Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

[Blackhawk]

Just don't unhook the 'free' box once you've activated Peacock. That's when they start stealth-charging you.

[Kraken]

I'm not going to pay a subscription just for one show,

Wife launched a campaign to get Starz so that she could watch Gaslit, the series about Martha Mitchell and Watergate. There is one more episode to come. Since we're paying for it anyway, I spent some time combing through the Starz catalog, and found only one semi-appealing movie. After we watch that last Gaslit and the Ghostbusters movie, Starz will be history. I think we paid them $5, maybe $10 altogether, and I'll be glad to see it gone.

Paramount has a season of Discovery that I haven't seen, and one of Picard that I understand to be pretty terrible, as well as a new prequel to TOS. Presumably there's another season of Lower Decks in production, too. So that's a service that I'll bounce into until I get caught up, and then bounce back out until they refill their tank.

[Daehawk]

Crackle Some good 70s and 80s stuff on there
Tubi
Pluto

Just reminders of some alternative and free streaming sites.

[em2nought]

Crackle Some good 70s and 80s stuff on there
Tubi
Pluto

Just reminders of some alternative and free streaming sites.

freevee too

[hitbyambulance]

FREE MOVIES: found some VHS tapes in a pile by the sidewalk along with some furniture. had to add The Gods Must Be Crazy and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure to the collection, but i might get around to finally seeing The Lost Boys and Valley Girl now!

[Isgrimnur]

Make sure there's no tape residue around the write-protect hole.

[Carpet_pissr]

Make sure there's no tape residue around the write-protect hole.

???

Also, I tried to watch Valley Girl recently, for the first time, in 2022, and all I can say is “hmmm”.

Wasn’t expecting Othello, but man. I guess the main thing I got from it was ‘so this is what prompted the whole country talking like …valley dwellers in the 80’s’.

Definitely more ‘cultural footnote’ than ‘great movie’ category.

Full disclosure: only made it halfway through, so it COULD have turned into Othello, but I kinda doubt it.

[LordMortis]

Make sure there's no tape residue around the write-protect hole.

???

There is a tab on VCR and cassette tapes that you pop out to allow recording. If cut the tab, leaving a hole, you can't press record to write over what you previously recorded. Non recordable tapes don't have that tab, so if you put tape over the hole you can write over even a purchased movie or "record". Tape marks is a tell that someone has changed the recording.

https://psap.library.illinois.edu/colle ... protection

[Carpet_pissr]

Aware of the copy protect tab, but was just wondering if another Izzy funny went over my head here.

[Isgrimnur]

If there's tape residue, the contents of the cassette may not be what's on the box.

[Carpet_pissr]

If there's tape residue, the contents of the cassette may not be what's on the box.

Ah, so.

Side note: my current thoughts on ditching cable:

Macro blocking as a result of bandwidth from all these streamers is a huge downside, probably the biggest IMO.

Now that the best cable alternatives have raised prices to be the same price as cable….and for MUCH lower image quality…well I guess cable cutting is not the no-brainer it used to be.

I’ll still never likely go back, but I’m currently using the supposedly best streaming service in terms of signal quality (YouTube TV) and it’s abysmal compared to my previous DirectTV then Spectrum cable feeds.

If it was even $20 less a month than cable, I would be a lot more ok with that sacrifice than I am, but it’s not.

[Daehawk]

WHAT THE TECH? The secret codes for Netflix & how to find them

[stessier]

If there's tape residue, the contents of the cassette may not be what's on the box.

Ah, so.

Side note: my current thoughts on ditching cable:

Macro blocking as a result of bandwidth from all these streamers is a huge downside, probably the biggest IMO.

Now that the best cable alternatives have raised prices to be the same price as cable….and for MUCH lower image quality…well I guess cable cutting is not the no-brainer it used to be.

I’ll still never likely go back, but I’m currently using the supposedly best streaming service in terms of signal quality (YouTube TV) and it’s abysmal compared to my previous DirectTV then Spectrum cable feeds.

