Cutting the Cable - Life without Television
 

We have been considering cutting out cable television from our lives. The reasons for our decision are several, which I will detail below. I'm posting here to inquire to those of you who have gone cable free, what have your experiences been like. Any unexpected consequences? Things that you miss that you didn't think you would?

First some caveats: We will still have a TV in our living room. And, yes, I suppose that we could still receive over-the-air broadcast signals. We live far enough out in the country that this would really amount to 1 or maybe 2 stations. We will still have some business with the 'cable' company as they provide our internet connection, and by way of VoIP via Vonage, our telephone service.

So here are some of my reasons for cutting out television:

1. Cost: Our cable service costs just over $50 per month, $600 per year. I'd really rather put that money toward something else. Pretty much anything else.
2. Selection: Time and time again, I've looked through the 60-some channels that we subscribe to only to find absolutely nothing worth watching. Even with DVR, I have to scrounge around to find something that I actually want to record to watch sometime in the future. For the few shows that I actually do enjoy watching, many are streamed on the internet for free (legal streaming from the network website - don't bust on me).
3. Distraction: I often find that the television is often just noise in the background. Maybe recently becoming a father has keyed my into this noise more. I'd like to have less distractions from the important things in my life. Not having television to just click on and plop down in front of might help limit the amount of time I spend being idle.

So, those are some of things that I have been thinking about. I'd be very interested to hear other peoples experiences. I know this is a diverse and well-informed community. Give me the benefit of your knowledge. :)

For me the TV is most often an educational tool.

History channel, National Geographic, Science Channel, and a slew of other somewhat lessor ones.

I can see value in not having it as well.

I currently have TV, but for the longest time did not, and at the moment it is because of roommates that I have it.

When I did not have internet or TV I found I read A LOT! The greatest thing about not having cable television, was if there was a show I wanted to see I would make an event out of it with friends. For example, Hell's Kitchen, I would go to a friends house and we would trade off weeks making meals. One of us would make dinner that night. We would try to outdo each other with our meals each week while watching the show.

Like you said, it's background noise. I can put in a DVD, or fire up some music on the stereo to fill that vacancy of noise and avoid commercials and advertisements.

Congratulations! :thumbsup:

ive never had cable and havent had tv for a year..

have had no problems with that... dont think ill ever be addcted to tV as much as the internet.. but then agian i dont use Tv as an educational tool. If anything, its only the news i watch on tv, and even then its usually rueters,cnn or some other mainstream news that is edited, regurgitated or just plainly repeated.

the internet has so much more freedom to explore and expand your realm of knowledge.

I don't watch TV here in my apartment, but I still have their absolute basic service (network channels [Fox, ABC, NBC, PBS] and a couple of extras like the History channel that they throw into that package for about $10 a month) just in case I need to entertain someone or want to watch the news while I eat breakfast. I haven't used my TV other than watching a handful of movies since the beginning of December, but once Bones comes back on the air on Friday I might be making it a weekly thing again.

I can understand your desire to get rid of cable, though! Sometimes I wish my parents would, but my mom loves watching the Food network so that won't happen anytime soon. :)

Good luck with the decision and make good use of the extra money!

Ustwo: Be careful going to the History Channel for 100% correct information. I've found that the channel is more like a high school history text book. It's mostly correct, but it could use editing and corrections.

:lol:

Oh trust me I know, the LBJ had Kennedy killed 'documentary', the USS Liberty 'documentary', and a slew of UFO and Ghost ones.

You get a pretty good feel for the history channel after a while for whats good, whats semi-BS, to whats total BS.

All of these you look at as an introduction.

Blue Planet in HD though, thats some nice viewing.

We went without cable for over six months this past year. Quite frankly, I enjoyed not having it. Unfortunately, my wife missed it too much (I'm in a band, so she sits at home alone alot on the weekends), so it came back this past month.

What I liked about not having it:
-a much quieter house
-the entire family read more books
-more interactive family time(none of the mindlessly sitting in front of the TV for hours on end with no real purpose other than killing time)
-saving the $40+ per month.

