The Future of Cord Cutting

[Ben]

Interesting article that suggests we may just be be changing a single master that overcharges us to a couple of dozen masters that charge us less individually, but still create a big bill.

I'm definitely already noticing this. I refused to watch the new Star Trek because I already pay three streaming services and wasn't about to add CBS to the list.


http://bgr.com/2018/03/19/best-streaming-service-vs-cable-2018/amp/

[cordex]

There isn't much content I just can't live without.

[MechAg94]

There isn't much content I just can't live without.

QFT

I dropped Directv in January.  I got an antenna and can still see the weather report in the morning.  A couple of the sub channels even have some decent shows.  I was already signed up for Amazon prime that is there if I really need to watch some shows.  Hasn't come up yet.  

What I was hearing is people signed up for cable or satellite and then also signing up for Netflix and/or other streaming services in addition to that.  That is nuts.

At least with multiple streaming services out there, I can pick and choose where my entertainment dollars go.  I don't have to live with a portion of my satellite bill going to CNN and MSNBC.  

[Perd Hapley]

Interesting article that suggests we may just be be changing a single master that overcharges us to a couple of dozen masters that charge us less individually, but still create a big bill.

I'm definitely already noticing this. I refused to watch the new Star Trek because I already pay three streaming services and wasn't about to add CBS to the list.


http://bgr.com/2018/03/19/best-streaming-service-vs-cable-2018/amp/

People are weird. Some of you people are weirder than I am. Someone on right-wing hate radio this morning was saying that Alexa-type devices will soon be in every home, listening to every word we say, and passing them along to GoogleFaceTube, and THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT! Maybe I'm missing something, but can't you just NOT have an Alexa?

[Ben]

At least with multiple streaming services out there, I can pick and choose where my entertainment dollars go.  I don't have to live with a portion of my satellite bill going to CNN and MSNBC.  

I may have misread it, but it seemed the article was alluding to future streaming services doing something similar. In order to stream "X", you're also buying a package with [insert 99 channels you hate].

Though I guess that's not too different from Netflix. I hate 90% of their original content.  

[KD5NRH]

People are weird. Some of you people are weirder than I am. Someone on right-wing hate radio this morning was saying that Alexa-type devices will soon be in every home, listening to every word we say, and passing them along to GoogleFaceTube, and THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT! Maybe I'm missing something, but can't you just NOT have an Alexa?

IMO, if I found full-time voice control useful enough to bother with, my first step would be to cut one of the mic leads and install a good old fashioned mechanical switch in it.

Siri on the old 4S responds so slowly that I'm not overly worried she's active when I'm not using her.  Plus she's usually in my back pocket, so anyone listening only gets to hear my ass anyway.

[Perd Hapley]

IMO, if I found full-time voice control useful enough to bother with, my first step would be to cut one of the mic leads and install a good old fashioned mechanical switch in it.

Siri on the old 4S responds so slowly that I'm not overly worried she's active when I'm not using her.  Plus she's usually in my back pocket, so anyone listening only gets to hear my ass anyway.

Oh, so that's what we've been hearing. 

[dogmush]

I dropped a $120/month cable and replaced it with $10 (now $11)/month Netflix and $10/month YouTube Red.  Already had Amazon Prime and would keep it either way.  That's all the streaming I'm going to pat for.

It's probably not the best attitude, but if there's a show I hear about that I just HAVE to see, well there's always Kodi or Torrents.  My Kodi box is cantankerous enough I don't normally use it, but it's there and I have watched stuff.

IMO the best part about cutting the cord is not that you replace cable with streaming, but that you end up not replacing most of cable at all.  I just watch less brainless propaganda.

[KD5NRH]

Oh, so that's what we've been hearing.

Told her to run an automotive diagnostic once and she said I should check the jake brakes.

[Hawkmoon]

People are weird. Some of you people are weirder than I am. Someone on right-wing hate radio this morning was saying that Alexa-type devices will soon be in every home, listening to every word we say, and passing them along to GoogleFaceTube, and THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT! Maybe I'm missing something, but can't you just NOT have an Alexa?

Who/what is Alexa?

[Hawkmoon]

Told her to run an automotive diagnostic once and she said I should check the jake brakes.

So were the linings down to the rivets?

[KD5NRH]

So were the linings down to the rivets?

Sure felt like it.  Some definite gas erosion going on there.

[MechAg94]

I dropped a $120/month cable and replaced it with $10 (now $11)/month Netflix and $10/month YouTube Red.  Already had Amazon Prime and would keep it either way.  That's all the streaming I'm going to pat for.

It's probably not the best attitude, but if there's a show I hear about that I just HAVE to see, well there's always Kodi or Torrents.  My Kodi box is cantankerous enough I don't normally use it, but it's there and I have watched stuff.

