Growing up, most of my friends had cable television, but whenever I brought it up, my parents would always say that I watched enough TV already (which was true). So it was always a treat when we went somewhere like a hotel, where there were more than five channels. I didn’t know what any of the shows were, but it sure was fun pressing buttons on the remote. Today, I still don’t know what most of the shows are, but the novelty is gone.
Nowadays, I have different choices (and priorities). I can entertain myself online, and services like Netflix and Hulu make that easier. When I do turn on the TV, it’s often just for background noise as I cook dinner or do something on the computer.
I almost never watch shows when they actually come on, and I only know the schedules of a few of them. And nowadays, the gift of choice feels more like a waste, as I flip through sixty something channels and see nothing that I want to watch.
The other day I thought to myself, “I’m paying forty bucks per month to watch Groundhog Day. Again.” But then I looked at the cable bill that I had not looked at in a year, since it’s on auto-pay. I’m paying $64.99 for digital cable from Comcast, plus $15.95 for HD and DVR, and then there’s about $5 in taxes and fees. The introductory price ran out long ago.
I could buy an obscene number of tacos from Jack in the Box with that cash.
So I looked into cutting the cord completely. I want to save money, but more importantly, I want to get more of what I want for my money. Toss the channels and shows I don’t watch.
At $85.91 per month for the most basic HD plan from Comcast, that comes in at just over a grand per year. With Netflix and Hulu, it’s $15.98 per month, or just under $200 per year. That’s a big gap between Comcast and Hulu+Netflix. $839.16, to be exact, which is quite a buffer.
Of course you need a device if you don’t already have one to play Netflix and Hulu on your television. A Roku costs between $50 and $100, and an Apple TV is about $100. Current difference: $739.16.
Also, you don’t get all you want with just Hulu and Netflix. Personally, I watch basketball when good games are on. The NBA League Pass lets you watch (more) games over broadband though, on a Roku or Apple TV. That’s $109 for the season. But, and it’s a big one, in-market and nationally broadcast games aren’t available via the League Pass. More on this to follow. Current difference: $630.16.
Then to get local channels, you can still use an antenna. The bestselling antenna on Amazon is $35.99. Current difference: $594.17.
Finally, that leaves a healthy amount to buy and rent shows and movies not available on Hulu or Netflix, which you can get on iTunes and Amazon Instant. For example, the pass for this season’s How I Met Your Mother is $26.47. You could buy (and own) 22 full seasons of your favorite shows with the available buffer. I’m pretty patient though and don’t mind waiting for stuff to become available on Netflix. I just need to be able to watch sports live. My wife has been really into Downton Abbey, and the season pass is $17.04. It’s free on PBS, but she usually can’t watch it when it airs. Current difference: $577.13.
After all the additional stuff, that’s $577.13. Over 1,000 tacos.
But back to the basketball problem. Since League Pass doesn’t get me nationally broadcast games, that means I wouldn’t get most of the playoffs on ESPN and TNT. (I suspect the same for hockey, baseball, and football.) That’s the most important part of the season, save the finals, which are broadcast on ABC. And my wife really likes HGTV and a handful of reality shows that aren’t available on Roku, Apple TV, iTunes, or Amazon. Crud.
By the numbers and tacos, it makes sense to cut the cord. From a perspective of want though, it’s harder to let go. It comes down to this: Is a year of a tiny subset of programming on cable and playoff games not available on ABC worth $577.13?
Hi Nathan,
I just moved to the US and didn’t understand how Comcast could charge so much for the tv bit (+forcing you into a 2-year plan). So I just got internet from them (only provider in my building) and then stream everything.
Nice graph to show the cost!
Tore
Tore, are you able to get the basic channels on your tv? Have you tried connecting the cable from the internet to your tv ?
i have a roku $40.00 at&t $14.95 per month a Magic Jack for phone Free U-Verse comes with at&t $8.00 per month for Netflix & HuluPlus 300 free channels from Roku. F*ck Concast
I think you should definitely cut the cord; how can you not, after looking at that graph? I don’t have cable. I just watch my TV on Hulu (the free stuff) and Netflix (7.99/month). For sporting events I have an antenna. If there are sporting events that I want to watch but aren’t available online or on local channels, I go to a sports bar. It is a good reason to round up some friends and enjoy some wings and beer. Downton Abbey streams on Netflix. She would have to be a season behind though. As for HGTV and NBA games, that stuff just rots your brain so you’re better off without it ;)!
