Is sports programming the only reason you still have cable?

[gamecockcat]

It sure is for me. Several of the cable stations that are producing new content are online (and most are free) so, for me, it boils down to paying $150/mo for cable & internet mainly to keep the sports channels for college football. Saw recently that ESPN has no plans to go independent and, if they did, they'd have to charge $30/mo to replace revenue from cable. If I could get local stations for free, which is pretty easy, and pay $30/mo for ESPN (and Fox Sports), I'd do that in a heartbeat. Not sure it would save me a bunch of money in the long run as internet service runs, what, $60/mo or so? Mine's all bundled along with a land line (cheaper to bundle the land line than just have 2 services - go figure) so not exactly sure what each costs.

With digital technology, there's no reason the consumer couldn't pick and choose their own package of channels and do away with 90% of the dreck we just have to skip over on the way to a channel we want to watch.

 

[UKserialkiller]

I actually upgraded my cable to include the Home Improvement channel so I can better learn how to make doily pleated invitations for when my wife and I have parties at our home. Unfortunately for me, no one will come unless I send them out as RSVPs....

 

[joeyrupption]

The channel prices are discounted from bundling. ABC/Disney can provide ESPN for slightly less if they can force the cable company to include ABC Family, etc. That's why they are hesitant to provide channels a la carte.

Cord cutters are helping to expedite the end of bundling. So cut your cord.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Yeah, if it wasn't for sports, I would get rid of cable today. I have Netflix so it wouldn't phase me.

I actually think the majority of television is total trash and it makes us dumber. I really do believe that reality television is the worst thing to be invented.

 

[TheTruCatsFan]

I actually upgraded my cable to include the Home Improvement channel so I can better learn how to make doily pleated invitations for when my wife and I have parties at our home. Unfortunately for me, no one will come unless I send them out as RSVPs....

Willy do yourself a favor and mentally prepare for no one to respond to your RSVPs. From what I've seen, RSVPs will drive a man insane and can lead to irrational posting habits.

 

[UKserialkiller]

Willy do yourself a favor and mentally prepare for no one to respond to your RSVPs. From what I've seen, RSVPs will drive a man insane and can lead to irrational posting habits.

[roll]

 

[VT/UK Rondo]

Dont know what I would do without my daily viewing of The Green Mile, I am Legend and Jarassic Park.

 

[GYERater]

I dont have cable, but is the only reason I have considered going back (but never will).

 

[Mattox]

I am pretty intrigued by this - Sling TV It's $20 a month and for an extra $5 you can basically add every worthwhile sports channel. ESPN is standard in the $20 plan.

 

[Mattox]

Here's an AMA with the Sling CEO.

 

[LineSkiCat]

I cut cable last month. So far so good, but I have yet to hit the portion of the sports year I care about, so it remains to be seen. That said..

-HD Antenna w/25mi range - $6 - Should get my NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX TBS, and some other local affiliates, in BETTER quality than over a cable box.
-WatchESPN - Free(use ANY relatives cable login) - I'm a bit confused what this gets me aside from ESPN3 games. Pretty sure I get any game on ESPN or ESPN2 (?)

That alone should be good enough for NFL, College Football, most golf tournaments, some NBA, and college basketball. MLB, might be difficult with some other networks broadcasting games. Hockey is probably the worst. You can also get Sling for $20/month which definitely gives you ESPN, TNT (NBA), TBS (NCAAT and baseball), and some other channels.

Still. a $30 internet connection, plus a one-time $6 is all I need to see the sports I want 85-90% of the time. The other percentage should be spent at your local bar anyways.

 

[LineSkiCat]

I'll have to check back in on the HD Antenna this weekend. WatchESPN has worked the few times Kentucky had their exhibition/cupcake games. Everything else goes to CBS/ESPN.

I think my above tandem setup will work for the Kentucky Basketball fan.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Not the only but certainly the biggest. My local TV stations are all right around 60 miles away, and the 60 mile indoor antenna I got wouldn't pick up any of them, so cable or satellite is kind of a necessity. Several other factors that I could learn to live without if push came to shove, but those are the two deal breakers.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Actually, on second thought the lack of being able to pick up locals would be the biggest for me. I could get Sling TV and that would have me covered on nearly every premium channel I would want.

 

[LineSkiCat]

Damn, yeah the HD Antenna range seems to be 50 miles. If you're far from a top60 metropolis, that will probably be out of the question.

