Cord Cutters

[mc6809e]

It's a good thing there are choices and I'm glad you're happy.

It's all about what type of programming you like. Personally I find blood, guts, gore, and gratuitous violence much more offensive than porn but to each his own.

I've had DirecTV, Dish, and Charter Cable through the years, most recently Dish and Charter.

We don't care for Sports programming here so the big programming packages and ESPN have absolutely no value to us. After the programming started shifting to the fake "Reality" BS I started paying attention to how much time we were actually watching a channel on Dish or Charter instead of FTA satellite or OTA. When it got down to about 4 hours per WEEK of their "Premium" programming that we were watching, I cancelled. That was several years ago, well before I retired. I certainly wouldn't pay what we were paying then for that programming now.

As has been stated, there's a lot to be said for being able to see real programming and news from around the world that hasn't been "sanitized" or edited for broadcast by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, FOX, or others. I've seen many satellite feeds of events that, when broadcast, didn't show everything in context or what was shown had commentary that could change the viewer's perception of what had actually occurred. There are also many, many major stories that are never aired by any of the networks listed above so the majority of people have no clue that they even happened. If people depend on a single source of information (and many, if not most, do) then that's their fault. However, their view of the world is heavily colored to reflect the philosophy of their source and likely has no real balance.

 

[fred555]

True, these days in addition to the aggregation of talking, you have to go to the movies packing heat. Safer to stay home you can pause and go pee that way.

Don't forget all the rude people texting and tweeting throughout the whole movie too.

 

[fred555]

As has been stated, there's a lot to be said for being able to see real programming and news from around the world that hasn't been "sanitized" or edited for broadcast by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, FOX, or others. I've seen many satellite feeds of events that, when broadcast, didn't show everything in context or what was shown had commentary that could change the viewer's perception of what had actually occurred. There are also many, many major stories that are never aired by any of the networks listed above so the majority of people have no clue that they even happened. If people depend on a single source of information (and many, if not most, do) then that's their fault. However, their view of the world is heavily colored to reflect the philosophy of their source and likely has no real balance.

Thank goodness for Galaxy 19 and the foreign news, I would bet that most people don't know about the Saudi Tanks rolling towards Yemen for instance. As far as news goes, we have the option of looking at all viewpoints.
Whats more important is that you realize what you are not seeing with US news outlets.

 

[bobvick]

What I miss is, well really, is the real OLD days before scrambling, haha. But now I just miss about 20 years ago. I remember, I got just about all the basics and movie channels on TVRO in the mid 90's for about $500 a YEAR. Now days, that's maybe a $500 a quarter.

 

[radio]

Let's not "go" (there) to the topic of the movie theaters and their unfortunate events and news of late. Our country is very guilty lately of over-reacting to (incredibly unfortunate events) events to the point where CBS radio news was interviewing theater goers about "theaters needing armed security guards." What a pile of B.S. It's time we stop letting the "bad guys' win all the time...and instead concentrate on civility, kindness, and the GOOD things going on which don't make the news. Maybe in times things will change. We can always hope.

Sorry to digress.

Back on topic....My cord cutting? yes, it saved money...AND it intrigued me to get BACK to satellite and OTA which I enjoyed using and installing in the 80's.
Specifically...

1) the way packages were arranged on pay (small) dishes, I overpaid for what few channels I wanted.

2) By the time I went to ala Carte on C-band via 4D/Hits, there weren't more than about 10 channels I liked, even though the packages were nicely priced, the amount of TIME I watched them was getting less and less, meaning the focus needed to move from subscribing in "real time" to "recording" shows for later availability and finding another source of entertainment.

3) Technology on both the FTA and the OTA have made it possible to now have the convenience of watching anywhere, anytime so there's no longer a strangle-hold on the consumer to pay (cable/satellite) for that convenience beyond owning their own reasonably priced equipment. LOVE my "Tablo TV" box and wouldn't trade it for the world. My FTA receiver is simple, inexpensive, and most anyone with some knowledge of how it works or some help can self-install and enjoy a simple FTA system.

4) The picture QUALITY of what FTA gives us in many cases far exceeds what consumers get on cable or pay-satellite.

5) The "hunt" is fun. Channels that are not yet on pay small dishes or local cable are available, enough to keep the hobby interesting, and the entertainment engaging.

6) I like older shows I grew up with. They're everywhere...and in plentiful supply.

....there's probably more reasons.

