In my area FIOS would cost me $160.42 a month for two TVs, multi-room DVR service, and a total of 367 channels plus 25Mbps internet bandwidth.
If I went with Charter cable instead (also in my area) for two TVs with DVR service and 60Mbps internet it would cost me $123.95 but I only get 204 channels.
If I lived in Anaheim that is an AT&T UVerse area the same setup with 391 total channels and 18Mbps internet would cost me $107
If I lived in Palm Springs which is a Time Warner Cable area a similar package with 15Mbps internet would be $135.21
If I lived in Oakland, CA where Comcast rules a similar package with 50Mbps internet is $119.89
If I got DirecTV a similar package would be $86.99 but no internet.
So, really, for the 12 channels I want is it worth more than $100 a month? No, no, and HELLS NO.
Here is the problem though.. it is not possible to buy just the channels I want. Even if I was willing to pay $5 a month per channel no one will sell me my preferred $60 a month package because, of course, they would rather sell me a $150 a month package.
Well then, you might ask, why can I not just use HBO Go and the Disney streaming app and stream from Showtime.com to get what I want? Because the television providers have all got together and decided to tell the content providers that if they offer their content without a bundled television service then their content will be removed from the millions of subscribers of the bundled television service providers. Didn't you ever wonder why HBO Go, the Disney TV app, and even the ABC live streaming app require you to sign in to your television provider? That is why and it is pure bullying. This bullying will continue to go on as long as the television provides have millions of subscribers. The only way this will ever change is if the consumers of the content rise up and vote with their wallets by unplugging their TVs and cancelling their bundled television subscriptions.
I voted with my wallet in July of 2009 when I paid my last DirecTV bill ever for $76.99. That same month I paid Earthlink $49.21 for my DSL service. Together it cost me $126.20 for internet and television. Here we are FIVE YEARS LATER and that it still what it costs for internet and television. Prices are not going down due to competition because the competitors have all got together and agreed on the rules of the market. This is bad for consumers.
Just yesterday the news broke that HBO is going to be the first content provider to try and break the market place by selling their service without requiring a television provider:
I voted with my wallet in July of 2009 when I paid my last DirecTV bill ever for $76.99. That same month I paid Earthlink $49.21 for my DSL service. Together it cost me $126.20 for internet and television. Here we are FIVE YEARS LATER and that it still what it costs for internet and television. Prices are not going down due to competition because the competitors have all got together and agreed on the rules of the market. This is bad for consumers.
Just yesterday the news broke that HBO is going to be the first content provider to try and break the market place by selling their service without requiring a television provider:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/15/media/hbo-via-the-internet/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
And today a similar announcement from CBS!
http://www.cnet.com/news/watch-out-hbo-cbs-launches-stand-alone-web-tv-service/
This means that now is the time to unplug your TV. Cancel your cable or satellite subscription and subscribe instead to over the top (OTT) services. I will break it down for you what needs to be done and which services will give you what you need.
The first thing you should do it get yourself setup with free television. That is free as in how much television cost before the cable companies took over. This became possible when the FCC regulated all television broadcasters to switch to digital broadcast signals back in July of 2008. Go and get yourself a nice digital antenna for the roof like this one on Amazon:
Winegard HD7694P High Definition VHF/UHF Antenna
In fact this is the exact same antenna I have on my roof now and 5 years later it is one of the top rated antennas on Amazon. The next thing you need to do is go to AntennaWeb and punch in your zip code to see what direction you need to point the antenna to get the most channels. Then go and mount the thing on the roof. If you or a previous resident of your residence had satellite installed at some point you can do what I did and rip down the dish to use the same roof mount post they installed for your antenna. You can even re-use all of the in house coax cabling that your cable or satellite provider installed for you in each room of the house to carry the digital television signals to your televisions or set top boxes.
Next I highly recommend you install your own DVRs. What I did was custom built three windows PCs and installed Hauppauge TV tuner cards in them. Windows 7 ultimate or home professional versions included the windows media center application and Windows 8 offers it as a $10 add on with any version of Windows 8 that you have. One of my Windows Media Center computers is hooked up directly to the television in the bedroom and then both my and Sandy's computers can also record shows and push the files up to the primary "media server". In the front of the house we have an XBox 360 which can serve as a "Windows Media Center" extender to watch any recorded shows as well as pull the live broadcast feed over through the network. If you are an Apple guy you can do something similar with MacOS X and Apple TV boxes. If you are technology challenged then I recommend a TiVo box which are pretty affordable and the service is $14.99 a month or you can pay 500 bucks one time and it covers the lifetime of the device with no more monthly fees.
After you get your free TV then you need to decide on which OTT services you want to subscribe to. I will give a run down and brief review of each listing best first.
And today a similar announcement from CBS!
http://www.cnet.com/news/watch-out-hbo-cbs-launches-stand-alone-web-tv-service/
This means that now is the time to unplug your TV. Cancel your cable or satellite subscription and subscribe instead to over the top (OTT) services. I will break it down for you what needs to be done and which services will give you what you need.
