Cable Out
For a number of reasons, we have decided to stop our cable TV service. Now, lest you think I’ve reached some pinnacle of moral enlightenment and have decided that no more will my home be flooded with the swill that passes for cable television programming, let me say first that the primary reason is money.
I love trashy TV programming. I have a good, American appetite for TV swill, from Dog the Bounty Hunter to Court TV.
But we pay Comcast $121.00 a month for basic cable service (no pay channels) and high speed internet. When Lynn recently found out that, apparently, you can divorce your cable TV service from your Comcast Internet service, she suggested that we could cut our bill more than half if we could get by without TV. Also, there is the fact that our service has sucked anyway, since Adelphia was purchased by Comcast. My posts on our crappy Comcast service (here and here) received the most comments from strangers than any blog posts I have ever written. I can’t stick it to Comcast by leaving them entirely, but I can stick it to them by reducing the amount I pay them every month.
Anyway, I think it’s a good idea, and we are going to try it. I am taking the DVR back to the cable company today. Yes, I know I feel that DVR is the greatest invention since the iPod. I will weep, when I hand it over.
But seriously, after thinking about it, we really don’t watch much TV anyway. I’d rather be playing World of Warcraft in my spare time. Lynn thinks she would read more, if she did not have TV to distract her.
I have been watching “Lost” season three on the iPod, not on television. And other than “Lost” and “Dr. Who,” there is not much else on TV worth watching. The other shows we record on the DVR, such as “Judge Judy” and “The People’s Court” are just time-fillers. Time could be better filled in other ways.
As for Brendan, he watches DVDs rather than television. He won’t miss anything. And maybe Lynn and I will start watching DVDs again, too. We haven’t watched a movie at home in ages. All in all, it’s going to be a good experiment.
[Update: I took the DVR back to the local Comcast office and had our service downgraded. First, the woman tried to sneak in additional services, however. Despite the fact I clearly said several times I only wanted Internet, she said "OK, so I am setting you up with only high speed Internet and classic cable service."
"What is classic service?" I asked
"Oh, you get channels 2 thru 72, but without a cable box." "And does that cost anything?" I asked.
"Well, 45 dollars for the Internet and fifty for cable."
I laughed. "No thanks, I only want the Internet."
Our cable bill next month should only be $45.95 + tax. That is an incredible savings.]
16 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
We did the same thing from the get-go when we moved in here, except they do force some “basic” service on us for $10 or something like that. We don’t even HAVE a TV, and we’re still paying for basic.
We’re also with Comcast, but lately the service hasn’t been too bad - for awhile last year it was going out all the time.
I hate hearing about sleazy business practices like that. We’re really a country of snakes, I think. Maybe capitalism is the devil?
Comment by Step — Saturday, 13 January 2007 @ 9:57 am
The phone company tried a similar number on me, and tried to charge me more money.
I’m glad you and Lynn decided to give up cable. I hope it lasts.
There is not much to watch … before going to a HOA where the cost of cable is included, so there’s no choice … we were paying $96 for cable and internet, and that was basic cable with no box no premium, no nothing.
It’s ridiculous what they charge. Try watching TV at 3 in the morning, and see what your money gets you. 20 infomercials.
I’m sorry you’ll have to give up such gems as Dog the Bounty Hunter. Heh heh.
Cable is something that sucks all the will out of your body — you don’t want to be watching three straight hours of crap, but somehow you do.
Congrats!
Comment by Mel B. — Sunday, 14 January 2007 @ 7:46 pm
Every so often Todd suggests cable. “We could watch CNN,” he says. But, really, getting PBS reception with the help of our house antennae is sufficient TV for us.
PBS Kids is on 75% of the time from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (sadly, I could ramble off the line-up effortlessly), and we get the BBC news at 6 and NewsHour at 7, and who needs more news than that? Besides, we mostly watch movies anyway.
So good for you on giving up cable. I hope you find you don’t miss it much.
Comment by Dawn — Sunday, 14 January 2007 @ 9:50 pm
Our first weekend without cable went surprisingly well, especially considering we weren’t really without cable. I suspect there is a grace period where you still receive cable channels, although your box is gone and your service officially downgraded.
I miss a few programs that I like to watch. And I miss the DVR very much. I loved effortlessly recording programs to watch alter, at my leisure. And it is such a pain to watch live TV without the ability to pause and rewind. Brendan has grown so accustomed to the DVR that when he is watching Spongebob and has to go to the bathroom, he still tells us, “Stop my show, please.” Sorry, kid, no stopping of shows anymore. We are back to the Stone Age. I don’t know how long we’ll survive this experiment in roughing it. I’m feeling antsy already, and we still have cable!
Comment by Matthew — Tuesday, 16 January 2007 @ 12:34 pm
As a girl who watches too much TV (though not as much as before, and now I think my Internet habits are becoming more a cause of concern than TV), I am impressed by the experiment. Mel B. and I, we just shell out the dough cause I don’t want to live a life devoid of decorating shows, Law & Order and, for Mel B., Dirty Jobs.
Can you buy a DVR independent of cable services? Is it not worth it with trying to watch stuff over the air, and the reception you generally get with that?
Comment by Heather — Tuesday, 16 January 2007 @ 2:05 pm
I don’t know if we get any channels over the air, never having tried living without cable. Anyway, when I was a High School librarian, I was on a committee that helped choose content for our regional PBS station, and I recall being told in one of our meetings that over the air programming is going to become a thing of the past as stations transition to a digital signal.
That transition has been delayed and delayed again, but frankly, I wouldn’t count on being able to receive much of anything free out of the ether for much longer.
