Today, we went dark. Sort of.
Today, our cable and land-line were cut off. We still have internet and our mobile phones, but the dedicated connections for television and phone are as dead as Monty Python’s parrot.
During our fortnight-long sans cable experiment, everything about our television viewing habits came under scrutiny: what we watch, when we watch, and how we watch. We learned a great deal about our habits and thoroughly re-evaluated what we considered “worthwhile” viewing. After two weeks, we no longer think of things in terms of networks, but see them in terms of providers, apps, and individual shows.
Not everything was rosy, though, and before we dropped the hammer, we had to make some compromises.
Unfortunately, we had to stick with Frontier Communications for our internet — they’re the best bang-for-buck among the three providers in our suburban tract — so our consumer-based revenge for their poor service was limited. Also, we had to say goodbye to some favorite shows that are only available with a cable subscription, and had to learn patience while we waited for live-broadcast episodes to make their way to on-demand venues. A critical issue arose when we learned that our assumptions regarding our security system — specifically about its usability once we cut the land-line — were incorrect, and we had to rethink our plans.
Overall, though, I’m pleased with the decision. We will save about $200/month over our previous costs, will get rid of a lot of hardware (and several remote controls), will increase the quality of what we watch, and will inject a great deal of adaptability into our systems with month-to-month subscriptions in place of long-term contracts.
In short, here’s what we did. We:
- Dropped cable entirely
- Dropped landline
- Upgraded broadband internet (from 30 Mbps to 50 Mbps)
- Installed a digital antenna (for live, local-channel broadcasts)
- Subscribed to a streaming provider (for network-based shows)
- Renegotiated our security monitor and switched it to wireless
The main goal of this exercise was to drop costs, which we did; the new systems will save us over $2000 each year even with the new subscription costs.
A secondary goal was to simplify our lives; this was why I specifically did not explore installing a DVR-replacement. I did not realize how much futzing and fiddling the DVR required (especially after their most recent “upgrade”) until we went to a totally on-demand model. (A big “thank you” to all who wrote, explaining how I could swap my DVR for your whiz-tech solution, but in the end, these suggestions all sounded less like a cure and more like the headache I was trying to get rid of.)
There was also a third outcome, a benefit of which we were totally unaware until halfway through our two-week trial period: we watch less news, we read more news, we are better informed, and we are less stressed-out by current events. (Trust me. We are not calm about current events, but by eliminating our access to 24-hour news channels and the hype of non-stop punditry, we’re certainly calmer.)
Also unexpected was the response by Frontier Communications when I called to cut off cable and land-line. I expected a hard sell to stay, but got none. I expected an opportunity to tell them why I was cutting off these services, but they were completely uninterested in my reasons. While I did have to make the expected multiple phone calls to achieve the one result, and while I did get the expected contradictory information from the two people I talked to, their lack of concern over losing 70% of my monthly bill told me that I wasn’t the first one to do this and that they had pretty much conceded the battle for my business before it even began. Perhaps this is their model, as broadband internet is a lot more cost-efficient for them than all the fiddly-bits and overhead that come with cable and phone lines.
Throughout the whole thing, not one person thought I was crazy (well, not for this reason, anyway); in fact, everyone who commented either had already made the cut, or was seriously considering it for themselves. Things are, indeed, a-changing.
The main lessons learned are these:
- There’s nothing on television you cannot live without.
- There’s plenty on television you’ll be happier without.
- Just because you’ve always had a thing does not mean you need a thing. There’s a lot of crap in our modern, First-World lifestyle; get rid of what you can.
Remember that you’re paying the bill.
Acknowledge your power.
Take control.
Don’t apologize.
k
[…] year ago, I posted about our decision to dump our cable provider in favor of a completely streaming […]
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[…] been a full month since we dropped our cable and land-line package to become a primarily streaming household, and I think we can say that the results are […]
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Reblogged this on Tammy Mezera and commented:
Solutions To Cable Costs in the US. If you have idea’s or cost saving advice please join in on the conversation.
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Wow so many great idea’s here and you totally get the GoT addiction. It’s funny that you should mention how cable companies succumb to losing business and are less likely to work with their subscribers. Five years ago we could call and renegotiate the contract, not so much these days. Major US media outlets on cable are too redundant narrow and as you hint (blood boiling) so I’ve adapted to online media a long time ago as Twitter and the online translator expands accessibility to local news in other countries. On the other hand, my partner is a Bravo chick and there are less options for that, so negotiations are challenging.
When we were looking at Sling Tv it offers free Roku express so I had thought that was exclusive for Sling (I am just the beginning to research my options and Sling doesn’t describe what exactly what Roku is). But we also have Apple tv which is great. My biggest concern will be how much data is used (I have a teenager) and will it grandstand the costs of cable. But at least, after reading this post it definitely prepares me to take action because cable is just way too much money and has been for awhile. Going to reblog on website. Thanks Kurt!
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Reblog away. You saw the first post on the topic? It’s two posts back, of you haven’t.
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No I didn’t see it yet.
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This is something we’ve been discussing as well. I’m a news junkie of course but the major stations are redundant, sensationalists, and out of touch with true national news. Needless to say, internet is better for good journalism. Cable is way too expensive and we’ve been trying to figure it out.I just cannot miss Game Of Thrones or the Weather Channel though.
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News: With our Roku box, I’ve picked up the free-to-view apps for several international news sources (BBC, SKY, Reuters, Al Jazeera) plus the free apps for NBC/ABC/CBS News, and one local news channel. And there are many more from which to choose. I still prefer my NYTimes for in-depth reporting, though. (And don’t forget the digital antenna, for free viewing of live local news, sports, and network broadcasts.)
Weather: There are a mess of weather apps, too, though I can’t vouch for them as I get my weather from iPad apps (Weather Channel, WeatherNow, etc.)
GoT: I hear you. For that, we use HBO Now, a month-to-month subscription application (on Roku and on tablet). It’s the same cost as adding it to your cable lineup, except no contract, and you can quit whenever you want (and without the hour-long call to the cable provider). If you’re patient, you can wait until all the eps have dropped on the season, then sign up for a “trial month” on HBO Now, binge on Got:S7, and cancel the trial before it rolls over to the first pay-month. We did that, but kept HBO Now for all the other good shows we found (Westworld, The Young Pope, John Oliver, etc.) Showtime has a similar app; we don’t subscribe to that one, but may buy a month or two when there’s a show on it that we can binge on.
With the exception of Amazon Prime, all our viewing subscriptions are now month to month, which gives us massive flexibility and adaptability, should any of them prove of less use. Even when we add them all up, it’s less than our previous single cable bill, and we were already paying for some of them (e.g., Netflix, AcornTV) on top of cable.
The cable television model is on the way out.
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