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6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television

November 19th, 2006 by Kevin

I pay $120 a month for cable TV and internet. About $75 dollars of that cost is for television. That is $900 a year just to watch TV. I have no premium cable channels either. Here is a brief list of 6 ways to ditch your cable television:

  1. Get an indoor high definition antenna and either hook it up to your HDTV or a tuner card on your PC. Most network affiliates also broadcast in high definition.
  2. Download television shows or movies off the internet. Apple has a large selection of TV shows available for downloads at $1.99 a piece, which can add up over time though. ITunes and an Apple TV can be a nice cable replacement. Vongo is another alternative (test Vongo out for free by signing up). The only way to view HD versions of your favorite shows right now is as a torrent file. TED (torrent episode downloader) is a handy tool for this, acting like an internet Tivo.
  3. Join Netflix. Netflix is a great deal and is a good alternative to a movie channels like HBO and Showtime. For the same price a month as one of the premium channels, you have movies delivered to your house. Plus, many of HBO’s shows are available for rental as box sets.
  4. Watch free content on the internet at sites like Network2.tv or Stage6.
  5. View shows at major network websites. ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox all have their most popular shows available for streaming.
  6. Get DVD’s at your local library. Most libraries offer DVD rentals for free or for a minimal cost compared to Blockbuster.

Even with these tips, I have not ditched my cable TV. The reason why is sports. My HD tuner gets over the air broadcasts but I would miss ESPN too much. Though $75 a month for ESPN is a bit much.

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    • 27 Responses to “6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television”

    1. on 20 Nov 2006 at 7:40 pm   Tom

      Would an HD antenna work on an HD-ready TV, or would I need a separate HD tuner?

    2. on 20 Nov 2006 at 10:22 pm   J.R.

      You do need an HD tuner if your TV is just HD “ready.” I guess that is one drawback.

    3. on 23 Nov 2006 at 4:39 am   Eric

      I have the same problem. I couldn’t ditch cable because I watch ESPN all the time. I couldn’t go without it. My cable bill is about the same. I pay $100 for cable and internet. I wish there was a better alternative.

    4. on 23 Nov 2006 at 5:20 am   P.S.

      I only watch college football. I wish there was a solution somewhere between getting the whole shebang and going to a sports bar 12 Saturdays.

    5. on 23 Nov 2006 at 5:53 am   Jef

      I just ditched cable ($80/mo!!!) and sports can be a problem. I’d recommend sports bars. Get out, yell with the crowd, have the rival team in the same bar. It’s a good time.

      Either that, or spend that $75 you saved on cable for the month on ACTUAL TICKETS to the game. Nothing beats sports in-person.

    6. on 23 Nov 2006 at 7:09 am   malik

      how abt tvuplayer

      live tv :)

    7. on 23 Nov 2006 at 2:35 pm   J.R.

      Hmmm….sports bars…….wife may not like that though :)

    8. on 23 Nov 2006 at 11:10 pm   Tech from Lifehacker « square10

      [...] 6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television [Floppyhead via PVRWire] [...]

    9. on 24 Nov 2006 at 3:36 am   a long way from 113 is now - the w4 network - wayne on the world wide web » Blog Archive » 6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television

      [...] See link: http://www.floppyhead.com/2006/11/19/5-alternatives-to-help-you-ditch-cable-television/ [...]

    10. on 24 Nov 2006 at 3:21 pm   Adam

      gotta say, I’m lovin’ the library lately. After moving to a new/bigger house, we don’t have the money to throw to cable/sat-tv, so yea, the public library is a good source of both old, and newer movies. What’s really nice, is if the library doesn’t have what you want, they CAN and will find it, either buying it themselves, or from another library.

      Though I do miss my daily dose of Fuse, I get my music fix from last.fm and pandora hehe.

      Lifehacker also did a good article on (ab)using (lol) your local library, http://www.lifehacker.com/software/feature/get-the-most-of-your-local-library–online-153821.php

      Just beware, those $0.50 late fees per day (on DVDs/VHS) do add up lol.

    11. on 24 Nov 2006 at 5:54 pm   Wheelson

      A little known option, with Comcast at least, is to ask them for their “Limited Basic” cable service which they are required by law to offer but do not advertise at all. It’s an extra $5 with Broadband Internet service (technically an extra $20 but if you have no cable TV but use their Internet service they charge you $15 so the net extra is $5).

      This frees me up enough monthly cash to utilize Netflix and iTunes more than I would if I bought the much more expensive cable packages full of channels I don’t watch.

      Limited Basic also usually includes HDTV that is normally broadcast in the area. The bonus for me is that ESPN and Fox Sports squeak by the filter so I get those too!

      If you live in an area where you get CTV you can watch The Daily Show too!

