Took the Plunge with cutting the cord.

[DMCVegas]

So we turned in the digital cable box on Saturday, and went over to Fry's and picked up a MOHU Leaf Ultimate antenna.

http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchfield.com/ImageHandler/fixedscale/400/300/products/2013/30/792/x792LEAFULT-F-1.jpg

We're using an Apple TV to supplement programming over the internet connection we kept, and bumped up to 50 Mbps. Though the interesting bit is that now that we don't have Cable TV any more, we actually seem to be watching more TV... So far it's been great, although it did take a bit of trial and error to set everything up. There are a few pros and cons though.

Cons:

The Leaf Ultimate does a great job, but it's not a true Omnidirectional antenna. If I turn it one way, I can get an additional 5 channels, but loose another 4. If you live closer to the source (I'm approaching 40 miles, in a bottom floor apartment opposite the Line Of Sight, in the forrest), it shouldn't be a problem.
The included amplifier works great. But it suffers from poor shielding. If it get's too close to an electrical source or WiFi device, you'll have interference.
You've got experiment with locations for the antenna
The included coax cable isn't high-enough quality IMO. I swapped it out for the old Commscope Quad-sheild RG6 that the cable box used, gained 3 extra channels, and cleared up another 4 entirely.
I had to mount the antenna sideways for the best reception. A little odd on the aesthetics, but not a big deal.



Pros:

We've saved $130 a month, with another $35 off for the first 6 months on the internet we kept.
The channels are actually clearer. Cable and Satellite companies will compress video for their own rebroadcast, but off-air signals are untouched. No where was this more obvious than during sports broadcasts with lots of fast-moving action shots during golf and football.
The Leaf Ultimate antenna is very lightweight and sticks up on the wall easily with just some thumbtacks to be mounted anywhere.
Lots of content! We pulled in over 46 channels. A good portion I don't watch, no, due to either language or interest. But there is a whole more than expected, and some stuff that Comcast either didn't carry or was charging for that we now get free.
While we don't get 100% of the channels thanks to my location and building design, the antenna did a fantastic job of picking up what it did.



It's nice to know that I've managed to stop such a huge outbound cash-flow from out budget. We do still pay for Netflix and Hulu Plus that I don't fully count as apart of the savings, and that's because we've had them for almost a year now and have pretty much been slowly watching them more than Cable TV. If you don't already have them, you'll probably want to get them anyways given the massive amount of content that's cheaper than a single HBO subscription. You do need a box for them such as an Apple TV or a Roku too, but it's a one-time investment, and you get other free content like Crackle, MLB, NHL, NBA, & MLS highlights (paid subscription for live games), Weather Channel, Bloomberg, etc. We have Apple TV since we're pretty much all Apple products anyway, and the Apple TV lets me share screens from the Mac onto the TV Wirelessly. But there are other choices of course. The antenna wasn't the cheapest at $70, but for the size and ease of use, it's great for an apartment. Later on when we get back into a house I'll get a DB8e up in the attic with an amplifier to feed all the rooms, but for now this one is great.

$130 a month going into the restoration budget!

[opethmike]

We cutout cable several months ago, and switched to using a Roku box with Netflix, Vudu and Amazon prime. Saves us a bunch of money, and we get to watch what we want when we want. I can't picture ever going back.

[Exolis]

We cutout cable several months ago, and switched to using a Roku box with Netflix, Vudu and Amazon prime. Saves us a bunch of money, and we get to watch what we want when we want. I can't picture ever going back.

Same here, though we don't have Roku, we just use our PS3.

[Jonathan]

I got rid of my cable not long ago, but it was as much to do with not wanting to be overwhelmed with the commercials than anything else. Well, that and the reality TV shows are far from reality (and crap too, IMO. We used to call ridiculous behavior shows back in the day 'Seinfeld' where we all knew it was outrageous and that was the point. Not pretending it's "reality"). I am missing some sports I used to watch, but not all of it as the commercials were getting so incessant that they were on the field or in between pitches and relentless. Sports is more about entertainment now than it is about athletics. Unfortunate though as the Olympics seems to be all about show now too. It's like Vince McMahon and the WWF/WWE are running all major league sports behind the scenes now. They spend more time covering the story lines and what the guy did after the game or in a bar that weekend than they do with how well he played the game. It's all about the Benjamins like everything else unfortunately...

