# People cutting their cable TV & satellite TV services at record numbers



## dubmac

Who saw trend? 
Makes me wonder about owning SHAW as a stock when subscribers are leaing in droves!
Big changes afoot in Cable TV, and satellite TV future

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/04/hundreds-of-thousands-of-canadians-cutting-their-cable-report

I pay 43 per month for my cable - makes me wonder whether I should "cut the cord" myself & save a few bux!


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## Spudd

I cut mine about 7 years ago and I don't miss it. We still watch TV, we just do it via the Internet now.

Rogers & Bell should be OK since they also provide Internet access and cellphones. Shaw, I don't know how diversified their business is.


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## jamesbe

I cut mine when I moved 2 years ago. I invested in $100 antenna and get free HDTV over the air.


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## andrewf

I shun the Big 3 Telcos and their vassals. I've wondered why people are so bullish on them, longer term, when they are in industries that are relentlessly marching toward commoditization. The companies themselves see this, which is why they are snapping up content.

Google Fiber-style service is a fairly mortal threat to the traditional telco model of charging way too much for artificially restricted service ($4 for voice mail?). It may take a while, but all their most profitable centres are vulnerable. Their only hope is to try to use their captured regulators to slow down the change.


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## brad

We got rid of our TV six years ago and cancelled cable a couple of years after that when I calculated that it was costing me around $70/hour to watch cable TV (on my laptop via a connector). We just weren't watching much. We now spend about $30/year on TV; we download individual shows or series from iTunes.


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## andrewf

$30 doesn't go very far on iTunes... so you really don't watch much TV!


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## none

I use Tvtorrents - great quality, super easy - not _exactly_ on the up and up but whatever - my wireless is unsecured so I always have reasonable doubt.


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## brad

andrewf said:


> $30 doesn't go very far on iTunes... so you really don't watch much TV!


Yeah, we just haven't found time to work TV into our lives, which is too bad as I think we're in the Golden Age of television right now; the quality of some of the best series is far above what you could ever find in the past, and television is probably an even better medium than film in terms of its narrative potential and character development. Individual shows on iTunes can be downloaded for $2 to $3, and older seasons tend to be available at lower prices than this year's, especially if you choose standard definition rather than HD (we watch on a small screen, so HD is overkill for us). We spend maybe 12 hours a year watching TV, which is actually more than we did when we had cable.


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## Plugging Along

We have debated this. We have a satelite. The main reason we are keeping it, is that it allows us to watch at our cabin for the same subscription, and we don't have internet there.


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## Ponderling

Live in the west end of the GTA. 
Put up an OTA antenna 2 summers ago for about $180 , cut the cord on CATV 1 year ago. Pulls in reliably about 14 channels we want to watch semi- regularly, probably 12 more others of no interest. 
Land line phone and high speed cable with no data limits for $85/month.
Netflix for $8/mo.

Likely in front of the TV/Netflix about 5-8 hours per week, on the web a fair but at home, or listening to streaming internet radio stations via a whole house FM transmitter bought for $200.


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## loggedout

I just need HD cable TV for sports.


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## Ihatetaxes

Average monthly Bell Expressview bill is between $150 and $200 depending on how many PPV movies but I spend more time watching NetFlix for $8!! Can't give up satilite yet though although a lot of what we watch there can be streamed illegally online. Paid over $30 for season 1 of Game of Thrones on iTunes before finding one good site where I am watching Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy for free and they have pretty much every decent series available with good quality and few streaming issues.


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## NorthKC

I tend to watch a variety of shows (especially documentaries) and catch a number of movies as well. I also have a PVR (what did I ever do without it?!) so I have more flexibility in watching the shows now. I'm also a fan of watching sports (curling and baseball are my weaknesses). Where I live, an antenna will only give me 2 channels so I don't have a lot of options. However, I do bundle and also play hardball with the company to keep my rates low. This is one of my very few vices so I enjoy it. Total bundle (digital cable with free pvr rental, phone with long distance and fast internet with low storage) = $164/mth.


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## HaroldCrump

Ihatetaxes said:


> Average monthly Bell Expressview bill is between $150 and $200 depending on how many PPV movies


Wow, I have never paid that much for TV.
I have ExpressVu and my monthly bill is $30 (+ taxes, of course).