Downton Abbey also streams on pbs.org the night it airs on PBS.
Your numbers are slightly off because the AppleTV(Roku) / Antenna combo are sunk while leasing your DVR is a recurring cost. Obviously you have to pay the costs in year 1 and sometime down the road when it comes time to upgrade.
Also, why did you break your graph into 5 months? Did I miss something in the article or was it simply to show the the break even point of your cord cutting option?
I’ve recently done the same thing (and have a buddy or sports bar for most of my OTA sports needs). But don’t forget that you still have to pay for the bandwidth to receive the 1’s and 0’s. The ISP monthly charge may still be cheaper overall, but it is an associated cost for the alternative plan.
Back when I had Comcast, they offered basic cable for $15/month, and a $15/month discount when you subscribed to both cable and internet through them. Basic cable was local stations plus TBS, CNN Headline and some shopping channels. They don’t normally advertise this plan; you either have to ask or threaten to switch to a competitor for both services.
On costs, the investment costs need to be amortized over the life of the product, so instead of $100/year it’s more like $33/year.
We ditched cable a couple years ago in favor of Netflix, but when they upped the cost recently we ditched them too. Instead we now use the local library. I can get the TV shows on DVD from them for free and use the free Hulu.
For an antenna: Most can use a piece of wire stuck in the Coax connector in the back of the set. No need for fancy antennas, most are snake oil anyways.
As for the box, you can get an RCA unit for about $40. Netflix, Youtube, and Hulu(?). Or, wait until your DVD player craps out, buy a BluRay player. Most of them have Netflix, Hulu, and a few other services built in.
Or, just use your console as your box. Most all of them can do Netflix and YouTube. I think PS3 can do Hulu.
The fancy antennas aren’t snake oil. You get HD channels over them now… HD quality. It’s digital, no snow, or standing in the right spot. Although… it’s either there or not.
You can do the same with a length of wire jammed into the coax connector on your TV, by and large.
Corey.. you are a fool@
For the cost of a few beers and maybe some wings, you could probably watch the playoff games not available through the non-cable options. There are plenty of sports bars in my area, or just regular bars with a TV tuned to sports. Or, if you have a buddy that likes to watch the games, you could plan to go over to their house to watch. Make sure you bring the tacos.
This exactly what we did when we cut the cable: we dropped $30 a month (half the savings) in a jar and then if we intentionally wanted to watch something, grabbed money out of the jar and headed to the sports bar.
regarding ESPN. make sure that your internet provider has ESPN 3.
Great analysis. One question, why can’t you watch the nationally televised basketball games on ABC over the air?
I think he meant the ones on TNT and ESPN
Only the finals are broadcast on ABC. The rest of the playoffs are on ESPN and TNT.
just posted some comments about our experience with quitting cable here: http://www.russpoldrack.org/2012/02/quitting-cable.html
My main problem with cutting the cable was lack of Discovery, Science, and HBO. None of that content was available to me without cable, and I went into withdrawal.
I really wish there was an a la carte option. I couldn’t give two hoots over MTV, CNN, et. al. Just give me some Discovery channel and Science channel please!
Cable companies can’t do a la carte. If they did, they wouldn’t be able to sell stations to evangelical right-wing outlets; because nobody would order them.
Check out Redux for your science fix.
I cancelled HBO a couple of months ago. Watching a season in bulk is fun.
Nice chart, but you leave out the cost of internet access. I assume it’s not free, unless you’re surfing on someone else’s wi-fi. For me, it’s been about $50-60 a month, once the introductory rate wears out, paid to the local cable company. That brings Hulu/Netflix up to $75 a month.
Good catch. This was the stumbling block for me in my drop/don’t drop cable TV. If I considered my internet as a must have, the way bundling worked my cable television and phone service was $19/month on top of the required internet. It is harder to play the Hulu/Netflix card knowing that price difference.
I would pay for internet regardless of whether I cut the cable or not so lumping the Internet cost in is irrelevant. I can live without cable. I can’t live without the interwebz.
What I was saying is that my internet is $79/month if I get the same level of service without being bundled. My bundled internet, phone, and cable comes in at $98/month. So….cable and phone costs me $19/month as I see it.
It’s not really relevant data though. He’ll be paying for the internet whether he cancels his cable or not.
And, generally, there is a package deal of sorts, which drops the price of cable substantially. Closer to 20 or 25 US per month for cable access.
