Ode to the cancellation of Comcast Cable

[ESMonitor]

I would like to hear from anyone who is currently using a digital antenna and how is it working out for you? I am considering canceling my cable as a way to save some money each month. My cable bill keeps increasing. Thanks.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I would like to hear from anyone who is currently using a digital antenna and how is it working out for you? I am considering canceling my cable as a way to save some money each month. My cable bill keeps increasing. Thanks.

My wife still likes to watch these crappy 90's sitcoms and such... I'd love to cancel cable!

[avil_saver36]

I would like to hear from anyone who is currently using a digital antenna and how is it working out for you? I am considering canceling my cable as a way to save some money each month. My cable bill keeps increasing. Thanks.

We have been cable free for nearly 3 years. In in fact plenty of people I know have cut the cord a while back.

I have the digital antenna since the last year and it catches some 25 channels. We however rarely turn on the idiot box anymore.

We stream. Mostly netflix. Occasionally some other seasonal things (we watch tennis so whenever the slams are going on, we will get tennis.com subscriptions for a month). We are so used to streaming whatever we like that we cannot even fathom the idea of turning on the box and sitting through the commercials which do nothing but feed you terrible normative cues.

TV does more damage than just making you pay $80 or whatever it is per month. It makes you dumb. It makes you addicted to it. It shows you a completely imaginary world with super successful and super cool people that makes you hate your own life and ignore your own and your family's needs.

Originally TV was meant to be a medium to educate the population on a massive scale. When TV came to my country (I am a first generation immigrant here), it used to run only 2 hours in the evening on a single national channel, and all programs were patriotic. Then, the regional channels came about which had superb programs promoting every region's unique culture. In those days in my country, TV actually added value - I remember those days.

Nowhere on this planet, TV remotely emulates that ideal anymore.

My advise to everyone is: Cut the cord even if you have to pay for it. In the long run, you will be very happy. Our TV free house has achieved wonders - we discovered board games, card games, music, hiking, being outdoors, picnics, finding the local gems and much more.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

We have been cable free for nearly 3 years. In in fact plenty of people I know have cut the cord a while back.

I have the digital antenna since the last year and it catches some 25 channels. We however rarely turn on the idiot box anymore.

We stream. Mostly netflix. Occasionally some other seasonal things (we watch tennis so whenever the slams are going on, we will get tennis.com subscriptions for a month). We are so used to streaming whatever we like that we cannot even fathom the idea of turning on the box and sitting through the commercials which do nothing but feed you terrible normative cues.

TV does more damage than just making you pay $80 or whatever it is per month. It makes you dumb. It makes you addicted to it. It shows you a completely imaginary world with super successful and super cool people that makes you hate your own life and ignore your own and your family's needs.

Originally TV was meant to be a medium to educate the population on a massive scale. When TV came to my country (I am a first generation immigrant here), it used to run only 2 hours in the evening on a single national channel, and all programs were patriotic. Then, the regional channels came about which had superb programs promoting every region's unique culture. In those days in my country, TV actually added value - I remember those days.

Nowhere on this planet, TV remotely emulates that ideal anymore.

My advise to everyone is: Cut the cord even if you have to pay for it. In the long run, you will be very happy. Our TV free house has achieved wonders - we discovered board games, card games, music, hiking, being outdoors, picnics, finding the local gems and much more.

I agree that TV makes you dumb and fat.

My biggest issue is football season. A lot of the non-local games aren't shown.

[avil_saver36]

I agree that TV makes you dumb and fat.

My biggest issue is football season. A lot of the non-local games aren't shown.

I have stopped watching football since the last several years. There was a time when I knew almost the entire roster (and I mean the full 53 man roster) of the Baltimore Ravens.

Over the last few years, I only watched the ending moments of the Raven's thrilling games. I did not watch them win the Super Bowl - when was it, 2012/13?

I have moved on. Vicariously experiencing an irrational joy for your "favorite team's triumph" (or the irrational unhappiness when they lose) did nothing for me. It's one thing to be a fan and have an interest in the game, but the boundaries of fandom and viewership have been stretched beyond reason here. A regular Joe cannot even afford a ticket to these "fun games" anymore. This "fun" is $9B monster that needs us to keep feeding it, and sometimes they want you to pay for their stadiums too. Is this irrational joy so much worth it that we must have industries worth billions of dollars and athletes paid in the millions?

No, it's not working out for me, and I sincerely hope it stops working for all the average Joes like me. Wasting 20 Sundays of the year glued to the TV is a steep price - this is the time I would rather spend with my daughter who can't have it enough already.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I have stopped watching football since the last several years. There was a time when I knew almost the entire roster (and I mean the full 53 man roster) of the Baltimore Ravens.

Over the last few years, I only watched the ending moments of the Raven's thrilling games. I did not watch them win the Super Bowl - when was it, 2012/13?