It will be cheaper for you to watch the same movies in the theatre on discount days (Tues. or Wed. depending on location).
Get a Cineplex or Air Miles card to score free tickets.
Say, an average of 10 movie releases a month * $6 a movie = $60 a month.


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## Silverbird

*Cut the cord last October*

Got out of the racket in October last year,

Got rid of the rogers home phone, switching to a VOIP service that you pay for the hardware up front and $0 recurring cost, only additional cost is for calls to non major cities.

Then dumped Expressvu after 1 too many price increases.

Then switched from Rogers internet to a third party and went to internet streaming and a homemade antenna to pick up CTV and TVO (takes a bit of equipment to get the Toronto stations out here)

We always PVRd shows and am not into sports, so our current watching habit isn't much different than it was, watching things a day or few later, instead of "live"

We made it through the heavier watching season of the winter and no issues to speak of, other than $600 still in my pocket


I think the saving grace for the cable/sat co's is live sports, that is one thing that will keep them going for awhile, but not forever.

also, If they got with the times and met customer demand by not bundling a bunch of crappy channels with the one good channel into packages, I might still be interested, just not worth $90 a month for maybe 10 good channels.


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## Jim9guitars

I dumped cable last year and don't miss it. I get one local station very clear with an indoor antenna, watch a couple of shows online from the CTV site here and there and have Netflix. I didn't think I'd like Netflix but I do. They add content fairly frequently and are easy to use. I also get free DVD's from the library now and then.


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## blin10

netflix for canada is total garbage (sure you can use proxies but it's too much hassle) ... and downloading all the time is a pain as well, I want to come home, sit down and watch something right away... you just need to know how to negotiate with providers, i'm paying something like $40 a month with a ton of channels and free pvr with rogers...


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## Eder

I had 83 channels over the air in Vegas....about 3 channels were worth watching ....1/2 were foreign language, 1/4 were religious stations most of the rest were shopping channels...I'm happy with my Dish net pay as you go...$50/month. (I can buy 1 month at a time)


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## Mall Guy

jamesbe said:


> I cut mine when I moved 2 years ago. I invested in $100 antenna and get free HDTV over the air.


what kind of antenna ? looking into this for my "city condo" (I live in a small town. . . condo acts as a cottage) - thanks !


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## Sherlock

I have an indoor antenna in my condo and get all the local Toronto channels. Good enough for me.

I'd get cable but the problems are:
1) too expensive, it would cost me at least $80/month to get the few channels I want (unfortunately it's structured in a way that would force me to pay for lots of channels I'd never watch)
2) contracts are too strict, they would need to be shorter and/or the cancellation fees be lower before I'd consider signing up


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## Ihatetaxes

HaroldCrump said:


> Wow, I have never paid that much for TV.
> I have ExpressVu and my monthly bill is $30 (+ taxes, of course).
> 
> It will be cheaper for you to watch the same movies in the theatre on discount days (Tues. or Wed. depending on location).
> Get a Cineplex or Air Miles card to score free tickets.
> Say, an average of 10 movie releases a month * $6 a movie = $60 a month.


I have 2 PVRs and all the channels including movie channels, HBO, etc. No time for movie theatres with young kids, got out to see a few Oscar nominees (Silver Linings Playbook was awesome). I spend too much with Bell, well over a grand a month including my business phones. Can't go VOIP yet, I hear too many bad news stories.


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## canabiz

I cut cable in February and have never been happier! I save about $45/month and now rely exclusively on the Internet for my news and entertainment.

I just purchased an outdoor antenna (Antennas Direct DB4E which has very good reviews) and will install it to pick up some local channels OTA.


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## Feruk

I cut cable about a year ago. Literally the only thing I miss is sports. These companies are dinosaurs. If they'd provide decent content at a decent price, I'd gladly pay. Instead you get an army of crap channels and so much commercial time that your head spins. Price isn't even the issue when the content you get from Shaw is not even worth $10/month IMO.


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## 6811

Feruk said:


> If they'd provide decent content at a decent price, I'd gladly pay. Instead you get an army of crap channels and so much commercial time that your head spins. Price isn't even the issue when the content you get from Shaw is not even worth $10/month IMO.


Until you mentioned Shaw you were summing up my problems with Videotron perfectly! I'd dump cable TV too if my better half wasn't so in to her programming and would let me.


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## YYC

If not for wanting to watch live sports, we'd have cut ours by now. The kids find everything they need on Netflix, and we are able to download the series and movies we want to keep up on. With our phone and internet bundled, cutting the cable would only save us about $30 a month, so it's not a huge deal.