Still a bit higher than Netflix and Hulu+ combined.
I’m going to pay for internet regardless, so I didn’t include it.
When you bundle you save a huge %50 on the numbers. You need to include bundled costs.
I agree that you need to include it for Hulu/Netflix (unless I’m missing something). That cost is already bundled into your $64.99/mo figure, right? Therefore, you either need to remove the internet $ portion, or add the internet only rate to your Hulu side. Right?
In short, your red line includes internet while the blue line does not.
No, the red line is tv only. With Internet, that’d be an additional $50 or so per month.
Ah, it was already removed. Yikes! Your cable bill was certainly high. :)
“And my wife really likes HGTV and a handful of reality shows that aren’t available on Roku, Apple TV, iTunes, or Amazon. Crud.” same here , now I pay for netflix (Bluray), Vonage, triple play Verizon. I feel completely mugged by these corporates.
That’s assuming that the programming available on Netflix and Hulu are the same as what’s available on cable.
We watch very little TV, but until I can get Game of Thrones elsewhere, I’ll be paying for cable.
Simply compelling.
My only qualm with doing this is availability. Getting anything on Netflix or iTunes etc comes out months later than anything on TV. It’s a convenience issue, but suspect this won’t always be the case.
@Dustin – That was a concern for me too, but for a lot of shows Amazon Instant and iTunes have season passes that let you get shows earlier.
Nathan, we have done what you are talking about for about a year now. I would agree with Anna re: sports ( https://flowingdata.com/2012/02/09/why-i-want-to-quit-cable/#comment-110779 ). Remember that if you have wireless, it needs to be n type for consistent 1080p. I think the biggest problem/setback for us has been the lack of a DVR. That may sound very wierd, because DVR are for capturing broadcast and everything is on demand, but the real issue is that the apps from Netflix and Hulu do not have an easy way to shunt shows for future attention. In Hulu, if you see an interesting show on their banner, the app on my Roku makes you watch it as opposed to queue for later. As far as I can tell, there is no other way than to search for the advertised show and then add to queue. It turns out to be much easier to manage the queue from your laptop. Hulu also does not tell you air dates. It may promote a show that is 5 years old. While that may not seem wierd, if you don’t have broadcast and you aren’t told the air date, then it looks new. Too bad they advertise many good/great shows that got cancelled after 1 year’s run. Netflix is what is, the experience doesn’t change when you cut the cord.
I would *highly* suggest checking out all the options in a store. Roku 2, Apple TV, Google and Sony. They take very different approaches. There is also Connect 4 if you’re looking to burn big bucks.
The packaged internet + cable gives you something like 7$ (or less) savings which I don’t think you counted in your math.
Through my condo we get basic cable. I added a Hauppauge 950Q TV tuner ($67 from Amazon; it gets clear QAM signals) to record the programs I want to see later, then a Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player ($60 used). The first device captures the shows I want to see later and stores them on a portable hard drive; I plug the hard drive into the second device, which is connected to my digital TV. Two minor details: first, it operates like a sneaker LAN, since you have to disconnect the hard drive from the computer and plug it into the WD box; and second, there’s one more remote to deal with. Other than that, it works well. And, aside from the basic cable charge, there’s no additional monthly fee.
Actually it might not be possible to get QAM signals.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/let-1000-boxees-bloom-fighting-big-cables-encryption-initiative.ars
Have you looked into playon? It allows you to watch anything that streams online on your computer (so you can do free hulu, it doesn’t need to be hulu plus)… right now their sale is $80.00 for a lifetime subscription, plus you get a free roku with it. So if you are looking at buying a roku anyway, it seems worth it. I did the free week trial of it, and it works pretty well. I had a few issues, but it seems that if you download the program onto a wired computer it is faster than a wireless computer. I guess it works by using your computer as a hub, so it streams from your computer to the tv. ESPN streams a lot of stuff online and can be watched through playon.
I quit cable two years ago, when I moved into my current apartment. Haven’t missed it once. The only thing I’ve sort of longed for is immediate news coverage via stations like CNN, but their streaming has improved so much that it no longer matters. Doesn’t hurt that I have a 17″ computer monitor and high speed access.
I gave cable up when I moved back to Chicago and I can’t say I miss it. Once in a while I wish that I could turn on the Food Network for some background noise but when I’ve been at hotels and turned on the tv for the evening I haven’t found enough that entranced me. The shows are constantly changing and being dumbed down and the majority of what I’d like to watch I can stream.