Anywho, pardon the rant... lol, but when you get this antenna thing set-up (and assuming a Canadian version is out there), are you getting the same broadcasts you might have with a paid TV cable service? i.e. with the commercials? Or is it all like the way MLB TV is where there are no commercials and actually when they go to commercial break out in regular TV subscription land, it flips to a message screen for that time saying "back in a moment from commercial..."

I don't mind saving the cash of course, but it was as much about the images and message on the screen as it was anything else, which is rubbish nowadays to me anyway.

[rdarlington]

I cut the cord 6 years ago. Conservatively, that's $5k more in my pocket (or into the DeLorean). My productivity level went way up. I'm also down two pants sizes.

-Bob

[jangell]

We do something similar -- Netflix DVDs and streaming, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus for most recent TV shows, iTunes for the things that aren't on Hulu, and YouTube for various short-format shows that aren't on TV in the first place. We don't watch sports or news, so the loss of them doesn't affect us, and waiting until the day after shows air to watch them isn't a big deal either. We started doing this about five years ago.

I estimate the total cost at ~$40/month, including buying an iTunes season pass for a TV show every couple of months. This is on top of the $65/month we pay for internet access through Comcast (we do own our modem so that we don't have to pay the rental fee). We use ~300 GB/month in data, according to the Comcast dashboard (thankfully they've suspended the 250 GB cap for some time now).

I do wish HBO would get around to providing a service for cord cutters, or at least let us buy their shows on iTunes a day or week later instead of a year later as they do now. Comcast's new HBO Plus Internet package isn't bad, although it's only a one year introductory price at around $65/month; I have no idea what it spikes to after that.

I'm also considering Aereo when it becomes available in my area. For those who don't know, Aereo is a service that rents you a micro-antenna and a DVR so that you can stream local over-the-air channels for around $8/month. Since you rent your own antenna and DVR, it's not considered retransmission, so they can get away with it (assuming the lawsuits from the broadcasters fail, that is). I mostly like Aereo over an antenna so that I can easily watch it on whatever device I want to, and stream it when I'm not home. I don't actually have a TV hooked up anywhere -- what TVs we do have are used as glorified computer monitors, and if I did use an antenna I'd have a DVR as well (I can't go back to live TV), so I figure I might as well just get Aereo. That said, we're doing pretty well with just the existing streaming services, iTunes, and discs from Netflix.

I definitely appreciate the reduction in commercials from streaming (they're still there on Hulu, but notably fewer) and buying shows, especially considering how bad commercials are upcoming episodes of shows -- I don't miss those at all.

One other thing: The TVii feature of the Wii U, and the new Xbox One cable control features are basically worthless to me because I don't have a TV. It's kind of too bad that I can't play with that stuff, but the fact is that the VAST majority of TV is still watched live, so it makes sense to include that functionality -- cord cutters and even DVR users are a relatively small number of viewers. Over time it's going to be the same as how young people don't have landline phones because they already have cell phones (I don't have a landline, either).

-- Joe

[Michael]

I am going to do the same thing this week. I'm dropping cable and with that, over 120.00 a month will he gone. We never watch cable anymore, if the tv is ever on, its usually on Netflix. Cable sux anymore, all commercials and.hardly.anything relevant on..unless you love the kardashians.

[Jonathan]

I cut the cord 6 years ago. Conservatively, that's $5k more in my pocket (or into the DeLorean). My productivity level went way up. I'm also down two pants sizes.

-Bob

Yea, this is big. It's amazing how often you put the mind on auto pilot and just sit in front of the boob tube. Although, with Facebook and the Internet you can piss away just as much of your time.

I have not had cable since November 1st and like it so far. I realized I can watch the Hockey Night in Canada Saturday games on CBC.ca so that gets me my hockey fix for the week. The choppiness isn't my favorite and was similar with MLB TV. My connection is considerably faster than what they say the minimum is, yet it still isn't very good.