I have moved on. Vicariously experiencing an irrational joy for your "favorite team's triumph" (or the irrational unhappiness when they lose) did nothing for me. It's one thing to be a fan and have an interest in the game, but the boundaries of fandom and viewership have been stretched beyond reason here. A regular Joe cannot even afford a ticket to these "fun games" anymore. This "fun" is $9B monster that needs us to keep feeding it, and sometimes they want you to pay for their stadiums too. Is this irrational joy so much worth it that we must have industries worth billions of dollars and athletes paid in the millions?

No, it's not working out for me, and I sincerely hope it stops working for all the average Joes like me. Wasting 20 Sundays of the year glued to the TV is a steep price - this is the time I would rather spend with my daughter who can't have it enough already.

One more thing that is "uncool" in this forum: watching football. Add it to the list (leasing cars, credit cards, buying nearly anything for enjoyment). Now watching sports.

You guys must be fun to be around.

[avil_saver36]

One more thing that is "uncool" in this forum: watching football. Add it to the list (leasing cars, credit cards, buying nearly anything for enjoyment). Now watching sports.

You guys must be fun to be around.

In no way shape or form, I am part of any "collective" of the forum My opinions are completely those of an individual.

[Atretes1]

I can not answer the digital antenna question but I also cut the cord due to rising prices that I could not justify. I loved the dvr to be able to watch shows at my timing. Now I just stream anything I want to watch.

[Gailete]

I don't know if it is digital or not, but we have rabbit ears including aluminum foil wrapped on them to help bring in the signal. We get the three major channels, 3 PBS channels, and something called the CW (I don't know if that is national). I watch my shows on TV, my husband prefers watching endless showings of his videos and DVD's and my son keeps track of DVDs we might want and so get them for gifts. We rarely buy them unless we see them at a yard sale or something. Our thrift store I think currently is charging 10 cents for a video. The hardest part of videos is finding a player! They just aren't making them or they are combined with DVRs. Anyhow, we haven't had cable in a long time. Only maybe 2-3 years out of almost 14 that we were married and I didn't have it before. We do fork out for satellite internet via the DISH as our businesses NEED constant reliable internet. We are in the country and are limited to what we could use as a cable provider anyhow.

[dawnwes]

We went cable free for 4 years. We have gone back to cable for a while now, but may cut it again when the promo period is over.

What I missed most from having cable was the DVR box. So, I got Tivos and those worked with OTA TV too.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Cable TV has its stronghold over me. I cannot cut the cord due to being a sports junkie and need CNBC and Fox Business News. My cable TV costs about $70 a month which includes the sports package. I've looked into sling TV which includes ESPN but doesn't have Fox Sports West (Angels baseball), TWC sports (Dodgers & Lakers), and other sports channels. The only thing that I wish I could eliminate is a $12.99 charge (included in the $70 a month) for the DVR recording box which I never use. To me sports should be watched live or not watched at all. Oh and I also like to bet the ponies from the comfort of my living room and TVG (horse racing channel) is a must for me. TVG broadcasts live race tracks across the nation such as Delta Downs, Mohawk, Golden Gate park, Santa Anita, etc.

[HappySaver]

We have a digital antenna and it works great for us. But how good your reception will be really depends on where you live (we live in a major metropolitan area). There are websites that will give you an idea of how good your reception is based on your location.

We hardly ever watch channels on the TV. Mostly PBS and that's rare. Otherwise we watch DVDs or stream from our computer.

We do watch some sports online on WatchESPN - some of it is free to non-cable TV subscribers. It helps of course if you have a family member who will "lend" you their ISP password.

[ESMonitor]

I have stopped watching football since the last several years. There was a time when I knew almost the entire roster (and I mean the full 53 man roster) of the Baltimore Ravens.

Over the last few years, I only watched the ending moments of the Raven's thrilling games. I did not watch them win the Super Bowl - when was it, 2012/13?

I have moved on. Vicariously experiencing an irrational joy for your "favorite team's triumph" (or the irrational unhappiness when they lose) did nothing for me. It's one thing to be a fan and have an interest in the game, but the boundaries of fandom and viewership have been stretched beyond reason here. A regular Joe cannot even afford a ticket to these "fun games" anymore. This "fun" is $9B monster that needs us to keep feeding it, and sometimes they want you to pay for their stadiums too. Is this irrational joy so much worth it that we must have industries worth billions of dollars and athletes paid in the millions?

No, it's not working out for me, and I sincerely hope it stops working for all the average Joes like me. Wasting 20 Sundays of the year glued to the TV is a steep price - this is the time I would rather spend with my daughter who can't have it enough already.

Avil, your comments about the NFL, I concur. It's so commercialized now it's almost not worth watching anymore.

Now show over 110 COMMERCIALS per NFL game. Who needs that?? No thank you.

And it's my understanding the NFL has a lot to do with cable bills increasing. NFL hikes up their TV contracts, and the average joe ends up paying for it; unless the average joe decides enough is enough.

Lots of good comments about this digital antenna on Amazon:

Amplified HDTV Antenna - 50 Miles Range, 1byone® Super Thin HDTV Antenna with Detachable Amplifier Singnal Booster for the Highest Performance the Longest Reception Range, 10ft Coax Cable, Bigger Flat Size Gets the Larger Reception Range.