Cord Cutting ? I am thinking of doing it.

My cable bill has hit the point that I am thinking of cutting the cord. I know nothing about this. What type of things will I need to get local stations and watch the other stations for sports and such ? Any help is appreciated, thank you. Any good websites to learn about this ?

 

I haven't owned a TV since I moved out of my parent's house in 2000. Just have Amazon Prime due to me wanting Prime shipping and good old YouTube. Have never felt like I was missing out on anything with my computer and a projector in my livingroom, but then again I'm not a big "TV" guy anyway. People seem to like Hulu and Roku from what I've heard...

 

I did this about a year ago and am not missing traditional cable at all. Here were my priorities: Live sports, particularly NFL and NBA. There are only a couple of services that will deliver both. At the time, it was Hulu Live and Fubo. I ended up going Hulu Live (gives you your local channels based on your zip where you live) and I have most of my previous network programming that I had with cable: Live NFL, NBA (along with NHL, NASCAR). Basically, your local network coverages. I also got some of the other channels I watched consistently like Food Network and HGTV. There was also Motortrend TV. My total cost savings vs cable ended up being around $80 per month in savings. It was well worth making the change. Hulu also netted me Disney+ and ESPN+ as well.

 

I believe all TVs have been required to have built-in digital tuners for about a decade now, so unless your TV is pretty old, all you'll need to get locals is a decent indoor antenna.

 

We have 2 HD Antennas. They work great!


https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/hd-antennas

 

I havent had cable since I was in high school. Almost 29 now. Everything I need is on netflix, tubi, or youtube. I may turn on a month of disney plus or prime video once enough stuff comes out for me to binge. Theres also other free ways of getting any show or movie.

Dont care about the news, local channels, or sports.

 

For locals, go to rabbitears dot info and get a signal report for your address. If you want to get locals for free, you'll probably need an outdoor antenna. Most stations today broadcast on UHF and Hi-VHF. Very few broadcast on Lo-VHF. Channel numbers don't matter anymore... Many stations use their pre-digital channel number as a virtual-channel. For example, in my market, Channel 2 doesn't broadcast on VHF anymore, but UHF Channel 36. Do not buy into the hype of a "HD Antenna". There is no such thing, yet manufacturers cannot help themselves. You need an antenna that resonates with the frequencies you want to receive... If your old antenna is still up, and is designed to pick up the frequencies stations broadcast in your area, you don't need to replace it.

For other pay networks, it depends how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. RSN's are the most difficult to find in a streaming package. Fubo is the streaming service that offers the most sports.

 

We use YouTubeTV via fire stick. It has local channels plus other premium channels. The prices keep going up though.

 

Do it. It is one of the most liberating things you will ever do, next to disabling the door bell (which I did the day I bought my first house).

I cut the cord after graduation from college. Living in Colorado, there's simply way TOO MUCH TO DO, than to spend it watching the mind programming tube.

If you have an Xbox Series X you can get free local stuff and a few extras with Plex and Tubi for free. Just be prepared for advertisements.

My Samsung Smart TV offers a lot of free channels as well.

 

Ive had a jail-broken fire stick now for 16 years on all our tv's....
Zero subscriptions...
Internet is all I pay for...

 

Sheeeaat..... We cut back in 2013. Been off the cable / sat teat for over 10 years now and don't regret it a bit.

We have Amazon Prime for the shipping but that gets us access to movies.
Then we rotate in Paramount, Netflix, Disney, NFL as needed / wanted for a series to binge and then cancel them.
We have tried Hulu twice but can't seem to find anything we really want there that isn't somewhere else already.

I do HIGHLY recommend getting an External TV Antenna. Up high on a chimney or something. Yes a good one will cost about $150 and another $150 to have a Handyman install and aim it for you. But occasionally the Internet takes a giant dump (rarer and rarer these days but still) and you will want access to local news, sports, weather. This one time $300 expense will really help fill in the gaps in programming. The good news is that free over the air programming is now digital and you need a MUCH smaller and unobtrusive antenna than the ones we had up in the 1970's. They are also more storm resistant too since they don't have as much surface area on them.

Use this site to help pick out the kind of antenna you need. Keeps you from iterating through trial and error.
https://www.antennaweb.org/
And I recommend bumping up a level from what they recommend because anything worth killing is worth over-killing.

 

over-the-air is the way to go. I get ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and the CW.

 

Those things are hacker heaven
I’ve had to assist the FBI in finding and shutting down a couple of them
They are easily compromised and use for sending out attacks, ddos, etc.

 

Im using them as a "hacker" way of saving a grip of money & no cons / comprmise to "cord cutting"
As stated, we've had them forever...

 

Apparently you don’t get it, and the length of time you’ve had it makes no difference
Its incredibly common for those device to be compromised
Sure, you get free TV, while someone in China uses it and your internet to attack others

 

I cut the cord about a decade ago. We have Prime, commercial-free Youtube (on a former roommate's family account that I suspect he forgot he even added me to at this point), Max (shared between five households), and a team-specific, blackout-free MLB.tv account. If NHL and NFL start doing the team-specific, blackout-free thing, I'll probably end up doing that for them, too. We also intermittently get a month of Apple, Hulu, and Paramount and binge-watch a specific show or two before dropping the service.