I have plowed through quite a few DVDs or Blurays I hadn't got around to watching prior to getting rid of cable. I watched the 13 episodes of Alcatraz that was on a couple seasons ago as well as the 22 episodes of the V remake TV show. Not super productive, but when right off the bat an hour of TV only takes 45 minutes, you're already way ahead of the game!!

[opethmike]

Not to mention, no commercials makes for better enjoyment of the show when you aren't getting interrupted as you are getting into what is happening.

[DMCVegas]

Anywho, pardon the rant... lol, but when you get this antenna thing set-up (and assuming a Canadian version is out there), are you getting the same broadcasts you might have with a paid TV cable service? i.e. with the commercials? Or is it all like the way MLB TV is where there are no commercials and actually when they go to commercial break out in regular TV subscription land, it flips to a message screen for that time saying "back in a moment from commercial..."

That's a good question. Admittedly I'm not familiar with Canadian broadcasting, but it does look like there's some options up there. Some of the outlying areas up there still use analog, so if you've got a TV that still picks up both analog and digital signals (like the Vizio one we have), you should be able to pick everything up. In any case, check out http://www.tvfool.com for a coverage map to see what channels you'll be getting. It's pretty accurate from what I've seen, and does a nice 3D model of coverage that takes terrain into consideration. And of course it does cover Canada. But in any case, yes, the same local broadcast stations that you get with cable you get for free. Now stuff like Discovery Channel, HBO, things like that you will NOT get, no. But ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CW, CBC, etc. you will get. Again, check out TV Fool to see what you should be able to receive in your area. The other thing too is that there are also a whole bunch of channels available to you that cable does NOT carry. Admittedly many of these are either foreign language (Spanish & Vietnamese in Houston mostly) or lots-n-lots-o-Jesus-channels. But there are also many independent channels that never achieved "Must Carry" status by the FCC, so you never heard of them. Mostly movie channels and re-runs of classic, and sometimes ancient TV. I watched both Star Trek and Hopalong Cassidy this weekend. And other just plain weirdness where applicable. If you ever saw "UHF" with Weird Al Yankovich, or grew up in Southern California and remember KDOC-56 (which inspired the film), you've got an idea about what's out there.

The one thing that you brought up was the commercials. Aside from having a much, MUCH clearer picture using OTA, the commercials are so much more bearable because they're not blasting me out of my chair! Cable and satellite use Ad-Insertion where when a show goes to commercial, cue tones are played to signal the change. The MUX/Cherry Picker is triggerd buy this and switches the feed over to an in-house video player that plays commercials, fades to black when done, and then switches back to the original feed. That's why when you watch TBS or CNN you'll see the last commercial end, then get a 1-2 second blip of the end of a different commercial. But despite all this, no one ever balances the damn volume on those things. Since switching over to the antenna, the volume is now where it's supposed to be. It's so much nicer.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I hate my cable (expanded basic). All I watch is the evening news and the History channel. Commercials are getting so bad I'm temped just to record everything and fast forward over the Commercials. In my area there is only one cable company so they charge $76 a month. But the satellite is mostly all the same price. I know I'm in a bad area to use that antenna but I'm temped to buy one just to see. Also want to cut the landline phone but that provides my DSL internet.

[jmettee]

I'll echo just about everything. We are in the phase of cutting the cord. I've priced our our DirecTV account against cable (Comcast) & found out it's just about the same content for the same cost, even after the internet/TV package. We just signed up for HULU last month & are liking that as the alternative to live TV & a DVR. Savings would be on the order of $70/month from what we are paying now.

Main reason: tired of reality shows. Apparently lots of people watch this garbage since it is becoming more & more common. I used to be able to find something interesting/educational on Discovery, Animal Planet, History, or TLC.....now you get infomercials on the weekend mornings (I'm PAYING for them to advertise garbage to me?!?!) & any other time it's marathon of (Fill in the blank)-Wars.

In reality, the only things we will be giving up would be NASCAR (don't laugh) & the Walking Dead. There are ways to get Walking Dead, so it's so worth it to dump DirecTV & not be a sheep, blindly paying money to networks for more reality shows & garbage.

