Well, sort of. We took the big step--we cancelled cable! We never even had cable till around three years ago (late technology adopters in this case), but it does start to feel like a necessity, doesn't it? We still kept discussing the fact that we did not really need it and finally kicked the habit.
Goodbye DVR, my one-time love, goodbye on demand! I thought I needed you both, but did not realize that for $0/month in TV fees compared to the $85 (!) we were paying, we can get pretty much anything, anytime we want to watch ONLINE. The DVR requires you to remember to set up a recording, and also that something is on the tube that you WANT to record. On demand worked pretty well for the kids shows, and I liked the idea, but there is just no way cable can match the content available online.
Also, for now, we must say goodbye to HD programming. :( This is because Denver is the only major market without "over the air" access to HD programming. However, the Denver area is now on track to make the Congress-imposed 2009 deadline for all channels to be HD (and not require cable or satellite as is now the case), so another year won't kill us. (And the quality of online network shows is excellent.)
What do the kids think of all this? Well, they are too busy watching French kid video shorts "on demand" on youtube to even realize they don't have television receiption in the house. We think this is innovative, but by the time they are 10, I am sure it will be passé. The love it! Their current favorite is Trotro (the same person voices Trotro the mischievous donkey and T'choupi, but I don't think they have noticed that yet!). They also like dancing French penguins, and of course, T'choupi himself. T'choupi à la ferme has them laughing their heads off. Here is one of their favorite Trotro episodes--check it out:
While you are at it, you may as well check out Axel's all time favorite show, T'choupi's Premier Bal. Learn the T'choupi Cha Cha Cha so you can dance with Axel next time you visit!
I actually should specify that we do get one channel that we pay for: the French channel available to US residents: TV5. We pay $15/month and enjoy watching French news, movies and game shows (well, Reynald likes the latter).
Since I am not 20 years old (yes, it is true), I do like (American, I mean) TV shows like others of my generation. But, I now realize, no actual TV is needed--we should have done this ages ago and saved almost $1,000/year in cable costs! We have a fast Internet connection that supports streaming excellent quality videos/shows even through wifi. Check out the sites of all the networks like ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. Fox is in beta and the shows I have watched so far have had NO commercials. I am sure that won't last, but the commercial breaks the others take are limited compared to actual network-aired TV, and not that bad. (Someone has to pay for this, I guess!) AOL Television also offers thousands of shows, in full, for free.
If I were an executive at the TV networks, the cable companies or the satellite companies, I would be running scared. In less than five years, surely the current landscape will have changed even further, and the traditional delivery models will NOT be leading the pack.
With youtube, network shows, kid DVDs, and things still to be discovered online, we are sitting pretty using our Internet connection. I am watching more "TV" than I was before we cancelled cable! Who knew?! We have not even signed up for Netflix yet, and we can't forget that we can always buy previous episodes on iTunes if needed, for two bucks a pop!
This is a lot different than when we chose not to have TV for 2 years from 1999 to 2001: we just went cold turkey and that was it--and we didn't miss much! But long term, hopefully, we will again have more time for reading and relaxing and be better able to resist the pull of the tube/computer and save money at the same time, and when we can't resist, at least watch things we like, of our own choosing. What a concept!
