Monday, February 14, 2011

Rewired: Part One - Enter the TVoid

Several weeks ago The Girl and I decided to ditch cable, and as of 11AM this morning we're cable free. This isn't anything new to me.  Over the last 20 years, I've only had cable for about half of that time.  I came to the realization that in the times that I didn't have cable, I got a hell of a lot more accomplished than the times that I did have cable. Obviously.  Okay, it wasn't really a realization, more of a recognition.
I looked at the Comcast bill and saw that we were shelling out nearly $150 a month for HD cable with a DVR and HBO/Showtime (including the city tax). Then I made a list of all of the shows that I'm watching on a weekly basis.  Here is that list in it's entirety: Fringe.  I then expanded my list to all of the shows I watched regularly over the last year: Fringe, Venture Brothers, Dexter, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Walking Dead, and  Sons of Anarchy.  Then I threw in Idiot Abroad, which we just started to watch (but not V, which I watch but can't figure out why I'm bothering to watch it). I totaled up all of all of those episodes per year and divided it by the cable bill per year and came out to... It's costing me $20 per fucking episode!  Are you fucking kidding me?!?!  I'm being robbed!
Now I'm taking the cable money and spending (a small part) on several different technologies/services and will be doing a series of posts on each item/service.  Look for new posts in the days and weeks to come as I try out the alternatives (HD Broadcast, Hulu Plus, Netflix, etc.) and have some time to process my experiences.
Keep tuned.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recommend torrenting all those shows and streaming them to the PS3 like i do

steven said...

i like it. i will follow.

DC Liar said...

Yeah, we're planning on using our PS3 as a media center now.

edP said...

Fuck Comcast! They're scurrilous fucks and you will do more without tv. Whoever tv is programmed for, it's not me. Now while you wait to install your new media choices you can just watch the scene with Eric Roberts from the Pope of GV when he tells Mickey Roarke that they took his thumbs over and over again...that's always entertaining

Goneferalinidaho said...

Jeanne here, Long time no see? We are on digital TV only with netflix and watch it now. I don't miss cable or satellite at all. I'm back up and blogging regularly.

http://goneferalinid.blogspot.com/

I hope all is well.

ComcastCares1 said...

I work for Comcast. Sorry to learn that you discontinued your service. If you decide to upgrade, we are here to help! :)

Mark Casem
Comcast Corp.
National Customer Operations
We_can_help@cable.comcast.com

Gunderstorm said...

Wow, is that comment real?

Chris B. said...

He is upgrading. If that comment is real, it just proves how oblivious Comcast is.