Cancelled my cable TV service/Cutting the cord

Cap'nSacto

Cap'nSacto

Member
Location
Sacramento, Calif
I don't watch a whole lot of TV; 4-5 evenings a week at most for an hour or two. My cable bill, which includes internet (but not phone) just wasn't worth it. So I called them to cancel the TV. They put on a rep who put me on hold briefly a few times until he "found" a deal where I could get the same channels plus HBO and Starz for a little over $20 less, so I said "Ok, I'll try that on for a few months and we'll see." The next day I got an email saying I needed to agree to a one-year contract that charged me for the whole year if I cancelled anytime after 30 days, and after the year, monthly charges would go up to the "actual charges". So I called them back, and cancelled the service for good (after watching all the latest episodes of Game of Thrones).

Once the TV was shut down, my computer speed improved 100%. I'm still paying too much for internet, but it cut the cable bill in half almost, so whatever. I have free Netflix, and there's youtube. Now I'm thinking about joining Hulu or some similar online TV thing...or maybe sign up with all of them one at a time just for their 30-day trials. It's just really annoying paying for TV...especially when it has so many commercials; they can cram a dozen of those into a 5-7 minute break. That's crazy!
 

Cap'n, I cut the cord almost 2 years ago. Many of us did. I stream Netflix and Amazon into my TV for about $20.00 a month, together. I use the Roku stick which has many free channels but Youtube is the best. You can stream almost anything through Youtube. I'm partial to history/documentaries and Youtube has a lot. (the Roku stick was $40.00, plugs into the TV. if you have a smart TV you won't need it)

My Internet service is $56.00 plus the Netflix and Amazon totals $76.00 per month as opposed to $ 185.00 per month I was paying for cable!!

Happy savings!
 
I am so tempted to do this, but my wife watches so many shows now that she's home all day. We have two Tivo DVRs with lifetime subscriptions and TVs in several rooms of the house. I should at least call Comcast and try to get a better deal. Between cable, internet and phone my bill is about $250/month for a premium package with HBO and Showtime and other pay channels. I asked them recently how much it would lower the bill just to drop the phone and that would only save me about $2/month. But maybe with the ability to stream many shows and with HULU it would be worth it.
 

RadishRose said:
Cap'n, I cut the cord almost 2 years ago. Many of us did. I stream Netflix and Amazon into my TV for about $20.00 a month, together. I use the Roku stick which has many free channels but Youtube is the best. You can stream almost anything through Youtube. I'm partial to history/documentaries and Youtube has a lot. (the Roku stick was $40.00, plugs into the TV. if you have a smart TV you won't need it)

My Internet service is $56.00 plus the Netflix and Amazon totals $76.00 per month as opposed to $ 185.00 per month I was paying for cable!!

Happy savings!
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That's about the costs I paid and am paying now...from $175 down to $74. My son text me last night saying he got me an indoor antenna to bring in local stations, and there's a lot of them here. I'll go get it from him today. I like to watch short films on youtube, animated and live-action (real actors). You can rent movies on youtube for a couple of bucks, too. Also there's a RedBox at my grocery store. I won't miss cable TV. Most of the channels I got were lame and they run the same movies over and over. Definitely not worth it.

I like the youtube documentaries, too. There's a lot of good stuff on there. Netflix has some pretty good documentaries as well.
 
Bobw235 said:
I am so tempted to do this, but my wife watches so many shows now that she's home all day. We have two Tivo DVRs with lifetime subscriptions and TVs in several rooms of the house. I should at least call Comcast and try to get a better deal. Between cable, internet and phone my bill is about $250/month for a premium package with HBO and Showtime and other pay channels. I asked them recently how much it would lower the bill just to drop the phone and that would only save me about $2/month. But maybe with the ability to stream many shows and with HULU it would be worth it.
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Bob, there's also this thing called HBONow (I think) where you can stream HBO for $15/mo. If you call cable and tell them "I just can't afford it anymore" they'll lower your cost quick! I didn't like the contract; just don't want to have to call every year or 2 to ask for a cheaper deal. Not when I can get TV online for less.
 
Cap'nSacto said:
That's about the costs I paid and am paying now...from $175 down to $74. My son text me last night saying he got me an indoor antenna to bring in local stations, and there's a lot of them here. I'll go get it from him today. I like to watch short films on youtube, animated and live-action (real actors). You can rent movies on youtube for a couple of bucks, too. Also there's a RedBox at my grocery store. I won't miss cable TV. Most of the channels I got were lame and they run the same movies over and over. Definitely not worth it.

I like the youtube documentaries, too. There's a lot of good stuff on there. Netflix has some pretty good documentaries as well.
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You are doing the right thing. Cable TV sucks.
 
Cap'nSacto said:
Bob, there's also this thing called HBONow (I think) where you can stream HBO for $15/mo. If you call cable and tell them "I just can't afford it anymore" they'll lower your cost quick! I didn't like the contract; just don't want to have to call every year or 2 to ask for a cheaper deal. Not when I can get TV online for less.
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I so have to investigate this, especially with our moving into a new house next year. I could use the savings for things for the new house.
 
