to watch on Dish.

We went from $172/mo for Dish
to
$4.99/mo for the Tablo 14-day guide plus some other benefits.
$45/mo for Sling Basic
$5/mo for MGM+
$5/mo for 200 hrs upgrade for cloud storage.
Total of $60/mo

I've had Paramount+ for sometime, so didn't count that in the numbers since I had it before and after cutting the cord.

Saved $112/mo.

There is no doubt it is not as convenient as Dish in some ways, but more convenient in others.
We can watch a lot of old series we liked that Dish doesn't have.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Working on the same strategy.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

I did. We had spectrum and I had a tcl tv in the garage that I would use the spectrum app to watch everything with. Now after we moved I used a free trial if fubo tv which was great. Has all my sport channels I like, with everything it’s about 100 a month. That is including extra sports packages. And I can watch it on any tv in my house and my parents can mooch off it also. Works great for us. Sometimes the streaming if live sports gets blurry but everything considered it’s good. Better than cable and the cab boxes and all that

 

[mr_whipple]

I cut the cord on the cable TV, but kept them as my ISP. I honestly don't remember when but it's been at least 6-8 years... I've tried firestick / netflix etc etc ad nauseam and just gave up. I have a cheap leaf style antenna that brings METV, Grit and a few other channels. I use it for background noise and watching old shows from the 50's forward. Honestly... I could live without television.

 

[Winterrider]

I researched things previously, it got mind boggling so I gave up. I have a bunch of stuff on DVR with Direct that I hate to lose if I drop them.
If someone was to come up with a channel pick format, they would become instant Billionaire.

 

[civilsmoker]

We didn’t have to break the chains cause we never signed up…..we have been streaming exclusive for a long time, Prime, Hulu, Max (get it fee via our grandfathered phone), Apple TV, we start and stop paramount and AMC and a few others when we want to watch stuff.

 

[Danblacksher]

did almost the same thing with Comcast. Did tmobile internet and sling tv and i went from $180 to $95

 

[zwiller]

VERY timely topic. We're cutting soon (yeah I know and should have done sooner). Pretty sure I am going HDHomerun with a good antenna. Keep some streaming and do a few channels/networks a la carte. We don't really "watch" TV, it's like ambiance or something. My homeowners got out of hand too, life insurance, etc. HATE doing it as it's HUGE PITA and a fight every time but has to get done.

 

[JLeonard]

I have ATT fiber and YouTube TV.....Still cheaper than what cable and internet costs around here.

Jim

 

[SmokinEdge]

Trying out Apple TV and the stuff loaded on the TV like Amazon Prime. I just want to watch the old sitcoms like Gunsmoke, Andy Taylor, Mash, those types and be able to watch football also. We shall see.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Watching the Andy Griffith show now lol! On METV... usually on in the morning then switch to INSP channel... westerns on all day. Leave the TV on for the dogs. Hogan's Heroes on at nine.

Ryan

 

[Bigtank]

We cut the cord a few years back, we like tried hulu for a while and now using You Tube TV Prime, Apple TV cause its free, Paramount + and some I turn on off depending if they have a serries I want to watch.

 

[zwiller]

Trying out Apple TV and the stuff loaded on the TV like Amazon Prime. I just want to watch the old sitcoms like Gunsmoke, Andy Taylor, Mash, those types and be able to watch football also. We shall see.

Heard good stuff about AppleTV. There is A LOT to digest to do this well and cheap but determined to crack that nut. A lot of old shows are free on the Samsung+. There's like 1000+ channels. There's a cowboy channel. I like the mystery stuff and there a few of those. There's also music and other fluff, etc. Not streaming (pausable) and have ads. There is a local news channel for pretty much all large areas. All totally free but sorta hidden. I think the same applies to all TV MFR but not sure. Then there apps within apps. IE. Freevee inside Amazon. I watched all episodes of XFiles doing that.

For any that do not know the ability to get totally free local channels in HD is true. No BS. If you are lucky enough to be say 20 miles or so from the stations all you need is little antenna thing to hook up to the tv and you're set. For like 30-40 miles you gotta step up your game but same applies.