What I missed(or disliked) the most:
-sports
-weather. Especially when there was severe weather in the forecast. I much prefer watching local weather, over any of the internet sites.
-the educational programming that others mentioned in this thread.
-felt a bit out of touch

I'm glad to have back those things I missed about it, but overall I'd still go without. But I understand where my wife was coming from when she said she wanted it back.

I've noticed that I tend to gravitate towards educational programs. National Geographic is the channel I watch the most. But on the flip side, I do watch a fair amount of cartoons (that could be the influence of my significant other, who prefers the TV to be on a cartoon of some kind, any kind).

I have had periods where I have gone without TV, and I could go either way with it. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't miss it. Many of the families I work for only have an antenna, and so a lot of my evenings are TV-free. Those families aren't totally TV-free, however, as an antenna in our area picks up Oregon Public Broadcasting quite well, and many of them are OPB supporters. As such, their children watch children's shows on OPB, such as FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman (an excellent and educational show). For grownups, public broadcasting offers a variety of entertaining and educational shows (NOVA, Scientific American Frontiers, Rick Steves' travel shows).

Additonally, I find when I watch less television, I listen to more public radio.

I think it's awesome that you're going to get rid of your cable, but I would say be prepared--use your public library (you're going to be reading more) and make sure your radio works (you will want to listen to it).

I haven't owned a TV in the past two years. I just realized that it I would only watch TV when I was bored and had nothing to do, and that while watching TV I was bored and had nothing to do. I've never really paid for cable before, so the monetary aspect escapes me. I can probably equate it to my cell phone bill though. (no land line)

Anyway, life without television isn't that difficult or different, unless you have some need to watch it for some reason. Explanations for news, education and current events are all good reasons, so are certain shows that you find entertaining. The point is that: If you know that there isn't anything that you would actually miss, then there isn't any reason why you couldn't easily go without television (or just cable).

While in college I lived for five years without cable TV... Now I'd have a hard time living without cable TV because I'm hooked on the following stations:

• History Channel
• History Channel International
• Science Channel
• Discovery Channel
• Discovery Times
• Military Channel

Honestly I don't understand how I managed to live without these channels for so long, and I don't see how someone could get cable TV (or satellite TV) without being hooked to at least one of these channels.

the thing is, what's on those channels are available online anyway. I haven't watched tv, or paid for cable in over 8 years.

I couldn't stand the commercials, or the fake people or biased news casts. It was all a giant waste of time wrapped up in a fatty deja vu burger of sitting on your ass on the couch.

I make my living from Television... I would not be doing my job if I didn't watch TV.

That said, I can see why people would want to go without it: the expense, the time suckage, etc. Personally I make sure I do things other than watch TV.

BTW, so only "educational" TV is okay? Hmm... let's see what's on...
TLC: Jon and Kate Plus 8. Realty TV about octuplets? Wow.
Discovery: MythBusters. They just buried pigs in concrete.
National Geographic: Explorer. Curing blindness? Not bad.
Science Channel: Raging Planet. A show about snow.
Discovery Home: Trading Spaces. *Zzzz*
History: The Presidents. Johnson impeachment conspiracy.

Hmm....

Personally, I find that kid shows and some stuff on PBS make up the overwhelming majority of "educational" TV. The rest is there primarily to entertain and suck you in, not teach you anything.

I love NOVA. I miss the days when the Discovery channel played nothing but nature and dinosaurs and sharks and such. None of this Man vs. Wild and Mythbusters crap they have on now.

(Though I will admit I have a soft spot for Mike Rowe. He can stay.)

Mmmm, Mike Rowe.

:D

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/di...ry/wp2_800.jpg

I havent had TV in two years and the only annoyance I have come to terms with is the fact that I have to watch football elsewhere.... Usually a bar.... which means drinking and partying.... wait, maybe its not bad after all! Why stay at home watching TV and drinking alone when you can do it somewhere else!


But yea, after two years, it doesnt bother me. Weather.com, cnn.com suffice on my necessities, and hell, avoiding TV news means you dont become seduced by teh fear factor often found in news shows! Take that Bush!