If it was even $20 less a month than cable, I would be a lot more ok with that sacrifice than I am, but it’s not.

What are you still watching on linear tv? Is not going to be cheaper if you try to get the same shows in the same format.

[Carpet_pissr]

Not sure what linear TV means.

I *think* the answer to your question is ‘sports’, and ESPN specifically. It’s literally the only reason I have a ‘faux’ cable sub like YouTube TV.

[Smoove_B]

Not sure what linear TV means.

The kind of TV my 77 year old parents watch. No DVR, no streaming, whatever is available when the TV is on based off the clock is what you're watching.

I *think* the answer to your question is ‘sports’, and ESPN specifically.

If I could give you my ESPN+ that I get through Disney/Hulu, I would. Haven't even set it up. It's useless to me. If for some reason you need to be able to watch every game your favorite team(s) play, you're likely going to need to pay for it no matter what. Sports, man. Not even once.

[em2nought]

Crackle Some good 70s and 80s stuff on there
Tubi
Pluto

Just reminders of some alternative and free streaming sites.

Tubi has many of my favorite older movies along with some I'd missed watching back in the good old days. Just watched "Aces High" and a version of "The Four Feathers" both of which I'd never seen.

[Carpet_pissr]

Not sure what linear TV means.

The kind of TV my 77 year old parents watch. No DVR, no streaming, whatever is available when the TV is on based off the clock is what you're watching.

I *think* the answer to your question is ‘sports’, and ESPN specifically.

If I could give you my ESPN+ that I get through Disney/Hulu, I would. Haven't even set it up. It's useless to me. If for some reason you need to be able to watch every game your favorite team(s) play, you're likely going to need to pay for it no matter what. Sports, man. Not even once.

And to think I'm paying Youtube TV $70/month JUST to watch sports, because I have no interest in watching any of the other channels that come with it, especially given the quality due to the compressed as hell streaming they are doing (to be fair, that could be the broadcaster's fault I guess, but I don't think so).

[mori]

Not including Amazon Prime. I only have Dish to watch the EPL which is on NBC, USA, and Peacock. They spread it out over 3 different platforms (broadcast, cable, and internet) so I have to stick with each of them As far as shows go, it has been so spread out and watered down over so many different platforms where I just gave up and just don't care about any of it anymore. I would of liked to watch Ted Lasso but not enough to subscribe to whatever platform it was on.

[gilraen]

Wouldn't you be better off with Fubo TV if all you want is sports?

[dbt1949]

For the last year I've been down to Amazon and antenna. (with a couple of months to Netflix)
I find that enough for my taste.

[Carpet_pissr]

I would have liked to watch Ted Lasso but not enough to subscribe to whatever platform it was on.

You must. So great.

https://slickdeals.net/share/iphone_app/fp/798019

You’re welcome.

[em2nought]

Doctor Sleep just became available on tubi

[JCC]

Doctor Sleep just became available on tubi

I ejoyed both the book and the movie. I was actually looking for this over the weekend at some point (it used to be on HBO Max). If I get a notion to watch it again I guess I will watch on Tubi and endure the ads.

[mori]

I would have liked to watch Ted Lasso but not enough to subscribe to whatever platform it was on.

You must. So great.

https://slickdeals.net/share/iphone_app/fp/798019

You’re welcome.

No Apple stuff here.

[telcta]

Well, today is the day I fully cut ties with Xfinity/Comcast. I’ve been with them for about 20 years as it was my only option. I had my service down to Basic cable and internet and was grandfathered into free HBO. I had my own modem, router and used a TiVo with a cablecard to keep the cost down as much as possible.

With the taxes and service fees making up about 35% of my monthly bill, and not really having a decent selection of channels, we decided to just remove Xfinity completely. T-Mobile offered internet for $30/mo and after testing it this week, I’m fine with a slower download speed. Uploads have been about 3x faster than cable.

I’ll check out some of the live options out there like YouTube and Hulu. I’m not a sports guy, but if anything, I would love to have ESPN to watch some hockey, which a Hulu bundle would give us live tv, disney and espn for almost half of what I was paying for cable. One caveat is T-Mobile and Hulu Live do not play well together.

