Digital cable TV.. Ugh..

spantini

COO of me, inc.
Several days ago, I received a letter from my cable/ISP. Says they're going full digital in a couple of weeks and anyone who's got their cable
going from the wall outlet straight into the back of their TV will no longer receive a watchable signal. A digital box must be installed to continue
watching cable TV.

This is great for 1 or 2 reasons, and terrible for many more reasons.

They're supplying the box at no charge for the first 12 months - after that it's.. ? some extra charge per month.

I am getting excellent HD TV images.

I am no longer receiving one of my favorite channels - with the restructuring of tiers, it's been bumped from the "basic" level
to Tier 1 and now will cost an extra $12/mo.

I am receiving many more channels in my basic service now, but I have no interest in 98% of them. Moving up to Tier 1 to get my favorite channel
would add a slew more channels I have no interest in - for $12/mo extra.

I see some major cord cutting in my future via some yet to be determined streaming service, which can deliver a lot of what I want
to watch along with the favorite channel I no longer have for $30/mo. I can stream via my PC and Phone and use my TV to cast to from
my phone.
 
I switched to an OTT service nearly 2 years ago (Playstation Vue). Generally I’m pretty happy with it. I also tried YouTube TV for a couple months, but then switched back to Vue.

There are others, such as Hulu, DirecTV Now, Sling, etc. And they all have their pluses and minuses.

They will save you money over cable, but they provide a cable-like experience, not a cable experience.

First you need to determine which channels you absolutely need and see which services offer them. For example, depending on where you live, you may or may not get all your local channels from sone services. Or, another ex., Vue does not have any of the Viacom channels. And they may or may not have your regional sports network, if that’s important to you.

Also you will need a device to accept the stream. Not all services work on all devices. Youtube TV does not work on any Amazon devices (Fire TV) because Google and Amazon are at war. Some services work on certain smart TVs, but most do not work on all smart TVs.

The streaming devices are relatively cheap ($40-$60), and it sure beats paying for a cable box every month until infinity.

And of course your cable company is likely to jack up your price for internet service - since you no longer qualify for their double or triple play discounts.

Still, I figure I’m saving about $50 a month versus what I be paying my cable company. I already had a streaming device for Netflix, but I had to buy a second one for my bedroom. The first month’s savings paid for that, though.

Most of the savings actually come from equipment rental fees. Two boxes at $9/month each, plus $15 for DVR service is $33 alone. Sony includes their (unlimited) DVR in the price for their service. Some of others either don’t have a DVR, or charge extra for higher capacity. I record EVERYTHING I watch (except sports) so that was important to me.

As I said, it’s cable-like, but not cable. You can’t delete recordings after you watch them (they just go away after 28 days). You can’t easily channel surf. Some OTT services have a very limited guide. For ex., Youtube TV only shows you the next 2-3 hours of programming in their guide, not a full week like cable. And most OTTs only broadcast in stereo, not surround, shoukd you happen to have a home theater system.

Anyway that’s some of my experience. I would do it again, but I don’t have a wife complaining about how difficult it is to use. :). Be glad to answer any questions if I can.
 
Free TV

I only have broadcast TV. It has its advantages:
1. It is free
2. We get 20+ channels
The rest of my TV viewing is supplied by Netflix and YouTube.
 
I got cable for my Internet...but I've been on Dish Network for about 18-19 years now.
It's not perfect, but way more programming than cable. ...not that I watch a lot of TV, but it's less of a hassle than cable TV, IMO.
When I first bought my house...I tried to go cable, and they had an attitude about running the line to the house...and their programming was a smaller package.
A couple of years ago the cable company changed hands (TWC to Spectrum)...so I called, and they ran the cable no problem for my Internet, and they keep sending me offers to try the TV and their streaming...but I'm staying with Dish for now. I can still watch TV during power outages since I have a huge permanent generator...and if the cable Internet goes out, I still my old DSL Internet too, as a back up.
With going all-cable...I would lose everything during a power outage...plus some people run their phones off the cable...so you lose that too.

