Is Cutting Cable Right for You?

Game of Thrones, Dexter, Homeland … What do all these things have in common? That’s right- they’re all examples of shows you can’t watch in-season without subscribing to a cable or satellite provider. “But I don’t watch any of those shows- does that mean I don’t need to get cable?” Maybe. Unless you or someone in your household watches a lot of live national sports, since a large chunk of that content is unavailable unless you subscribe to a cable or satellite provider who offers it.

For many families and individuals, sports and premium channel content is important enough to pay the prices charged by cable and satellite companies, and these prices are often quite high. Just for packages that include popular sports content alone (not including premium channels), and once you factor in the prices charged to customers after the “intro periods” of the contract are up, the average monthly cost charged by most cable providers is between $60-$80, depending on where you live and how far you are into your contract, as prices tend to rise for the second half of contracts and upon renewal of or failure to cancel a completed contract.

These prices are unsurprisingly difficult for many people to swallow, and this is why many people have chosen to unsubscribe from cable and satellite services entirely. These “cable cutters” have to completely forego access to content provided only by cable and satellite providers, but in exchange they save anywhere between $700 to sometimes over $1500 per year depending on what they were previously paying for.

Let’s dive a little deeper and talk about what cable cutters can still get without subscribing to cable and satellite providers. First of all, many of TV’s most popular shows are found on network television and are actually broadcast for free over the air (OTA). These shows can be received in uncompressed HD with an antenna, and even recorded to be watched later with a device like a TiVo DVR. If your favorite shows are on networks like ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, or PBS, you may very well be able to enjoy almost exactly the same programming as you might have with a cable or satellite subscription for only the upfront cost of an antenna. To find out what signals you should be able to pick up at your address with an antenna, visit TVFool.com.

Even if your favorite shows aren’t available OTA, some networks stream the most recent 5 or more episodes of current shows on their websites for free. Note that this is not a live stream- typically, these episodes are made available between 24 hours or as long as 7 days after the episode airs, and in some cases only the most recent few episodes are available. Some networks also stream previous seasons of their current shows for free on their websites. For most people, however, watching their favorite shows on a computer screen doesn’t compare to watching it on their living room television.

There are quite a few devices on the market that are capable of streaming content from the internet to play on your TV in HD quality. This includes Roku, Apple TV, Xbox, PS3, Wii U, TiVo, some Blu-Ray players, and even some smart TV’s. Each of these devices comes with its own set of features and advantages. For example, Roku has hundreds of channels with a wide variety of services, including some that complement a current cable subscription, like HBO Go. It also has channels like Vudu, Crackle, Netflix, Disney (with classic cartoons and movies), Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu Plus. Apple TV has the benefit of AirPlay, which allows you to “stream or mirror music, movies, TV shows, photos, and more from your iOS devices to your widescreen TV”. Though quality is not as high as if you were streaming content from an actual channel (like on Roku or your Apple TV), this can allow you to play online-only or personal content on your MacBook or other device and mirror it on your TV. Xbox is primarily a gaming console, but many people use it to stream from their Netflix account and Hulu Plus account. The same goes for PS3 and Wii U.

As mentioned above, these devices have “channels” that connect to varying streaming services to bring all kinds of content to your TV screen. Hulu Plus, for example, is a subscription service that “lets you watch hit current and back season TV shows and acclaimed movies anytime in HD” with limited advertising. An advantage of Hulu Plus has over simply watching the shows online using Hulu or visiting network websites (besides being able to watch in high resolution on your TV) is that Hulu Plus offers every episode of the current season (and not just the most recent) for many popular shows. In addition, episodes from currently airing television shows are often available the day after they air. On the other hand, Netflix has an expansive archive of content, much larger than that of Hulu Plus. Both Hulu Plus and Netflix are currently available for a monthly fee of $7.99 per month. Crackle offers a wide selection of free movies and other content, and Vudu allows you to rent HD movies on demand without a contract or late fees.

It is obviously possible to get a very large variety of content without paying the full cost of a cable or satellite subscription, instead paying only a few small fees per month for these subscription streaming services, making small payments for individual purchases or rentals, and possibly purchasing a device or two up front. You might choose to get an antenna and a TiVo to record your favorite shows to watch later, paying nothing per month; or, you might choose to order Netflix and Hulu Plus and stream all the content you want using your Xbox. So why don’t more people do it?

This question brings us full circle, back to the beginning of this post where we listed a few shows that are only available with a subscription to a cable or satellite provider. Unfortunately, that premium content is just what it sounds like- it is premium, high quality content that for many people justifies that big monthly bill. Sometimes that one good show that the whole family loves is what it takes to get everybody together in one room, and for many families that is worthy of the cost. In the same vein, it can be a great excuse to get groups of friends together regularly. “No, I don’t like getting together weekly with friends to watch Game of Thrones, grill turkey legs, and drink red wine”, said no one ever. Paying a monthly cable bill is also significantly easier when the cost is split between roommates, or when it is bundled with internet and/or home phone for additional savings. So what types of shows are on the list of content you’d have to give up if you became a cable cutter? Here’s a list of some popular ones below:

Game of Thrones
Dexter
United States of Tara
Eastbound and Down
The Wire
Six Feet Under
Shameless
Boardwalk Empire
Spartacus
Episodes
Weeds
True Blood
Deadwood
Californication
Homeland
Mr. Show
The Sopranos
Flight of the Concords
Curb Your Enthusiasm

We also mentioned sports content briefly at the beginning of this article, which may be an even bigger driver of the decision for families and individuals to keep cable than any of the premium network TV shows. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU and TNT are all networks carrying popular sports content that can’t be accessed any other way besides subscribing to a cable or satellite provider. Channels like the NFL Network , RedZone, and Sunday Ticket are subscription only, and not necessarily available from any provider. The cost of some of these channels for the provider is also what makes up the lion’s share of the bill charged to cable customers for ALL of the channels they receive. Per household, ESPN charges cable and satellite providers $4.69 per subscriber! Apparently, “ESPN and ESPN2 account for almost 20 percent of the wholesale cost of the average pay-TV subscription” (source Cable's ESPN Dilemma: Wildly Popular but Costly), but because of the programmers’ channel bundling rules, cable and satellite providers can’t really offer the channels a la carte and allow people to pay only for the content they want.

So are there any options for cable cutters when it comes to sports? It depends. If you only watch your local teams, there’s a good chance you can catch most games on local channels OTA, as well as other big games. But if you’ve recently moved and left your favorite teams in a different state or have interests in games that might not be big enough to be shown in your area, you’re probably out of luck watching those games live without going to a bar if you don’t have a cable or satellite subscription.

Many people often say that while the savings over a year that can be gleaned by cutting cable are incredibly tempting, the cost per month is still something they can handle paying- while the loss of their favorite shows and sports is something they can’t handle. So, all things considered, what do you think? Is cutting cable for you?