I’d suggest a trial period at least for you and wife. Do a stop for Lent through summer or some such, saving that money and seeing if you really notice the difference. I’d also suggest Amazon Prime for more free streaming and the shipping and checking your public library. I never needed to buy tv seasons at my old library, I borrowed, watched and let others. Now I need netflix because CPL is way short staffed.
I dropped cable this summer. I bought for $300 a Channel Master which is an over the air (OTA) DVR so that I can still record network television. At the time Tivo’s Premiere required a $20 a month subscription for even OTA service, but now they have dropped their fee to $10 a month to use their systems. If I had to do it over again, I probably would go with Tivo as it is a better box, and a smarter system.
I then use Apple TV or internet streaming to supplement the rest. I have also learned to live without certain shows…what in the end was helpful!
This is true. I have internet but I don’t have cable. I’m on hulu plus ever since and it is saving me a lot.
I don’t understand where you are getting these numbers – why aren’t you factoring in the savings of bundling internet with your HD/DVR TV prices?
I’m assuming you are getting 15mps internet (since anything lower than that is kind of a joke these days), which without cable starts at $29.99 a month and then after a period jumps to $49.99 a month. With the HD package (HBO, Showtime, ESPN) Cable and Internet are less than $100 a month for me. Comcast Xfinity offers streaming of every show you pay for, I can watch any HBO or Showtime Movie/TV show online for free.
For $1200 a year, INCLUDING high speed internet (which you fail to mention throughout the entire article), I can have any show I want, when I want (have we already forgotten about on demand?), and watch anything I miss online (through xfinity tv).
I’m using my own cable bill for reference. I didn’t include Internet, because I’m going to get that regardless, and watching tv is a small portion of what I use the Internet for.
As for bundles, there are quite a few of them available for new customers at a 6-month introductory price, but as a current customer, I don’t have as many options. According to the Comcast site, there’s one tv + internet bundle, and it’s for Limited Basic Cable, which is non-HD and is mostly channels that a free over air. There are several tv + internet + phone bundles, but I haven’t had a land line in 5 years.
Finally, for new customers, Comcast requires that you sign a 2-year contract to get that intro price.
Nathan – Your post inspired me to check out my cable bill, and I discovered that Comcast was giving a lower price to new customers for the same level of service than what I was getting. And this doesn’t even count the 12-month introductory rate new customers get.
I called and bitched, and they gave me the promo rate for six months. It’s a start. Like you, I’d have a hard time being without cable when the NBA playoffs start.
I’m sure this exists and I simply don’t know about it, but this concept would help simplify the decision for me quite a bit:
I wish there were a website that would let you select all of the shows you watch (having it linked to my TiVo season pass list would be ideal so I wouldn’t have to manually enter everything, but either way is fine). You could indicate what’s important for you to watch live and what you could watch a day or a week late. The site would parse that information and tell you (a) how much of that is possible after cutting the cable, (b) what types of materials and subscriptions are needed to make that happen.
I say cut it!
Save another $50-100 by not getting a device to watch Netflix or Hulu on your TV. Buy a $10 monitor cable and a $25 set of speakers, hook your laptop up to your TV and bring the speakers. We don’t have cable either.
I was under the impression that, by law, cable companies had to offer a basic cable service. I think we pay $10 a month to access the basic network channels, thus getting all ball games broadcast on CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX. This also allows us to avoid the antenna hassle. In Chicago, not all the networks come in…
If it weren’t for sports, we would’ve been gone from cable long ago. Need a sports solution. If anyone has one, let me know.
This is truth. I know its pathetic but ESPN is the sole reason that cable is rationalized in my head. Without Sportscenter, Baseball Tonight, Non finals playoffs, etc…those are my prime viewing shows. ESPN3 is a good idea but it’s offered with your existing “TV” package. Cable companies are not stupid. As long as their partnership with ESPN remains strong, they’ll have life. They only thing I could think of would be if an alternate ISP came about in my area with a partnership to ESPN. Unlikely anytime soon.
I watch Downton Abbey via Tivo, so I keep up on the latest season. I’m perfectly happy with the antenna on my roof that catches digital OTA channels (PBS is awesome). Netflix disks and streaming keep us entertained otherwise. I’m SOOOOOOO happy to not pay the cable bill. It’s worth it, even to wait for Mad Men to come out on Netflix.
