Has anyone dropped cable/dish?

[TheAccountant]

my wife and kids are doing just fine with the switch, I'm the one who is having Braves withdrawal which is the only thing I'm not really liking about it so far. Of course, saving $100/month helps ease my pain.

FWIW, you haven't been missing much.

 

[Bamaro]

I would like to but really not an option for me. I tried Netflix but after watching all of Breaking Bad and a few movies, not much left.

 

[CrimsonForce]

Just some thoughts on this subject. I was thinking about getting rid of DirecTv and going without. When I started looking into doing that it really wasn't worth it to me. DTV is around $40 intro price for the first year. Next 6 months is about $80 and then about $100 for last 6 months. The key is once the two years are up just call them and tell them you will switch to dish or cable if they don't give you a better offer. They will put you back on same discount or better that you were on. The two year pricing breaks down to $65/month (12 months @ 40, 6 months @ 80, 6 months @ 100). That pricing is for the second or third tier I think it's called choice. I know it's not the top package because there are several channels I do not get that are in higher packages. I also have 3 TV's hooked up with this deal. If I was to cancel that and just have netflix or netflix and hulu I would save either 65-8= 57/month savings with just Netflix or 65-7-7=50/month savings with Neftlix and Hulu. It doesn't seem worth it to me. I am by no means rich but it is not worth it to me to save 50 or 60 dollars per month and not have DirecTv. I like being able to watch sports all year in the comfort of my home. No way would I want to have to watch a Bama game on my laptop if I am at home. I'm not sure why people are saying they are paying well over 100/month for just cable. Maybe prices are different geographically. With DTV you also get $10 off your monthly bill for anybody you refer. I usually get a couple of those a year also that help out. I also pay about $40/month for comcast internet. So in all I average pay $100/month for both DirecTv and Comcast for internet.

 

[92tide]

Just some thoughts on this subject. I was thinking about getting rid of DirecTv and going without. When I started looking into doing that it really wasn't worth it to me. DTV is around $40 intro price for the first year. Next 6 months is about $80 and then about $100 for last 6 months. The key is once the two years are up just call them and tell them you will switch to dish or cable if they don't give you a better offer. They will put you back on same discount or better that you were on. The two year pricing breaks down to $65/month (12 months @ 40, 6 months @ 80, 6 months @ 100). That pricing is for the second or third tier I think it's called choice. I know it's not the top package because there are several channels I do not get that are in higher packages. I also have 3 TV's hooked up with this deal. If I was to cancel that and just have netflix or netflix and hulu I would save either 65-8= 57/month savings with just Netflix or 65-7-7=50/month savings with Neftlix and Hulu. It doesn't seem worth it to me. I am by no means rich but it is not worth it to me to save 50 or 60 dollars per month and not have DirecTv. I like being able to watch sports all year in the comfort of my home. No way would I want to have to watch a Bama game on my laptop if I am at home. I'm not sure why people are saying they are paying well over 100/month for just cable. Maybe prices are different geographically. With DTV you also get $10 off your monthly bill for anybody you refer. I usually get a couple of those a year also that help out. I also pay about $40/month for comcast internet. So in all I average pay $100/month for both DirecTv and Comcast for internet.

the good thing is there are more and more options from which consumers can choose.

 

[CrimsonForce]

the good thing is there are more and more options from which consumers can choose.

No doubt. More options means lower prices across the board which I think we are all in favor for.

 

[Relayer]

I dropped cable TV about 4 years ago. I just have rabbit ears and I get all the network stations in great HD, and a great oldies network (MeTV, which I watch as much as anything).

I do miss ESPN, History Channel, and the Braves, but I've grown accustomed to it. Unless I find a way to get some of these cheaply, I'm stuck for the foreseeable future.

 

[RTR91]

my wife and kids are doing just fine with the switch, I'm the one who is having Braves withdrawal which is the only thing I'm not really liking about it so far. Of course, saving $100/month helps ease my pain.

Isn't there a MLBTV app for Apple TV? I believe there is. You can probably watch the Bravos on it.

 

[bamacon]

We've been pretty happy with dropping cable. Unless you are dying to have the most current episodes of TV shows, Netflix and Amazon have plenty of content to enjoy. Hulu may have more current stuff.

All the main broadcasters post those the day of or day after on all their shows. If you have internet you're set.

 

[lazlohollyfeld]

I feel like a maroon. I have DirectTv, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. I like my sports and the wife likes the shows on HBO that have sex and dragons and the other one with the sex and vampires. I think there is one about zombies that she watches, not sure if it has any sex in it though.

