"Cutting the Cord"

Updated on October 01, 2014
S.H. asks from Troy, TX
7 answers

After receiving my most recent Direct tv bill I really am ready to get rid of it all together. We have been talking about this for over a year, but the truth is, we are tv junkies. We are all pretty busy so its not like we are watching tv all day, and we rarely watch anything when it comes on at the regular time. We do however DVR alot and there are alot of programs that I would like to be able to watch. Our tv is always on for background noise as well.

I know several people who have cut the cord so to speak and been satellite/cable free for quite sometime and they are fine, but most of them are not really tv people anyway. I would like to hear from people who actually watch quite a bit of tv. Do you regret it? What are the must haves to make it successful? Can I still get food network? We have a Netflix subscription,amazon prime, and an antenna(which we tried last night and got 15 local channels), but what else do we need? Will it be possible to have tvs watching different things at different times? Do we need to check our internet for certain requirements? Do you still have to wait awhile to watch your favorite shows? Are there some shows that you just do not get to watch? What about movies? We like to rent some on demand movies when they come out, how do you watch new movies? We have a Wii, a blu ray, and and xbox 360 that all stream. Do we need something else? Can you have a mix, like an amazon fire box in one room and a roku in another or do they all need to be the same to run smoothly?

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More Answers

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

Nope, haven't cut the satellite. We watch live baseball and football and it's cheaper to watch it at home than go to a bar.

If you record/DVR a lot of shows? Have you tried just going to the affiliate -like ABC or NBC.com where they have the current shows airing on-line? I don't know if it's free or not. but it might work for you...I believe you can stream it to your TV.

If you watch a lot of TV? I don't think you are ready to cut it out yet...HULU is another way to go as well.

You know - you can call DirecTV and ask if there's a way to lower your bill?? I do that about every six months...I get it down by $10 to $20 every time...not losing anything

good luck!

3 moms found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

If you are tv addicts, I don't think 'cutting the cord' is going to work for you.
Basically it's not how you use your tv that bothers you - it's paying for the way you use it that's bothering you.
If you go to pure 'free over the air via antenna' tv - what's on is what is on and you can record it and watch it later - you'll be watching different things on different tvs is the different tvs are watching different recordings being played back.
If you are watching anything via the internet then you are watching shows via computer.
If you have favorite shows that are out on dvd - then go buy it - you'll pay for it once and then be able to watch it when ever you want and it won't cost you anything more than that initial purchase.
We watch a lot of old shows that way - and another great thing about it is - NO COMMERCIALS!

2 moms found this helpful
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T.P.

answers from Indianapolis on

I have Direct TV too. I told them I was leaving and they gave me a good deal. Call and tell them that you want your bill reduced or that you are leaving.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Santa Barbara on

I just noticed someone wrote as long as you get the weather and news. I honestly do not think I have watched either on TV in 5 years. I look it up online.

1 mom found this helpful

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

Our TV is always on, but we are rarely sitting down watching it. However, because of sports, news, and weather, I wouldn't turn it off. I just called last week and got our DirecTV bill lowered $35 a month. Then we finally took the plunge and got the Genie....so that increased it $15 a month, but we are still not paying an outrageous amount. We have an old program package that is perfect for us as well.

We looked at doing the AppleTV in addition to our Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts, and getting a Hulu Plus...but really, we will just keep DriecTV.

Call them....just say you want to cancel your service and you'll get right to the correct department to lower your bill.

1 mom found this helpful
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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

If you get the local channels you get the weather and that's the most important thing in Texas...

I think with the Netflix and everything else you'll be fine. BUT why not give it the fall and winter to see how you like it.

You will only be able to watch programs online as far as I know because I don't have Netflix. You will know more about that than me. But if the shows I like wouldn't be on Netflix I don't think I'd want to sit for several hours moving my mouse every few minutes to keep my computer from going to sleep while I'm sitting watching the small monitor.

So I won't give up my subscription.

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❤.I.

answers from Albuquerque on

We've been cable free for over 4 years. It sounds like you have everything you need to stream, and yes you can use different devices on different TV's in your house. As long as you have high speed internet you should be fine. As far as catching your favorite shows, I guess it depends on if they're shown on local channels or cable shows. If you don't catch them when they air on your local channel then you can subscribe to hulu plus and watch most of them the next day. You can also watch them on the network website for free on your computer or tablet (abc and cbs have an app). ABC makes you wait 8 days but the other ones let you watch the next day. If it's a cable show, you probably need to wait a season for it to go to Netflix, I think you can also purchase shows from amazon prime. For new movies you can do the redbox. Also if you look through your Roku box there are some options for renting movies, I think vudu is one.

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