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## Hawkdog

YYC said:


> If not for wanting to watch live sports, we'd have cut ours by now. The kids find everything they need on Netflix, and we are able to download the series and movies we want to keep up on. With our phone and internet bundled, cutting the cable would only save us about $30 a month, so it's not a huge deal.


Same, as soon as i can cut the cord on watch hockey i can cut the bell bill. Internet/netflix isn't an option due slow internet.

We have been watching this show called boundless on the travel channel.

I do really need to cut the cord though.


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## jamesbe

If it's hockey you can get the NHL games streaming with XBMC as well. Look for the SportsDevil app


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## nathan79

We're not happy with Shaw either.

Our biggest complaint is how they bundle the channels. We wanted HBO and Cartoon Network, but in order to get them we'd have to pay for two separate bundles of channels that we have zero interest in.

Our current package is somewhat of a compromise -- some channels we want, along with tonnes of crap we don't care about -- but at least we're not paying too much. I think we're paying roughly $40 a month, but we have bundled hi-speed and home phone, which totals $106.

I wish Shaw would wake up and allow people actual control over their choices. We would be happy to pay $2 per channel for the 20 or so channels that we want. Shaw would be making the same amount of money as they're currently charging us, and we'd actually be satisfied with their service -- a win-win.


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## marina628

Wish I could ween my husband from his HDTV but we have 6 tvs in the house and a box for each one of them ,my rogers Cable and Internet Package is $200 a month


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## canabiz

I was also hesitant about cutting the cord before mainly due to sports but finally went through in February and have found a lot of cheaper/free options since

1. Like James said, there are apps out there that will stream NHL games. 

2. You can get apps to stream English Premier League soccer, NBA games or anything else on ESPN. Google *Sybla TV* ;-) 

3. I am now able to pick up CBC and CTV with my Over-the-Air antenna. That has Hockey night in Canada on Saturday nights and at least couple of football games on Sunday during NFL season


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## financialuproar

I don't think I'll ever give up my satellite TV. I can watch sports (aside: if you're not on Twitter, it's great fun to watch a big sporting event while following along on Twitter) and I usually have the business channel on as background noise while I fart around on my laptop.

If you guys want cheap TV, I wrote a post about it once. (http://financialuproar.com/2012/03/21/frugal-tips-that-dont-suck-cheap-tv/) It's in a bit of a moral grey area, but you can definitely save some cash.


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## realist

canabiz said:


> 3. I am now able to pick up CBC and CTV with my Over-the-Air antenna. That has Hockey night in Canada on Saturday nights and at least couple of football games on Sunday during NFL season



What channels are you watching the NFL on out of curiosity? We just got an OTA antenna as well. We mostly download our actual tv shows but it was great for HD CBC of the NHL playoffs!


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## canabiz

realist said:


> What channels are you watching the NFL on out of curiosity? We just got an OTA antenna as well. We mostly download our actual tv shows but it was great for HD CBC of the NHL playoffs!


Realist, I am in Ottawa and I can watch at least 2 NFL games on CTV + Global in any given week. I don't know where you are in Toronto but I think you have a better chance of picking some US channels than me. NBC carries SNF and ESPN has MNF.

I have also downloaded XBMC on my tablet and it can pick up multiple sports games through streaming. I just ordered an Android-on-a-stick for $43 USD and will play around with it to get things ready for another NFL Season in 3 months!

Cheers!


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## Cal

A little off topic, but I had a patient who told me she bought a magic jack for her home phone. $90 to buy it and $20 for a year of service.


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## fraser

We live in Calgary. After a year of travel/living in furnished accommodation we are moving into a condo. We need to get internet and TV. No phone service needed as we both use our cell phones. We do not want to do business with Bell so that probably leaves Shaw and Telus. 

Any suggestions for negotiating the best deal for these services? We will be shopping next week for a July1 start date.


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## protomok

We cut Cable TV a couple months ago, now saving ~$60/month plus the ~$3/yr fee increases. I'm in the Ottawa area getting 15 english channels over the air most of which are HD. The quality seems better than when I had Rogers cable...especially the CBC hockey games but tough to prove this. The key thing with OTA is that almost all the stations have converted to digital meaning you will typically get a channel perfectly, or not at all, no more fuzzy channels 

I'm also paying for Netflix for TV shows / movies, and trying to figure a way to get ESPN3 in Canada (no luck yet  ) to be able to watch more sports.

