TV or not TV, that is the question

[Scanner]

Well, I plan to try to survive without cable as I embark on a new life as a single dad (using Netflix).

That being said, I will make a consumer political statement. I think Comcast needs some competition in the form of a company where you would pay $1/month/channel.

So, I would get:

NBC
ABC
FOX
CBS
Science Channel
History
Encore Drama ($2.00 for these)
Comedy
Weather Channel
Food Channel
Disney Channel
Nickalodean
Spike
AMC
PBS
TBS
Comedy

So, that's $17.00/month.

When the Eagles played on ESPN, I could go to the local watering hole.

(Well, you get the idea - you could price channels differently and not have a stupid 900 channel selection)

Why in this day and age can I not customize my damn TV?

[lrjohnson]

Maybe a delay will help? What if you say, "let's wait and see until June." The family would continue to get used to not watching. If, after months, they still really want it, it won't be out of just habit, it will be true desire, and then the money per month doesn't seem so bad for a true want.

Also, I attach a cord from my computer to the TV when I use Hulu or Netflix WatchNow-changes the whole experience, and makes it much more TV-like. If there are TV series your family likes, maybe Netflix WatchNow done that way would satisfy.

[kork13]

I'm very happy without any TV. Biggest reason IMO: it's remarkable how much time you can have once you stop wasting it in front of the TV. Even 'educational' shows are a tremendous waste of time, much less the 40 different pitiful attempts at "reality TV" that are on at any given time.

Read a book. Take up a sport or hobby; exercise; take music/language/dance/other lessons; or (*GASP!*) spend time with family/friends! There is next to no downside to dropping TV. Sure, there are a few shows I do admittedly miss watching (MythBusters is like crack), but if you spend your time doing other enjoyable, productive stuff, you barely even miss your 'favorite' shows--if at all.

[disneysteve]

I attach a cord from my computer to the TV when I use Hulu or Netflix WatchNow-changes the whole experience, and makes it much more TV-like.

We already stream Netflix to the TV through our Wii. That's great. We did that just last night and watched two episodes of The Dick Van Dyke show. We love exposing our daughter to some TV classics, and she enjoys them. Those great old shows are just as funny today as they were 40 years ago.

I have to figure out how to run the computer to the TV to get the other stuff on there. DD has been watching Star Trek TOS episodes on IMDB on the computer. It would be great it we could watch them on the TV instead.

[Snodog]

Even 'educational' shows are a tremendous waste of time....

I must respectfully disagree. As long as you are learning it is never a waste of time. IMO

[Snodog]

Why in this day and age can I not customize my damn TV?

I agree. You should pay for what you consume.

[disneysteve]

I think Comcast needs some competition in the form of a company where you would pay $1/month/channel.

Why in this day and age can I not customize my damn TV?

That has been proposed numerous times. There is a lot of resistance to it in the industry because some of the smaller channels could probably not garner enough subscribers to exist and it would be close to impossible for a new channel to get started unless they had Oprah's money.

[Scanner]

Cable Companies,

Cry me a river.

[jIM_Ohio]

If you get the history channel and discovery channel, then it's a good package. I need ESPN too, but not sure how much sports you watch...

$62 is expensive... try looking into a dish (or have wife and daughter research it).

We pay $80 for a dish with 3 rooms and 1 DVR. Cut out two rooms and the DVR and I think our package is $40. We get 200+ channels, all digital all the time. Nothing HD though.


Before you cave on cable at $62, someone needs to research getting same channels on a satellite dish. We have direct TV (more channels), but Dish is cheaper for fewer channels.

If you know what you watch, you can shop.

I need discovery, history, ESPN and that works for me most of the time- adding TNT, USA, TBS does give more variety, but history and discovery is what I watch the most when given control of the remote. Of course I also get my share of NFL network and ESPN too.

[jIM_Ohio]

I agree. You should pay for what you consume.

I agree cable could use a pricing change, but there are some roadblocks. Here are the ones as I understand them (not an expert, but I have read some on this with NFL network, ESPN and similar).


Each channel gets a royalty per subscriber... not sure on amount, but consider ESPN, with ESPN2, ESPN news, ESPNU and now ESPN3. They collect a royalty on each channel from each subscriber. When some cable outlets decided to cancel ESPNews (for example) from their main service (basic service), ESPN said they would pull ALL their channels from that subscriber. The cable outlets tried to do same thing with ESPN Classic too. If they threaten to pull one of the less used channels, ESPN will either raise their fees for ESPN, or pull all their channels from that service.

