I Cancelled my Cable TV and Survived

appletv.jpgIt’s been about a week since I cancelled my cable service. I decided to do it now because 1) the NBA has finally come to the dreadful end 2) all my favorite television shows such as 24, House, Lost, Heroes and Greys have come to an end. At about $85 a month for basic cable, HBO, cinemax and all the HD channels, I thought the cost was little too high for watching only a couple hours of television a week, which normally would be comprised of reruns on HBO of Batman Begins or any movie that I already have in my movie library. I say only a couple of hours because I’ve been downloading my tv shows for the past couple of years to watch it when I want and commercial free. So watching television was something I did to relax and just pass the time.

I have to admit that this past week has been a little hard. I still feel the urge to plop myself on the couch after I get home and reach for that remote, but now that I know that I have no cable to watch, I steer clear of the couch and just start making my dinner a little bit earlier than usual, thereby getting to my work for the evening a little earlier than usual as well. Overall, the goal for cancelling my cable service is to 1) save the $85 a month which equals to $1020 a year 2) use my time more productively, so it seems to be working so far.

I know it seems pretty extreme to cut your cable service. I mean this is the first time in my life I’ve had no working television in my house and I would dare venture to say that a lot of you have a similar background as well. In any case, I know some of you may be wondering what they hell I’m going to do without cable tv, but I’m here to tell you that it’s not that bad. You can get your fixes in so many other ways and for those less resourceful, here is a list I made for you to check out:

1) Get a HD TV antennae to connect to your computer’s tv tuner or Flat Screen TV – Most of the major network television stations are broadcasting HD over the air, so if you need to watch Ugly Betty in High-Def, then this would be a low-cost alternative.

2) Catch up with your Television Shows on their Websites – One of the popular things to do last year was to catch up on your favorite shows through their websites. I know a lot of people who’s work productivity went straight down the tubes because they were busy catching up with the last episode of Lost, instead of catching up on their TPS reports. If you have a pc hooked up to your tv, then here’s your solution. If you have an Apple, I know a way where you can watch it full screen (muhaha!).

3) Use Netflix or Blockbuster Total Access – For the price of a premium channel, you can have the latest movie releases sent to your house and now with a lot of the best tv shows coming out on DVD, you can just set aside a weekend to catch up with what people are talking about.

4) Get Joost - The new online on-demand tv network from the makers of Skype, Joost is a great way to watch some random television shows using your computer.  I found some random episodes of Transformers on Joost along with National Geographic specials and of course, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Photo Shoot Specials are fun to watch too! Since it’s still currently in beta testing, this is an invite only program. I have some extra invites if you’d like one, so just comment and i’ll hook it up as long as I have invites to give out.

5) Buy the Shows you watch on iTunes – iTunes is starting to do for tv shows what it has done for music. Instead of buying a whole album for one song, you can just spend your money more wisely and  buy what you want to watch a la carte. With the introduction of AppleTV a couple of months ago, I really see this as the future of television. You can even get your favorite YouTube clips on AppleTV now to help waste away your time :) . If iTunes doesn’t have it, I’ve heard that bit torrent is a great way to get your favorite shows.

How much cable tv do you watch a week? Do you think you can survive without it? What other alternatives can you think of in addition to the ones I just listed?