Cutting the Cord

NOTE: This is from 2016, and options and prices have changed significantly. As well as TV watching habits both nationally and in our home. So while this could be a good general introductory guide, I'd suggest going other places for current options and prices.

In case you missed it, "cutting the cord" refers to ending traditional cable/satellite tv services.  I've been researching different methods for a while, but I got really motivated to learn more when our DirecTV promotional offer ended a couple weeks ago, and our cable bill went from $55/month (I know, not cheap in the first place) to $95/month.  That's a ton of dough!

Weston's initial reaction to my first dozen mentions of cutting the cord was basically, "No.  I need sports."  Other concerns included getting the channels/content we wanted, and DVR (we rarely watch live tv).

So I hit the google to see what I could find.  First, I'll discuss content service alternatives, DVR, and my cost analysis.

Content Alternatives

Most likely, you CAN still get all the content you want without cable.  

First, you can get a antenna.  There are really cool ones that essentially look like a thin paper-sized plastic square that you can put on your window.  These will get local channels, and most major channels, even in HD quality.  I used NoCable.org to see what channels I could get at our house and what kind of antenna we should look into.  We should be able to get Fox, CW, CBS, PBS, ABC, and NBC in HD for free with a $30 antenna.  That alone covers most of the shows we watch. 

First--the sports question.  Some can be seen on the local and national channels we'll get with the antenna.  Others we can get through streaming services.

There are a few live content streaming services that (from my research) are great potential additions to fill the gaps of the free antenna content.

Sling has a few options ranging from $20-$40/month with different channel options. We watch both Disney-owned channels, and Fox-owned channels, so we would have to do the $40 package.

Playstation Vue also has different packages from $30-$65/month.  (No, you don't need a Playstation.)  Their $30 package has all the channels we would want (including sports), so it's looking like the best option for us. Channel lineup vary slightly by location.  In Indianapolis (where I live), they have on demand but not live content from local broadcast stations (ABC, NBC, FOX).

Hulu has announced that they'll be launching a live tv service next year too.  Hulu is partially owned by major networks (Disney, FOX, & NBC, each of which own lots of other channels), so their content package is set up to be impressive.  I haven't seen any pricing details yet, so I don't know how it will compete for our needs.

UPDATE: **Youtube has also recently announced Youtube TV, starting at $35/month.  It seems to have all the major channels except CNN.  They're doing a slow roll-out, so I've signed up to be updated when they come to Indy.  I'm excited about this because I love my Google Home, and I assume Youtube TV (also owned by Google) will have voice automation through Google Home.

There's also DirecTV Now, which I have not researched, but I do know that in classic DirecTV fashion, it starts at a promotional price, then increases after that period.

This article compares all of these except Hulu.**

Network apps.  Most of the major networks have developed their own apps to view their content (CBS All Access, HBO Now, Showtime, Starz, etc.).  Many require monthly subscriptions, especially for live streaming content, but if you're a big fan of one network's content, it could be a good option for you.  It isn't for us at this point.

I made a list of all the shows/channels we occasionally watch (including Weston's sports channels), and noted if we'd be able to get them with these cord-cutter methods.  Don't judge us for our tv habits.  Here it is:

Our Shows	Network	Get channel on:	A= antaenna
Madam Secretary	CBS	A	V=Playstation Vue
Speechless	ABC	A, V
Arrow	CW	A
Flash	CW	A
Supergirl	CW	A
Girl Meets World	Disney Channel	V
Young & Hungry	Freeform	V
Tonight Show	NBC	A, V
Chicago Med	NBC	A, V
Daily Show	Comedy Central
Bachelor	ABC	A, V
Impractical Jokers	truTV	V
River Monsters	Discovery Channel	V
Mr. Robot	USA	V
The Good Place	NBC	A, V
Designated Survivor	ABC	A, V
Conviction	ABC	A, V
Saturday Night Live	NBC	A, V
Search Party	TBS	V
	ESPN	V
	FOX	A
	FOX Sport 1	V
	TNT	V
	Fox News	V
	CNN	V
	HGTV	V
	Food Network	V
	byutv