[Jonathan]

Main reason: tired of reality shows. Apparently lots of people watch this garbage since it is becoming more & more common. I used to be able to find something interesting/educational on Discovery, Animal Planet, History, or TLC.....

I agree with you on the interesting/educational shows on TLC, Discovery, History, etc. I'm always game for learning how they build the "megastructures" like massive bridges, or tunnels, or how an oil rig works. The part that really lowers my overall opinion and hope for humanity is that even these shows are now more reality scripted characters than they are the technical project they're focusing on. I mean, I get that Bob the head Project Manager on the big under the mountain tunnel dig has to deal with challenges along the way, but now the show seems to be as much how he got irate at getting an unneceesary call by one of his team in the middle of the night because the fork lift truck driver was drunk/tired and he lost/damaged some equipment they would need the next day. It's more about the storyline than the work, just like sports is now more about the entertainer/player storylines than the game itself or athletics.

I'm happy to get back to reading a lot more of late though. And I'm a paper copy in your hands kind of guy, not the eReader type. Books seem to be about the last sacred place without the advertisement contamination.

GET OFF MY LAWN!!! lol :)

[jangell]

The "human interest"-izing of more technical/informational shows is something I find quite annoying. I usually do not care about the people in a show about engineering or science -- I want to know about the engineering or science. There does seem to be this feeling that they need to have some kind of conflict to make a show interesting, when to me it just makes the show trite and takes away from the real content. I've seen suggestions that this is because the channels have hit caps on the size of their audience, so in order to grow they need to broaden the scope of content to attract viewers who wouldn't normally watch. This in turn alienates their long-time viewers, and leads to homogenization of what were formerly more specialized channels into cookie-cutter copies that are distinguished only by which exclusive reality-esque show they happen to have, with the theme of the show sometimes only tangentially related to the channel itself.

To this end, I've started using YouTube for my more informational shows, like science shows that I might have gotten on Discovery or The Science Channel (back when they actually did that sort of thing), but less dumbed-down, more succinct, more informative and often easier to understand. For example:

Minute Physics (http://www.youtube.com/user/minutephysics) - 2-3 minute science videos
ASAP Science (http://www.youtube.com/user/AsapSCIENCE) - 2-3 minute science videos
Veritasium (http://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium) - 5-8 minute science videos (this gets pretty hard core at times, like how quits work, what vacuum energy is, etc)
CGP Grey (http://www.youtube.com/user/CGPGrey) - 3-8 minutes, lots of interesting stuff
VSauce (http://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce) - 8-12 minutes, various topics
PBS Idea Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsideachannel) - 6-10 minutes, various topics
Numberphile (http://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile) - 5-15 minutes, more hard-core math stuff, like the significance of certain mathematical constants and sequences, how the Enigma machines work, etc.

Khan Academy (http://khanacademy.com) also has a lot of science and history videos, although to this point I've only really looked at the math section, especially with the new learning dashboard they have.

Incidentally, Walking Dead is one of the shows I get through iTunes due to the lack of a free AMC streaming source. If I had to buy all my shows that way, streaming would not be viable for me, but since it's only a handful it's not too bad.

-- Joe

[opethmike]

Justin,

You can get Walking Dead next day on Vudu. Costs us $2 per episode, but commercial free which certainly helps the experience.

[jmettee]

To this end, I've started using YouTube for my more informational shows, like science shows that I might have gotten on Discovery or The Science Channel (back when they actually did that sort of thing), but less dumbed-down, more succinct, more informative and often easier to understand. For example:

Minute Physics (http://www.youtube.com/user/minutephysics) - 2-3 minute science videos
ASAP Science (http://www.youtube.com/user/AsapSCIENCE) - 2-3 minute science videos
Veritasium (http://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium) - 5-8 minute science videos (this gets pretty hard core at times, like how quits work, what vacuum energy is, etc)
CGP Grey (http://www.youtube.com/user/CGPGrey) - 3-8 minutes, lots of interesting stuff
VSauce (http://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce) - 8-12 minutes, various topics
PBS Idea Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsideachannel) - 6-10 minutes, various topics
Numberphile (http://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile) - 5-15 minutes, more hard-core math stuff, like the significance of certain mathematical constants and sequences, how the Enigma machines work, etc.

