How I got rid of Satellite TV/Cable

MicroApple · Oct 3, 2010

Well here is my exact setup now that everything is done. I was able to switch off my satellite, and switch to Apple TV, and still access all my stuff, and still keep my services like DVR, and get some extra features like SlingBox, and still save money.

Shows I watch: Lot of movies and old seasons of TV shows on netflix, and a bunch of shows on local TV, IE Office, 30 Rock, SNL etc, and some on other channels that are paid.

Before Apple TV:
Dish Network - $50/month (with DVR)
Netflix - 9$/month
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$708/year

After Apple TV:
1) I downgraded my Dish Network to local channels only so I can have quality local channels instead of crappy DTV stuff. Plus I get to keep my DVR to record shows. Downgraded to $17/month, You can either do this or downgrade to Comcast Basic Cable (local only + Discovery channel)

2) Netflix - 9$/month works great on the new Apple TV
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$396/year

I saved 708-396 = $312 yearly
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Now I have local channels (most of the shows I watch are here anyways) + DVR Service. To get my premium channels (maybe 2 seasons a year)
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They aren't available for .99 rentals so i'll buy each episode for 2.99 on iTunes
(24 episodes x $2.99) x 2 shows = $143.52/yearly
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312 - 143.52 = $168.48/yearly in savings total

Now I have all my TV shows (I probably wont spend that much in TV shows probably anyways). Either way its $150 savings, more probably if you don't watch alot of premiums shows like me or can wait until they arrive on Netflix.

Now to solve the problem of TV you watch when there is nothing new on, like re-runs and stuff, you can watch the old reruns on netflix, some local channels, saved stuff on DVR, Youtube, etc.

And extra stuff with that 168$ saved yearly you can buy some other extra services like SlingBox.

Pretty good setup for me, works well. Don't know if this translates to any of you but I thought I'd share.

Shanewilliams · Oct 3, 2010

Almost exactly what I did. The only tv I really watched on dish was a&e and the history channel. Most of the shows I watched are available for instant streaming on netflix anyways! So I completely shut my dish off yesterday evening after we got the apple tv hooked up. I had originally just bought my daughter one for her birthday but once I seen the potential to save money I went back and purchased another one! All HBO, Showtime and cinemax are nowadays are repeat of what played a day or so before anyways! So, I'm looking to save close to $1100 a year with my apple tv's and if the family don't like it, they can go get a job and start paying some bills themselves! Lol

TheStork · Oct 3, 2010

Ah, But Hooked on Sports & CNBC

I have a Mac Mini HTPC w/Plex, original Apple TV hot rodded with an external eSata drive, a Roku HD-XR and a Wii. Oh, yeah, and DirecTV.

Unfortunately, I like college sports (Big Ten Network, etc.) and the business cable/sat channels CNBC & FBN and The Weather Channel. If I could find those streaming live, I'd join you guys in dumping DirecTV in a heart beat. Too bad, I'm not a baseball fan because the Roku streams MLB.tv beautifully, or so I'm told. I need the equivalent for NCAA football & basketball and the Big Ten Network. And in HD. Once you watch sports in HD, you can't go back.

Oh, and the WAF is highest on the DIY/HGTV and the news cable/sat channels. (WAF = Wife Acceptance Factor)

So, good for you guys. Well, I've joined you for part of the adventure.

From A Buick 8 · Oct 3, 2010

I would be there, but i need my cable service for my internet access. You have to have their digital service in order to get internet from them. I tried using the service from our local phone company but that was not much better then dial-up.

tapper2x · Oct 20, 2010

From A Buick 8 said:
I would be there, but i need my cable service for my internet access. You have to have their digital service in order to get internet from them. I tried using the service from our local phone company but that was not much better then dial-up.

I went and got a Sprint Sierra wireless hot spot, bridged the connection via USB on my (YUK) windows PC and used it to light up my apple network. Works pretty good, i'm fortunate I have 4g service at home. Nice thing is you can take your own network with you for iPad/iPhone and any wireless device up to 5. Speed is good, there is lag so playing online games may be a limitation, but I don't play online so it works for me.

Netflix on ATV2 is great, good content especially for History channel stuff.

Do miss ESPN for Nascar.

trip1ex · Oct 20, 2010

All depends on what you watch, how much you watch, how many in your household watch and how much you pay.

I pay $65/month for FIOS 15/5 internet, TV and phone plus box/cablecard fees.

If I cut the cord I would still need the $45 internet plan.

From A Buick 8 · Oct 20, 2010

tapper2x said:
I went and got a Sprint Sierra wireless hot spot, bridged the connection via USB on my (YUK) windows PC and used it to light up my apple network. Works pretty good, i'm fortunate I have 4g service at home. Nice thing is you can take your own network with you for iPad/iPhone and any wireless device up to 5. Speed is good, there is lag so playing online games may be a limitation, but I don't play online so it works for me.

Netflix on ATV2 is great, good content especially for History channel stuff.

Do miss ESPN for Nascar.

I am not 100% sure i understand all of the different terms. Currently through cable we have their 20 MbPS service (avg 15 to 22 using speedtest). When we used the DSL service through the phone compnay we had 1 to 4 Mbps.