The first thing you should do it get yourself setup with free television. That is free as in how much television cost before the cable companies took over. This became possible when the FCC regulated all television broadcasters to switch to digital broadcast signals back in July of 2008. Go and get yourself a nice digital antenna for the roof like this one on Amazon:
Winegard HD7694P High Definition VHF/UHF Antenna
In fact this is the exact same antenna I have on my roof now and 5 years later it is one of the top rated antennas on Amazon. The next thing you need to do is go to AntennaWeb and punch in your zip code to see what direction you need to point the antenna to get the most channels. Then go and mount the thing on the roof. If you or a previous resident of your residence had satellite installed at some point you can do what I did and rip down the dish to use the same roof mount post they installed for your antenna. You can even re-use all of the in house coax cabling that your cable or satellite provider installed for you in each room of the house to carry the digital television signals to your televisions or set top boxes.
Next I highly recommend you install your own DVRs. What I did was custom built three windows PCs and installed Hauppauge TV tuner cards in them. Windows 7 ultimate or home professional versions included the windows media center application and Windows 8 offers it as a $10 add on with any version of Windows 8 that you have. One of my Windows Media Center computers is hooked up directly to the television in the bedroom and then both my and Sandy's computers can also record shows and push the files up to the primary "media server". In the front of the house we have an XBox 360 which can serve as a "Windows Media Center" extender to watch any recorded shows as well as pull the live broadcast feed over through the network. If you are an Apple guy you can do something similar with MacOS X and Apple TV boxes. If you are technology challenged then I recommend a TiVo box which are pretty affordable and the service is $14.99 a month or you can pay 500 bucks one time and it covers the lifetime of the device with no more monthly fees.
After you get your free TV then you need to decide on which OTT services you want to subscribe to. I will give a run down and brief review of each listing best first.
- Netflix offers a good selection of movies and television programs for a starting price of $7.99 a month. I list Netflix first as the best of the best because they refuse to give in to the "Sign in with your television account number" licensing to get to premium content and they have continued to fight the big television providers in court and with lobbyists in Washington. They are also a subscription only service so the single monthly fee guarantees access to their entire content library. Because they are subscription only it limits their licensing options with the content providers and that means you don't get a lot of new releases and you don't get next day TV releases. For your favorite TV programs you have to wait until the season is over and after it has been released on DVD before it appears on the service. Netflix is also one of the first to start producing their own exclusive content like Orange Is The New Black and Turbo: FAST. Netflix needs to be supported with your wallets to give them more leverage with the providers to fight the big television providers and get access to better content by throwing around their subscriber numbers. As if all that wasn't good enough Netflix still offers the DVD by mail subscription from which you can get all the latest releases on Blu-Ray sent to you in the mail.
- Amazon Prime is $99 a year and offers both subscription content as well as video on demand (VOD) through Amazon Instant Video (AIV). Typically the subscription content is about as good as anything you find on Netflix and, as a bonus, your prime membership gets you free two day shipping on a lot of merchandise. Having the VOD option through AIV allows you the ability to purchase the premium content of new release movies and next day TV content. Amazon is also starting to produce their own "Amazon Originals" content like Betas and Annedroids.
- MGo is a VOD only service. This means there is no subscription content so no monthly fee but it gets pricey to pay for everything you want to watch, On the plus side they get all the latest new releases as soon as or even slightly before the DVD / Blu-Ray release, they have almost everything in HD and any title you purchase through them that is available on UltraViolet includes the UV rights so that means you can watch it on other services like Vudo and Flixster plus if you already have a bunch of UV content from digital copy codes in Blu-Ray and DVD discs that you purchased you can watch them on MGo. Mgo also does a fantastic job of getting next day TV content online and just starting offering a "season pass" pricing to you can pay for a whole season of new content and get access to the new episodes on the service they day after they air.
- Hulu offers hands down the best next day TV experience. Hulu gets the new TV content online faster then anyone else and has the most of it. If new TV shows is your thing then get the Hulu Plus subscription for $7.99 a month. I list them last because they bowed to the pressure of the television providers to make their licensing deals and if you don't provide a television service provider account you only get access to the three most recent episodes of new TV series even with the subscription and then Hulu still inserts advertisements.
If you did decide to go with TiVo then the TiVo boxes come with apps to stream the major OTT services. If you have a gaming console they offer apps for the major OTT services as well with Sony Playstation having the best offering there. If you don't have a DVR or a gaming console or even a smart TV then I recommend you get yourself a Roku box. The Roku boxes are affordable and offer the most subscription services including my 4 recommendations.
Now there is one big gap that I have no solution for if you unplug your TV and that is sports. With a digital antenna and a DVR you will get all of the locally broadcast sports content for free. If you are big into sports though I know that is not enough. If you want access to every game from every sport and you cannot let that go then you are going to be stuck paying for TV for a while until the backs can be broken of the big TV service providers and content providers including the professional sports leagues feel free to break loose and offer their content without requiring the television service provider account.