Anyway....yeah, those digital conversion boxes are free at first, then it's like maybe $5 per month later on. Once they program it in for you...don't disconnect the box or remove it from power for too long...it will lose the programming, and then you have to call them back to fix it. That's how it was on the cable TVs at my day gig that are used by the public, that used the conversion boxes....I had to call them back twice, and after that, I just let them go, it wasn't my job to worry about the TV...it was only because I had the direct lines to the tech due to our cable network stuff.
 
I only have broadcast TV. It has its advantages:
1. It is free
2. We get 20+ channels
The rest of my TV viewing is supplied by Netflix and YouTube.

I've been thinking about going that route at some point...because I just don't watch that much TV...and when I do, it's mostly to catch a movie at the end of the night...but, when my mother is here visiting, she likes to surf channels, so I leave things as is for now.
 
Cut the cable and phone cord many years ago...

OTT gives us a ton of stuff which we manage and record with TIVO (Lifetime service) WE have a Vizio HD TV with Chromecast built in so I can "cast" anything I find on the internet via my browser...pretty cool... there in really nothing out there in the world that we can't watch if we want..we share a Hulu and Netflix account and have Amazon prime..Can't stomach paying for HBO , Showtime or the likes...

Antennae on the roof...Tivo (which is not only a DVR but a interface for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, YOutube and several other "apps" and lastly Chromecast ...The Tivo is a one time payment but I've found myself upgrading to the latest greatest TIVO @ every 5 or 6 years @ $600 that includes "lifetime Tivo service" that then averages out to @ $100 a year...With the HULU and Netflix shared account @ $100 a year and Amazon account is $120 annually so for @ $320 a year / $27 a month we have a pretty broad A/V all you can manage to watch buffet...

OH YEAH PHONE! Yeah I know landlines are so yesterdays news...shit we have fios 50/50 why not? We were able to port our 30 year old home phone number that was costing me @ $35 a month with Vonage to this and it's FRICKING FREE! YEAH BUDDY>>>


OBIWANKANOBI! OBIHAI OBi200 for @ $50 google voice FREE landline for all U.S. calls ( small fee for international ) with amazing call forwarding, voicemail, call filtering..we have ours set so that anyone we don't know must state their name before it will ring and we have the option ( if they say their name) to take the call or send it to voicemail...AWESOME 99% of telemarketers hang up...the other asshats get sent to voicemail...and it's all FREE after the obi 200 $50 buy in...



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Cut the cable and phone cord many years ago...



OH YEAH PHONE! Yeah I know landlines are so yesterdays news...shit we have fios 50/50 why not? We were able to port our 30 year old home phone number that was costing me @ $35 a month with Vonage to this and it's FRICKING FREE! YEAH BUDDY>>>


OBIWANKANOBI! OBIHAI OBi200 for @ $50 google voice FREE landline for all U.S. calls...

So then...if you cut the phone cord and gave up your landline...how's Google Voice on a landline...?

I'll never give up my landline phone. It usually keeps working when everything else stops...and it also gives me my DSL network backup, which is basically free at this point.
 
So then...if you cut the phone cord and gave up your landline...how's Google Voice on a landline...?

I'll never give up my landline phone. It usually keeps working when everything else stops...and it also gives me my DSL network backup, which is basically free at this point.

The obi 200 is an adapter for landline phones...very similar to Vonage but without the monthly payment..Like you we we have had our landline # for over 30 years and not giving it up anytime in the near future...Verizon was killing me with the home business lines @ $150 a month ..@ 2001 I switched to vonage which started out at $25 which at the time was a God send..slowly trickled up to breaking $40 a month...I beta tested the Obi110 @ 2009 for a few months and was VERY satisfied with the service ...9 years now with Obi and NO COMPLAINTS long as I have internet I have a landline so far with FIOS 100% on now going on 3 years ...knock on wood... My Verizon landline went down more often than Vonage and now Google voice. both VOIP's ..and freeking Google voice once you figure out how to manage the settings ( I like the old control panel and still use it) it is WAY more powerful with regard to call filtering....
 