If you can't live without cable/satellite I'd recommend calling Rogers/Bell/etc., threatening to cancel, then getting on a retention plan. Or better yet just cancel, and wait for them to call back with a better deal!


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## My Own Advisor

@protomok,

In Ottawa area as well, but south of airport. Are you in the city, to get your 15 HD channels? I fear if I cut the cable cord, in a more rural area, I won't get the services nearly as much.


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## MorningCoffee

My Own Advisor said:


> @protomok,
> 
> In Ottawa area as well, but south of airport. Are you in the city, to get your 15 HD channels? I fear if I cut the cable cord, in a more rural area, I won't get the services nearly as much.


I'm south of Ottawa and get about 14 channels OTA with an indoor antenna. We're still working on getting Global, which is one of the weaker channels. We do get City, CBC, CTV, CTV2. We tried out an antenna before cutting the cable. The signals come either from Camp Fortune or Manotick/Osgoode. You can plug in your info at tvfool.com to get an idea of which channels you should be able to receive. 
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29


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## protomok

My Own Advisor said:


> In Ottawa area as well, but south of airport. Are you in the city, to get your 15 HD channels? I fear if I cut the cable cord, in a more rural area, I won't get the services nearly as much.


With OTA it's tough to generalize since there are so many factors...elevation, distance from transmitters, location of antenna in house (e.g. basement = terrible reception), even a tree or nearby apartment can cause issues if they are in between you and a transmitter. That said, assuming you invest in a good antenna (e.g. the DB-4e [link]) here is what you can likely expect:

- You're most likely going to get 9-10 of the 10 local English channels (CBC, CITY, OMNI1/2, etc.) unless you're extremely far from the City or in a crappy location for OTA. The trickiest channel is likely going to be Global (who for the record are in the process of installing a better transmitter).
- There's also 4 French channels all of which are HD which you might get.
- If you're south of the Queensway you'll most likely also get PBS from upstate NY which is awesome because they broadcast 3 separate channels over one physical channel. Yet another advantage of digital TV 
- If you're south of the Queensway and splurge a bit on your setup (e.g. buy an amplifier, mount antenna on roof, etc.) you might also get CBS and Fox. And if you're extremely lucky and decide to build a 500foot tower (kidding ) you'll also get ABC and The CW.

Anyway, OTA isn't for everyone, you'll loose out on most Sports games and speciality channels, but the amount of money you save is quite nice


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## canabiz

I am in Barrhaven and got 10 HD channels with the Terk HDTVa (which is on sale right now at TigerDirect for $39.99, about the same price as 1 month of basic cable!). This is one of the highest rated indoor antenna. 

I could have gotten a few more channels with an antenna on the roof but considering the cost and the work involved, I am happy with this solution. Watching the Blackhawks hoisting the Stanley Cup on CBC, as we speak!

I agree with protomok, if you can live without watching live sports (yes you can stream games live on your tablet or TV with a HTPC but the quality and reliability are not there yet), there is no reason to keep cable.


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## GoldStone

canabiz said:


> I am in Barrhaven and got 10 HD channels with the Terk HDTVa (which is on sale right now at TigerDirect for $39.99, about the same price as 1 month of basic cable!). This is one of the highest rated indoor antenna.


I see two Terk models:

Terk HDTVI HDTV Indoor Antenna - HF:Channels 2-13 (HDTV Compatible), UHF:Channels 14-69 (HDTV Optimized) - *$39.97*
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2417940&CatId=2767

TERK HDTVa Amplified Directional Indoor HDTV Antenna - *$49.97*
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4361733&CatId=2767

Which one do you have?


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## bgc_fan

GoldStone said:


> I see two Terk models:
> 
> Terk HDTVI HDTV Indoor Antenna - HF:Channels 2-13 (HDTV Compatible), UHF:Channels 14-69 (HDTV Optimized) - *$39.97*
> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2417940&CatId=2767
> 
> TERK HDTVa Amplified Directional Indoor HDTV Antenna - *$49.97*
> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4361733&CatId=2767
> 
> Which one do you have?


Personally, I had the first one and I found it to be junk. I was able to get the same or better reception with amplified bunny ears.