 

[tidefanbeezer]

I feel like a maroon. I have DirectTv, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. I like my sports and the wife likes the shows on HBO that have sex and dragons and the other one with the sex and vampires. I think there is one about zombies that she watches, not sure if it has any sex in it though.

I'd be more likely to watch those shows if they were named "Sex and Dragons" and "Sex and Vampires".

 

[mikes12]

I'd be more likely to watch those shows if they were named "Sex and Dragons" and "Sex and Vampires".

Spartacus: Blood & Sand should have been titled Spartacus: Blood & Sex & Sex & Sex & Sex & a Little More Blood.

 

[Hoot30]

We dropped Comcast in favor of Netflix and Amazon. We use the SmarTV (family room), Roku (kids play room) and PS3 (man cave) to use these two services.

For football games, we have the HD antenna, which gets all your CBS games. For ESPN games, I watched a few via my laptop (hooked into the TV) and ESPN 360. I was able to access the ESPN games I think because I have an Xfinity internet connection. Worst case scenario, I went to a friend or family member's house to watch games.

We've been pretty happy with dropping cable. Unless you are dying to have the most current episodes of TV shows, Netflix and Amazon have plenty of content to enjoy. Hulu may have more current stuff.

That's good to know. Thinking about cutting the cord, but keeping Xfinity for internet. I think that if you have any kind of account with Comcast, you are able to stream WatchESPN for free. Also, now that Comcast owns NBC, Golf Channel is available to stream for free.:biggrin2:

 

[92tide]

That's good to know. Thinking about cutting the cord, but keeping Xfinity for internet. I think that if you have any kind of account with Comcast, you are able to stream WatchESPN for free. Also, now that Comcast owns NBC, Golf Channel is available to stream for free.:biggrin2:

fyi, i have comcast xfinity for internet (in atlanta) and cannot get espn or any of the things that require sign in. i lost access as soon as i dropped the xfinity cable part. (fwiw, when i had cable, i regularly used my log-in to access hbogo and watch espn on my ipad). my understanding is that you have to have a comcast cable package that offers the channel to be able to sign in with your log-in info.

 

[Bamaparrotheads]

Isn't there a MLBTV app for Apple TV? I believe there is. You can probably watch the Bravos on it.

I have Roku. While there is an app for MLBTV, your local team's games are blacked out.
Same goes for WatchESPN for Bama football. Otherwise, I would've already cut the cable and used my in-laws login to authenticate my ESPN / Disney, etc.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

I have Roku. While there is an app for MLBTV, your local team's games are blacked out.
Same goes for WatchESPN for Bama football. Otherwise, I would've already cut the cable and used my in-laws login to authenticate my ESPN / Disney, etc.

Yep, MLB.TV is only for out of market games, all Braves games are blacked out in this area.

As far as Bama games on WatchESPN go, they are not blacked out, at least they weren't this past season. I used the WatchESPN app many times when the satellite would go out because of rain or I wasn't at home for some reason.

ESPN3 and WatchESPN are not the same thing; ESPN 3 is an internet service that some internet providers offer to there subscribers and it has a number of live events that may have black out restrictions but, WatchESPN is only offered by some cable/sat providers. If you have a supported cable/sat provider then you can stream ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News and ESPN U right through the app. Nothing is blacked out, it's just like you are watching the channel through your cable/sat sub. Here is the complete list of cable/sat providers that offer full WatchESPN access, if you don't have one of these then you are not getting access to all the content: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/affList?device=videosub

More info about both: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/about

 

[Bamaparrotheads]

As far as Bama games on WatchESPN go, they are not blacked out, at least they weren't this past season. I used the WatchESPN app many times when the satellite would go out because of rain or I wasn't at home for some reason.

ESPN3 and WatchESPN are not the same thing; ESPN 3 is an internet service that some internet providers offer to there subscribers and it has a number of live events that may have black out restrictions but, WatchESPN is only offered by some cable/sat providers. If you have a supported cable/sat provider then you can stream ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News and ESPN U right through the app. Nothing is blacked out, it's just like you are watching the channel through your cable/sat sub. Here is the complete list of cable/sat providers that offer full WatchESPN access, if you don't have one of these then you are not getting access to all the content: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/affList?device=videosub

OK, that make sense. I ran a test on one game. I don't remember which one it was but I may have jumped from point A to point Z on it. But the good news is that I only do that a couple of times per day.

Thanks for the info. I may cut the cable yet.