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Cord Cutters: Is There Really Such A Thing?

F

FredLeonard

Guest
The media from time to time write about "cord cutters" and treat them as a trend. Really?

There are some antennas offered for sale on line. The so-called HD antennas often advertised are almost no help if your market still has RF channels in the VHF band (especially lo-VHF). And if you're in the 'burbs, you probably are going to need a roof antenna to get a consistent signal on all your local channels.

Back in the pre-cable era, you bought an antenna, the store would send somebody out to install it for you. No more. If you go to a brick and mortar store, they are probably going to have to order the antenna and ship it to you anyway. And they won't do anything about installation.

Try finding an antenna installer on your own? Lots of luck! Few, if any, still around.

The only way to cut the cord is to give up TV completely.
 
I'm a cord cutter. I watch all the TV I need on my computer -- almost all of it sports and news. Don't need any of the cookie-cutter crime dramas, too-cool-for-the-room HBO/Showtime series (although there are plenty of offshore sites streaming them, safely out of reach of Uncle Sam), or pseudo-"reality" shows. Proudly cable-free since 2010!
 
CTListener said:
I'm a cord cutter. I watch all the TV I need on my computer -- almost all of it sports and news. Don't need any of the cookie-cutter crime dramas, too-cool-for-the-room HBO/Showtime series (although there are plenty of offshore sites streaming them, safely out of reach of Uncle Sam), or pseudo-"reality" shows. Proudly cable-free since 2010!
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That means no broadcast TV. Cable free? How do you get the Internet if not from the cable company or fibre optics from the phone company (also in the cable business).?
 
FredLeonard said:
That means no broadcast TV. Cable free? How do you get the Internet if not from the cable company or fibre optics from the phone company (also in the cable business).?
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AT&T, but it's stand-alone internet, not Uverse with cable. I watch the content available to non-cable subscribers on ESPN3, pay for subscriptions to a couple of sports league's Internet packages, and find news and sports all over the Web, from sites here and abroad. I have no television set, no antenna, no cable. If you restrict cord-cutters to those who have no way of watching any TV, then I'm afraid I don't qualify. But I'm not paying my ISP for cable TV, so in my eyes, that makes me a cord-cutter.
 
I would restrict "cord cutters" to those who don't use a cord, that is who receive broadcast television the old fashioned way - over the air. Cable is cable, even if you only subscribe to an Internet package.
 
CTListener, have you ever played with a home video game system? If so, would you want to get a TV set in order to play with a home video game system again?
 
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I'm a cord-cutter. Have been since 2004. As with CTListener, I watch most things online, though I do have a shared antenna on top of my apartment building, so I do use it for a few things. I have a tuner card in my computer, as well, so everything I do is on one of the screens on my desk in the living room. Theoretically I can run a game console through my capture card, but the only console I tried it with was an ancient Nintendo 64, and it didn't want to turn on that day, so I have no evidence that it would work (but it should, given that many people do it).
 
FredLeonard said:
The media from time to time write about "cord cutters" and treat them as a trend. Really?

There are some antennas offered for sale on line. The so-called HD antennas often advertised are almost no help if your market still has RF channels in the VHF band (especially lo-VHF). And if you're in the 'burbs, you probably are going to need a roof antenna to get a consistent signal on all your local channels.

Back in the pre-cable era, you bought an antenna, the store would send somebody out to install it for you. No more. If you go to a brick and mortar store, they are probably going to have to order the antenna and ship it to you anyway. And they won't do anything about installation.

Try finding an antenna installer on your own? Lots of luck! Few, if any, still around.

The only way to cut the cord is to give up TV completely.
Click to expand...

I am a cord cutter AND I install antennas/preamp professionally....problem is getting the word out to viewers there is more on OTA free DTV than they think....Me and Antenna TV along with other networks are usually not carried by the sat providers...and most cable systems only carry the .1 (and sometimes .2) of a DTV station..The LO VHF channels are almost bare (maybe 2 dozen +/- total stations on Channel 2-6 nationwide) With the right antenna and a CM7777 or 7778 preamp, you can get a lot of stations you didnt think you would...depending on your location...in burbs, any antenna is better than not but the mistake a lot of people make it putting the antenna over or next to the TV...which is wrong..DTVs are PCs with tuners....they emit NOISE!! A minimum of 5-10 ft away from the TV is recommended on placing inside antennas...next to a window facing the transmitter location is always best if possible.
 
FredLeonard said:
That means no broadcast TV. Cable free? How do you get the Internet if not from the cable company or fibre optics from the phone company (also in the cable business).?
Click to expand...

DSL is still the only thing available in a lot of areas not served by ATT or Comcast, etc...Also you can get Hughes internet at a reasonable price and speed (I have a friend who has been on Hughes for over 12 years...DSL stops 1 mile south of his house and there is no cable TV (TWC) available....I also have another friend who uses ISDN BRI for dial up internet....No DSL or cable is available at his rural house..
 
FredLeonard said:
The only way to cut the cord is to give up TV completely.
Click to expand...

I've been installing my own antennas, of all kinds, since a teenager in the 50's. I've never heard of an antenna sales outlet also installing them although in the early days the TV shops selling TV's would do the whole installation thing.

I also disagree with your position that cord cutters don't watch any TV. We dropped cable (and sat, later) about five years ago and have no desire to go back. Too expensive and too much junk never watched. If there is a cable product I want to watch I can find it elsewhere - no reason to subscribe to cable.
 
For me total cord cutting is not an option. I could cut cable TV but I still would still need cable for Internet service. If I dropped cable completely I'd be left with 3 OTA stations (ABC/CBS/Me TV part time, Fox, and PBS) and dial-up or DSL , which wouldn't be powerful enough for streaming from my non-AT&T phone company, which is the only choice in the area. I'm sure that there are plenty other people in the same position.
 
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Another TV Cord Cutter

I'm watching TV OTA since I'm in Anaheim well in range of Mt. Wilson (over 100 channels though only two dozen worth watching). I get 15/1 for $41 including the modem and get some cable channels live online in addition to Hulu and whatever shows up on YouTube (they seemed to have given up on the copyright thing as they have old movies). Along with other on-line sources I don't need to pay $60 a month for cable TV I mostly won't watch just to get a couple channels and Conan.

Rather than calling us cord cutters we should be called "TV Cord Cutters" as only the TV was cut off. Oh, and the land line phone. ;)
 
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The only times that I have ever had cable were when I lived in Clarksville, TN, too far from the Nashville stations to receive them with rabbit ears, and when I lived on White Bridge Road in Nashville, and could see channel 4's tower right out my front window. In the first instance, I was too far away to receive the signals, and in the second, I was too close to at least one of them, obviously channel 4, and it overran everything else in town.

Most of my programming choices now involve watching whatever is OTA, or investing in DVDs.
 
I would rater have ContinuousWave explain rather than assume it's a reference to something can quickly be found through Google's search engine since it can be interpreted in more than one way.

By the way, I was alive before 1990.
 
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Until you also cut off all AC power, you haven't really cut the cord.
 
Mario500 said:
I would rater have ContinuousWave explain rather than assume it's a reference to something can quickly be found through Google's search engine since it can be interpreted in more than one way.

By the way, I was alive before 1990.
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HMM Springsteen...as in BRUCE...Google "springsteen 57 channels" and you only get the main result...sorry if that reference was not evident enough....and it was 1992 when it was released! :)
 
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