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## canabiz

GoldStone said:


> I see two Terk models:
> 
> Terk HDTVI HDTV Indoor Antenna - HF:Channels 2-13 (HDTV Compatible), UHF:Channels 14-69 (HDTV Optimized) - *$39.97*
> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2417940&CatId=2767
> 
> TERK HDTVa Amplified Directional Indoor HDTV Antenna - *$49.97*
> http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4361733&CatId=2767
> 
> Which one do you have?


I got the HDTVa (a = amplified). Sorry I didn't realize it's now back to regular price. It was on sale last week for $39.97 which more or less compensated for the shipping. They frequently go on sale so keep an eye out for that or you can check your local Kijiji.


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## sprocket1200

record numbers?? we did it in 2001. never go back. what a waste of life! in fact i would PAY for them to take it away from our community!!!!!!


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## mcoursd2006

We got rid of Rogers cable four years ago. Best thing we ever did. We still watch some tv with ota antenna on one of five tvs in the house. I figured we saved about $1500 already, even with just basic cable.

There is an interesting story behind how we cancelled the cable. A Roger tech guy came to the house to set up our internet. He seemed like a nice guy. I even prewired the cable so that he did not have to do much. We offeted him juice and water. He was a big fat guy and was sweating profusely. Anyway he noticed that I had split the cable signal to two tvs. He asked me how many tvs i had in the house, but didn't sat anything else about it. The following month's invoice had an extra charge of $10 on it. Naturally i called to inquire. I was told that i had split the signal to two tvs, and it is an extra $10/split. Outraged, i cancelled the service right away. So, thanks to Wayne, the Rogers tech for the impetus.


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## canabiz

Speaking of Rogers tech, one of our friend is one and he actually *helped* us got more channels than we are entitled to  At his own volition, before he left Rogers to move on to greener pastures.

But at the end of the day, we don't feel we should be paying for cable when we can get similar content online or through OTA so we cut the cord.

It's been 6 months now and it's great. I am actually watching more TV now esp. the National on CBC as we feel we are getting more value for our $

I watched the NFL HOF game (Cowboys vs. Dolphins) online through a streaming website last night and the quality was quite decent. There were annoying ads to deal with but that's par for the course. Only thing I have to watch out for now is how much bandwidth those games will chew up. I do have the 300GB plan with Teksavvy so here's hoping that's more than enough.


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## liquidfinance

If only I could convince my wife to cut the cord... Trying to watch more and more online so fingers crossed the day will come.


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## marina628

Who is watching shark week ? lol


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## My Own Advisor

Shark week is freaking me out...episodes last night were pretty gory!

@canabiz,

I live in Greely. Think HDTV OTA would work well here? The thing with cable is, I will miss my sports, Golf Channel and other stations. 

I need to research this more...


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## jamesbe

tvfool.com will give you a list of channels.

I'm going to guess in greely you will be great actually. You will get all the stations transmitted by the manotick tower for sure. You will also get some of them if not all from camp fortune. You may not get global.

Being so far south you may also get US channels out of vermont.


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## andrewf

I have never watched Shark Week. Sharks are interesting--but a whole week?


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## none

I've been stealing TV for about a decade - it is better than cable in every single way.

Some of the new shows from AMC and netflix (orange in the new black, for example) makes me want to support those shows in some way. I may need to buy a netflix account even though I can get those shows for free anyway.


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## canabiz

I agree with james, you can check tvfool.com for a detailed report on what channels you could get.

Also check out digitalhome.ca forum, some very knowledgeable folks on there, they even have off-site monthly meets 



My Own Advisor said:


> Shark week is freaking me out...episodes last night were pretty gory!
> 
> @canabiz,
> 
> I live in Greely. Think HDTV OTA would work well here? The thing with cable is, I will miss my sports, Golf Channel and other stations.
> 
> I need to research this more...


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## joncnca

I haven't had TV service for 10 years. When I got married a couple of years ago, I convinced my wife that we still didn't need cable, and she's adjusted quite nicely.

CBC, CTV, City all offer a lot of shows online. CBC is great, whether TV or Radio. Then there are also other interesting things to watch like TED talks. And Youtube is still pretty entertaining. People on youtube are getting pretty sophisticated, which is good and bad, but entertaining nonetheless. 

All this is way more than enough. Don't really have much time to sit and watch shows anymore anyway. But I love not having to shell out over $100 to get some VIP cable package with no more than 6 channels that are worth watching. Though if any online provider ever secured the rights to Food Network and offered it up for maybe $5 a month, I'd pay that =)


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## My Own Advisor

I'm 8 km from Manotick.