So what Mbps to you see with sprint.

87vert · Oct 20, 2010

I used to pay 95 a month for DirecTV. I canceled it all use OTA for my locals and pirate the shows and movies I want to watch. I just watch them a day late and get no commercials.

Only thing I'm missing is hockey but I can live with that.

dXTC · Oct 20, 2010

TheStork said:
Oh, and the WAF is highest on the DIY/HGTV and the news cable/sat channels. (WAF = Wife Acceptance Factor)

So, good for you guys. Well, I've joined you for part of the adventure.

Agreed on the WAF. In my wife's case, add in HBO's "True Blood" to the DIY and Food Network stuff. Now, if TB's available via NetFlix or iTunes, that could sway my wife to drop to basic service, so that we could still get local and keep our DVR; we're both tired of paying so much for one or maybe two channels. Dish Network is rather sneaky about its packaging tiers.

We've already got the :apple:

tv and she likes it, so that part of the objective is already accomplished.

newagemac · Oct 20, 2010

We used to pay $95 or more a month for Directv. Dropped it completely and now use free OTA for ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, and more in beautiful HD. I already owned an HD HomeRun device and use Elgato's excellent Eyetv software so our Macs can record shows in HD off these channels and even watch them live on our computers if we want. The Apple TV streams the recorded shows to the big screen HDTV and we couldn't ask for a better setup. We can also access all the shows we recorded plus live TV on our iPhones and iPads using their iOS app.

Netflix Watch Instantly on the Apple TV is great for convenient access to a large variety of movies and tv shows and we can rent hit movies on the Apple TV as soon as they come out on DVD/Blu-Ray if we don't want to wait for the disc to come from Netflix.

Bottom line we ended up saving almost $1200 a year.

emaja · Oct 20, 2010

I would love to do the same, but sports make it impossible. I can't get all the Cubs or Blackhawks games without cable. I really wish Comcast would offer us the ability to pick channels - at least sports - without offering a bogus "package" of channels I would never watch.

newagemac · Oct 20, 2010

emaja said:
I would love to do the same, but sports make it impossible. I can't get all the Cubs or Blackhawks games without cable. I really wish Comcast would offer us the ability to pick channels - at least sports - without offering a bogus "package" of channels I would never watch.

If I were you, I would buy a Roku and get the MLB channel. That would be more cost effective than to hold on to Comcast just for baseball. Or if you have an iPad, you could use the MLB at Bat app directly on the iPad or Airplay it to your Apple TV when the video part is activated in November. People who have the MLB at Bat app and the iOS 4.2 Beta on the iPad say you can already Airplay the audio of the games to your TV or Home Theater system from your iPad so once video is enabled you should be able to watch the games too.

emaja · Oct 20, 2010

newagemac said:
If I were you, I would buy a Roku and get the MLB channel. That would be more cost effective than to hold on to Comcast just for baseball.

That only works with out of market games and I live in the Chicago area. Hockey is still pretty much cable only here also.

Trust me. I want to ditch Comcast. I would go with the most basic package I could get if I could add just ESPN, WGN-HD, and Comcast SportsNet.

raydixon9 · Oct 24, 2010

Heres the sports and/or live TV help

I'm a huge University of Georgia fan and I finally cut the Dish out and now I watch ESPN's College gameday on channelsurfing.net and can always find the game on justin.tv, espn3, channelsurfing.net, or atdhe.net. I know you can find any and all other sporting events on these. Channelsurfing.net also will cover live cnn, foxnews, msnbc, or whatever you want along with cbs, nbc, abc, fox.

Shanewilliams · Oct 24, 2010

raydixon9 said:
I'm a huge University of Georgia fan and I finally cut the Dish out and now I watch ESPN's College gameday on channelsurfing.net and can always find the game on justin.tv, espn3, channelsurfing.net, or atdhe.net. I know you can find any and all other sporting events on these. Channelsurfing.net also will cover live cnn, foxnews, msnbc, or whatever you want along with cbs, nbc, abc, fox.

Im right there with you, except being a mississippi state fan, ive turned to channelsurfing.net to fill all my sec and nfl action! I know this year its been a few state games that would not have been on my previous cable anyways...yet, its always there on channelsurfing.net or espn3.com. I cant see any reason to pay for cable or dish ever again at this point. OTA channels actually look better OTA then they did coming through my digital box anyways. Its not something everyone should do, but everyone should at least sit down and ask themselves, "Do I really need to pay the cable company all this money each month!"

Bozley0621 · Oct 24, 2010

raydixon9 said:
I'm a huge University of Georgia fan and I finally cut the Dish out and now I watch ESPN's College gameday on channelsurfing.net and can always find the game on justin.tv, espn3, channelsurfing.net, or atdhe.net. I know you can find any and all other sporting events on these. Channelsurfing.net also will cover live cnn, foxnews, msnbc, or whatever you want along with cbs, nbc, abc, fox.

Once Air Play comes, will I be able to log in to these games on my ipod or iphone via safari and watch them on the tv streaming through Apple TV?

