Cutting The Cable TV Cord: My Experience

It's been about four months since I finally did it!...cut the cable cord that is.  This is something I contemplated for almost a year before I actually made the decision to cancel my traditional cable TV subscription. Do I miss cable TV? The short answer: Nope. I found I only watched a handful of channels on a regular basis and most not even that much. I have found I've been able to watch all the content I used to watch through other distribution channels, mainly through Internet streaming sites. Here are my main choices I regularly frequent. Some are ala carte options while others utilize a subscription model. Here we go:

Hulu.com

I can't say enough about hulu.com, the free, ad supported video service which offers Internet streaming versions of many of the most popular shows from NBC, Disney/ABC, Fox and other content providers. Most shows offered are available the day after they air and are available for at least three or four weeks before expiring. The video quality is excellent and auto adjusts to match the capabilities of your available bandwidth to insure smooth video playback. The ads are kept to a minimum with most commercial breaks limited to 30 seconds in length. While you are not required to sign up for an account to use the service, it definitely has some advantages. One advantage is the ability to set-up subscriptions to your favorite shows and be notified as new shows are added to your queue. Best of all, hulu.com is free and free is always good!

Neflix.com

I've been an off and on Netflix costumer for years. Recently, the big selling point for me is the ability to stream hundreds of titles in addition to the traditional DVD by mail model. I have elected to receive one Bluray disk at a time which costs me less than ten dollars a month. The streaming is unlimited. You're able to set-up and maintain two movie queues: DVD and Instant. The streaming quality is very good. Many of the offerings are available in HD 720p quality. Quite often, I forget I'm watching a video stream over the Internet. Definitely worth the price if you're a movie fan.

iTunes

iTunes offers a vast selection of music, movies, TV shows and other media for purchase or rent. There is also an extensive selection of free audio and video podcasts. Downloaded media can be played on your Mac or PC as well as iPod, iPhone and now the newly released iPad. Content can also be watched on your HDTV by using Apple TV which is a separate box available from Apple. Something to remember when going the iTunes route is DRM (Digital Rights Management) is used on most iTunes content to protect from piracy.  Attempting to watch or listen to content on hardware other than Apple can be frustrating due to the liberal use of DRM. Just be sure you know the limitations of the particular type of content you are purchasing or renting from iTunes before downloading. As long as you're using Apple hardware to view the content, you're fine.

Since I've Cut The Cable Cord

These are but three options for viewing or listening to media content if you decide to cut the cable cord. So far, it's worked quite well for me. I don't miss the myriad of cable TV offerings since I didn't really watch much of it. Anything I did watch, I can still view via one of the options mentioned above. I'll caution that if you are a hardcore sports fan, your options are more limited. There are streaming options that are emerging though and you can always go with the antenna on the roof to tune into local television stations in your area.

Have you "cut the cord" yet? Is this something you are considering? I welcome your feedback and comments.

Posted via email from Marty McPadden