Have you every thought about how or why you should ditch your cable? More and more people are becoming disenfranchised with their cable company and are looking for alternatives like Hulu Plus
and Netflix.
With more streaming content available on the Internet for free or cheap, it’s becoming relatively easy to drop your cable and just watch your favorite shows online. Here are some tips on how you can drop your cable for Internet based programming.
Understand The Content You Want
The first thing you want to do is understand what content you want – movies, nightly news, weekly sitcoms, etc. If you have certain shows you know you want to watch each week, you need to make sure that you can still get them online.
Look up what shows Hulu Plus and Netflix offer, and make sure they have new content and not just old seasons. Also, don’t forget to check out the actual channels themselves. Channels like ABC offer all of their programming online one day after it airs.
Find Good Deals When You Ditch Your Cable
The next thing to do is find a good deal on switching. Start by searching for coupons or discounts offered by companies like Hulu Plus or Netflix. These companies usually offer discounts to new subscribers that you may be able to take advantage of. Also, see if you can get a discount on your Internet as well. Many cable companies also offer Internet service, and to not lose you forever, they may offer incentives for you to at least keep your Internet with them.
Make Sure You Have The Right Technology
Finally, you need to make sure that your home is ready for you to make the move. First, you want to decide how you want to watch your programming. You can use your computer, but that doesn’t always work for a whole family.
You may want to consider investing in a box that streams to your TV, like a Roku. You could also just upgrade to a Smart TV that connects directly to the Internet so that you can view the programming you want to see without any other boxes or remotes.
Man, I am 90% there! I want to ditch my cable, but I’m in love with sports. Sigh. The good news is that many systems (XBox, etc.) are adding sports channels to their lineups. This will be the final straw in helping me completely ditch cable because I’ll have access to 90% of what I watch anyway.
This is definitely an eye opener for a lot of us. For instance, I have been having a netflix account for more than 3 years, and still have cable. I probably have spent more time watching tv shows on netflix than on cable but I cant get the sports channels on netflix therefore the reason I still have cable. But if it wasn’t for sports I would most likely not have cable at home.
We want to ditch the cable, but like Joe I enjoy my sports too much. That, and we love HBO. I know more stuff is getting added to streaming, but there is nothing that’ll perfectly match what we can get. I know, I am a bad PF blogger. 😉
Ditching cable is one of the best money-saving moves we’ve made. We haven’t had it in years and the decision is reinforced every time we go to my parents’ house. They have hundreds of channels and yet there’s still nothing we care to watch. Our system at home is pretty slick — we have a streaming membership with Netflix and rent movies from RedBox. The antenna my husband made enables us to watch all the local channels in HD (ABC, NBC, FOX) and we record shows through Windows Media (much cheaper and easier than Tivo). We tried Hulu Plus but were not impressed with the commercials, since we believe paying for a subscription should negate the need for advertisements. Once sports are more readily available through streaming and other options, I think cable companies will really struggle.
I have been cable free for about a year now and I can’t complain. You really get used to not having it. There are times when I wish I had more sports, but I can get over it.
I have actually turn to Netflix and I am most happy with it. The savings on cable subscription is quite high also.