Our solution was to spend time with friends that still have cable when a game is on that we absolutely must watch.
What works for me:
– Comcast “basic, basic” cable for $20/month
– Tivo series II for $14.95/month
(not HD because that requires HD cable, at $65/month)
– Apple TV for movies and Netflix
I live in the middle of nowhere, so an antenna only picks up one channel. Comcast is required to offer this in all markets. You have to ask for “basic, basic” cable because they are trained to mis-hear you and offer the Basic HD plan. It is not HD, which is a problem when watching basketball, but not so much watching HGTV and I can live with low-res sports since I can pause and rewind with the Tivo. Not perfect, but better than dumping another $600/year into Comcast’s gaping maw.
We find additional content using iPad apps like PBS that stream video which can be mirrored on a TV with Apple TV.
We cut the cord earlier this year doing exactly what you just outlined (Hulu and Netflix). I’m a big football fan but I figured if I needed to watch a game that badly, I could spend time with a friend who still has cable. Without cable, my kids don’t feel the need to watch as much tv. I won’t go into all the research on how that’s amazingly better for their brain development but please, take the time to look it up. Without cable, my wife and I don’t feel the need to watch as much tv either. Instead of spending the money on a subscription service (we use a Roku), I bought a Kindle. I’m sure if you’re taking the time to read this, you know how reading is better for your brain, plus, you can borrow Kindle books from most libraries now. That equals continued savings! (Download wirelessly and no trip to the library to return the book equals more time for you!) I could go on and on about all the benefits of less TV but to sum it up…CUT THE CORD.
You have to take into account the cost of an internet connection. There’s no point in subscribing to Hulu Plus and Netflix if you don’t have a internet connection, preferably a high-speed one. At the non-promo price of $39.95 a month for the lowest option with Comcast, it is still cheaper than cable. You will still save money using only Internet+Hulu+Netflix, but not as much as your graph suggests.
The cost for basic cable is even higher depending on where you live. In my are, the cheapest price for internet with Comcast is $59 (76 is you add a phone), and that is an introductory price. It still beats paying for the TV service. I cut it off several months ago and haven’t looked back!. The Roku box is great.
Hubby and I cut the cord last May. I don’t regret my decision at all; anything not available on Hulu Plus is typically available the next day via the network’s website. And we recently bought a flat screen TV so we can connect the laptop to the TV and watch those on a larger screen. I miss my news and hubby misses his soccer, but we’re working on buying an antenna and I’m probably giving him a Fox Soccer sub. for Valentine’s Day. It’s ridiculous for us to spend $100+ a month when we honestly only watched 20 channels…
I did this over two years ago, where’ve you been?
I had FiOS and was paying $1188/yr for HDTV, and watching maybe 8 hrs weekly (tops). They kept moving (under the guise we are adding new HD channels…if you are on Extreme HD package) channels around, and adding BS channels that had Standard Def commercials (I am not an idiot, why must I pay to see this cr-p!).
With Netflix, least expensive FiOs data plan (15/5 really is 20/10 for me), my xbox live account, YouTube and other free apps on my HDTV, HDTV antenna (I am tween PHL NYC markets), I am paying around $500/yr for internet and entertainment (Xbox LIVE I get 12month cards for gifts or 1/2 off, plus I shop for deals on iTunes and LIVE points to use for movies on demand). Lastly there is Redbox for movies. If I have to watch sports, I prefer pub with friends (usually major events like World series, StuporBowl or CART/Indy/Dakar/Lemans).
Or you can just download everything for free. Well, that probably costs around $10 in internet bills per month compared to if I wasn’t downloading any videos.
Entertainment companies can go to hell.
Does the cost of your cable package include the cost of your internet service? Right now I’m thinking that the numbers don’t take into account that you still have to buy into an ISP which in our area runs about $40 a month. With all of the suggested added features (Netflix, Hulu, Roku, League Pass coming in at 412.99) and a yearly internet bill of of $480, it seems like the actual cost is $892.99. It’s still cheaper, but not $577.13 cheaper
Sweet — especially appreciate the step functions. But while I don’t consider myself a political guy, I’m sorry that your answer to the title is “to buy Jack In The Box” when it could be “to donate to a cause.”
