How to be a Cable Cutter

Recently, our television provider increased the cost of our service, leading me to struggle with continuing the service. We had been using this service for over seven years, without any real thought to services provided versus the cost.

I believe that there is a cost point to everything and when you come to the realization that, “Hey, that’s pricey for what we are getting” you start to look for alternative solutions. Well, we reached that with our provider.

We are a family that uses the “internet of things” so we have desktop computers, laptops, tablets and phones all connecting to our wired and wireless network. Adding television to this in-place network seemed like a pretty reasonable choice.

It was time to think outside the box. What other options where available?

I sat down and did an analysis of the DVR content we had on each of our boxes. We had four that recorded. I found that we only really watched 19 channels. Most of them were local channels. I started doing research on the effects of “cutting the cable” and found that there is a whole movement out there of “Cable Cutters”.

My biggest concerns:

• Could I make this change and still keep the shows we like to watch?
• Would my kids hate me for taking away cable?
• What if I can’t find all the shows I like to watch?

My husband, who is also one of the smartest people I know, watched me agonize, procrastinate, lament and complain about this change for a couple of days. He turned to me and simply said “You act like you can NEVER go back”.

That was all I needed.

To be clear, we were out of our contract with our provider, so there was no cost involved in turning off our service.

We were paying for:

• Slow Internet service
• Satellite Television service
• Rental for four DVR boxes
• Insurance for the DVR boxes
• Taxes, Fees and Licenses for all of these services and equipment

Our annual expense for these services cost approximately $3,600.00 ($300.00 per month).

I am a planner, so for me, the next step was outlining HOW to cut the cord and what we were going to do to replace most, if not all, of what we had in place.

What did we need to cut the cord?

1. INTERNET
• We stream everything so a fast stable connection is necessary.
• What was our current speed?
  • OOkla Powered Internet Speed Test will show you your provider along with your download and upload speeds.




2. HD ANTENNA
• This would provide long term access to local channels in high definition for the one time cost of the HD Antenna.




3. STREAMING DEVICES
• What kind of streaming devices do we want to use?
  • We would need one for each of the televisions we had in the house.




4. ADDITIONAL SERVICES
• Do we need to subscribe to anything?

INTERNET:

Things to consider:

• What type and speed connection do I need for my household?
  • Consumer Reports offers a nice article about the bandwidth you would need to stream video — Is your Internet Service Fast Enough for Streaming?
• What Service Providers are available and what do they offer?
  • Cut Cable Today offers a quick comparison tool for the Service Providers in your area based on your zipcode — Compare Internet Providers

We compared our available providers and found one that worked for our needs.

HD ANTENNA:

First, we needed to find out if an HD Antenna was worthwhile. We get most of our news and information on our phones, tablets or online so this step was not as imperative in our process.

With that in mind,

• What channels are available in our area?
  • TV Fool provides very detailed information on what local HD Channels are available in your area — List of Channels
  • Tablo also offers a nice link to give you an idea of what channels are available in your area, what shows you can watch, and how much you would save if you move to an OTA (Over the Air) solution —Tablo TV Tools
  • Titan TV offers a current listing of the shows on each channel (online TV Guide) –Titan TV Guide
• What type of Antenna do we need?
  • Antenna Web offers a very nice explanation of the types of antennas available so that you can choose the best fit for you —Antenna Info
• What is the best brand of Antenna to buy?
  • The WireCutter offers a nice article on the brands of antennas — Antenna Brands

In our situation, we were moving from an outside satellite dish, so we chose to replace the external satellite dish with an external HD antenna and use the same coax connections already run in the house. We also chose an omni-directional antenna with a 150 mile range to maximize the channel choices for our location.

• Cut Cable Today offers a walk-through on how to connect multiple televisions to one antenna — Connect Multiple TVs to 1 Antenna

Where do you start? I was surprised at the choices available. The most common you hear about are Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google Nexus, and Google Chrome Cast. If you are like us and also have a gaming system such as PlayStation or Xbox, you can use these devices for streaming as well.