NFL network was having a similar issue when it first came out. Some services put it on the "sports package", which means in addition to the $70/mo people pay for the basic service, they would have to pay an additional $20/mo for a sports package which includes NFL network, YES (yankee baseball), empire sports network, the one in Detroit, the one in Chicago and similar (meaning the sports stations in the major markets are all on that $20 package).


Then an additional problem is the channels sell their space to infomercials (watch TV from 3am to 6am and tell me what's on 100 of my 200 channels). If the service was ala cart, then the money earned from the infomercials is lost and costs go up.

[Mr Nice Guy]

Give DD and DW $15 each, every month. That way, you save 50%, and they are happy. Waa-laa, problem solved

[MiikeB]

First, I would say hooking your computer up to the TV is probably not a great alternative. You don't have an HDTV so the resolution will be off, and you will probably have to purchase cables/hardware you do not already have in order to get the picture on there. Also, is your computer even located reasonably close to the TV? If it is a laptop you plan on using you have to figure in the 5 minutes you will spend plugging/unplugging everything and setting the display up every time you move the laptop from the TV to do other stuff with it.

So then is it worth the $20 a month? I think you can really just ask a few questions yourself to figure it out.
1) When you had all the channels before, did you think too much time was spent watching TV? If so, then maybe it isnt a good idea at all to have it.

2) Would the $20 a month package give you back a lot of the channels you enjoyed watching before? If you are paying $20 a month more for 150 more channels but not any of the ones you used to enjoy then there is no reason to get it.

3) What does $20 a month ($240 a year) normally provide you with your current entertainment budget? Would the entertainment from the additional channels meet or exceed the entertainment you normally get from $20? If you ate out one less time than you normally would in a four month period the cable would be paid for.

I too struggled with whether or not to get cable (satellite in my case is all thats offered). I don't watch much TV at all and could easily do without it, but my SO who lives with me likes to watch an average of an hour a day and we often watch shows like how its made and such together on the weekend. In the end I decided that it was worth paying for so the other members of my household could enjoy it and so I could have the option available to me.

[skydivingchic]

First, I'm betting it isn't really a $20/month difference. Even if you successfully argue to get that rate, I'm willing to bet money it is some limited time offer. In that case in a year (or whatever the time frame is), you will be paying $62/month. So really, this is a $50/month decision. I'm sure you guys could afford that as well, but at least look at the real costs and not the teaser rate cost.

We had cable growing up, but I have never paid a cent for it since I left for college. Over 14 years now. Honestly, I am completely appalled when I see $62/month+ for a complete time suck with ridiculous programming. Umm - no. When we go home for holidays or other ocassions I am reminded how horrid programming is. I can flip through hundreds of channels and not finding anything to watch.

I would look at this as the perfect reason to cut the cable. In a few months you and your family likely won't even remember what you are "missing".

[disneysteve]

First, I'm betting it isn't really a $20/month difference. Even if you successfully argue to get that rate, I'm willing to bet money it is some limited time offer. In that case in a year (or whatever the time frame is), you will be paying $62/month. So really, this is a $50/month decision.

True and I do realize that. I will say, though, that I know lots of people who have successfully argued each time the teaser rate ran out and got it extended for another year. My mom just did that a couple of month ago. I think the only people who pay full price are the ones who don't bother to call and debate it.

[graceful]

We don't have cable TV at our new house. We didn't install it when we were living in the house part time for about 10 months. After living here for about 3 months full time, we aren't missing it much at all.

We have plenty to watch using Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Amazon (on demand). DH finds 99 cents deals or free downloads on Amazon and he usually seems to get credits to use up for video and MP3 downloads.

We did get the new TVs that have internet access. My Dad LOVED the Netflix feature on our TV when he came to visit. So, DH purchased a Roku box for under $100 (I think it is much cheaper now)to hook up to my parents' TV in their home. It gives their older TV internet access capabilities. So, no need to hook up a computer to the TV. We added their TV to our Netflix account. Dad is loving on demand TV programing.

DH also purchased a slingbox for OUR TV and hooked it up to my parents' TV so that we can remotely access and view their TV (which has cable). We don't use it often because my parents use their TV and DVR and we don't want to interrupt their schedule.

My kids do miss seeing Disney shows like Phineas and Ferb when it first comes out on cable but they are learning to wait a bit. They will either use slingbox to watch on the grandparents' TV or catch it on youtube or elsewhere on-line.

We find that the kids are watching a LOT less TV by the virtue of not having the TV on in the background anymore. They only turn it on when they want to watch something and when all their school work is done. And many times, they will chose a book to read instead.

I think having no cable TV is a blessing in our house right now.