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I know this forum has had countless cutting the cord posts, but I'm hoping someone who's done it (and not local) can tell me if they regret it or not. DTV costs me about $120 a month during the offseason (for TV content that I never watch). During the season it goes up to $170 a month to pay $300 for Sunday ticket in 6 payments. So between August and January, I pay $1,020 just to watch the Vikings. Is that insane or what? And then I pay for $720 for six months of TV that I never watch. Seriously, almost never.
But I have to watch the Vikings. No choice in that. With that in mind...
Vikings look to be on broadcast TV about 8 times this season. For the times they're not, I can go to the bar. I estimate I'll average $30 a game on beer and food. $30x8=$240. I'll also need local channels. You can get an indoor antenna that gives you local channels for about $40, one time cost. $240+$40=$280. I also have to be able to record the games, at least the ones that are broadcast. So I'll need an independent DVR for that. I've estimated $250, one time cost. Now we're at $530. I have to figure out a way to get the night games on ESPN and NFL Network, but I'm sure someone has figured that out, right?
Bottom line is this:
$530 < $1740. And next year with antenna and DVR in hand, unless I ring up a $187 bar tab each game, the equation goes to...
$240 < $1740.
What am I missing?
I'll tell you, Comcast Xfinity is unbelievable. Has the remotes you talk into to watch any show on demand. Its intuitive and a big technology upgrade and convenience. I love it. I just say 'Netflix' or 'Youtube' and boom, up it comes.
Yep, its expensive. But for me, its a massive upgrade over DirecTV and their antiquated systems.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
I'll tell you, Comcast Xfinity is unbelievable. Has the remotes you talk into to watch any show on demand. Its intuitive and a big technology upgrade and convenience. I love it. I just say 'Netflix' or 'Youtube' and boom, up it comes.
Yep, its expensive. But for me, its a massive upgrade over DirecTV and their antiquated systems.
In my opinion, DTV led the field when it first came out in terms of technology, simplicity, programming, customer service. Made Dish and Comcast look bad. Now it's a joke IMO. Ever since they merged with AT&T, they habitually overcharge and everything else went downhill. Their interface, technology, equipment, programming and customer service is just trash now. I'll toast the day (coming soon) when I kick them to the curb.
I started to move in the cut the cord direction, albeit ever so slightly with Amazon firebox.
That coupled with OTA and the # of apps out there for viewing and boy you get close to being free. Now granted some of this stuff costs $$$$, but we're paying over $100/mos for DVR and Dish.
It's a matter of when and how we cut the cord. Problem is we love the DVR and I will not watch live programming any more.
I do love Dish technology with their 16 tuners, speak to remotes etc. But they need to vastly improve their bundles package. I want only the channels we watch, not 250...
I'm sure there will be more technically advanced answers coming your way MB.
I cut the cord going on three years now by ditching my satellite subscription, and I couldn't be happier about it. We still pay for "live" TV by using SlingTV, but there's no contract and the plan (Blue) I have runs $25/monthly that includes their DVR. I have 3 Roku boxes so I have access to Sling, Netflix, and Amazon Prime on all the TVs. I have a kick ass antenna on my rooftop that picks up 32 channels of crystal clear OTA "free" TV that I wired to the coax that was already running to the rooms in my house used for the DTV and Dish connections. I also have the OTA DVR from Tablo (the four tuner model) that my wife uses daily, and I record all the Viking games with. Tablo also has a Roku app, so we can watch our shows on any TV in the house (or tablet/phone).
There's an initial cost to get going with Cord Cutting like you're figuring out, but even my wife would never go back to Cable or Satellite. She hated the setup we currently have for the first couple of weeks because there's a bit of flipping around between the HDMI and Antenna input source buttons on the TV remote and then using the Roku remote, but we're saving about $100 month since we switched. I then asked her if having to press the little input button on the TV remote was worth $100, and she quit complaining. B)
The DTV Now streaming service has a deal where you can get something like 60 channels at $10/month for three months. That's pretty cheap and it includes ESPN and NFL network. SlingTV used to give away a Roku box when you setup your subscription with them. Not sure if they still do.