For me, FTA/OTA carries minimal equipment cost, fun "hunting" for favorite services, and gives reliable local network affiliates. In my location, (3) or more markets can be received. I don't miss the bills of cable or pay satellite at all! If it "hurts" the bigger companies, no sympathy here. Like the music industry, they needed to change their distribution and business models with the evolution of technology. They didn't do it fast enough, and are crying now.

 

[danristheman]

Ear demon I am 33 years old like you I have cable when I was a child ota growing up. Sign up for direct tv when it came out I have had Dish network then finally ota plus fta. I have learned to see what money were wasting on reruns and bad shows. I don't care for sports their boring if your not playing the sport outside. We have not had pay tv in our home for 5 years its been nice. I grew up watching old tv shows my taste in shows have gotten better since years ago. I watch more pbs last night they had on something about viking sword is was neat learning about carbon what we are made of. I would rather watch something worth my time than wasting my time. I don't have netflix or online tv watching we can't afford it. If they gave me pay tv for free I don't want it. Its your choice what you want to watch and pay for since its your money.

 

[bpalone]

Well, I guess I started it, so here is my migration story:

Had started taking less and less of Dish material. Then decided to put up an OTA antenna, also picked up a Roku box about the same time. Then put the Dish on vacation and found that we didn't even miss it. I had forgotten about getting stuff via satellite with your own equipment, then I saw something on slashdot about FTA. Did some investigating, and now have both C and Ku, and enjoying every bit of it.

As for the why's, I was sick and tired of subsidizing programming that I really shouldn't of been. I also was looking at the total dollar amount, which by the time I finally cut the cord, was only about $20.00 a month. Which was considerably less than I had spent in years past.

Am I happy? YES!! Would I take pay service back? NO!! Not even if they gave it to me. Now, I am not cost free, as I pay for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. So, I guess I still have a hook in my mouth.

 

[RT-Cat]

It is on what you want to look at. Only sports I watch is golf and football. Not a large amount of it. Would like to watch other "stuff." I do like what is on several of the channels that I can not and will not get after I drop Dish in September. In my case, it is $$$$$$. Continue with dish and loose the house or drop dish and use that money for the crazy property taxes. I wish I could do both, just not going to happen. I guess I could give up everything and go live in a cardbord box. Problem there is with my luck some one would rattle the box and tell me they need it for the recycling center.......

 

[FaT Air]

Only way I'd consider going back to paid television is if À la carte were available at a reasonable price. No way on the packaged channel lineup. 70%+ of the channels were always programmed SKIP.

 

[Titanium]

Whatever makes your world spin!

If my social interaction consisted of hanging around a water cooler talking about last nights episode of housewives or I gave a damn about Pregnant and 18 or the Duggards, I would have subscription TV.
If my life consisted of sitting on my ass instead of working on projects and enjoying exploring the great out of doors, I would have subscription TV.
If my life revolved around the performance of an athlete (or someone who claims they are the best at something), if my team was in the finals or how I ranked in a fantasy sports league , I would have subscription TV.
If I wanted to pour good money down the toilet for stuff that usually backs-up from the toilet, I would have subscription TV.

OTA, FTA and the Internet keeps me informed and entertained when I have nothing better to do. Thank goodness I usually have something better to do!

 

[FaT Air]

Well put.

 

[oldsmobile]

Serious question here.

I dumped cable when I learned how to make an antenna. I was happy because all that really interested me was on broadcast. FTA is a hobby, and I find it rewarding to have built up my own tv system.

I get that lots of people like the cable or pay tv. Fine. Different strokes, etc.

When I'm at a friend's house, paging through hundreds of channels, I find it absolutely overwhelming. I get what I think is called "decision fatigue". Ditto at large grocery stores. Does anyone else feel that way when faced with full-blown Comcast lineup or equivalent?

 

[FTA4PA]

Serious question here.

I dumped cable when I learned how to make an antenna. I was happy because all that really interested me was on broadcast. FTA is a hobby, and I find it rewarding to have built up my own tv system.

I get that lots of people like the cable or pay tv. Fine. Different strokes, etc.

When I'm at a friend's house, paging through hundreds of channels, I find it absolutely overwhelming. I get what I think is called "decision fatigue". Ditto at large grocery stores. Does anyone else feel that way when faced with full-blown Comcast lineup or equivalent?

We haven't had 'pay' tv (other than Amazon Prime) for several years but yes, far too many channels and most of them a huge waste of time (IMHO). Much better to have several quality FTA/OTA channels than to pay for 300-400 of which we can find 15 or 20 that we would watch.

 

[oldsmobile]

Know how I know I'm getting old? I'm excited about all the PBS.