I picked up an antenna for local stations too, but it doesn't work. I live in a condo community; don't know if that means anything. I think it has to go outside, so it's not going to work here.

Re Hulu, it's fine but not much difference from Netflix so I dropped it. Amazon Prime also includes the free 2-day shipping for Amazon shopping which I do now and then.

Bob, this may not work for your wife. You can't really get current episodes of many shows until they're dated, but Netflix and Amazon have their own series and some are very good! You can also purchase HBO, STARZ and etc for a fee.

I live near to ESPN, a huge campus involving three or four large buildings. They're laying off hundreds, which is sad. People with cable are forced to have sports packages many don't want. Including me. So as the cord cutting gathers steam, less sports packages from ESPN are purchased and less and less cars in their parking lots.
 
RadishRose said:
I picked up an antenna for local stations too, but it doesn't work. I live in a condo community; don't know if that means anything. I think it has to go outside, so it's not going to work here.

Re Hulu, it's fine but not much difference from Netflix so I dropped it. Amazon Prime also includes the free 2-day shipping for Amazon shopping which I do now and then.

Bob, this may not work for your wife. You can't really get current episodes of many shows until they're dated, but Netflix and Amazon have their own series and some are very good! You can also purchase HBO, STARZ and etc for a fee.

I live near to ESPN, a huge campus involving three or four large buildings. They're laying off hundreds, which is sad. People with cable are forced to have sports packages many don't want. Including me. So as the cord cutting gathers steam, less sports packages from ESPN are purchased.
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I hear you about ESPN. I virtually never watch it, but it's forced on me if I want other channels. Comcast sucks that way (and in many others too!).
Regarding TV shows, my wife is a huge fan of shows like Dr. Phil, Ellen and Steve Harvey during the day, especially now where she's recuperating from her knee replacement that means even more time watching the tube. We subscribe to Netflix (love it) and got rid of Amazon Prime after the trial period as we weren't watching it enough. I know I can now even stream the main networks and get shows, so we may have to consider this. There's been talk of Comcast slowing internet downloads for people who drop cable TV, but don't know if they ever implemented it.
 
I cut the cable 4 years ago and I'm quite happy I did. It got WAY too expensive and there's not much on cable TV worth watching, anyway.

I got a Roku and I stream Netflix and Acorn TV. Acorn is a streaming channel that has British content -- great movies, series, documentaries, etc., which costs $5.99/mo., and there about a zillion other things out there you can stream through Roku. I don't miss cable one bit, and I save a lot of money. I could add a bunch more streaming channels through Roku and still pay much less than I was paying for cable, and I get more and better choices.

My internet access still costs too much and I'm casting about trying to find a cheaper plan for that.
 
RadishRose said:
I picked up an antenna for local stations too, but it doesn't work. I live in a condo community; don't know if that means anything. I think it has to go outside, so it's not going to work here.

Re Hulu, it's fine but not much difference from Netflix so I dropped it. Amazon Prime also includes the free 2-day shipping for Amazon shopping which I do now and then.

I live near to ESPN, a huge campus involving three or four large buildings. They're laying off hundreds, which is sad. People with cable are forced to have sports packages many don't want. Including me. So as the cord cutting gathers steam, less sports packages from ESPN are purchased and less and less cars in their parking lots.
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This one's an indoor antenna for digital TV. If it doesn't work I'll just have him return it. That's too bad about the ESPN employees, but, you know, if they and the cable company had just been more affordable and customer-friendly it wouldn't have gone this way. Actually, it might have, what with it being so easy to get cheap TV programs, but maybe not yet and not as painfully.
 
I cancelled cable and kept local channels only (abc nbc cbs pbs) but now I'm not getting NBC anymore because AT&T is in "negotiations" with NBC indefinitely and won't refund what I'm not getting either.
I don't care about NBC but "Will & Grace" are starting their new season TONIGHT on NBC! :sosad:

My daughter and I are going to crash the local Juice/Smoothie joint down the road that has a TV but probably isn't open that late. Grrr. I don't imagine a sports bar will let us switch the channel from game to Will & Grace :(

I'm paying $117 for internet and TV. I guess NBC and AT&T both want more money while the paying customer gets nothing.

I'm grateful for this thread. I'll look into an antenna, roku, stick, etc. I'll follow this thread and learn
 
Bobw235 said:
I am so tempted to do this, but my wife watches so many shows now that she's home all day. We have two Tivo DVRs with lifetime subscriptions and TVs in several rooms of the house. I should at least call Comcast and try to get a better deal. Between cable, internet and phone my bill is about $250/month for a premium package with HBO and Showtime and other pay channels. I asked them recently how much it would lower the bill just to drop the phone and that would only save me about $2/month. But maybe with the ability to stream many shows and with HULU it would be worth it.
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That is awfully expensive. $250 buys a lot of groceries.
 
My cord cutting started about 3 years ago, many threats. Finally Dec '16 was the final month. I cut my DirecTV, tried SlingTV (kept buffering on DSL, no cable ISP), tried Hulu, extortion to avoid ads killed that. Stayed with Netflix on my ROKU, daughter moved in temporarily added her Amazon Prime (actually pretty good, you need to watch the sneaky charges). So now I have NF & Amazon. No local channels, no sports just streaming, no buffering. DSL (CenturyLink) @ $44 per. NF @ $8 = $53 per. Cable was $135 + NF $8 = $144. Sat was $85 + NF $8 = $93. Annual savings cable $1,200 - Sat $480. Don't miss it. Reading more.
 