[Z-Corn]

Well, today is the day I fully cut ties with Xfinity/Comcast. I’ve been with them for about 20 years as it was my only option. I had my service down to Basic cable and internet and was grandfathered into free HBO. I had my own modem, router and used a TiVo with a cablecard to keep the cost down as much as possible.

With the taxes and service fees making up about 35% of my monthly bill, and not really having a decent selection of channels, we decided to just remove Xfinity completely. T-Mobile offered internet for $30/mo and after testing it this week, I’m fine with a slower download speed. Uploads have been about 3x faster than cable.

I’ll check out some of the live options out there like YouTube and Hulu. I’m not a sports guy, but if anything, I would love to have ESPN to watch some hockey, which a Hulu bundle would give us live tv, disney and espn for almost half of what I was paying for cable. One caveat is T-Mobile and Hulu Live do not play well together.

So where does your TiVo end up in the end with this solution?

[telcta]

So where does your TiVo end up in the end with this solution?

Since it has a lifetime subscription, most likely a backup for my mom’s TiVo. Feels weird, first time without a running TiVo in over 20 years.

[LordMortis]

I've been using TiVo since the rise of Series II, transferring lifetime sub when upgrading. It's been like 25+ years. It will be weird to go without when that day comes. At the same time, I don't actually use it anymore except for deleting stuff it collects, the rare surprise of a new season of Rick and Morty, and if I happen to start a sports something and pause when I get distracted to then FF through the commercials to get back to real time. It sits there collecting shows that I never watch from basic cable.

The next time my rates go up, likely I'll be in the this time, I'm cancelling. I mean it. bucket. Currently, I'm at about $100 for 200 down/10 up and basic cable and cord cutting doesn't save much money, though it would give less to certain political TV stations that collect the lion's share of cable costs. If it jacks back up to $120 or $140 then I go back to revisiting the cost savings of not having CNBC or Cartoon Network to keep me company in the background any more.

At the very least, I should cut TiVo and save the $3 or $5 a month I'm paying for a cable card. I wish my TiVo were OTA and then it would have some use after retiring cable. When I moved to Edge, they never mentioned that 1) I needed a cable card and 2) it doesn't work with an antenna TV. Ignorance kept me from make a better decision. I'd say that'll learn me, but I never learn.

[telcta]

As much as I love TiVo, I've had issues with their change to the UI, adding advertisements to the channel listing and forcing an ad before a show starts. I just miss the clean, easy to understand interface. I see the TiVo Suggestions are now disabled but I stopped using them awhile ago.

As I begain to realize we were streaming most of the shows we usually watch, and using the TiVo less and less, I figured I could wait for this TiVo to give up the ghost or bail out now. So far I'm satisfied with T-Mobile (not sure how long that will last) and having a good, strong wifi signal, I decided to remove my ethernet connections and have much less clutter, making the wife happy too.

So this 6 year old TiVo Bolt now goes into backup mode. I think this model has OTA capability, I may check out the signal strength for local channels.

[LordMortis]

As much as I love TiVo, I've had issues with their change to the UI, adding advertisements to the channel listing and forcing an ad before a show starts. I just miss the clean, easy to understand interface. I see the TiVo Suggestions are now disabled but I stopped using them awhile ago.

As I begain to realize we were streaming most of the shows we usually watch, and using the TiVo less and less, I figured I could wait for this TiVo to give up the ghost or bail out now. So far I'm satisfied with T-Mobile (not sure how long that will last) and having a good, strong wifi signal, I decided to remove my ethernet connections and have much less clutter, making the wife happy too.

So this 6 year old TiVo Bolt now goes into backup mode. I think this model has OTA capability, I may check out the signal strength for local channels.

That Bolt wasn't around when I did my upgrade and my Edge still does suggestions with no UI changes even as they sent a message saying that change was going to happen.

I bought a $20 window antenna that connects by co-ax when I first began planning my exit from cable. It's works great for the most part, except for actually sticking to the window. It still works pretty good but not great from the floor.