So all I need to try HDTV OTA is this?

TERK HDTVa Amplified Directional Indoor HDTV Antenna - $49.97
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...733&CatId=2767


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## jamesbe

Oh those antennas are kind of junk.

You would be better to get a real (outdoor type) antenna for that price.


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## My Own Advisor

Thanks jamesbe. Does it need to be roof mounted? We have a steel metal roof, I'm not cutting into that (re: messes with lifetime warranty!).

An indoor OTA antenna doesn't do the job? 

Is there any top-notch indoor OTA you'd recommend?


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## jamesbe

Well you can try an indoor antenna but I'd suggest putting one in your attic or mounting outside if possible. It doesn't need to be on your roof it could be attached to the house like this:
http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/image/21022193.jpg

Since you are so close to Manotick though it is possible that an indoor will work just fine for you (I didn't notice the 8km note previously). Head over to the source and ask about their return policy, try and if it works great keep it. 

Get this one from the source, a friend in Kanata had good success with it.
http://www.thesource.ca/estore/Prod...line&category=Indoor+Antennas&product=1505315

But if it doesn't work I would look at attic mount as that will surely work. I'm way up in carp and get all the manotic stations from my rooftop.


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## My Own Advisor

Do I need anything else jamesbe?

I suspect it's worth a try. I love my sports, but getting annoyed with the $80/month cable bill just to watch Golf Channel. I think I should be able to cope but it will be tough initially.

If I go through withdrawal, I'll have to keep cable I guess....

Thanks for the advice!


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## jamesbe

Assuming you have a TV with an HD receiver built in, then no you do not need anything else.

Being so far south though, you may ultimately want to invest in an outdoor antenna facing toward the US. You may be able to get platsburgh or watertown for your golf addiction.


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## MorningCoffee

I can't open your link so I'm not sure which antenna you were looking at. This is the indoor antenna I have: 
http://www.amazon.ca/Winegard-SS-30...TF8&qid=1376659788&sr=8-7&keywords=tv+antenna

Outdoor is better, but this works well enough for us. We get CBC, CTV, CTV2, City, etc. plus finally get Global as of a few weeks ago. It works better the higher you can set it up in your home. We now have ours in an upper floor bedroom. We weren't getting Global when it was in the living room. We probably wouldn't get much more even with an outdoor antenna.


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## kcowan

We have a Samsung Smart TV. It is Wi-Fi capable. On Tuesday, we tried Cineplex online, and streamed a first run movie for $4.99 (for 48 hours access). It is also viewable on our PC. Compare this to our last trip to the movies ($40 plus popcorn). When movies have not yet opened in theatres, they are only available for purchase ($20).
Rent Movies Online

We will probably stay more current on our viewing now. There is also crackle.com that supplies older movies for free.


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## My Own Advisor

Thanks for the tips kcowan!

Mark


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## My Own Advisor

Thanks jamesbe. If I give it try, I will write back and let the forum know how it goes. And, I'll write a post about it


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## jamesbe

If you really get into, you can build a PVR or buy a pre-built one for $200. Like this:http://www.epvision.com/HDTVSTB/phdvrxmain.htm

Even factoring in buying an antenna and equipment the overall costs are much less. I spent about $800 getting my system up and running 3 years ago. Minimum monthly fee for satellite seems to be about $40 a month I'm way ahead!


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## blin10

you're way ahead but you got like 10 channels to watch, I wouldn't even bother with it at all then, just my opinion



jamesbe said:


> If you really get into, you can build a PVR or buy a pre-built one for $200. Like this:http://www.epvision.com/HDTVSTB/phdvrxmain.htm
> 
> Even factoring in buying an antenna and equipment the overall costs are much less. I spent about $800 getting my system up and running 3 years ago. Minimum monthly fee for satellite seems to be about $40 a month I'm way ahead!


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## Four Pillars

Interesting stuff, but I need my sports....


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## jamesbe

Yeah I have 13 or 14 channels.

But 99% of all content I'd ever watch is on 4 of them (CTV/Global/City TV / CBC). They syndicate all the US stuff anyways. I have a 4 tuner system so I can record 4 shows at once, never had to but have recorded 3 at once. Saves a lot of time not watching commercials!


