1 in 4 People Ready To Ditch Cable For Web Video?

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I am skeptical of statistics released by anyone that uses marketing speak like "a consumer-driven tsunami” but I also know that a lot of tech savvy people do want to ditch cable TV. What is holding you back from cutting the "cable?"

Today’s installment comes from JP Morgan’s Imran Khan, whose 2011 forecast is chock-full of interesting data (see these amazing Facebook numbers – and plan on getting at least one more of these today or tomorrow). Khan believes that cord-cutting – or at the very least, a wave of “over-the-top” video, delivered by the Web instead of cable – is real. “A consumer-driven Tsunami”, he calls it.
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I ditched my cable a long time ago for usenet. Does that count as web tv?
Fuck on demand. I have 50mb cable.
 
I've already done it, with pleasure. Only problem I face now, is that damnable 250GB cap on my Comacast connection.
 
I find that video on demand, be it from hulu or even demonoid, is infinitely better than watching real tv. The only thing missing is live sports.
 
Honestly, not a ton. I do like that I finally have HD versions of all of the networks I watch regularly. To totally drop cable I'd want guaranteed (legal...) availability of those networks and my favorite shows online.
Free HD network programming is a definite plus, although using an antenna is still a LOT more fickle than cable.
I'd say legal/easy alternatives are the real key. I'm sure pretty much everyone on this site CAN watch TV on their PC if they really want, but I'm not sure 1/4 of all users are ready to torrent most of what they watch.
 
I ditched cable TV long ago. There just isnt enough content that I enjoy. I get everything I need from OTA or the net. About the only thing I miss is some sporting events. Not many, but some.
 
If I could get the NFL (in good quality), I'd drop. Outside of football season I can go all week without even turning my TV on.
 
I ditched mine about a year ago and haven't looked back. For anyone on the fence about this, at least try the following as a test.

1) Go out and pick up an HD antennae. ($30-$50)
2) Go out and pick up PC tuner card. (Check out the Avermedia AverTVHDDuet - $75, but have seen it for under $50 on sale).
3) Pick up a cheap Media Center remote ($15)
4) Grab and old PC and a copy of Windows 7 and install Media Center (Check out this great guide)

Even if you don't have a PC and need to build one, you can easily build a "HTPC" for less than $300. So figure, worst case, under $500 all-in and you have a Home Theater PC that can watch/DVR High Def TV over the air, watch Netflix, watch/play any video/music files you have on your network and a ton of other things.

I ended up building 2 boxes for different rooms and still got a return on my investment in less than 6 months. I'm telling you, if you give it a shot, you won't look back. :)
 
I did this in 2004. Though there weren't many alternatives online at the time, it freed me up for some MMO grinding for a bit :)

There are very few shows I enjoy on TV, the majority of which I can stream legally for free.
 
Dude FUCK cable! It was the highest bill I had each month besides the mortgage. I don't miss watching commercials 30% of the time but I do miss the sports. I only wish I had an alternative for internet. 46$ a month for 15Mbps, are you kidding me?
 
PaHick said:
I ditched cable TV long ago. There just isnt enough content that I enjoy. I get everything I need from OTA or the net. About the only thing I miss is some sporting events. Not many, but some.
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^This - especially with ESPN3 now there are only a few sporting events I can't watch,and for those, well, that's what they make sports bars for ;)
 
Lets clarify something though really:

If your cable was....lets say 60-70% less than it is now, would you continue to pay it?

I think most would. The problem is the ever increasing "fees" and upward spiraling of the
costs. Not to mention, monopolies in markets are just horrible for consumers, and they
offer no reason for innovation in markets that would probably turn positive ROI from having
them.

So you get stuck paying the more for less.

Ala carte TV might be some solution to the problem. But I remember when the BUD's had that as an option, and you can see how popular that is today.
 
PeaKr said:
I only wish I had an alternative for internet. 46$ a month for 15Mbps, are you kidding me?
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you and me both. got comcast :( my bill is $54 and I get 30down/3up on a good day. no DSL or FIOS here.
 
PaHick said:
you and me both. got comcast :( my bill is $54 and I get 30down/3up on a good day. no DSL or FIOS here.
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I dunno, I pay $60 for 15mbit but I download about 2TB a month with it. Seems well worth it to me.
 
Ruoh said:
I've already done it, with pleasure. Only problem I face now, is that damnable 250GB cap on my Comacast connection.
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I feel you there buddy. I have on... occasion gone over this stupid cap, but they haven't harassed me about it yet *knocks on wood*

I'm already positioning myself to get away from cables' redheaded step child, Satalite TV. If it wasn't for the wife, I wouldn't be stuck in a stupid contract for over priced/poor quality content...
 
+1 already ditched cable tv.

... can imagine it being tougher with Comcast admittedly, I waited until i had FIOS.
 
I would not have cable service anymore myself, but my provider lumps the basic 70 channels in with any internet service plan anyway. Even the bottom rung $39 1.5mb down 256kb up plan gets basic cable tossed in. So I might as well plug my TV into it, regardless of how little I watch it.
 
stiltner said:
Lets clarify something though really:

If your cable was....lets say 60-70% less than it is now, would you continue to pay it?
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No. In my house, the TV is for games and movies. If it were about $15, then I might.
 
i kicked twc to the curb a while ago and went back to dsl. they couldnt even handle streaming their own on demand movies at peak hours, let alone give me the 6mbps i paid for. add that on top of miserable 'hd' quality and it wasnt worth the extra 100$ a month. hulu and netflix covers damn near everything and a couple network sites fill in the blanks. you can typically get your live sports from http://atdhe.net/ and there you have it: no more cable.
 