I don't get why my TiVo works with a gazillion different cable companies but not OTA for which all of the channels are available through all the cable providers. It's kinda a sham IMO. It also makes no sense to be me that I can run cable directly to my TV but I can inject TiVo without a cable card.

[hitbyambulance]

I bought a $20 window antenna that connects by co-ax when I first began planning my exit from cable. It's works great for the most part, except for actually sticking to the window. It still works pretty good but not great from the floor.

it'll work attached to the wall, as well. just needs as much elevation as possible from the floor

[naednek]

YouTube tv just announced another price hike from 64.99 to 72.99.

We are now pretty much paying the price of cable satellite tv of which we were trying to get away from

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Kraken]

Well that blows. I find YTTV valuable, but IDK if it’s $73 valuable. $65 was already a heavy lift. I use it mostly to access live TV for breaking news and political speeches, debates, etc., and to record shows from AMC, TCM, PBS, and Cartoon Network. I would miss all of those things and am too lazy to try to cobble them together from other sources.

But yeah, it's basically streaming cable, and it costs as much as cable.

[naednek]

You can blame it on them for getting the NFL ticket.

They claim it's not but it's a bit coincidental

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[LordMortis]

At $73 it's quite a bit more expensive than basic cable here. If/when I finally cut the cord, that sort of expense won't even be on the table. I'd want to replace cable with no more than $35 per month streaming services in aggregate at any time. More than that and there is no way inertia will see me cutting the cord.

[stessier]

If you want all that cable offers, you are going to pay cable prices. The benefit of streaming is that people who don't want it all can pay less to get what they do want. I agree it's not for everyone, but I personally think it works great.

[Kraken]

I wish I could get all of YTTV except the sports. I have all of those channels hidden, and those are the cost-drivers. But we’ll never get a la carte subscriptions for the same reasons that cable never offered them.

[Jeff V]

Well that blows. I find YTTV valuable, but IDK if it’s $73 valuable. $65 was already a heavy lift. I use it mostly to access live TV for breaking news and political speeches, debates, etc., and to record shows from AMC, TCM, PBS, and Cartoon Network. I would miss all of those things and am too lazy to try to cobble them together from other sources.

But yeah, it's basically streaming cable, and it costs as much as cable.

Cable here is usually north of $200, so it's not in that range yet -- but it does have me reconsidering switching back to Sling. I get a minor discount on YTTV with T-Mobile home internet, but only like $5 off. Being able to get local news and NFL are my only real requirements -- the kids only ever watch things on You Tube (not channels on YTTV). My MiL also discovered Filipino dramas on You Tube, so she is good there as well (my wife as well). Amazon Prime provides movie content -- about the only time I have to watch TV lately is when my wife is off and we watch a movie or two. The increased cost of YTTV moves it into the realm of paying more for something than the value I'm getting for it.

The equation will change somewhat in July when my MiL returns to the Philippines, I can no longer work 12-15 hours per day and have a lot more time to kill at home.

[LordMortis]

Cable here is usually north of $200, so it's not in that range yet

Maybe that's why I haven't been eager to cut the cord. I got up $140 for cable and 100 down/10 up after my "free upgrade to Internet" and I said cancel me and they dropped it to $110. I think the cable portion is like $60 after the cable card addition for my TiVo. Maybe as little as $40 when you consider "the bundling" of cable and Internet. $200 is what people talk when they talk the more premium packages or Dish Network. I'd be gone at $150 much less $200, again choosing one or two streaming services at a time that total $35 a month or less.

[coopasonic]

TV - U-verse TV $162.97 ($135 + taxes and fees)
Internet $75.39
Phone $54.38
Bill total $292.74

It looks like I could switch to DirecTV stream for $85/mo ($75 promo) though I would have to figure out if I'd need set-top devices at stupid prices. I tried to get the wife to try YouTubeTV as it is still cheaper and I wouldn't need any additional devices.

I'd love to get rid of the landline as well, but apparently that's not going to happen as long as I "make" her keep working.