 

[pikespeak1]

It sure is for me. Several of the cable stations that are producing new content are online (and most are free) so, for me, it boils down to paying $150/mo for cable & internet mainly to keep the sports channels for college football. Saw recently that ESPN has no plans to go independent and, if they did, they'd have to charge $30/mo to replace revenue from cable. If I could get local stations for free, which is pretty easy, and pay $30/mo for ESPN (and Fox Sports), I'd do that in a heartbeat. Not sure it would save me a bunch of money in the long run as internet service runs, what, $60/mo or so? Mine's all bundled along with a land line (cheaper to bundle the land line than just have 2 services - go figure) so not exactly sure what each costs.

With digital technology, there's no reason the consumer couldn't pick and choose their own package of channels and do away with 90% of the dreck we just have to skip over on the way to a channel we want to watch.

SlingTV

 

[pikespeak1]

I am pretty intrigued by this - Sling TV It's $20 a month and for an extra $5 you can basically add every worthwhile sports channel. ESPN is standard in the $20 plan.

I have it. You should try it. I will never go back to cable.

 

[gamecockcat]

I actually upgraded my cable to include the Home Improvement channel so I can better learn how to make doily pleated invitations for when my wife and I have parties at our home. Unfortunately for me, no one will come unless I send them out as RSVPs....

??? Are you drunk or something? Get a life, man, get a life.

 

[gamecockcat]

Haven't heard much about Sling TV. Will check it out. Would LOVE to cut the cord and the price to watch the shows I want to watch without all the clutter.

 

[Beavis606]

Here's an AMA with the Sling CEO.

No Golf Channel + no FSN Ohio = no give a fook.

 

[Mattox]

You can pay to stream MLB and I don't watch golf.

 

[rmattox]

If I could get wall to wall college football in the fall and the Reds games in the summer, I'd get rid of Dish.

 

[UKserialkiller]

??? Are you drunk or something? Get a life, man, get a life.

I snort meth socially. You think I care about alcohol? Step up your game. And step your parties. I ain't coming unless there is a half ounce of anything.

 

[MegaBlue05]

I gank my sports from the internet or use my sister in-law's cable password to stream from my laptop to TV. Sports were the only reason I kept cable for the last five years I had it. Cut the cord in December and couldn't be happier. I find all the other shows I like on Netflix, Project FreeTV or torrent sites when I'm feeling extremely rebellious.

 

[IdaCat]

??? Are you drunk or something? Get a life, man, get a life.

Last time he donated blood the recipient OD'd.

 

[akers65]

Last time he donated blood the recipient OD'd.

[roll]

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

I do keep cable mostly for the sports. College basketball, obviously. Love NFL RedZone. Must have BeIn Sports channel for european rugby. Assorted Fox networks for UFC.

 

[AustinTXCat]

It sure is for me. Several of the cable stations that are producing new content are online (and most are free) so, for me, it boils down to paying $150/mo for cable & internet mainly to keep the sports channels for college football.

My little brother in FL cut the cable. He receives the usual local TV stations and has a WiFi hotspot for internet access. A huge sports fan, he wants more out of life than sitting on the couch. Can't blame him, really.

We pay $160/mo for U-Verse. If not for my wife, I'd probably cut the cable too.

 

[167Hike]

My biggest issue is reliability of my internet speed. I am suppose to be getting (and I love the new phrase my cable provider is using) "Up to 10 meg". Problem being most of the time we struggle to get 6meg and when it rains good luck getting 1 meg. Every time I call and complain the company sends someone out and test the system they get 9.5 megs. Neighbor pays extra to get 30 meg and he has the same test rates as I have and gets the same response from the provider (that the issue is our equipment and not their service).

 

[BlueRaider22]

I like History, H2, Discovery, AMC, etc.

Though, I wish you could buy individual channel subscriptions. Instead of paying for subscriptions for 250+ channels, I'd just pay for about 30-40.

 

[LordEgg_rivals16573]

i am no longer part of the problem. of cable/satellite. never watched anything but sports...everything else was netflix, apple movie stuff, amazon prime...cut the chord three months ago. i am going to have to find a solution to sports issue directly.

 

[LordEgg_rivals16573]

I'm convinced if it was ala carte that bunches of worthless crap would go away...