You didn't watch it long enough. It was a secret taping of life in North Korea.

I think that ending cable television in your home is a great idea. Most of the education videos I'm interested are available online or on DVD. Most of the shows I watch are available online. (I need my weekly fix of Amazing Race Asia - a guilty pleasure). I wish we could do it here. My wife makes her living as a media scholar. So, we will never be rid of the tv.

Tell her you are sick of her taking her work home with her every night :thumbsup:

My kids say this to me almost every night... but only because they want to watch what they want to watch.

I don't watch it much (about an hour a day at most, before bed), but when I do, I like the channels I watch available to me. I don't think I'd go to over the air (which will be cut off in 2009) stations. I need my Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, History Channel, and TLC fix.

80-90% of the time when I'm watching TV I'm not really interested in what I'm watching, I'm just bored. When I went a few years without a TV, I spent more time doing more productive things. The only bad thing about not having one is missing those few shows that I actually enjoy, and even that isn't so bad, since I (literally) don't know what I'm missing.

I don't think I could give up the TV. I don't watch that much, but what I do, I really enjoy. I really like the On-Demand movies and sports in HD is soooo much better.

I've lived with cable and also with over the air, 1 channel, WPIX 11.

I don't care if I have TV or not. In fact I don't let TV rule my day. It was especially nice when I got the VCR to work and record the things I wanted to easily so there was always something I was interested in watching.

It got even better with Tivo, DVR isn't the same since Tivo suggests things that I may be interested in watching or will find things it knows I'm interested in watching. Today there was some UPN black comedy that I would normally never watch, but because Jeff Dunham was a guest star, it recorded it for me.

Personally, if it were up to me, I'd pull the cable plug and stop paying the $150/mo we spend on cable TV.

I haven't had cable in years. I don't watch T.V. very much at all, so i don't see the point in paying for it. When I do watch T.V. I just use the internet.

I don't own the idiot box due to my lifestyle. If I did have to purchase one, it would be a cheaper flatscreen for use with my laptop as a larger monitor or to watch DVDs on something less herky-jerky than my laptop's abused DVD drive. I think you need a lifestyle that can dedicate time to a TeeVee in order to really warrant purchasing one.

...

I think the television is responsible for the abysmal self-esteem and obesity that a good chunk of America totes and is a brilliant social pacification / torture method that not even those fuckwits the Nazis could have thought up. We do it to ourselves and we like it!

It has redeeming shows, sure, but they're so few and far in between the en masse crap.

Reminds me of that Misfits song from back in the day:

"My eyeballs absorb only blue-filtered light! TV casualty, TV casualty..."

Also, Black Flag's "TeeVee Party" song from the '80s:

I think it's great if you want to live without TV or watch it less and do better things with your time, or only watch educational TV.

I have to say though that I like my TV and I don't think it's evil. I would not give it up completely because I like to watch TV and I think it can be educational, stimulating, relaxing, informative, it has several benefits. Of course there are negative aspects too.

I usually only watch things I like. I don't only watch it when I'm bored and I'm not bored when I'm watching it, I watch it because it's what I want to do at that moment.

It«s simple really. I don't get the way people always talk about TV like it's a terrible thing that ruins people's minds and lives...as long as you know who's in control ;)

Many thanks to all of the informed and interesting replies. I'll keep you posted when and if we make the jump to cutting off the cable. I'm leaning toward yes, but since part of the reason is financial I feel obligated to try to negotiate the company to a lower 'new customer' rate to see if I can't have the best of both worlds for a few months.

To elaborate, TWC locally is offering new customers who bundle services the following deal: $30 per month, per service (phone, internet, cable) if you are willing to sign up for at least 2. I already have cable and internet through them, but I'm currently paying $112/month for just those 2 services. I figure that as a dissatisfied customer they may be willing to extend the 'new customer' offer to me in order to keep me as a customer. If not, then I have the option to 'walk away' from the negotiation by simply canceling the cable service and retaining the internet connection.

I don't miss tv. I only use my tv for gaming and watching movies.

They'll let you do that? Have internet access without the cable TV service?

they'd rather get some money from you than no money... other highspeed option would be DSL, and that's losing a sub to a competitor.