As a long time DTV customer, I tried it a few years ago and ended up going back. There is way more content now than there was back then, but sometimes I like being able to leisurely surf the channels to see what is on. When you cut the cord, everything becomes more deliberate. You have to actually have a plan of what you want to watch instead of stumbling across an interesting show that catches my eye. It's a completely different way to watch TV. For some, that is exactly the kind of experience they want.
Quote: @HappyViking said:
I cut the cord going on three years now by ditching my satellite subscription, and I couldn't be happier about it. We still pay for "live" TV by using SlingTV, but there's no contract and the plan (Blue) I have runs $25/monthly that includes their DVR. I have 3 Roku boxes so I have access to Sling, Netflix, and Amazon Prime on all the TVs. I have a kick ass antenna on my rooftop that picks up 32 channels of crystal clear OTA "free" TV that I wired to the coax that was already running to the rooms in my house used for the DTV and Dish connections. I also have the OTA DVR from Tablo (the four tuner model) that my wife uses daily, and I record all the Viking games with. Tablo also has a Roku app, so we can watch our shows on any TV in the house (or tablet/phone).
There's an initial cost to get going with Cord Cutting like you're figuring out, but even my wife would never go back to Cable or Satellite. She hated the setup we currently have for the first couple of weeks because there's a bit of flipping around between the HDMI and Antenna input source buttons on the TV remote and then using the Roku remote, but we're saving about $100 month since we switched. I then asked her if having to press the little input button on the TV remote was worth $100, and she quit complaining. B)
The DTV Now streaming service has a deal where you can get something like 60 channels at $10/month for three months. That's pretty cheap and it includes ESPN and NFL network. SlingTV used to give away a Roku box when you setup your subscription with them. Not sure if they still do.
Your setup sounds really similar to mine, even down to wiring an OTA antenna in my attic to the coax cable splitter that splits out to all of my rooms from my utility room. No need for separate antennas on each TV anymore. I would also probably have subscribed to a streaming service like SlingTV as well, but I got lucky when I dropped cable from my cable company. For whatever reason, all of my TV Everywhere apps that used to work through my cable subscription still work even though I've dropped cable. So I can still watch all of the apps (WatchESPN, HGTV, AMC, etc.) using my old cable TV login (I still use the company for internet). I'm dreading the day that they find out and shut my login off, but it's been almost two years now.
Regarding the inputs and switching all the time, I would highly recommend the TCL Roku TVs. That way, you only use the one TV remote, which is basically a Roku remote, and it treats live TV as just another "app" on the home screen. Super user-friendly and they are really great values. They even have a TV Guide for OTA TV. They are sold on Amazon and even Costco has started to carry them.
Left DTV a few years back. Since I'm not in the local Minny Market, I do not get a lot of the games. I miss Sunday Ticket, but was never worth the cost. Now I go to B-DUBS or another bar on games I can not get.
Quote: @TBro said:
As a long time DTV customer, I tried it a few years ago and ended up going back. There is way more content now than there was back then, but sometimes I like being able to leisurely surf the channels to see what is on. When you cut the cord, everything becomes more deliberate. You have to actually have a plan of what you want to watch instead of stumbling across an interesting show that catches my eye. It's a completely different way to watch TV. For some, that is exactly the kind of experience they want.
This is VERY true. For me, I've found that I watch less TV now than I used to, but I've also binged some great shows that I never got around to when I had cable and would just channel surf instead. However, I do miss the ability to just look through all the channels to see what's on once in a while.
I ditched do about 6 months ago for r u k o about 8 months ago I went to spending over 300 amount with NFL package to maybe 60 a month counting pay per view movies which also cuts out the redox late fees and there is so much great free shows programs and apps had to buy fou r boxes but kids luv it gonna miss recording the Viking games on Sunday but usually go to fat boys to watch games I just saw a smart TV 60 inch at Walmart for 348 smart TV prices keep going down so u don't even need to buy a r o k u or any other device soon if u get a new TV
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