Why is it so difficult to cut the Cable?

I would never cut off my primary TV provider simply because the other methods of receiving TV are either unacceptable or inconvenient, except for OTA.  I record 99% of everything I watch, with the exception of live sports programming.  Last time I checked, when you watch a show on Hulu or other online service, the shows still contain commercials and don’t provide a method to fast forward past them.  With my HTPC and Tivos, I can skip past the commercials, which reduces the time I spend in front of the TV by about 18-20 minutes for every 1-hour program.  I watch a lot of TV so having the ability to cut my viewing time by almost a third is a no-brainer for me.

Watching a show on anything smaller than a 35-40″ HDTV is no longer enjoyable for me.  I’ll admit it, I’m spoiled.  I got into HDTV for the whole home theater experience, including topnotch surround sound.  The idea of watching TV on a smart phone or tablet is completely repugnant.  The younger generation sees this as being cool and like the convenience of it all.  My tastes are a little more stringent.  I don’t just watch TV, I get immersed in the experience.  If you can’t get the maximum enjoyment out of it then you’re just wasting your time in front of the boob tube.  My wife still doesn’t understand the difference it makes to me.  All she sees is just TV.

I’ll confess I use Bittorrent sites to acquire a couple of shows from Showtime and a few other channels that I don’t subscribe to.  I’m about to drop HBO, which costs me an absurd $22.99 per month from Verizon, so I’ll probably start getting those shows from BT sites as well.  HBO only has a couple of good series each season, and only on Sunday nights.  I get far more movies per month from NetFlix at a much lower cost, including HBO and Showtime series on Blu-Ray.  I rarely bother with standard DVDs anymore.

I haven’t warmed up to any of the online streaming services yet, mostly because the picture quality and audio I’ve experienced isn’t yet comparable to what I can get on FIOS or Blu-Ray.  Again, I’m just picky about what I watch and listen to.  Call me an elitist or a snob if you must.  I just know what I like.

I have forgotten that I was watching a show on Hulu vs off of my DVR, but netflix non-HD streaming is almost painful to watch, IMO.  Sadly, I’ll be tied to Directv until there is an alternative to NFL Sunday Ticket.  I’ve thought of getting a slingbox but don’t want to deal with the hassles if something goes wrong at the source location.

No I hadn’t heard that.  I’d been getting the internet access add-on for a few years because it was “free” with the Superfan upgrade which gave you the games in HD.  I would just let my friend in LA use the internet part so he could watch the Seahawks games. 

I’ll have to check into the internet portion this year since HD is now part of the base package.

I agree with the complaints on quality of internet video. I absolutely hate watching Hulu on my 50″ HDTV, but compared to paying $100 a month for the same priveledge from the cable company I’m willing to suck it up and deal for the very few shows I’d bother watching. Netflix streaming actually is decent so the only gripe there is content/choices.

I cut the cord awhile ago (3 years? I don’t even remember anymore) and haven’t looked back. My biggest loss (besides HGTV) is live sports. This year, I couldn’t stand it anymore and bought a subscription to MLB.tv which has helped fill the gap along with ESPN3, both of which I can access through my xbox 360 using PlayOn. Using PlayOn through an extender is a painful experience that I now avoid. Soon enough the xbox will do ESPN3 natively and I won’t need PlayOn for that anymore. I wish I had a PS3 so I could say the same for MLB.tv.

This article perplexes me as well since it completely avoids OTA. Why on earth those roommates would gather around a laptop is beyond me… at the very least, use some sort of video out to your TV! They wouldn’t even need to venture into tuners and OTA or anything else to do that. To me, this article just proves that people are ignorant of their options when cutting the cord, not that they aren’t willing to do it. I have a friend who doesn’t have cable because she can’t afford it, yet she didn’t have the slightest clue about OTA until I explained it to her. Once there are more informed people I think there may be more willing to take the leap.

I don’t watch any cable TV (live or recorded) due to alternate methods. Then again I don’t care about sports or anything like that.

I still watch the latest shows and all that.

The only ones in the house that do watch cable TV are my mother and my sister. They like stuff like VH1….

Now, what I take away from articles like this is that MUCH of America wants to ditch the crappy service that Cable Co’s offer. If Hulu got thier stuff together I’m sure they could make a very compelling service that many would jump on.

i thought the sports issue would kill me when i cut the cord (well, i still have basic cable), but thanks to ESPN3 i’ve pretty much been able to manage. Quality is definitely not as good as HD, but it’s still pretty solid.