 

[Fueling Around]

In progress for MN.
A few years ago we got a new Vizio TV (actually a screen with no tuner) so stayed with cable until the last year of rate hikes made me say "It has to go!"
The TV has built in Chromecast and that platform sucks so bad that I though all streaming must suck.
Bought a Roku stick to experiment. Hey, this streaming stuff is actually pretty easy.
Bought a digital antenna, but didn't get it put up this summer.
Cable and internet are suspended for the winter so next spring the cable goes away, the internet gets upgraded to the next level and the antenna gets put up. Just need a tuner box for the Vizio monitor.
I should go from $190/ to around $90/ including the internet upgrade and a couple of subscriptions.

Here in FL, internet and basic cable are included in the apartment rent.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Heard good stuff about AppleTV. There is A LOT to digest to do this well and cheap but determined to crack that nut. A lot of old shows are free on the Samsung+. There's like 1000+ channels. There's a cowboy channel. I like the mystery stuff and there a few of those. There's also music and other fluff, etc. Not streaming (pausable) and have ads. There is a local news channel for pretty much all large areas. All totally free but sorta hidden. I think the same applies to all TV MFR but not sure. Then there apps within apps. IE. Freevee inside Amazon. I watched all episodes of XFiles doing that.

For any that do not know the ability to get totally free local channels in HD is true. No BS. If you are lucky enough to be say 20 miles or so from the stations all you need is little antenna thing to hook up to the tv and you're set. For like 30-40 miles you gotta step up your game but same applies.

Agree. We are very rural but just got fiber high speed from our electric utility cooperative. We are playing with options and the utility has its own tv that is kinda like Dish even the menu is close. I’m just not techy enough to be comfortable with some of this change, but I’ll get there.

 

[Fueling Around]

Watching the Andy Griffith show now lol! On METV... usually on in the morning then switch to INSP channel... westerns on all day. Leave the TV on for the dogs. Hogan's Heroes on at nine.

Ryan

INSP channel is the one loss my wife will miss from cutting the cord

 

[fxsales1959]

Finally did after about 30 years with Dish. Worked for them in the early days of the company at their uplink center in Cheyenne, WY.
Got tired of their disputes with providers and leaving customers without channels. DirecTV is same.
Taking channels away, raising prices, just had enough.

So I bought a TabloTV 4 tuner DVR with 1TB storage for OTA broadcasts.
All my TV's are TCL with ROKU built in.
ROKU can add the Tablo app.
Primarily record the 4 major networks with it.
93 local channels, but most we don't watch.
Got Sling as well (ROKU has their app as well).
We can record (Cloud storage) all the other channels we used to watch on Dish.

We went from $172/mo for Dish
to
$4.99/mo for the Tablo 14-day guide plus some other benefits.
$45/mo for Sling Basic
$5/mo for MGM+
$5/mo for 200 hrs upgrade for cloud storage.
Total of $60/mo

I've had Paramount+ for sometime, so didn't count that in the numbers since I had it before and after cutting the cord.

Saved $112/mo. That will go toward the car payment of the new electric car we just purchased.

There is no doubt it is not as convenient as Dish in some ways, but more convenient in others.
We can watch a lot of old series we liked that Dish doesn't have.

Not exactly cut, but shit-canned Direct TV. went to Dish. 4 TV's 250 channels $138/month
Direct had gone up to $200-ish. I get about 80 antenna channels but many or spanish or QTV crap. Gig-download to stream what I need. No subscription downloads but get Max free with internet subscription. Sad thing is we only watch about 6 channels for the most part.

 

[bill ace 350]

Don't have satellite, cable not available.

I have DSL.

Believe it or not, that is good enough for streaming to multiple devices simultaneously.

I view OTA, Netflix, Sling, Amazon Prime media and Roku content.

 

[schlotz]

We were on DirecTV for more than 20 years. Went through numerous storm outings, and squabbles mostly with CBS access. The final straw was the ending of the NFL ticket which turned out to be their undoing and a blessing for us. We have fibre out here in the sticks (go figure) so said goodbye to DirecTV and we are now streaming via Fubo and youtubeTV for the NFL ticket. Total savings, just over $170 per month.

YouTube's NFL ticket has it's growing pains though. They don't allow you to pick the games you want to put in their 4 game up display. Neither can you just pick two and watch side by side. Additionally, every time you decide to change the game you're watching there is a horrible delay which seems odd since that is not the case when using Fubo.

 

[chopsaw]

I did about a year ago . I have TV's all over the house , and with cable I saved a bunch just getting rid of the boxes . You tube TV , and just about all the services . Had all those any way .
I see Spectrum finally wised up and is going to a streaming box . If they still charge for that and being able to record then that's leaves them in the dust .