Wow, they're slow in Florida.
We went full digital here 7 or 8 years ago. Big converter box in hte living room has never been free, but they gave 2 free cheapo converters (don't get all the channels) for other tvs - after 2 years, they started charging $5 each for them. Recently had to upgrade all the converters, the new small ones now get more channels, (but still not all).
The 'tier' thing has been a cable racket for years. I've got at least 200 channels I would never watch in a million years - channels that do nothing but broadcast 'hit music' of all types, channels for nothing but golf, tennis, horse racing, etc.
 
I'm streaming more and more on my phone. The hardest part about cutting the cord, for me anyway, is the mental thing. I've been raised
on TVs and it's like.. altered my genes. Changing the lifetime habit of picking up the remote and instantly watching TV. It just feels
weird a little bit. I think once I get a streaming dongle, stick or box for my TV, or a smart TV, it won't be so bad. It seems to be
mainly associated with physically using the TV - not the content, really.

I'm not up on this, but I believe Florida has been in the process of going full digital for many years. It's just since Spectrum bought
out Brighthouse that it's implementation has been accelerated - in our area, anyway.

I'm paying $39.99 for cable internet (no other services). My (free basic) cable is provided with the apartment, but now I've got the
required box. I'll be relocating around the end of the year and will wait till then to line up all these cord-cutting services.

... Once they program it in for you...don't disconnect the box or remove it from power for too long...it will lose the programming, and then you have to call them back to fix it. That's how it was on the cable TVs at my day gig that are used by the public, that used the conversion boxes....I had to call them back twice, and after that, I just let them go...

LOL! I actually got this box several months ago when I ordered my cable internet. I had no idea they were fast-tracking this conversion, and the tech showed up with my cable modem and THE BOX. I told him I didn't order it and he said it's required now so I just shut up until he left. First thing I did was check my favorite channels and found my favorite no longer available (bumped to next level), so I disconnected it and ran the cable straight in again. Well, that signal is only available until Sept 11 (coincidence..?!) so I gave in and re-connected the box.

Oh No! It didn't work! (as you said :rolleyes:). I called their support and the nice lady walked me through the set-up and it's fine now.
 
If it weren't for the crazy good deal we got from AT&T, we would've just went without cable. But when we moved to our condo, they offered 4 digital DVR boxes, 200+ channels (every reg channel has an HD counterpart) plus internet/wifi for $90/month for 2 yrs.

Couldn't pass it up. We'll reevaluate next year. I can usually get by with streaming or DVR'ing (Better Call Saul, Fargo, etc), but I do like having live TV for NBA and NHL. We do have Amazon Fire with Prime as well as Netflix. Just about everything is at our fingertips.
 
I got none of that crap. Got a phone, all the internet on it that I want, and a laptop to watch movies. If i want big screen, I just plug into my HDMI.

I haven't had 'normal' tv since the late 90s
 
I got none of that crap. Got a phone, all the internet on it that I want, and a laptop to watch movies. If i want big screen, I just plug into my HDMI.

I haven't had 'normal' tv since the late 90s

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout ;)
 
When my system first went digital, I split the wall output - to the digital box and to my HD tv and got all the HD channels that way (never paid for HD cable, my old eyes can't tell the difference!) IT was great because I could record (yes, VCR!, don't pay for TIVO) a different show than I watched and do picture-in-picture this set up. Then they changed it so you coudlnt' hook up direct without the box.
 
