All I am Really Looking for is Options

This blog was started with the goal of helping other people quit cable by creating a source of what works and doesn't work.  That being said, I don't want to be completely villainous towards the cable companies.  Quitting cable in the way laid out in this blog won't be for everyone.  If you enjoy the service and think it is worth the cost, that is awesome.

I however, didn't like the price and really didn't enjoy the service.  What I am looking for is options.  Currently my local cable company can't provide me with the options that work with my life.

Lets take a step back and look at the music industry.  Being 26, I grew up at the height of Napster's popularity.  Music to me wasn't really about albums anymore, but about finding all these rad artists, making mix CDs, and then going to their concerts.  This was clearly a terrible model for record industry.  Their customers can now just go online and have anything they like at their finger tips, rather than going into the CD shop and spending upwards of twenty bucks.

Moving forward a few years, services like the iTunes Music Store and later amazon.com/mp3 (my personal favorite) came around.  What these services allowed the customer to do was get the song or two they wanted at a reasonable price.  They are proving to be a hit, iTunes alone has sold more then 6 billion songs.  The big thing now is that the consumer has plenty of options to get the music they want.  Stores still sell CDs, you can subscribe to music services, or pay per track.

I've never had a problem with paying for media, just as long as I don't feel like I am getting bent over in the deal.  This is why I went looking for options when it came to the television shows I watch.  I don't want to be shoehorned into one model of delivery simply because it is what works for most people.  As a consumer I have the option to let my dollar (or my eyes - when it comes to ads) do my talking.

As technology advanced more and more playback devices are going to be in the living rooms and palms of consumers.  They are going to look at their Apple TV or iPhone and say, "Why do I have to pay $2 to get the latest episode of 'The Office' on my iPhone and also pay $60 a month to the cable company, why don't I just pay the $2?"

If a cable company could provide me with an a la carte option, I would be a subscriber again.  But to charge me for channels that I simply won't watch seems insane.  I would rather rely on over the air service and the iTunes Store, amazon.com/vod, and Netflix to fill in the rest.

In the end, I am simply a consumer and will always be looking for cheaper options that allow me more flexibility.

My Issues with Cable

It might be a good idea to take a step back and explain some of my reasons for wanting to quit cable.

• Cost - There was a high cost associated with cable.  For the few services I was getting, my bill would easily be $140 without any discounts.  I got that down to $60 for basic and internet.
• Discounts - They only way to qualify for their discounts is to be a new costumer.  Sure, sometimes you can call and argue your way into a cheaper price plan, but it doesn't always work.  Essentially what the cable companies are supporting is hidden pricing tiers.  Make the price low to attract the customer, but then stick it to them after they've been a customer.  Rather than supporting customer loyalty, they are supporting customer disloyalty.
• New Options - Many networks are trying to allow customers to access content over the internet.  Some of them are doing it for a free/ad-supported model.  You go to a website and stream the show you want to watch.  The other model is paying $2/$3 for an episode, downloading it locally.  Both of these models give you on demand entertainment to watch at your leisure.  With a combination of the models, you can cheaply and legally get most of the content you would normally be able to watch with cable (there are some exceptions to this rule, that is when you need to sit down and see if you can live without those shows).
• Rise of the Videocast (or Podcast) - Companies like Revision3 are cranking out really good content on the web.  Shows like Diggnation, The Totally Rad Show, and iFanboy are right up my alley.  They cater to my geekiness in a way that cable never could.

Those were the major factors that contributed to me switching away from cable and towards internet based media.  

The two HD DVR's in my trunk are being returned today.  Ian's idea to replicate the Office Space copier scene was tough to deny.

Replacing cable television

After getting a basic media center set up and doing a trial run for about a week, my wife and I figured that we were ready to make the jump and cancel the cable television service.  Total savings per month comes out to just over $170 per month.

Almost two years ago, we signed up for the "triple play" package, which included high speed internet, phone service (and long distance) and a ton of cable television.  We opted for the phone because it cut back on cell phone minutes and the bundling of services gave us a sweet discount.  The bill was about $125 per month and included two HD DVRs for both of the televisions along with some things like HBO and other movie channels.  After twelve months, the deals expired and there were a few price hikes along the way and our bill had ballooned to almost $230 per month!

I called this morning and was quickly routed to a local account specialist (their voicemail was local anyway), who detailed a few options for reducing the monthly bill.  I went into this call knowing that I could get almost all of the content that I've been watching over the past year with an antenna and the internet, which comes to about $58 per month if I stay with Comcast internet.  The next highest package that the rep offered came to around $90, but didn't add too much in terms of content, just the next set of cable channels.  I believe ESPN is included in this package, but not the HD versions (this has not been verified).  There were several packages that included almost all of the current content for $118-$160 per month, which would still be a savings of around $1200 per year.  

In the end, I decided that it wasn't yet worth it to even pay for the extra channels.  Part of this is because the rep was 45 late in returning a phone call and I was forced to call them back.  Apparently they are extremely busy right now, handing out deals to existing customers.  If you're not ready to try out cable alternatives, at least call your cable provider and try to bring your bill down!

Tomorrow I Quit Cable

My cable and internet bill is roughly $100 a month, in a couple months that will be going to $140, if not more.  For a single guy in an apartment, this isn't really small change, I could be using the money for something a little more fun .... like beer.

I sat down and looked at what I was watching, I realized that most of it was being broadcasted for free in HD.  The rest of it (the one of two shows that are not broadcasted) I can easily get from iTunes or Amazon Video on Demand.

If I drop cable, my bill will end up being just south of $60.  Today that is a $40 dollar savings and in the comings months will be $80.  That is close to $1000 a year!  That is a lot of beer money!

I hope to be posting about my experience on this blog, hoping to help others out as they look to save money.  Some of the coming topics include:

• Building a Media Center PC
• Streaming TV (free, and yes legal)
• Dealing with no ESPN
• And more ...

In addition to my findings while quitting cable, my good friend is going through the same process and will also be documenting his experience on this blog.