(No) Cable TV

I decided to save a little money and not get cable TV. I like some of those extra channels, especially National Geographic, Syfy, and a handful of others. But, it isn't worth $80 more a month for that (I have cable internet for an already high ~$60 a month).

Yes, 80 dollars! That doesn't include any premium channels, that is just "normal" cable and HD. I could probably live without HD, but my TV is capable and the extra charge for HD was $15 or less. So while I like some of the cable channels, the price in this area is higher than I'm willing to pay for it.

Instead, I decided to try good old "over the air" TV reception. For that, I'd need a tuner/decoder, so I bought an HD Tivo which also includes the HD tuner/decoder I would need to get anyway. Besides, after watching TV via DVR's for so long, I had to have that also - too bad my current Series 2 TiVo can't pull in HD. I had to buy an antenna as well, but those are inexpensive.

Once I connected all this stuff up, I searched for channels to see what I could receive. The good news is I get several channels, over the air, for free! NBC, Fox, PBS, CW, and some miscellaneous channels. I don't get ABC or CBS... perhaps my antenna isn't strong enough to pull in those signals.

That's OK, because I supplement what I do receive through Netflix, which is indispensable especially considering how many TV shows are released on DVD eventually. And I'll try buying one show from the iTunes store: Burn Notice. That is one of my favorite shows, and it plays on USA, which I no longer get. And I can't wait until season 3 comes out on DVD in order to see the other half of the season!

Anyway, one month into not having cable TV and I don't miss it that much. Certainly not enough to spend $80/month for it.