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## mcoursd2006

I know what you mean by missing out on the sports. I used to be a bit of a sports junkie--hockey, football, basketball, baseball, and golf, especially. I could sit there for three hours on Sunday afternoon and watch the final round of some obscure tournament. This was many years ago, B.C. (Before Children).

After kids I watched it less and less, though having Treehouse TV was convenient those early years. But even with OTA channels, you can still watch a lot of sports--hockey on CBC, football on all four US networks, and it's also on the Canadian channels (but you miss out on the US ads during superbowl), basketball on ABC, golf on CBS, and tons of other stuff, if you are so inclined to watch.

But I find now, after breaking the TV habit, I can't sit through ten minutes of any one show, especially during the day. I'd rather be out doing something. I read more. I exercise more. I talk more with my wife. I interact more and play more with my children, and there's a lot more sex.


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## bettyboop

I pulled the plug on cable today, I hardly ever watch it anyways.


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## nathan79

I have satellite TV where I work, so that's where I do most of my TV watching. I rarely turn on my cable at home, except to catch the 6 pm news. If it were up to me, we'd just get rid of it. I wish we would since I'm paying half the bill. Then again, we have it bundled with internet and phone... I wonder how many people use that as an excuse to rationalize keeping their cable.


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## Toronto.gal

bettyboop said:


> I pulled the plug on cable today, I hardly ever watch it anyways.


Congrats!

I don't know your location, elevation, etc., but with the most basic & inexpensive indoor antenna from BBY, we now get 19 channels, including PBS, which carries 90% of what we watch.

By 'now', I meant that OTA channels seem to increase, as initially we got 15, then 17, and as of last time I checked a few days ago, there were 19, though only watch a handful of them.


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## Toronto.gal

nathan79 said:


> Then again, we have it bundled with internet and phone... *I wonder how many people use that as an excuse to rationalize keeping their cable*.


I think many do just that!

I thank Rogers [and Bell previous to switching to Rogers, lol], for the lousy CService I received, that after the 3rd unpleasant episode, I pulled the plug on all 3 services, and now very happy with Teksavvy, and no more cable/landline, which means that roughly $1.8K extra will be added to stocks, speaking of which, wonder if all those antennas that people are buying at BBY have made BBY recover so quickly.  YTD=191%.


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## mcoursd2006

No doubt it's a big hassle to cancel multiple services. You don't want cancel just one because your services are bundled, and you forgo the discount when you don't bundle. Bell and Rogers bank on that. But if you are willing to put in a little bit of time, you could save a bundle in the long run. For my telecommunication needs, we have two prepaid cell phones $22/month total), internet from Teksavvy ($29/month), and a VoIP landline ($0, after the initial setup fee. That's it. Sure, I can't find out how the stock market is doing when I'm sitting on the beach, but I'm okay with that.

OTA reception on the channels will vary according different factors, not the least of which is something called the tropo effect. When you have strong tropos, you get great reception and lots of channel. I recall last year for a couple of days we had something like over 40 channels, most of which I'd never even seen from places I've never even heard of, mainly in the US. But that was short-lived.


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## Toronto.gal

mcoursd2006 said:


> the tropo effect.


Interesting!

Well, it seems you're doing more enjoyable things now than watching tv., and Nathan, your employer does not mind what you do at work?


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## coptzr

A lot of those "free" channels are digital, so the show info is there and picture quality way better than basic "bought" packages.


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## uptoolate

Just got an Antennas Direct DB8e to try out. I'm not in the best reception area but will see how it goes.


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## bettyboop

Toronto.gal said:


> Congrats!
> 
> I don't know your location, elevation, etc., but with the most basic & inexpensive indoor antenna from BBY, we now get 19 channels, including PBS, which carries 90% of what we watch.
> 
> By 'now', I meant that OTA channels seem to increase, as initially we got 15, then 17, and as of last time I checked a few days ago, there were 19, though only watch a handful of them.




I can pick up 7 stations with just the rabbit ears. The only station I actually miss is PBS.... The Shopping Channel and BNN I would watch sometimes but it's probably for the best that I don't have them as all they do is make me buy silly stuff I don't need


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## My Own Advisor

My wife made the comment that Golf Channel is worth about $50 a month in our house. She might be right, that would be tough to give up...


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## GoldStone

Okay, welcome me to the club. I cancelled Rogers cable today. We hardly ever watched it.


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