Apparently lots of people are doing what you are thinking of doing, as one of the fastest growing product areas in sales is antennas (some of this is still driven by the digital over-the-air HDTV switchover as people replace older antennas with ones tuned for the digital frequencies, but also the availability of internet TV).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/business/media/06rabbitears.html?pagewanted=all
I use an Mohu Leaf OTA antenna (for network content, the pictures are excellent) and a Tivo Premiere box as I wanted to record my OTA signals. Tivo also gives you access to streaming content (or you can use a Roku box or similar) such as Amazon, Netflix, Hulu Plus etc, plus the convenience of a DVR that has plenty of features. There is a $20 a month charge for Tivo service, but it’s over 3 times less than my former dish bill and I have found it to be a easy, cost effective alternative that I’m happy with.
Yep, I’m on the verge of dropping cable at $100 a month here in Roseville, CA. I have Surewest. The DVR is very convenient to use of course, but the cost is just too much. Why the cable companies won’t allow small bundles of channels available to all is a mystery to me. Seems like giving you the ability to change your viewing likes online should be something now available. Each person would choose a minimum of channels at at certain price and be able to change them only at certain intervals but be able to do it online ourselves at one time or another. This would please most anyone here I’d think. I got the big deal bundle a few years back, but now am paying another $65 for the Internet too, so my bill has been $165 a month for the last few months. But, no more. I have the TV antenna, and a ROKU and will look into this Playon as someone suggested. ROKU isn’t the best for sure and the movies have the 15 second commercials that blast much louder than the movies on Popcornflix. But, it is free after the $99 for the unit. ROKU’s ‘Channels’ really aren’t much and you really don’t know when they actually are televised because time isn’t shown or discussed anywhere even on the daily news shows. Bloomberg is good, CNBC is too, though and they measure up pretty well. I notice that the apps on my iPhone include a CNBC one that is really great and rivals the net webpage they have.
Some shows I’m sure I won’t be able to see unless one of these groups gets smart and makes all available for us to choose from. I send Intel a message regarding that since they are bringing on the TV box, saying make yours different and make us all happy by allowing all shows from all sites and cable TV to be available at a reasonable cost. Doubt they’ll do it though.
I went without TV for about a year a few years back and didn’t miss it too much except for the major events during the year, but being able to get the local channels actually will help that this time around and I’ll be saving about 1000 bucks a year. Probably will get Netflix like I did last time too. Good luck to all.
Do you guys realize that with all your cost cutting, all you do is take away jobs from your town and community .I know the cult of paying nothing for goods and services is very overwhelming and people obsess about it but look ultimately we need to spend money in the local economy to generate jobs. I’m not a comcast fan but they provide way more employment than hulu or netflix, including well paid jobs that allow people to support their families. The argument is that saving money allows you to spend money on what you really want and thats fine, its just that companies that provide utility services dont offshore as much some other major corps and that really benefits your community. I guess i am arguing that spending more can be a moral decison but it just seems like we have become an economy where we get striped in areas of low competition,eg education and healthcare and everywhere else there a race to the bottom in terms of cost. There are 250 million of us who need jobs.
Do you realize that with the cost cutting people can put their money into other things that will stimulate the economy? It’s not like people are taking the savings and putting it into their mattresses or lighting it on fire.
Companies should not abuse your good nature. Also many such companies get tax breaks and subsidies paid for by your tax dollars. Please do not fall into the trap thinking the taxes you paybare really like a levy for breathing and then you need to contribute more to charities and supporting large businesses that are “local”.
We ditched cable last July – best decision ever. We have purchased an small antenea from Best Buy that is hooked in the attic, we have a google tv, netflix subscription and love Amazon ala cart instant tv shows for when we do want to watch something we love after the kids are asleep without the uber annoying Hulu commericals. Just do it. You’ll find your budget appreciates it so much more.
I’m not sure how relevant this is or how much money you could save, but there’s a secret about comcast, they offer a discount every quarter that you have to ask them for, they won’t just give it to you.
You can chat with them online, tell them you want to switch to ATT, and they’ll give you a discount. I just recently got $40 off my monthly bill.
Google search “comcast discount” and you’ll see some chat transcripts with what to say.
This is how I managed to cut my cable and survive: http://randallcreasey.tumblr.com/post/20785955023/bye-bye-cable-on-flickr-in-march-2012-we-finally
Dude man, for the NBA games the point is to get out of your house and into a pub. That’s what games and pints are for. I have antenna only and I love it. I watch the PBS the Charlie Rose the Nature and Nova series. Cable and The Man are trying to keep you down.