IMO the best part about cutting the cord is not that you replace cable with streaming, but that you end up not replacing most of cable at all.  I just watch less brainless propaganda.

That is pretty much where I am.  10 years ago I watched more TV, but these days I end up watching youtube and such more than TV.  There are likely some shows I would watch if they were on, but I find I don't care about it enough to go dig them up and pay for them. 

Now come next Fall, I will be looking for a streaming service that carries ESPN or some way to watch college football.

[KD5NRH]

IMO the best part about cutting the cord is not that you replace cable with streaming, but that you end up not replacing most of cable at all.  I just watch less brainless propaganda.

This.  King of Random, some Minecraft videos, (my kids are addicted, and how else can you get a 9 year old girl interested in logic circuits?) and lots of educational videos from various OpenCourseWare-type providers make up most of my non-music streaming.

[zahc]

I have a large backlog of books I need to read. The slightest provocation, and Big Media get replaced by a nearly infinite stack of dead trees, which is more likely to actually improve my life anyway.

[Ben]

I have a large backlog of books I need to read. The slightest provocation, and Big Media get replaced by a nearly infinite stack of dead trees, which is more likely to actually improve my life anyway.

This is a direction I've been going as well. Since I retired, I've dedicated the last 1-2 hours every evening to include a game of chess against the computer, then reading the remainder of the time until I'm ready for the rack. When I was working, that time was all to often TV time, and often nonsense just to eat up the hours. The new routine is much better on my brain. :)

[HankB]

. . .  In order to stream "X", you're also buying a package with [insert 99 channels you hate] . . .

I'd like to get the outdoor channel (Sportsman's Channel? Outdoor Life Network? Whatever it's called these days) but I'd have to subscribe to a "package" that's quite expensive, since it carries things like Bolivian lacrosse and Burmese soccer, which really don't interest me at all.

[KD5NRH]

I'd like to get the outdoor channel (Sportsman's Channel? Outdoor Life Network? Whatever it's called these days) but I'd have to subscribe to a "package" that's quite expensive, since it carries things like Bolivian lacrosse and Burmese soccer, which really don't interest me at all.

Same for History Channel; Alone is actually worth watching most of the time.

[Hutch]

That is pretty much where I am.  10 years ago I watched more TV, but these days I end up watching youtube and such more than TV.  There are likely some shows I would watch if they were on, but I find I don't care about it enough to go dig them up and pay for them. 

Now come next Fall, I will be looking for a streaming service that carries ESPN or some way to watch college football.

Youtube TV is where it’s at.  All the major networks gets you ABC and CBS NCAA football, plus all the ESPN’s plus SEC Network.  Frosting on the cake?  I’m on my SIL’s account, and YouTube TV is fine with that.  I have my own separate login that knows the local broadcast environment.  Winning!

[Mannlicher]

before I severed the cable,  I was paying almost three hundred bucks a month for my two homes.   I was paying for internet on top of that.   Now, the cost of streaming service runs me less than $50 a month, and that is for both places.  Huge savings.  
Other than sports, which I did not watch a lot of  when I could,  I miss nothing that interests me.
HD indoor antenna in Miami brings in almost 70 'channels'.  In North FL,  I pick up nearly 20.  Free

[Nick1911]

Paying to watch advertising never made much sense to me.  I'll be glad when the whole broadcast TV model dies.

[Ben]

Paying to watch advertising never made much sense to me.  I'll be glad when the whole broadcast TV model dies.

That has been somewhat infuriating to me on the cable channel side. The whole idea of cable at the outset was paying for commercial free TV (because you were paying). Now they pretty much all do commercials (I don't know if "premium" channels do) to rival and possibly surpass broadcast TV. AMC and The Walking Dead being a prime example of three freakin' minutes of commercials for every five minutes of content.

[lupinus]

I recently moved in with a family member and while there's a couple shows I've had like to have kept up with, I don't miss cable nearly as much as I thought I would.

I've got you tube, Netflix, and prime. Tried Hulu but didn't see the point of keeping it.

During college football season I'll likely sign up for one of the streaming services that will be showing all or most of the games. Maybe I'll keep it, maybe I won't. I figure these days even if I feel the itch for hbo and Showtime I can always get those too.

I really don't see the point in cable anymore. And when I occasionally check the streaming options, like sling or YouTube live, I see an ever growing list of networks seem to be getting the message and making deals to be available.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[Ben]

During college football season I'll likely sign up for one of the streaming services that will be showing all or most of the games. Maybe I'll keep it, maybe I won't. I figure these days even if I feel the itch for hbo and Showtime I can always get those too.

This is one of the really good things about streaming - no bajillion year contracts. I don't think Netflix would care if you canceled and signed back up every other month. When I watched Game of Thrones last season, I just used the free 7 day trial on Amazon Prime.

[Kingcreek]

When I saw the thread title I thought either childbirth or firewood.
I guess that's to be expected after 21 years without a tv