Khan Academy (http://khanacademy.com) also has a lot of science and history videos, although to this point I've only really looked at the math section, especially with the new learning dashboard they have.

Incidentally, Walking Dead is one of the shows I get through iTunes due to the lack of a free AMC streaming source. If I had to buy all my shows that way, streaming would not be viable for me, but since it's only a handful it's not too bad.

-- Joe


Justin,

You can get Walking Dead next day on Vudu. Costs us $2 per episode, but commercial free which certainly helps the experience.

Thanks to both of you on the YouTube channels & sources for Walking Dead (this pretty much seals the deal). I'll add those YouTube channels to the list for my educational entertainment void that has been lost with Discovery channel.

[DMCVegas]

The "human interest"-izing of more technical/informational shows is something I find quite annoying. I usually do not care about the people in a show about engineering or science -- I want to know about the engineering or science. There does seem to be this feeling that they need to have some kind of conflict to make a show interesting, when to me it just makes the show trite and takes away from the real content. I've seen suggestions that this is because the channels have hit caps on the size of their audience, so in order to grow they need to broaden the scope of content to attract viewers who wouldn't normally watch. This in turn alienates their long-time viewers, and leads to homogenization of what were formerly more specialized channels into cookie-cutter copies that are distinguished only by which exclusive reality-esque show they happen to have, with the theme of the show sometimes only tangentially related to the channel itself.

Same here. I don't care about the personal lives of the people building something, unless it somehow plays a specific role in the construction/operation of it. Luckily How it's Made is also available on Netflix, and it another show I love to watch. Of all the channels out there, PBS was the one that the wife and I were most concerned about getting since we tend to watch their programming the most. But again, its' also available on the Apple TV now too, so that's one less concern.

The "Reality TV" thing is what really drove the final nail in the coffin for me. If I somehow got proper entertainment value for my money, I would have kept a good portion of Cable TV, if not all of it if that was what I wanted. But "Reality TV" killed it for me. I'm happily married, and probably your average American out there. My life doesn't suck, but like everyone else out there I've got a job and bills to pay. To put it bluntly, I've got enough problems in my life that I don't need someone else's manufactured bullshit in mine. Women love soap operas, and the drama, and all that. I get it. But when I see whiney, crying, and worst of all ungrateful little airheads on TV, it just wears me down. And then you've got the constantly angry people. I get it that these shows are staged, and at best cleverly edited. As such people portrayed on TV are just that: Portrayed. Even when it's just footage of themselves being cleverly edited to create something new. And then it just forces itself upon you. From the winey drama, to even the car builder shows out there.

Wheeler Dealers is, in my opinion, the perfect car repair show. It plays like a YouTube video: Two people who while they may joke around a bit, are there to get a task done. When things get bad, they don't explode in ball of rage, but rather just shrug, keep a stiff upper lip, and just do what they've got to do. The focus remains on the purpose of the show itself, which is the job to repair cars. Not the trials of the people who appear in it. They also keep everything genuine. There is no brand namedropping, nor forced commercials in the show. I don't even know what brand of chemicals Ed uses sometimes because they keep the labels covered. When they need parts, it's off to the junkyard for them. And when that isn't viable and they have to order them from a supplier, it arrives in a plain box. THAT is the kind of TV programming I want, not reality, honesty.

The whole reality programming is just the death throes of content providers. Back in the 1980's satellite companies started competing with cable companies, and the big draw was the additional channels that were available. Most of them though were either Superstations or multiple feeds of the same channel, but from different timezones. Cable needed to complete with additional content, and satellite needed more content. Thus the great arms-race for TV channels began. At first when those channels rolled in, cable companies started rotating feeds across a single channel. But as their cable plants and equipment improved, they were able to devote individual channels. Digital cable really provided the means for the extra channels thanks to the lower bandwidth demands. However the content providers got greedy too. They ended up realizing that they could simply create additional channels, which they could charge for, and force cable companies to take them by bundling them together. Disney did this with all those little Disney stations that cable companies had to buy if they wanted Disney Channel and ESPN. Viacom did it with MTV & Nickelodeon. NBC starting doing it with it's content as well. It just went to hell in a hand basket quickly. So in order to pay for these extra channels that they had to take, you the customer had to bear the load with increased service charges. Here is an interesting read on Cablevision's lawsuit against Viacom because of expensive bundling. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/cablevision-files-antitrust-lawsuit-viacom-424587) Even DirectTV, Time Warner Cable, and Charter agree with Cablevision.

