NBR: Dumping Cable?

[MissMusic]

Has anyone dumped cable and gone with a DVR or Amazon Prime? Our cable bill went way up and they offered us a deal to stay. It looked good until we realized they dropped a LOT of channels--most of the ones I like, actually. I'm over it. I loooove my TiVo but I'd be willing to go with DVR or Prime if you guys have enough good feedback...

I need my SyFy and BBC America.  Its critical

So, whats your experience?

[getzystark]

Did this about 4 years ago and I've never looked back. We use Hulu, Netflix, Prime and HBO GO and that seems to be all we need.

[mosdub]

Just did this the other day! Our cable company had been overcharging. When I called to say I could cut my monthly bill from 160 to 103 by cancelling our cable TV they *suddenly* saw a way to lower our bill to 105.

I told them no thank you. I hope they get the hint. They can't monopolize on television anymore.

[MissMusic]

Jul 16, 2015 14:37:51 GMT -5 getzystark said:

Did this about 4 years ago and I've never looked back. We use Hulu, Netflix, Prime and HBO GO and that seems to be all we need.

We have and love Netflix.  There's some sort of deal with HBO for streaming, so its tempting.  I see more and more people doing that you're doing and I can't see paying over $100/month for cable!

[rablissful]

I WANT TO DO THIS but if my SO doesn't have ALL THE football channels in the fall he'd go crazy.

Like, we have the football add on package. And football is on ALL DAY on Sunday.

Let's just say we're getting a second tv and a roku/chrome stick/fire stick soon.

[bibliothecary]

Jul 16, 2015 14:46:49 GMT -5 rablissful said:

I WANT TO DO THIS but if my SO doesn't have ALL THE football channels in the fall he'd go crazy.

Like, we have the football add on package. And football is on ALL DAY on Sunday.

Let's just say we're getting a second tv and a roku/chrome stick/fire stick soon.

Um... get the amazon fire stick and use Sling TV, which gives you access to ESPN and ESPN2. 

[rablissful]

Jul 16, 2015 14:51:37 GMT -5 bibliothecary said:

Jul 16, 2015 14:46:49 GMT -5 rablissful said:

I WANT TO DO THIS but if my SO doesn't have ALL THE football channels in the fall he'd go crazy.

Like, we have the football add on package. And football is on ALL DAY on Sunday.

Let's just say we're getting a second tv and a roku/chrome stick/fire stick soon.

Um... get the amazon fire stick and use Sling TV, which gives you access to ESPN and ESPN2. 

That doesn't give him the special Comcast channel that shows all the highlights and touchdowns though.

Fantasy football is serious business.

[bibliothecary]

Jul 16, 2015 14:53:53 GMT -5 rablissful said:

Jul 16, 2015 14:51:37 GMT -5 bibliothecary said:

Um... get the amazon fire stick and use Sling TV, which gives you access to ESPN and ESPN2. 

That doesn't give him the special Comcast channel that shows all the highlights and touchdowns though.

Fantasy football is serous business.

Apparently. MH does not sports. I am very thankful.

[tincupchalice]

Cut that cord years ago.

We have roku and stream netflix and amazon prime. Use the savings to go out to watch football games a few times a season.

[Andrea]

We have Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Now. We are saving over $130 bucks on cable. I get why it is smart, and why financially it makes sense, but I hate it. I am seven months in, so maybe after the year mark I'll be fine, but right now I want my cable back.

[teraiin]

We never had cable, when we got married we got Netflix and Hulu plus. The only thing I miss is HGTV. I can watch some stuff on hulu, but I don't feel like everything is on there.

[singingsea]

We dumped cable two years ago and we're not hurting for shows to watch. We have netflix, amazon prime and hulu.

[ellabee]

We dropped cable a few months ago. We just weren't using it enough to justify the cost. We have Netflix, HBO now and a Chromecast. We haven't missed it at all.

[Rama]

We ditched cable when we moved and lost our roommate. We have Prime, Hulu, Netflix. It provides us just as much entertainment and veg-mode capabilities as cable did and costs helluva lot less.

[MrsRC88]

If it wasn't for sports, I would probably do this... I need my FoxSports, NBCSports and ESPN. It's a NASCAR addiction in my household (and it's mostly me!). Other than that, I could deal with just Netflix and Hulu.

[littlelion]

Jul 16, 2015 15:07:30 GMT -5 teraiin said:

We never had cable, when we got married we got Netflix and Hulu plus. The only thing I miss is HGTV. I can watch some stuff on hulu, but I don't feel like everything is on there.

I did have cable and cut it this year. We got Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon (for occasional movies only, no Prime).  I had withdrawal from HGTV and Food Network. But thinking back a lot of what I watched on there were reruns. 

[ceejay]

We've talked about doing this but always as something that would happen in the (distant) future. We watch a lot of TV and like having our favorite shows always available.

