Today I'd like to talk about your TV and how you might better use it. Cable tv subscription prices constantly rise, yet the product they offer doesn't change. If you fit a certain profile you might be able to get out of paying for cable tv and still watch the shows you want to. Let's talk about your alternatives to cable.
First let me say that if you are the type of person who watches sports or who watches channels like cnn or fox all day long then you pretty much have to subscribe to cable. This article is not for you. If on the other hand you are the type of person who watches specific television shows like Mad Men or Damages then you can save a lot of time and money by adopting either Netflix, Hulu or both.
To go the cable cutting route you will need a high speed internet connection, either Comcast or AT & T DSL. You will also need a wireless home network which basically means you either need a modem/router supplied by your internet service provider or you need to buy a router and connect it to your ISP provided modem.
After you have that in place you need to decide which service you want to subscribe to. Netflix offers a variety of subscription levels. They range from $7.99 a month to $64.99 a month. At the cheapest end you have the ability to stream Netflix's library of movies and TV shows. This is an unlimited service. You can stream these shows and movies to your computer or if you want to watch them on your TV you can buy a Netflix device. A Netflix device is a wireless device that links up to your wireless router and streams Netflix content to your TV. Examples of Netflix devices are the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360, the Sony PS3 and most bluray players. In addition Netflix makes a device for $59.99 called the Roku that will also stream Netflix content.
As you go to high subscription levels Netflix will mail you movies. The more money you spend on Netflix the more movies you can keep out at a time. Since Netflix has far more movies that are disc only I recommend most people start with their three pout at a time plan which goes for $19.99. If you want to watch bluray discs the same plan is $23.99. You just go on Netflix's website, make a list of movies you want to watch and they mail them to you. When you are finished with a movie mail it back and they send you the next one on your list.
You can see what a savings this represents. A full digital cable package including all the pay movie sites is $125 before taxes. You can watch all of the TV shows and movies on cable just by subscribing to Netflix and because Netflix offers bluray discs your picture and audio will be better than if you watched the same content on cable. Of course watching bluray discs requires a bluray player, but if you have a high definition tv set and you don't have a bluray player you aren't getting your money's worth out of your TV.
Hulu is the other streaming site worth noting. They have a lot of content for free, but also have a subscription service called Huluplus. It costs $7.99 and has more content than the free version of Hulu. It doesn't have as many TV shows as Netflix but has some good ones. Also Hulu will stream current TV episodes for free to your PC or any Hulu device provided you have subscribed to Huluplus.
I personally cut my cable and pay $40.99 a month to watch whatever I want.
If anyone out there wants me to help them do the same just let me know. Feel free to call me at
901-830-4362