We'll see how this all goes, but I think that Time Warner Cable (who is probably going to be sold off to either Comcast or split up between Comcast and Charter because of increased cable-cutters like everyone here) really doomed themselves when they rejected the idea of Apple TV having an RF tuner card so it could replace their Set Top Boxes. They were so worried that iTunes and other streaming apps would kill their VOD and premium channel sales that they declined to go further with it. I can't say for sure when it'll happen, but I feel pretty confident that Apple TV & Roku are going to take over people's TVs, leaving most content providers like Viacom, Discovery, and the like in the dust, unless they give up the bundling and allow people to stream the shows a la carte. Even then, I doubt they can survive.

[refugeefromcalif]

All this cable talk reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's song, "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)." :histerical1:

George

I shut my cable off back in 1998...

[jangell]

I forgot to mention this handy site:

canistream.it (http://canistream.it)

It searches Amazon, iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, Vudu and a bunch of other services for streaming availability of TV shows and movies, including free streaming, rentals and purchases. It's much easier than searching each of those yourself when you want to see if a show or movie is available.

Also handy for gamers is howlongtobeat.com (http://howlongtobeat.com), especially if you want to know if a game is worth your money (too short) or if is going to require a lot of time.

-- Joe

[Jonathan]

To this end, I've started using YouTube for my more informational shows...

Good list Joe. I also tune into the "TED" channel for another good source of informational shows. Not exactly the same as the science or technical documentary types, but some of the TEDTalks have covered some really interesting subjects.

Bill Gates published his favorite 13 TEDTalks if you wanted somewhere to start: http://www.ted.com/playlists/35/bill_gates_my_13_favorite_tal.html

[GS450-Junkie]

I may be one of a few here, but I actually like cable. I like "Live tv" and also cannot live without my sporting events which is probably why I can't cut the cable. If someone like amazon prime or Netflix could figure out the world of sporting events I would probably let go. Anyway.... my cable bill jumped way up about 2 months ago so I bought a Tivo system since it allows me to have a DVR, channel guide, live tv, sports, etc. basically everything I had before but with my own cable boxes and not the cable companies. I'm saving about $45 a month after I turned my boxes back in and swapped them out for a $2 cable card. Yes, I had some upfront costs with buying the Tivo system, but they will pay for themselves in the long run. I love Tivo, and they've come a long way in the past few years.

[jangell]

Sports are the trickiest thing to get. I looked into this for my dad at one point, and didn't really find any idea situations. The best option is something like Aereo (if you're in a supported area; they're still rolling it out across the country), since then you can just watch the normal over-the-air sports broadcasts.

These are the other options I found:

ESPN3: Seems this is available for streaming for Charter customers (and possibly others; not sure if you need TV or not). It includes college sports and things like soccer and cricket, but won't include big-ticket events.

NFL Game Access: Beyond using Aereo, there's no way to get live access to games. For $30/season, the NFL will let you stream audio, and $70/season gets you full HD broadcasts after they air. Over the year that comes out to ~$6/month, which isn't bad -- as long as you don't mind not watching the game live.

NFL Sunday Ticket: $250/year ($21/month), but only if you wouldn't be allowed to/able install a DirecTV dish where you live. Contrary to my previous statement, I believe this is live, but that's awful expensive for what it is.

MLB.TV: $130/year (~11/month), access to every major league game with local market restrictions as usual. Not sure if it's live, though.

NBA League Pass: $180/year ($15/month) to live stream all games.

NHL Game Center Live: $80/year (~$7/month) for all out-of-market games live, and replays of in-market games next day.

Incidentally, ESPN demands ~$5 per cable customer, far more than any other channel (most popular ones are closer to $1).

-- Joe