Yankee Group: 1 In 8 To Scale Back Or Cut TV In 2010 > cutting the cord

cutting the cord

quote:

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Consumers who do cut off pay TV services will most likely be in the 18-34 age group -- and heavy mobile users or gamers.

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DirecTV gave me a $20 off deal for all the movie channels. It works out to about free movie channels for 6 months. According to my understanding of the offer, the $20 off is good for 6 months, but I can cancel all my movie channels without charge after May 10.

I had called to cancel HBO when they made this offer. I'll now cancel the entire lot on May 11, and just use Netflix for my movie needs. Between that and Hulu, I'm a happy camper.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

reply to en102
I already did. TV is a luxury I can't afford right now. I also switched to DSL from cable and save about $30 per month.

reply to pandora
I got rid of pay movie channels last year and use Netflix/Hulu. I'd like to cut the cord entirely but want Discovery/NatGeo/History channels. I'll cut entirely when these offer all content in some streaming manner via someone like Hulu or Playon. Want it in HD though.

I can't justify paying $140 for cable with 7Mbps connection when I only watch 5-6 channels. I can afford it but it's ridiculous that I'm still on cable.

Clear WiMAX is coming to my area this summer, will try it with Netflix. If all good, I'll probably pull the plug on cable. Just hope Discovery/NatGeo/History channels offer streaming soon. I'd be willing to pay $5-$10/month per network.

I've got free cable from Comcast, at least basic service (local channels, cnn, fox, msnbc, nick, blah), but don't watch them. Only the locals are in HD, and I can't stand the snow on our cable SD signals. We've become addicted to DirecTV DVR's. Netflix was planned for the new Vizio 55" announced last Spring (IIRC). I converted to Comcast starter business back in June in anticipation for it. I wish youtube and hulu were on the Vizio widget selection, if they aren't added by the fall when the 72" set comes out, I may look at LG, as they seem to at least have a youtube widget and are in a similar price class.

Until I can get the cable news feeds live and recorded on the same day, I'll need at least some form of basic service. After that, I can go internet only.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

reply to en102
I was teetering on cutting the cord. Tonight's mess with not being able to get the weather on the weather channel during a tornado outbreak because they were showing a movie made up my mind. Seems like all the channels nowadays are cross pollinating. Movies on news and information channels. Live action on cartoon channels. Reality TV shows on music channels. Think the only channel sticking to it's description these days is Discovery and I fear it's days are numbered. Cable gives me no reason to slap down 60 bucks a month for it anymore. More reruns, more infomercials, and more reality tv. Forget it I'm cutting the cord.
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Hughesnet | HN7000s | Pro Plus Package | Windows 7 | 1 Watt Transmitter | .74m Dish | 89 West 1070 MHz | Software V. 5.8.0.72 | 5yrs Customer

Man, that is annoying when the wind and hail is pounding on the roof and you run to see the radar/satellite image. We are lucky to have an alternate station with radar running most of the day. But, sometimes it's faster to boot the computer and go to a weather website than to turn on the Weather Channel and hope they aren't running fluff programming.

Remember when SciFi used to be primarily Science Fiction? Now they have wrestling and B grade horror movies most of the time.

The ONLY way you can watch TV anymore is with a DVR/HTPC. You can set it to watch stuff while you sleep or doing other stuff and then skip through the crap and commercials later.

I just scaled back my cable to basic cable. I need to watch two or three shows a week and they aren't online yet. I'll miss Discovery, Comedy Central, SyFy (ugh) and some others occasionally, but it's not worth $40/month. Plus they're forcing the DTA/cable box issue on us now...