Cut cable (TV) well over a year ago. I do not miss it, at all. Antenna gets me somewhere in the range of 20 channels of broadcast TV. It's mostly just background noise. I watch in the morning over coffee, see what the weather is going to do, local news. Jeopardy at 7:30 pm. 8 pm, Andy Griffith or All in the Family, depending on my mood. Gomer Pyle @ 9 pm. Sanford and Son, sometimes. Other times I check what's on Public TV, 4 channels of. I watch a lot of Documentaries, when I do. I enjoy How-to and How-Shit-Works videos on the Youtubes. I don't understand where people get the time or interest for hours upon hours of TV viewing. Although the kids are grown and out, I have 2 dogs, and a wife.

Have the Amazon Firestick. Amazon cut the Youtubes app. Downloaded the Silk browser on the stick, problem solved. Downloaded the Kodi app -Movies, Documentaries, Live TV channels, Pron(I never watch pron, ever)- mostly weekend activity. I've never watched (got hooked) on a series, other than Breaking Bad, it was awesome, highly recommended. Marathon sessions, glad it ended, a man gotta sleep.

I mostly waste time on the laptop. My phone is a phone. Maybe one of these days i'll learn to use my phone for other activities, although I resist being one of those people. They say that at some point in the future everyone will have a hunchback, and perhps will be required to wear helmet to protet against bumping into shit. Fuck that. Resist I much. I ain't even.

That there is way more options than I actually need. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to cut all of it. I mean, keep the phone, it is actually useful.
 
Surfing channels with this thing is a PITA! After x-number of channels it inserts other screens trying to get me
to buy on demand stuff - and some of those screens are difficult to get out of. At one point last night, the whole
system froze and I had to reboot - and I haven't even been using it 12 hours yet!

I started at channel 1 and made it up to 1264 before I nodded off for the night. There were maybe 6 or 8 channels
I was interested in. They did include all of our over-the-air channels.. that was nice of them.

I was able to find nearly all of my favorite channels available for viewing within those above.

I see that HBO and Showtime are being offered at.. can't recall exactly.. like $15-$30/mo - each! I mean.. with so
many other sources for same or similar content at lower prices, how are they getting by?
 
I pay $200 a month 12 months a year for six months worth of Dodger games and almost nothing else

---------- Update ----------

I see that HBO and Showtime are being offered at.. can't recall exactly.. like $15-$30/mo - each! I mean.. with so
many other sources for same or similar content at lower prices, how are they getting by?

See above
 
I guess I’m the outlier in this thread. I mostly enjoy TV (and probably spend too much time watching it). But I find the quality has grown tremendously in the past several years. The preponderous of cable channels, along with original content on myriad of streaming services, plus the premium channels like HBO and Showtime has greatly uplifted what’s available to watch these days.

We’re no longer locked into what the 4 networks have to offer - and in general they still offer little worth watching (unless you enjoy reality shows). But original content on channels like HBO and AMC is generally excellent, along with original series being offered on the streaming services (Hulu, Amazon, Netflix).

Of course the problem becomes cost. Each one want you to join a book of the month club. $15 for HBO, $12 for Netflix, $119 a year for Amazon Prime. All on top of what you already pay for your basic cable service.

However, if you’re willing to pay, there is some really good stuff out there. YMMV.
 
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I got hooked on AMC's Mad Men - that knocked me out. I stayed with their Breaking Bad until things began getting too complicated with
family members being let in on things. When it was just Walter and Jesse, those guys made a great sort of dark Laurel and Hardy - good
comedy relief in some well written shows. I'll probably start on Preacher next year sometime.

I watched the first season of FX's Fargo with Billy Bob Thornton - now that was good stuff there. Surpassed the film in many ways.

Yeah.. the (relatively) newer networks are definitely hitting the mark.

Didn't need a TV for any of that stuff - just streamed it all, so my cord cutting is well underway.

Another thing I'm doing - a trick really - is to hold my smartphone up in front of my face at just short of arm's length. I do this
while I'm streaming and have the TV in the background... behind the phone, visually. Their screens appear the same size. So
watching the phone up close is no different than the TV at a distance. Weird, huh..? :drunk::p
 
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