The only one's we'd miss out on are Comedy Central (tear), and BYUtv (which we use for LDS Gen Con and occasionally BYU Sports).  I can watch Daily Show clips on Hulu or YouTube, we can stream LDS Gen Con from lds.org, and we can go over to the Boyce's to watch BYU Sports.  I'll probably look into other solutions and hopefully find a better one, but 2 occasionally watched channels aren't worth the price difference of staying with DirecTV.

DVR

For recording the channels we get with an antenna, I looked into TiVo, which has some really cool technology.  The system costs about $200 up front.  It becomes an all-in-one entertainment stop.  So you can connect it to your netflix, hulu, or whatever other subscriptions you have, and you can of course record the channels you get with your antenna.  You can list it by show and it will show you where you can get each season between your subscriptions and recordings.  They also have a new feature where you can set it to automatically skip all the commercials and make your recorded viewing experience seamless (my jaw dropped too).

But, you also have to pay a regular service fee ($15/month or $150/year), which is what I'm trying to avoid, so I kept on looking.  I found Tablo, which I think I might love.  It also has an up-front cost of around $200, but no monthly fees.  Tablo is a little different.  It connects to your antenna, and your Wifi, and then streams to your TV via a streaming device (Chromecast, ROKU, Amazon Firestick, AppleTV, etc.).  I LOVE our Chromecast, so this would make it an easy transition.  We wouldn't even have to change inputs to switch between cable channels, netflix, music, etc.  I'm excited about this.

For your non-antenna content

Both Sling and Playstation Vue have some sort of built-in DVR/On-Demand features, so no need to worry there.

THE SWITCH--Cost Analysis

I love creating cost analyses.  I did some research and calculated the approximate costs to cancel our DirecTV contract, cost to switch to cord-cutter stuff, and compared it to the cost to stay through our contract.

To cancel, we'd have to pay a $15 cancellation fee, plus $20 per month left on contract (15+(20*months left on contract)).  I calculated for 10 months, so we would cancel in January.  We'd want to have all our cord-cutting gear set up before losing it, so this gives us some time.  Unfortunately, it would be a lot of up-front costs, and it's around the Holidays when we just spent a ton of $$ on Christmas gifts and travel.  That would be my only hesitation.  Here's my chart.  Sorry it's not pretty:

	per month	months	other fee	Total
Cost to cancel DirecTV	$20.00	10	$15.00	$215.00
Cost to keep DirecTV	$95.21	10		$952.10
Cost of Playstation Vue	$30	10		$300
Cost of antaenna			$30.00	$30.00
Tablo DVR			$180.00	$180.00
			Total 1 year cost to switch:	$510
			Plus cost to cancel:	$215.00
			Year 1 Total:	$725
Post-cord monthly cost	$30		Savings:	$227.10
one-time costs:	$210.00		Year 2 Total:	$360
DirecTV full price monthly cost	$95.21		Year 2 DirecTV:	$1,142.52	(full price)
DirecTV promo monthly cost	$55.00		Year 2 DirecTV:	$660.00	(promotional)
			Year 2 Savings:	$782.52
			OR	$300.00

So, year 1 we would save about $227.10 in all.  Year 2, in comparison with full price DirecTV, we'd save $782.52, and even if we renewed with a promotional price, we'd save $300.

After looking at the numbers, I'm so ready to get on the cord-cutting train.

2020 Update: We did cut the cord. We initially tried Playstation Vue, which worked alright, but we decided to try Hulu TV, which we liked better. Then my parents got Youtube TV and we can use their account, which saves even more money! I did try Tablo to record antenna channels. I couldn't get it to work and returned it. And you'll also be relieved to hear that part of our solution was just watching less tv.