 

[fred555]

Know how I know I'm getting old? I'm excited about all the PBS.

Me too.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/pbs-finally-i-hope.351960/

 

[. Raine]

Serious question here.

When I'm at a friend's house, paging through hundreds of channels, I find it absolutely overwhelming. I get what I think is called "decision fatigue". Ditto at large grocery stores. Does anyone else feel that way when faced with full-blown Comcast lineup or equivalent?

Definitely, and the worst was when you've gone through that whole list and realize that there's nothing you want to watch! So many times I would go through our whole cable line-up looking for something for like 20-30 minutes and not find anything. Now, takes me maybe a minute or two to find something to watch.

 

[oldsmobile]

...or to verify that there's nothing to watch, right?

 

[Lone Gunman]

I cut the cord when NPS closed up shop while trying to push us into pizza pans (IIRC they were the last Cband provider before HITS) . Prior to that it was a BUD Cband ala' carte starting back in 1988 with the 10' Winegard dish in my signature. Back then I never paid more than $125 a YEAR for the stuff I actually wanted to watch plus the occasional month of HBO or Cinnimax. Got tired of that though as there's only so many times you could watch or tolerate Steel Magnolias!

When NPS was going away I bought an AZBox Elite and slaved it to my GI 920 and it's been down hill since.

A couple of years after that I put up an OTA antenna and and was surprised to see that 19 channels were available there as well so that was a plus. Since then that channel count has gone up to 23 with about 1/3 of those being HD.

Then came the second and third BUDs along with multiple receivers and positioners and I've never looked back!

With all the receivers I've bought for FTA (6) and the other equipment that goes along with them, I've probably spent less than $1500 for all of it. To date though I can honestly say I've gotten my moneys worth from that equipment and it will likely last me on into the future.

Theres NO PAY TV AT MY HOUSE!

 

[Mr Tony]

IMO anyone who has a streaming box and subscribed to Netflix, Hulu or any of those paid services DID NOT cut the cord. You just moved to another provider. That is why I cringe when I hear that word and people go "oh I subscribe to Hulu, Netflix, MLB, NHL, blah blah blah".

If you truly are one, in my mind you have OTA (&/or FTA) and you DON'T subscribe to anything like that. Some of you are very lucky. You have high speed unlimited internet. Yes I know some of the FTA'ers dont (which brings me to something else...but I'll expand on that later). I have 2 options for internet. Satellite or hotspot. And neither have unlimited
So sadly my roku has been in storage for almost 4 months now as my 2GB limit would get gobbled up in a few minutes.

I had satellite and got rid of it because I would have to pay. No I wasnt stealing. No I wasnt account sharing. It was part of my rent. I paid for HD & DVR which was $20. But with the credits I had, I didnt pay a bill in like 2 years. When the credits ran out I cancelled. Now I have just OTA with 2 Tivos. And its not even a full market where I am. No NBC and ABC is still analog. Yeah at night I **may** get Minneapolis stations which are 95 miles away. But still no NBC (they are the only one on VHF and my antenna is facing the other way)

Do I wish I had satellite? Yeah for the sports. But I'm not paying $100 for the sports games. I can listen to them on the radio.

Now onto another thing in regards to the internet. I'd post this in the actual thread but since I can't open it I have to post it here.
While I'm sure the thread on the cable headend that Timmy (Coinmaster/TechFizzle) posted is probably nice, the fact he posted FULL SIZE 7MB PICS forces me to not see it until I get somewhere that I don't have to worry about bandwidth crunch. I have a computer, a netbook and a smartphone. I was places where there were fast wifi and if I tried to open the thread, after 30 seconds or so it crashed. My netbook would just shut down the internet. I tried originally to try it on my computer, only to realize they were full size pics and backed out. Too late. Even though the pictures didnt fully open it gobbled up about 1/3 of my monthly allotment of internet for the month.

So in the future if you (or anyone) wants to post pictures. Do us non unlimited HS internet folks a favor. USE THUMBNAILS!!! Also no need to "hotlink" to another site. You can easily upload them here at satelliteguys and put them as thumbnails. And you can even do them in the thread. Click where you want the pic to go, select upload, then upload the pic, say "thumbnail" and BOOM its right where you need it. Doing that allows folks to decide if they want to click on the pic and blow it up, or just read the thread and see the thumbnails.

 

[bobvick]

You are right about that Ice, if you are paying for any service, you haven't "cut the cord" you've just transitioned to a different type of "cord." By the time you get done adding up a lot of these streaming services, you get to a price that is not that much cheaper than Pay TV in some cases.