• Digital Trends offers a really nice breakdown of the devices and choices available to you —Best TV Streaming Devices
• WDTV is a lesser known choice on the market — WDTV

CHANGE YOUR MIND SET:

Stop thinking about recording your shows and instead think about who has the show “ON DEMAND”.

• You are probably paying an additional monthly fee per DVR box to download and store your shows until you watch them. We were paying additional fees for four DVR boxes.
• On Demand streaming allows you to truly turn off the devices in your home and you are no longer paying for the electricity to keep them running 24/7.
  • We saved $100.00 a month in electricity by changing our mind set.

Upon setting up my streaming devices, I discovered new services I wanted to take advantage of. Some are subscription services, just like my cable, so am I really saving any money?

In our case, this was a resounding YES. We are now only paying for services we use, with the added bonus that most are available to all of our devices and we have access when we travel.

I’m going to spend a bit more time here as this is the “meat and potatoes” of the process.

• Netflix
  • Netflix has a solid selection with new titles exchanged for older ones on a monthly basis.
  • They also offer original programing like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and Marvel’s Daredevil.
  • We subscribe to the most expensive plan ($11.99 per month), as it allows four concurrent streams. It is available on a variety of devices to include phones, tablets, computers and gaming systems.
  • Netflix was one of the first services to start streaming and continues to move toward streaming as their primary focus.
• Amazon Prime Instant Video
  • Per Amazon’s website:
    • FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
    • Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs
    • Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Video
    • Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
    • Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
    • At an average cost of $99.00 per year ($8.25 per month), the extras are worth it.
    • Amazon Prime also offers the Streaming Partners Program, which lets you add networks like Showtime and Starz to your prime account, without the need for a pay TV account.
    • Each Prime Account allows for two concurrent streams as long as you are watching different videos.
• Hulu
  • Hulu Plans
    • Limited Commercials ($7.99 plan)
    • No Commercials ($11.99 or $13.99 if you are an Apple user per month)
    • Showtimes Add on (+8.99 a month)
  • Hulu is terrific for staying on top of current and classic TV series. They get content almost immediately after airing on TV.
  • Use the Hulu Que to stay on top of your shows as they do not keep the “on-demand” content forever. You can receive notices via email when your shows are about to expire.
• YouTube
  • You would be surprised what you can find just by searching.
  • YouTube offers full movies, television shows and music for streaming.
  • The app is available on most streaming devices to include gaming systems.
  • If you upload your own videos, you can play them on your streaming devices or cast them to your television.
• Sling TV
  • This one is a bit pricier that others at $20.00 per month.
  • If you are a sports fan or want other specific packages, this may be a good alternative for you.
• HBO Now
  • Subscription service runs $14.99 per month
• Showtime
  • Subscription services runs $11.00 per month
• Network Apps
  • The television networks also offer apps on most of devices and will sometimes offer full episodes for streaming.
    • PBS
      • If you like Masterpiece Theatre, Downton Abbey or other PBS shows, this is worthwhile.
    • NBC
    • CBS
      • Also offers standalone all access for additional $5.99 a month
    • ABC
• Verizon Go90
  • This service is specific to Verizon users.
  • Mainly focusing on streaming from mobile devices.
  • Free App but remember that this will encourage the use of cellular data when not connected to WiFi for streaming.

There are many more resources available, but this will get you started.

To help put “dollars to donuts”, I wanted to share with you what we went with.

As for the family, we have had a surprisingly positive responses from the children. My oldest daughter told me that she couldn’t believe we hadn’t done this sooner. My youngest one likes the flexibility of connecting from all of her devices and the access she has through her gaming system.

** DISCLAIMER: The information in this article is my personal opinion and I am not getting paid by anyone to post this information. None of the links provide funding for this site**