Cutting D* for H+, iTunes, OTA

[darcilicious]

In fact, only three episodes left, all airing this month. (Note: last "episode" is two eps / two hours broadcast time)

[IVB]

well that worked out. Just don't nobody tell me how it ends until I have a chance to watch them. You know, in case you end up in an alternate utopian timeline where you find out all this stuff in a world where Apple refuses to file lawsuits, cellphones aren't locked down to a TelCo provider, and Google open-sourced SageTV the day after buying it...

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by IVB

well that worked out. Just don't nobody tell me how it ends until I have a chance to watch them.

On the way to Cafe Diem on December 12, 2012, the rest of them see Carter get blown up in a huge explosion. Andy finds them all guilty of the crime, so they wind up in jail. He then climbs into a stasis pod and, as the screen goes black, we find out that Eureka is actually the gateway to heaven with Andy as its keeper.

Serious props to anyone who actually gets all of that.

[IVB]

hmmm, i see Mayans, seinfeld, Lost, & stargate. How'd I do?

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by IVB

hmmm, i see Mayans, seinfeld, Lost, & stargate. How'd I do?

LOL! Not bad, not bad. You got 3 out of 7.

[Taddeusz]

That sucks that Sanctuary is gone. I do agree that the show had kind of lost direction at the end there but it was one of the shows that I always watched. At least Alphas is still on for now.

[Fuzzy]

I use Dish Network (2 ViP-211's with R-5000HD mods), along with an HDHR and DVICO Fusion 5 for 3 OTA channels. These are combined with netflix streaming for mostly the odd kids shows or the occasional 'something different'.

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Spot

When I recently returned from a week in Europe, my wife complained that some of her recordings had not worked. It was only the clearQAM tuners that failed, so i suspected a frequency move for the HD programming.

After some troubleshooting, and a few phone calls/chats Comcast told me that Local HD channels were now encrypted as a "requirement" of the digital transition (nice misinformation). Looked at options, but because we live in an "island of no fios," I can't drop C* completely....so, I quickly built an HD antenna for the attic, connected my network tuners & have better signal than off cable. Local HD problem solved...after an inventory of what we really watch & pricing other C* bundles, I researched & signed up for an alternative voip provider (~$170US for 2 years--waiting to see quality).

We have had locals-only at another house & realize that we just don't miss all the other programming....except sports. I was already tired of the DTA transition & cost to get HD to every TV, so we're taking the plunge. We decided that the $80/Month we'll save can go to nights out at a local sports pub to watch anything we can't get. Redbox is now my movie alternative...tried netflix streaming & hated the selection.

I had planned to go OTA only in 2008 but finally got around to it in late 2010. My experience was much like what you are anticipating - once you inventory the essential shows, there really isn't much lost by going OTA. And there are a wide variety of options for picking up the shows on cable. I don't miss the cable bill. I do miss the sports networks though.

On a side note, we also went to a VoIP solution for our home phone using an obi110 and google voice - one time $50 purchase. Works well.

[IVB]

Originally Posted by IVB

This morning, 4.5 months after my serious convo with wife about this, a YEAR after the initial conversation, I terminated my DirecTV account. I now just have:

A) OTA via SageTV, or
B) Netfix/HuluPlus/AmazonInstantVideoSeasonPasses via Roku.

I'm only getting season passes for the wifes crappy shows. The one thing i'll miss is Eureka, but its only mediocre this season, no desire to pay $2/episode. They're on HuluPlus 30 days post air, but I think its only available for a short time period.

Plus, hopefully having fewer options will actually get me to either play more soccer, get further on my home improvement list, or (gasp) read a book.

Well, 15 months after I cut the cord, I re-attached it. ComCrap had a deal, for $10/month more than I'm paying for internet+HuluPlus+Amazon I can get full cable. Which gets me English Premier League soccer. Goes up by $20/month after a year, to $30/month more, but thats when I'll cancel it.
(24 months after, it goes to $50/month more which is just stupid)

[flavius]

People like me just sit back and pay especially when there's no competition in the area. It's people like yourself we owe the existence of those deals to that we should care about, shouldn't we?

[IVB]

huh? No broadcast towers nearby?

[flavius]

With two channels, yes.

[IVB]

Ouch that sucks. How about internet speeds, I assume those are normal?

In my non-cord days, I only used SageTV for DVDs & BluRay, I got everything else off HuluPlus or Amazon. The only reason I'm re-attaching it is because its only an incremental $10/month more beyond the cost of TV season passes + Hulu. (And I bought a 106" screen and 1080p projector, and English Premier League literally just started broadcasting games on NBC Sports Network 5 weeks ago so the games are amazing to watch).

AKA, cutting the cord again won't really be that big of a deal, i'll just go back to streaming over the web.