To keep our cable costs down, we switch back and forth between the 2 cable companies in our area every 2 years, so we're always getting the "new customer" promotional pricing.

[shadesofgold]

We've been cable-free and loving it for years. We have a digital antennae to pick up the basic channels. When we want to watch a football game that isn't on basic, we find a free stream online (not good quality usually, but acceptable) or use it is a great excuse to go out in public to a bar playing the game. We hulu, prime, netflix and pirate. We have plenty of shoes to keep us busy. I'm glad to not have the TV on all the time.

[mustloveerica]

We got rid of cable last year. We have Amazon prime, HBO now, and Netflix and we get the netflix discs in the mail too. The only thing we miss is sports but we just stream it on the Internet or go to bars to watch. Even with all the streaming services and Netflix discs we get in the mail we still spend $80 a month less than we did when we had cable.

[titania]

Cable free for two years. We have Netflix, prime, Hulu. We do kind of cheat though cause we use my parents log-in for HBO (although I would get the app if we couldn't). The only channel I miss is AMC, but luckily I can go over to my friend's house for Walking Dead. FX AMC gets its own app one day!!

[MissMusic]

Jul 16, 2015 14:51:37 GMT -5 bibliothecary said:

Jul 16, 2015 14:46:49 GMT -5 rablissful said:

I WANT TO DO THIS but if my SO doesn't have ALL THE football channels in the fall he'd go crazy.

Like, we have the football add on package. And football is on ALL DAY on Sunday.

Let's just say we're getting a second tv and a roku/chrome stick/fire stick soon.

Um... get the amazon fire stick and use Sling TV, which gives you access to ESPN and ESPN2. 

I did not know about this, but I don't know much about non-cable stuff anyway.  I love watching soccer and I know it gets carried on FOX, and sometimes ESPN2.  Good to know.

[MissMusic]

Jul 16, 2015 15:02:26 GMT -5 Andrea said:

We have Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Now. We are saving over $130 bucks on cable. I get why it is smart, and why financially it makes sense, but I hate it. I am seven months in, so maybe after the year mark I'll be fine, but right now I want my cable back.

Is it the convenience factor that you miss?

[MissMusic]

Jul 16, 2015 15:33:57 GMT -5 ceejay said:

We've talked about doing this but always as something that would happen in the (distant) future. We watch a lot of TV and like having our favorite shows always available.

To keep our cable costs down, we switch back and forth between the 2 cable companies in our area every 2 years, so we're always getting the "new customer" promotional pricing.

We have access to only 2 companies here, and we've been doing that switching dance.  They've offered better prices but worse service or many fewer channels.  Its just not worth it at some point, and I think we might be at that point!

[gabride2010]

We have been cable free for around 5.5 years! We have Netflix and Amazin Prime. There are certain shows that we can't watch because we don't have cable, but we like the $$ we save more!

[emilie]

Stopped using cable about 5 years ago and don't miss it one bit. We have Hulu, Showtime via Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Now when we want it. We also use various channels via the Apple TV.  iTunes for the next-day TV that Hulu doesn't offer.

[hydrangea1019]

We have thought about getting rid of cable, but we are big football fans (and DH loves his Fantasy Football). However, it may be revisited since bibliothecary mentioned the SlingTV and the amazon fire stick....

hmmmmmmmmm.......

[ldubhawksfan]

****siggy warning***

We dumped cable probably 4 years ago. It really only hurt during football season. Otherwise we stream netflix and hook up our computer to the tv to stream directly from a network (ie PBS). That and we have an old school antenna, so we get all of the basic channels. I love it!

[sidneyvicious]

Jul 16, 2015 15:56:59 GMT -5 titania said:

Cable free for two years. We have Netflix, prime, Hulu. We do kind of cheat though cause we use my parents log-in for HBO (although I would get the app if we couldn't). The only channel I miss is AMC, but luckily I can go over to my friend's house for Walking Dead. FX AMC gets its own app one day!!

Is there really no other way to watch the walking dead?? They don't upload new episodes to their site? We just cut cable, but I haven't figured this one out yet. It's a problem.

[mustloveerica]

Jul 16, 2015 17:14:37 GMT -5 sidneyvicious said:

Jul 16, 2015 15:56:59 GMT -5 titania said:

Cable free for two years. We have Netflix, prime, Hulu. We do kind of cheat though cause we use my parents log-in for HBO (although I would get the app if we couldn't). The only channel I miss is AMC, but luckily I can go over to my friend's house for Walking Dead. FX AMC gets its own app one day!!

Is there really no other way to watch the walking dead?? They don't upload new episodes to their site? We just cut cable, but I haven't figured this one out yet. It's a problem.

I believe you can stream new episodes from amc.

[kayladawn91]

We only have one option for cable and they keep increasing our bill once a year. I'm getting sick of it but I don't think I could get rid of it because of sports. I'm an avid Detroit Tigers fan and H is all about football in the fall. Also I haven't found a way to watch PLL without cable.