The only reason I still have satellite is because of the stupid contract. I changed to the most minimal package I could get until the contract is up. I almost never watch the stupid thing anymore. I really screwed the pooch sighing up for that. If I could pay 20-30 bucks for every channel under the sun, with DVR, it'd be worth it. Not at the prices they're charging though.
 
BDV said:
Ditched cable long time ago
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Same here. If I had the money to burn, Id probably still have it, but I don't really feel that I'm missing anything without it either. It's just too expensive to justify anymore IMO
 
Sports.


SF Giants and MLB, College Sports, NBA, NHL, NFL and Soccer keep me with cable tv.


MLB has a great web based service but blackout rules keep me from using it....
 
This one is not easy for me. After all the numbers, I doubt I'd save much by dropping cable. The Inet would go up 10 bucks, and any shows I'd rent might push the total monthly right in to the range of what I'm paying now. I'm thinking pretty seriously about it though.
 
mjcutri said:
^This - especially with ESPN3 now there are only a few sporting events I can't watch,and for those, well, that's what they make sports bars for ;)
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I consider my internet to be fairly reliable / fast, but have found ESPN3 streaming to be inconsistent for more popular sporting events. Only reason I pay for cable....
 
So I guess I'm in the minority here... but we get all the HD shows we like plus DVR for $40 / month. It's easy to use and reliable (Dish Network). We pay another $12/month for netflix. So basically I don't mind paying around $50/month to satisfy all of our HD and Blu-Ray needs. I don't have time to mess with a HTPC and I certainly don't have time to re-explain everything to the wife and kids over and over. Last time I checked HTPC interfaces had improved, but were nowhere near as simple as our DVR. Maybe things have changed...

We just use netflix for blu-rays because the streaming selection is quite craptastic and even at "HD" quality it's a far cry from a decent blu-ray.

We've also been playing with a free month of Hulu+ through a Roku (a Christmas gift). It's semi-craptastic because license agreements limit the shows that you can watch through a "streaming device" (i.e. no Community through the Roku, but we can watch it on our PC).
 
stiltner said:
Lets clarify something though really:

If your cable was....lets say 60-70% less than it is now, would you continue to pay it?

I think most would. The problem is the ever increasing "fees" and upward spiraling of the
costs. Not to mention, monopolies in markets are just horrible for consumers, and they
offer no reason for innovation in markets that would probably turn positive ROI from having
them.
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You forgot to add paying for stations I don't watch.

I don't watch sports, but the most expensive single channel for cable is usually ESPN that is included in the base cable costs. Government regulation require the cable companies to carry all local channels, yet allow the providers like ESPN to "bundle" mutile channels/media and force the cable companies to pay for every customer. This limits the cable companies ability to allow alacart pricing.

If I could pick the top 12 channels we watch (channels included in the base/extended cable plans), and have them delivered in unencrypted QAM, they could drop the other 65+ channels and I wouldn't have to pay for them. I'd switch to an antenna, but I'm on the wrong side of the hill, and have almost no reception.
 
DarrisBard said:
How are the captions on hulu?
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I don't know - I've never used captions - if i remember, I'll check them tonight. I seem to recall reading somewhere that either the Roku or Hulu doesn't have very good caption support.
 
Already "cut the cable" - we stream what we want to watch now. The only time we used the cable TV service is when my youngest daughter (13yo) is living with me for two weeks at a time. She only watched about 6 channels and it just wasn't worth the extra cost.

Between Netflix, Hulu, and direct from the channel's website we're doing fine and dandy. The only thing we miss to any degree is the Food Network. As a family we enjoyed that - but one channel we watched vs 300+ of crap... the math didn't work out.
 
Steve said:
What is holding you back from cutting the "cable?"
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Nothing! Did it 3 years ago. The few shows I want to watch are available through the channel's website, Hulu, and/or Netflix. Why pay $40, $60, $80 a month for the chance to watch 4 the stations you care about at THERE convenience when they put it all online anyway?
 
Amen to all above. I don't have cable TV and have no intention of ever having it.

Ridiculous, loud, long, mind sucking countless advertisements dominating the viewing experience. No Thanks.
 
I'd LOVE to cut DirecTV, scummiest bunch of thieving bastards ever.

But atdhe, while nice, doesn't have shit on Foxsports Florida for watching the Heat games.
 
rive22 said:
The sad part about television, is the commercials in the last couple years have been the most entertaining and creative part of watching. Even to make complete and total fun of whilst watching - the shows were too painful to make fun of whilst watching.
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I could probably deal with sports with OTA tv that's "free" (minus the investment of the antenna), but to be honest, I'm just lazy, DirecTV is easy for me don't need to fiddle with any 3rd party hardware/software, and it's there when I want it. However, I do admit I'm pissed that me watching TV costs $75 a month, and that shit isn't even with any premium channels. WTF I got DirecTV originally many years ago because it was the cheapest thing around at $19.95 for basic service (which was fine by me)
 
1) Order $19.99 comcast internet (only internet, since TV is unblockable you get it free, durrrr)

for full speed 16MB (about 1-2mb/sec download), $25.80 after taxes per month for 2-80 channel digital TV + broadband

Use for 6 months until time runs out

2) Cancel internet, usually free cable TV will be left on. (mine is still on after 2 months of canceling)

3) Use 3G/4G internet tether from your smart phone for daily use internet, and then use free work/family/friend/neighbors broadband when you want to download big files (using dedicated torrent box at broadband location, or your own house if you use your neighbors broadband). Pick up the new content every week, 3 days, whichever you want. If you're a lucky bastard and get decent 4G signal, 4G might just replace your entire situation so you could possibly skip most of #3.

/thread
 
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