 

[LineSkiCat]

My biggest issue is reliability of my internet speed. I am suppose to be getting (and I love the new phrase my cable provider is using) "Up to 10 meg". Problem being most of the time we struggle to get 6meg and when it rains good luck getting 1 meg. Every time I call and complain the company sends someone out and test the system they get 9.5 megs. Neighbor pays extra to get 30 meg and he has the same test rates as I have and gets the same response from the provider (that the issue is our equipment and not their service).

If you're going to cut cable, you really shouldn't have the basic internet (TWC basic is 6mb I believe). I live with one of my buddy's and because we both stream, have multiple devices, it just made sense to upgrade. I'm rocking 50 down/5 up (TWC is crap when it comes to up speeds), and we've never had a single buffering issue. The best part is that basic is $30/month while the ultimate, borderline small business speed, is $65. That's worth it to me.

Who are you using? You're not trying to use Satellite internet? I ask because of the rain issue, but maybe there's some bad/shallow cabling in your neighborhood if you're using regular internet.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

If you're going to cut cable, you really shouldn't have the basic internet (TWC basic is 6mb I believe). I live with one of my buddy's and because we both stream, have multiple devices, it just made sense to upgrade. I'm rocking 50 down/5 up (TWC is crap when it comes to up speeds), and we've never had a single buffering issue. The best part is that basic is $30/month while the ultimate, borderline small business speed, is $65. That's worth it to me.

Who are you using? You're not trying to use Satellite internet? I ask because of the rain issue, but maybe there's some bad/shallow cabling in your neighborhood if you're using regular internet.

Oh yeah, you got the introductory price. Wait till you see how much it is after that if you don't have cable. I'm paying over $100 month for the 50MB package.

 

[LineSkiCat]

God damn dirt merchants.

Although, how did they get you for that? On the website $65/month, I didn't get any special rate or discount, or even some 12-month thing. This SHOULD be the price I pay until they decide to jack up their internet fees across the board.

 

[fuzz77]

God damn dirt merchants.

Although, how did they get you for that? On the website $65/month, I didn't get any special rate or discount, or even some 12-month thing. This SHOULD be the price I pay until they decide to jack up their internet fees across the board.

Yes, but the cable ISPs are catching on and now monitoring your data usage...you best believe that shortly they will limit your bandwidth and have you paying for data usage just like the cell phone companies. Comcast has instituted a 300GB limit with overage charges of $10 for every 50GB. You can bet the others will be close behind.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

God damn dirt merchants.

Although, how did they get you for that? On the website $65/month, I didn't get any special rate or discount, or even some 12-month thing. This SHOULD be the price I pay until they decide to jack up their internet fees across the board.

I had the introductory price and also had cable/phone at the time. When I called to just have internet they gave me some outrageous price. I threatened to cancel everything and they basically dared me to do it. They know they have us by the short and curlys because there's no other option if you want really fast internet. I can't tell you how much it angers me just typing this again. I was really hoping Google Fiber was gonna come to Louisville.

And this is one of the reasons I really support the whole Net Neutrality thing and fostering competition. There is no reason for a city the size of Louisville to basically have one option for high speed internet.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Yes, but the cable ISPs are catching on and now monitoring your data usage...you best believe that shortly they will limit your bandwidth and have you paying for data usage just like the cell phone companies. Comcast has instituted a 300GB limit with overage charges of $10 for every 50GB. You can bet the others will be close behind.

Incorrect on Comcast. The limit is being tested in some areas, and the size of the cap varies. On the data meter at my parents, it says we have a 250 GB cap but that they aren't enforcing the cap right now, for example.

But I have heard the FCC might be looking in to banning caps on internet.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

I had the introductory price and also had cable/phone at the time. When I called to just have internet they gave me some outrageous price. I threatened to cancel everything and they basically dared me to do it. They know they have us by the short and curlys because there's no other option if you want really fast internet. I can't tell you how much it angers me just typing this again. I was really hoping Google Fiber was gonna come to Louisville.

And this is one of the reasons I really support the whole Net Neutrality thing and fostering competition. There is no reason for a city the size of Louisville to basically have one option for high speed internet.

If you think that's bad, you should see how it is where I live. It's straight up criminal. $50 bucks a month just for 5 Mbps download, $50 for 10, $80 for 15, $100 for 25, $140 for 50, and $200 for 100.

 

[BigSexyCat]

Currently have a package of about 90 channels. Of those 90 channels I might actually watch 25 of them. It disgusts that I have to pay for MSNBC & CNN.