Cutting the cable cord can be a big step in your life. Do, is it time for you to do it? I did it some time ago and have not looked back. It was easier for me as TV is not that big a deal in my life…well some days I do watch more than others. But what I watch is done without a cable or satellite dish. It really depends on how big a place TV is in your life.
I can easily live without all the crap they put on broadcast TV these days…except maybe for some sporting events. For those, I use an indoor antenna (Mohu Leaf is the best one) to pick up my local TV stations that all broadcast in beautiful 1080P. In fact, the quality of broadcast signals is far superior to signals that come over cable.
As for cable channels, most of what they broadcast is also crap and it usually comes with an abundance of irritating commercials. I don’t miss those at all. And if you are like most people, you pay a lot of money for cable channels you don’t even watch. And cable and satellite companies are not about to let you chose your channels ala carte.
Most of my TV watching is done with the aid of a Roku Box. I found Roku to be the best TV device by far, but you can also get a similar box from Apple, Amazon and Google. It connects with the Internet and has over a thousand channels to choose from. But just like cable, I only have a few channels I really watch. The two channels that get the most play in my life are Netflix and Amazon Prime. With those two channels I get both movies and TV shows…thousands of them!
For instance, I am a fan of the TV show NCIS. Netflix has 12 years worth of NCIS episodes that I can watch whenever I want…all without commercials! I recently discovered the TV show, “Person of Interest”…and just like NCIS, all their episodes are available, again without commercials. I could name several shows that I like to watch on occasion. There are even current shows on YouTube, which also available on Roku and other boxes. YouTube contains a wealth of video files and I control the channel on the Roku with my iPad.
I happen to be a baseball fan. For $110 a year, I get “MLB” and can watch every baseball game being played around the country live every day…and without commercials also. I cannot get the Arizona Diamondbacks games as I live in Arizona, but I don’t really care. I am a SF Giants fan so I can watch their games. I also enjoy watch the Red Sox. If I happen to miss a game, I can watch it anytime I want using their game replay.
I could go on and on about all the channels available with all kinds of entertainment. But here is a little secret: if you have a friend or relative with cable or satellite and they are willing to share their login info with you, you can get lots of those cable channels on your Roku box…like HBO, Showtime, Starz, ESPN and many many others…all for free!
So, if you are thinking of making the move, do your homework to make sure this is the right move for you…and read the first in-depth article here on how to do it. I hope this helps you. -JRC
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