    12. on 24 Nov 2006 at 9:50 pm   bc

      Like Malik said, I’ve found that the TVUPlayer found at http://viidoo.com/en/index.php is a good option for sports if you don’t have cable/satellite. The picture isn’t perfect, but it has ESPN and you can see the football flying in the air, which is all that really matters. Might be worth looking at.

    13. on 24 Nov 2006 at 10:25 pm   Diana’s Writing Blog » links for 2006-11-23

      [...] 6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television It gives both legal and illegal alternatives to cable. (tags: money) [...]

    14. on 26 Nov 2006 at 11:18 am   things to check out

      [...] _ Ditch TV [...]

    15. on 26 Nov 2006 at 8:31 pm   Spazz

      All you have to do is have your company pay for your home internet somehow and you get the cable autmoatically. You don’t have to pay twice. Just pay for cable internet. They can’t block the television cable.

    16. on 26 Nov 2006 at 11:24 pm   Ditch you cable tv! « snartz

      [...] From floppyhead.com: 6 alternatives to help you ditch cable tv I pay $120 a month for cable TV and internet. About $75 dollars of that cost is for television. That is $900 a year just to watch TV. I have no premium cable channels either. Here is a brief list of 6 ways to ditch your cable television: [...]

    17. on 27 Nov 2006 at 7:36 pm   E

      @Spazz

      Comcast (as well as most other cable companies) can block the TV signal from the line if you only order high speed internet. They place a filter on the pole or in the pedestal before the line connects to your house. Just getting cable internet doesn’t mean you’ll get basic TV by splitting the line and plugging it into your TV.

    18. on 29 Nov 2006 at 12:33 pm   Sou Produtivo! - produtividade, economizar dinheiro, criatividade, downloads, entretenimento, ferramentas, fotografia, freeware, mp3, segurança, utilitários

      [...] Se você está considerando cancelar a TV a cabo de sua casa pra economizar um dinheiro, ou porque de repente caiu em uma situação como o desemprego por exemplo, o site Floppyhead traz 6 fontes de alternativas para assistir a bons programas, como por exemplo assistir programas pela internet, pegar DVDs emprestados da biblioteca de sua cidade ou escola, etc. 6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television [Floppyhead] [...]

    19. on 30 Nov 2006 at 1:31 pm   Jofo

      Yesterday v0.8b of ted was released. It is not a official release, might contain a few bugs, but it is stable and the parser ted uses has much improved. It is now for example possible to search for a minimum amount of seeders a torrent should have.

      Check it out!

    20. on 30 Nov 2006 at 5:03 pm   oobx

      what about Free-to-Air (FTA) satellite? There are about 100 free channels in English and hundreds in other languages.

    21. on 05 Dec 2006 at 4:48 pm   BVLog » Blog Archive » links for 2006-12-01

      [...] 6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television » FloppyHead - A Media Center, Digital Video Recorder, and HTPC Resource (tags: lifehacks tips video checkitout) [...]

    22. on 30 Dec 2006 at 4:51 am   Venkat

      Hi,
      Thanks for the info. I have a TV and want to hook it up to an indoor antenna. KTEH advertises in their website that their broadcast is free to air. I live in Sunnyvale. Will an Indoor antenna with 25 dB gain (something that we can pick up from Fry’s) receive channels like PBS reliably ?

    23. on 07 Oct 2007 at 11:05 am   Jordan Dumont

      Found this the other day http://www.freetube.us.tc .Let’s you watch television online easily and you don’t need a tuner card.

    24. on 30 Jan 2008 at 1:47 am   Why DVDs and the Internet beat broadcast television at Niles Gibbs

      [...] Technophilia: Forget the TV and watch the web 6 alternatives to help you ditch cable television This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. [...]

    25. on 17 Feb 2008 at 2:38 am   Yvette

      I would like to cancel cable. I would like to watch t.v. like i used to. Watching t.v. used to be free. I cant afford the bill anymore and with out the cable hook up theres no t.v. So i am forced to keep it on. I know theres a way to watch tv without cable. If there any suggestions out there please pass them on. I dont want to use the internet. I just want to watch tv like back in the days. Cant afford to live like i used to. So i have to make changes. If it wasnt for the kids i would turn off tv altogether. My kids are out of the house most of the time but when we do get the chance to stay home, Id like to watch good programming. Most programming on tv today is not worth watching, so why pay for it.

    26. on 26 Feb 2008 at 7:46 pm   Little Jimmy Jimster

      Just cancel your cable and get a hobby to fill up the free time that you would normally spend watching TV. I haven’t had cable TV for 14 years and I don’t miss it at all. Also, I am learning to play the guitar and I get to spend a lot of time playing with and reading to my son. He loves books! Read the sports scores in the paper.

    27. on 03 Jul 2008 at 4:31 pm   Angelo

      We pay over $90 a month for cable tv and I don’t watch sports at all. I’m going to look into some of these options.

      Thank you

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