You can buy a DVR separately (TiVO), but if you don’t have cable or satellite, what’s the point? Nothing to record. They are also expensive to buy outright, and TiVO charges a monthly subscription fee. Rental fee for our DVR was $10.00 a month from Adelphia/Comcast.
Just imagine it, Heather: with a couple clicks of your remote, you could record every episode of Flavor of Love on an expansive 80 GB hard drive and watch the program at your leisure, skipping commercials. Skipping commercials alone means you can watch an hour program in forty minutes. it’s really incredible how much time you would actually save.
Mel could record Dirty Jobs, too. She would never miss it again.
Mmmm. DVR. You know you want one.
God, I miss mine (sob!).
Comment by Matthew — Tuesday, 16 January 2007 @ 2:13 pm
The last thing I need is a TiVo… Several years back, I recorded four or five primetime shows to watch at my leisure, and realized how much time it was sucking away from me. (Network tv, mind you, bc I didn’t have cable.)
I resolved to not let TV control me anymore. Now I don’t watch much of anything that I can’t catch when it’s being aired. Dirty Jobs, Doctor Who, whatever.
I did try recording Doctor Who this season because my social life seemed to interfere with it, but I found that I wouldn’t get around to watching the 40-45 minutes this meant a week. Watching it while it’s on is one thing; finding time to watch it anytime when I can be playing WoW is another.
Comment by Mel B. — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 12:48 am
My little brother, the wasslin’ fan, has been trying to get me on the TiVo kick for years. And I was party to the pleasures of TiVo when I had an arrangement with a coworker last year to watch the Bears.
But I don’t think I’m addicted enough to any one show to need it. The only show I try to watch regularly–House Hunters–repeats so often there’s no need.
Oh, and I do watch a lot of trash, but Flavor of Love, which I’ve never seen a complete episode, doesn’t count. Now, get me some Project Runway or Parental Control or Dr. 90210…. now we’re talking.
Ah, the great stuff on cable. I’m sure you’ll miss all that quality, eh?
Comment by Heather — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 1:41 pm
I’ll probably miss it, though I am hoping to catch some things on the iPod. I can easily keep up with Lost on the iPod, for example.
I like court shows, particularly Judge Judy and the People’s Court. I’d record those and Lynn and I would watch them in the evening. I’m really going to miss that time we spent together.
I probably won’t miss Flavor of Love. It had a certain “train wreck” appeal–the episode where the woman craps on his carpet was absolutely the most lurid, disgusting, unbelievable thing I have ever seen on television.
I kept thinking of that line from “The Big Lebowski”: “But that rug tied the room together!”
I can probably survive if I don’t see next season of Flavor of Love, if there is a next season. And I won’t be watching the spinoff at all, “I Love New York.” I hate New York. Absolutely can’t stand her.
Sad, that I can talk about this stupid, stupid show with more authority than I can speak about any books I am reading.
Comment by Matthew — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 1:46 pm
You should be able to catch that stuff over the air (judge shows, at least), unless they’ve gone digital already in the D.C. area, as you’ve mentioned before. Get yourself a big damn antenna to stick on your TV, see what happens.
I heard about the crap on the carpet. See, that’s why I can’t watch that show–I don’t like to see black women acting such a fool. It sets civil rights back 75 years. Man.
And… you don’t want to ask me about any of the books I’m reading, either. I went to the library a couple of weeks ago, and am only a fraction through the first read. Such a loser, I am…
Comment by Mel B. — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 2:20 pm
that last comment was heather, btw.
Comment by Heather — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 2:21 pm
We might be able to catch it over the air, but the problem is that we aren’t usually at home when it’s on. One thing DVR did to us was it totally spoiled us for watching shows when we wanted to watch them. We almost never watched a show during its normal time slot. We’d record and watch later, partly for convenience and partly so we could easily skip commercials.
Comment by Matthew — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 2:24 pm
Do it old skool then, dude. VCR. Oh yeah.
Maybe I should try this thing they call DVR. It does sound wonderful. And something that’ll spoil you for life.
Comment by Heather — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 2:33 pm
Our VCR isn’t even hooked up to the cable anymore. I just plug it in to the front AV slot on the TV for those rare occasions when Brendan wants to watch a children’s movie on VHS.
Besides, VCRs are notoriously unreliable as recording devices. How many times back in the day did you set a VCR to record, only to get home and find it didn’t record, or recorded the wrong thing?
Nah, I’ll pass. Recording with a VCR is too much like trying to start a fire with flint and tinder after having experienced the simplicity of matches.
All this talk of antennas and VCRs makes me feel like I’ve stepped into a time warp. Is this really how some people live? There are homes out there with (gasp) television antennas?
Next thing you’ll tell me to go buy an aerial and mount it on the side of the house, and then trade in my nice Phillips digital TV for a Zenith tube televison in a faux-wood floor console…a TV with knobs that you turn and pull to operate the TV.
Comment by Matthew — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 2:44 pm
Hee hee. Like the flint and the tinder, eh? Apt analogy.
I’m just saying, if your choice is that or darkness, you don’t have to plunge yourself into darkness.
Oh, and what are you saying about the wood console TVs? Those rule, man. Esp. if you get one where you have to beat in the sides to get the picture to work. Or one where the picture goes out into a little dot of light for a few moments before falling completely silent.
Comment by Heather — Wednesday, 17 January 2007 @ 5:33 pm
VCRs are only plagued by user error.
Comment by Mel B. — Saturday, 20 January 2007 @ 4:40 pm