They kinda have to, if that's all you want to pay for. I know plenty of people who do that here at school, actually.

i stopped watching tv on 13 september 2001 and didn't look back--until lately.

my nephews watch the history channel, so i watch it too.
it is mostly horseshit.
from a footage viewpoint, some of the programming is entertaining, but from an informational viewpoint, much of it is a joke, one-dimensional infotainment.
with tabloid-style voice-over no less.

on the other hand, there is a certain fascination this crap exerts if you watch it as a kind of ideological document, as a way to understand how people come to confuse flat jumpy, bad docu-dramas with information about a multivariate world....


now celebrity rehab and the fine programming provided by e! entertainment television---that's the kind of information tv does well.
*that* i watch.

tv is about itself.
the more it is about itself, the more interesting it is.
e! seems to work in a limit-state of superficiality, and there's a kind of genius in that.
vh1 has some beautifully vacant programming too.
and i like project runway....it is SO stupid.
(but what the fuck happened to bravo?)


there's some good programming on tv, though--but all of it is also good material on dvd.
like 6 feet under.
most of deadwood.
etc.

pull the plug.
listen to "i'm the slime" and just pull the plug.

Eeeexactly man.

My mom and brother are tv-aholics, watching TV just because its there, wasting hours at a time...especially my mom and those retarded "reality tv" shows, or "game shows."

If I sit down and watch tv, I'm usually only on for 30 minutes, watching sexyman Mike Rowe on the Discovery Channel. :suave: But I don't even do that anymore, cause all his episodes are available on his website! :D

Nowadays, I'm only near the tv, because the couch is near the TV, and I wanna lie down. :lol:

But when I move out, there's no way I'm buying cable. Oh I'll get a TV to play my video games. ;) But even my boyfriend agrees, Cable is a waste of time. I'm an internet nut anyways, so it all works out. I'll just pay for a fiber optic connection (mmm...), and never, ever, get a home phone. I h.a.t.e. home phones.

Besides, if there are any shows worth watching, they're available online or on DVD. ^_^ And I much prefer that. You get to watch it when you want, not when its airing.

I totally agree! It is possible for me to live without TV/Cable but I choose to use it as an entertainment mode. Work, school, kids, BF, I need something that doesn't require me to think but allows me to be consumed for the moment. I read a lot and play on the internet too, I also play with my kids from time to time but there is something to be said about the 'me time' I get from watching crime drama's or obsessing over American Idol.

I am sure I could accomplish more in my day to day if I gave it up but why? "The Man" takes enough from me on a daily basis I don't want to figure out how to cram more duties in to my day.

We haven't had cable television reception in years. Even when we did, I never watched it, and the wife mostly just had it on in the evenings so the house would not be so quiet as I was usually always asleep when she got home (I worked nights.)

I don't miss it. But then, we do still "watch" TV in the sense that we use Netflix a lot. I like it much better this way. 98% of what is on TV now is pure shit anyway. Survivor? American Idol? Give me a fucking break. We love movies though, and quality shows (The Sopranos etc) so we do watch a lot of DVDs I guess.

And of course the set is still useful with the PS2. But I've no plans of paying for cable (Roadrunner excluded) for any foreseeable future.

This year marked the return of television to my everyday life. I went without it for 7 years.

I liked life better without it.

I think cutting the TV is perfectly fine. For the most part, I haven't had TV for the last 5-6 years (ever since I went to college). I still find myself to be inefficient at time-management -- what I am missing most from TV is current news, and what I have found to be the biggest effect on my life is that I have a big "blank" in my pop culture lore for the last 5 years.

Its like I knew everything about "pop culture" up to 2002, then nothing.. when people make references to shows like "OC" or etc, I don't really identify -- this is quite bad, in a way, as it makes conversing sometimes difficult.

Nowadays, you can get by without TV and *still* keep up with the latest shows - people upload them to Youtube !

Here are some links for online video (I'll assume you know youtube, lol):

www.veoh.com
www.megavideo.com

I actually don't know anymore sites other than these -- anyone else got any?