Tilpots · Oct 25, 2010

TheStork said:
Oh, and the WAF is highest on the DIY/HGTV and the news cable/sat channels. (WAF = Wife Acceptance Factor)

dXTC said:
Agreed on the WAF. In my wife's case, add in HBO's "True Blood" to the DIY and Food Network stuff.

Just wanted to let you guys know that Plex has plugins for both HGTV and the Food Network. My wife loves HGTV and complained over the summer that there weren't any new shows listed, but I think the fall season has started and HGTV is once again updating their online vids. Neither of us watch the Food network, so YMMV. Definitely worth checking out though.

chapindad · Oct 25, 2010

I am using a Mac Mini 2010 loaded with PLEX and EYETV on the main TV, just waiting to see how things go with Airplay for the AppleTV on the other TVs. The only problem is that finding and converting all my movies has forced me to purchase a 4TB drive system. My son loves it because he gets easy access to all his movies which he can watch on the ipad or iphone if he wants. My wife loves her Korean Dramas so this has been a big improvement in the house for her. I miss ESPN but for 7-8 games a year that can be to costly. It is cheaper to just go hang at the bar for the game then it is to pay $90/month just for ESPN because my OTA is doing great for most stations and the EYETV gives me DVR ability. I also love running EYETV on the ipad and taking it around the house or outside to work on the car and not miss a thing. Everything else is on the web the next day for free.

Tilpots · Oct 25, 2010

chapindad said:
I am using a Mac Mini 2010 loaded with PLEX and EYETV on the main TV, just waiting to see how things go with Airplay for the AppleTV on the other TVs. The only problem is that finding and converting all my movies has forced me to purchase a 4TB drive system. My son loves it because he gets easy access to all his movies which he can watch on the ipad or iphone if he wants. My wife loves her Korean Dramas so this has been a big improvement in the house for her. I miss ESPN but for 7-8 games a year that can be to costly. It is cheaper to just go hang at the bar for the game then it is to pay $90/month just for ESPN because my OTA is doing great for most stations and the EYETV gives me DVR ability. I also love running EYETV on the ipad and taking it around the house or outside to work on the car and not miss a thing. Everything else is on the web the next day for free.

ESPN3 might be what you're looking for depending on what games you're missing. If it's not available from your isp, just find an out of town friend who will give you a login for theirs. Works great!

EvilC5 · Oct 25, 2010

this is very similar to my master plan. I have 3 ATV2's set up now and 2 160 ATV's that im relocating to tv's that dont have HDMI and plan to get rid of at least 5 of our 7 Fios cable boxes.

my question is what OTA antenna's are you guys using indoors that arent huge and/or ugly?

briansolomon · Oct 25, 2010

OTA + Xbox 360 for me.

I live in a small, 1 floor house at the moment, so it's easy to walk to the Xbox to watch netflix in the living room. I can't wait until Xbox gets Hulu and ESPN3. Then I will be set, but I'm still going to be tied to the computer for Conan- the only thing I will miss about cable, but I couldn't justify the minimum $60 (non-promotional) package to get TBS from Comcast. I hope TBS jumps on board hulu soon.

stick30 · Oct 25, 2010

OTA+Tivo, AppleTV and a WDTV Live with PlayonTV on my server.

Disconnected DirecTV and the kids are having a hard time with no Nick, Nick Jr Disney...

Getting by with the Netflix and Playon TV but the shows for Nick and Nick JR are scarce and and most Disney you pay for from Apple.

So overall we are saving about $100 a month and have made a few sacrifices which can be overcome. So right now this is working.

bobr1952 · Oct 25, 2010

emaja said:
I would love to do the same, but sports make it impossible. I can't get all the Cubs or Blackhawks games without cable. I really wish Comcast would offer us the ability to pick channels - at least sports - without offering a bogus "package" of channels I would never watch.

I think of this a lot--and there are some nice options to take care of a lot of content--especially movies. Netflix is king for movies and TV shows that have come to disc and Amazon on Demand has some nice choices for new TV shows--but sports is a killer. There really isn't a viable option--even if you could get ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox via antenna--there is still ESPN to consider. I'm sure there will be options offered in the future to cover this--maybe some kind of al a cart system for everything--but for me it just isn't there yet.

Faalkor · Oct 25, 2010

I would love to get rid of Time Warner but I can't beat the price for what I want. I pay $101 a month for Internet and HD DVR. Until I can get ESPN, Big Ten Channel, and Disney (for the kids) some other way I am stuck with TW.

DanMacApple · Oct 25, 2010

raydixon9 said:
I'm a huge University of Georgia fan and I finally cut the Dish out and now I watch ESPN's College gameday on channelsurfing.net and can always find the game on justin.tv, espn3, channelsurfing.net, or atdhe.net. I know you can find any and all other sporting events on these. Channelsurfing.net also will cover live cnn, foxnews, msnbc, or whatever you want along with cbs, nbc, abc, fox.

Anyone else use the channelsurfing.net site? Is this safe or is it likely to get a virus from this site??

How I got rid of Satellite TV/Cable

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