Just cancelled Directv

[HaRuMaN]

Got tired of turning on the TV, and not finding anything worth watching on whatever 600+ channels there are...   

Not to mention they just upped the rates again...

So, now, I get HD off the air, streaming Netflix, Hulu, and ESPN360.

Saves me ~$64 a month, or $768 a year!   

Anyone else pulling the plug on their satellite or cable service?

[shmokes]

I think few people ever do the x12 math and realize how much cable/satellite costs per year.  I pulled the plug many years ago.  However, for the past few years I've had free cable.  Almost 6 months after moving into my place I hooked the cable to the back of my TV out of curiosity. Lo and behold!  It worked.  And I know for a fact it is not being paid for.  My neighbors are my landlords and they were as surprised as me.

BTW, Hulu is about to start a $10/month premium service that presumably will have a lot more stuff on it than the current version.

[J_K_M_A_N]

We dropped ours down to the super basic package (locals mostly) and we use an over the air antenna for HD. Works great. Saved us about $100 a month total. (We got rid of the home phone too.) If I miss something on cable, I check usenet.

J_K_M_A_N

[hypernova]

We've not subscribed for awhile.  It's a waste of money.  Any good shows you want to see you can either download, stream, or rent for a fraction of the cost.

Crimony, if you only watch a channel for one or two shows, you're still better off buying the seasons afterwards, with wads of cash still left over.

[drventure]

I've considered dropping cable (now I'm on with Verizon Fios, same diff), but my wife and I like a lot of the shows on SciFi (or SyFy, wtf?), so I haven't... yet.

I will say that Verizon Fios Internet is absolutely worth it. Amazingly fast.

[shmokes]

I will say that Verizon Fios Internet is absolutely worth it. Amazingly fast.

I hate you.

[Hoopz]

I will say that Verizon Fios Internet is absolutely worth it. Amazingly fast.

I hate you.

+1

[drventure]

I waited a LONG time to get that in our area, and then another year before they could offer the TV/Internet/Phone bundle.

Don't hate me just because I'm ultrabroadband 

[Benevolance]

I haven't had cable since I left home for university. I couldn't afford it then and I just never got hooked up again after. My wife and I usually just buy a season of something on DVD every other month. The only thing I miss is hockey. I can usually catch the games at a friend or family's place. And once or twice I've signed up for an introductory cable package (free first month, $5 next three months!) and just cancel it once the Canucks are knocked out of the playoffs.

Here's hoping I don't get to cancel until June this year! Go Canucks go!

[TOK]

I don't really like any network shows and get tired of watching movies, so I'll always have cable or satellite. I can tell I'm officially old, because I like all of the channels I would have hated as a kid... Science Channel, History, Discovery and the Military Channel. 

[drventure]

because I like all of the channels I would have hated as a kid... Science Channel, History, Discovery and the Military Channel.

  Hmm, sounds strangely familiar....

But it was cool a few days ago when we decided to watch a show over dinner and my 6yo daughter chimes up "Hey, lets watch one of those "building" shows" (ie those "how it's made/modern marvels shows on discovery). Maybe she'll catch the build bug as well.

[Ginsu Victim]

I don't really like any network shows and get tired of watching movies, so I'll always have cable or satellite. I can tell I'm officially old, because I like all of the channels I would have hated as a kid... Science Channel, History, Discovery and the Military Channel. 

Probably also watching the evening news now. I know I do every night and I remember HATING it when my parents did.

[Ed_McCarron]

I hooked the cable to the back of my TV out of curiosity. Lo and behold!  It worked.  And I know for a fact it is not being paid for. 

Y'know they call that theft of services, right?   

[hypernova]

I waited a LONG time to get that in our area, and then another year before they could offer the TV/Internet/Phone bundle.

Don't hate me just because I'm ultrabroadband  

I waited a LOOOONG time just to get DSL in our old house.  I know there's a few on these boards who still only have the option of satellite internet as a "high" speed option.

[shmokes]

Probably also watching the evening news now. I know I do every night and I remember HATING it when my parents did.

I liked the news as a kid (teenager, anyway).  I've gone the other direction.  As an adult I've come to despise evening news.  I think it's really bad for society.  It makes people afraid of the world outside and afraid of each other and afraid of everything.  They sensationalize everything.  Evening news turns people into fanatics.  And since each story is about 2-5 minutes, the coverage of any topic can only be incredibly superficial.  They make up for depth with sensationalism.  And the only stories they cover are things that are easily sensationalized: murder, rape, robbery, child molestation, kidnapping, scare pieces on possible bad reaction to vaccinations, etc.

To listen to the news you'd think you're surrounded by this stuff, and it makes you afraid of the world.  It makes you keep your kids from going door to door trick-or-treating because they might get a poisoned candy (has never once happened in the history of the world). 

All this and you learn nothing.  You get little more than headlines, and even then they're selected not for their intrinsic value, but for how much blood there was.  The evening news ruins you and it ruins the world you live in.

[WhereEaglesDare]

We have the basic and only watch it on Tuesday at 9 with LOST, but that is on OTA broadcast, only two episodes left, and is on hulu the next day anyway.

With Netflix, Hulu, Torrents, cable is so overated.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

I ditched cable about 5 years ago. I also went one step further and ditched all terrestrial TV too so I don't even pay a TV license. I don't miss it at all.

The down side is the annual visit from the TV Licensing gorillas who inspect my house to see if my TVs are physically capable of receiving TV   

[Hoopz]

WTF is a television license and who charges for this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---?

You're not being shaken down by La Cosa Nostra are you?

[WhereEaglesDare]

...and dont think its not on its was over here in the US....

Thank you FCC and the Obama Administration.

[Hoopz]

...and dont think its not on its was over here in the US....

Thank you FCC and the Obama Administration.

Take that to P&R please.

In Europe there's countries with state subsidized television and it's a rare 'opt in' tax.  If you own a TV, you have to pay the tax every year.  Does not matter if the TV is in a closet and never used, either.

That's crazy.  At least the mob provides protection and benefits when you pay them.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

The TV license is £145 paid annually. Just about every address in the UK is in their database and whether a current license has been purchased for that address. The addresses that do not have a license get visited to check to see if they are capable of receiving a TV signal. If so you get fined.

In my case I have 4 TVs, 2 of which are connected to XBMCs that play media from a server. I removed the TV aerial from my roof and removed all traces of portable TV aerials. Every year the 'gorillas' turn up and check my house for some evidence that I am watching TV. They even check if you are using a XBMC plugin that streams TV. if you are they've got you.

Because I use the BBC iPlayer to watch BBC TV after it has aired I even had to modify the plugin to disable the Live TV functionality.

For more info on the UK TV License see: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/

[Silas (son of Silas)]

I didn't mention, the fine if you fail to comply is £1000

[Hoopz]

I didn't mention, the fine if you fail to comply is £1000

[shmokes]

I don't really see the big deal.  We charge money for hunting, fishing, driving licenses.  It makes it so that the state services that support these activities are paid for by people who use them.  If you don't fish, you don't have to subsidize the activities of the people who do.  If you don't drive, you don't have to help pay for the bureaucratic system of licensing and so on. 

We are taxed in the US for TV stuff to some degree because the FCC has to be paid.  Just because the tax is hidden doesn't mean we aren't being taxed.  But here, you are being taxed whether you watch TV or not.  Of course, the FCC licenses out airwaves and so much of network television is paid for with advertising.  So between every seven minutes of content we are treated to 3-4 minutes of advertising.

I mean . . . it sounds like either system sucks for different reasons, but I'm not sure the British system sucks more and at least on its face it seems like it may be more fair or lead to a higher quality experience.