Butterfly said:
I cut the cable 4 years ago and I'm quite happy I did. It got WAY too expensive and there's not much on cable TV worth watching, anyway.

I got a Roku and I stream Netflix and Acorn TV. Acorn is a streaming channel that has British content -- great movies, series, documentaries, etc., which costs $5.99/mo., and there about a zillion other things out there you can stream through Roku. I don't miss cable one bit, and I save a lot of money. I could add a bunch more streaming channels through Roku and still pay much less than I was paying for cable, and I get more and better choices.

My internet access still costs too much and I'm casting about trying to find a cheaper plan for that.
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I remember paying $14.99/mo for internet service back in 2003, I think. I'm going to look into this Roku thing. I have a fairly new TV but I don't think it's a "smart TV". Has a lot of ports on the back, but I don't think it's "smart"...pretty sure those are just for sound systems and game systems, etc.
 
Butterfly said:
I cut the cable 4 years ago and I'm quite happy I did. It got WAY too expensive and there's not much on cable TV worth watching, anyway.

I got a Roku and I stream Netflix and Acorn TV. Acorn is a streaming channel that has British content -- great movies, series, documentaries, etc., which costs $5.99/mo., and there about a zillion other things out there you can stream through Roku. I don't miss cable one bit, and I save a lot of money. I could add a bunch more streaming channels through Roku and still pay much less than I was paying for cable, and I get more and better choices.

My internet access still costs too much and I'm casting about trying to find a cheaper plan for that.
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Butterfly, I had Acorn for a while too, worth the money yes. But I can only take so much mysteries which seemed to be the bulk of their programming when I had it. Maybe I'll take another look

Otherwise, I LOVE British TV; their comedies and dramas. Also their documentaries but I stream those from Youtube or PBS.
 
What I am afraid of is getting the Roku thing or whatever and having the cable companies fight it and win and have the court ruling they are illegal and then you are stuck with it.

I had that happen to me with a satellite dish program.
 
Lara said:
I cancelled cable and kept local channels only (abc nbc cbs pbs) but now I'm not getting NBC anymore because AT&T is in "negotiations" with NBC indefinitely and won't refund what I'm not getting either.
I don't care about NBC but "Will & Grace" are starting their new season TONIGHT on NBC! :sosad:

My daughter and I are going to crash the local Juice/Smoothie joint down the road that has a TV but probably isn't open that late. Grrr. I don't imagine a sports bar will let us switch the channel from game to Will & Grace :(

I'm paying $117 for internet and TV. I guess NBC and AT&T both want more money while the paying customer gets nothing.

I'm grateful for this thread. I'll look into an antenna, roku, stick, etc. I'll follow this thread and learn
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Check out a website called disablemycable.com. They have a thing you can test what channels are accessible in your area using an indoor antenna, and suggests which one you'll need. The one my son got me is called a Mofu Leaf, and it was abt $30, and according to that website I should get 13 stations with it.
 
Camper6 said:
What I am afraid of is getting the Roku thing or whatever and having the cable companies fight it and win and have the court ruling they are illegal and then you are stuck with it.

I had that happen to me with a satellite dish program.
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My thoughts exactly, Camper6. I found a video on youtube; how to make your own digital TV antenna...the guy who posted it said the video got pulled for a few months, then re-released. He swears the cable company had something to do with that.

At least the Roku stick is a one-time cost (if I'm remembering what I just read).
 
I'm content with my signal converter box and rabbit ears, I have approx. thirty channels to choose from and still find myself watching the same two or three channels most of the time.

I pay the cable company $25.79/month for internet service and have a pay as you go flip phone from the folks at Virgin Mobile.
 
RadishRose said:
Butterfly, I had Acorn for a while too, worth the money yes. But I can only take so much mysteries which seemed to be the bulk of their programming when I had it. Maybe I'll take another look

Otherwise, I LOVE British TV; their comedies and dramas. Also their documentaries but I stream those from Youtube or PBS.
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PBS! You just reminded me I'm a member, so I can get their programming from their website. My son said I can get NBC, CBS, FOX...and one more I can't remember...from their websites for free. Oh, also ABC.
 
My two goals are to dump the landline and discontinue using satellite service(DISH or DirecTV).

However, the only internet available is bottom-of-the-line DSL, no cable here(rural area).

Also, we're on the wrong side of the mountain, from the television station transmitters, so antennas won't work either.

IF I could get rid of the landline and still keep the DSL, I'd personally be happy with Netflix, Youtube and a few other sites that offer streaming video(NatGeo, PBS...).

The major networks are too commercial, and 95% of their offering is just too "garbagy". :shrug:
 
We are getting ready to cut that cord at the end of the month. They'll be some withdrawal but it has gotten so ridiculous and I watch the same 2-3 channels anyway.
There seems to be a big trend.
 

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