Life After Cable TV

Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television.

Woody Allen

It’s been months since I cut the cable TV cord and ended the blood-letting by Rogers. For years I paid an outrageous amount of money for 100s of channels and nothing to watch. How is life without cable? In a word – great!

In the process I’ve made some interesting discoveries about myself. I always said that I didn’t like watching television, and in fact I didn’t. But, now that I’ve gotten rid of cable, I’m streaming my TV via a Roku device with 2 paid subscriptions – Netflix and Acorn TV – and I love watching TV. I discovered that it wasn’t that I didn’t like watching TV; I didn’t like how it was presented to me. I have no patience to wait a week for a TV show and I won’t waste my time recording. I detest commercials. I want to watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it. And, I want to watch it commercial free. Streaming, on demand TV was made for me. I’ve also discovered that I’m a binge watcher – a term that I never knew existed before. I can happily watch an entire season of a show, or seasons of a show before moving on to something else. The other bonus is that with Netflix and Acorn TV I have an enormous amount of terrific programming not available with cable and my monthly subscriptions total $13/month.

Now my problem isn’t that I have nothing to watch; it’s that there is so much to watch I don’t know where to start. So many options, so little time…

If a Martian came down to Earth and watched television, he'd come to conclusion that all the world's society is based on Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. He'd be amazed that our society hasn't collapsed.

Michio Kaku

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Cut the Cable TV Cord & Set Yourself Free from Ridiculous Cable Bills

Cable companies aren't bad because they're parts of unwieldy media conglomerates. They're bad because they're monopolies (even where they are no longer legally exclusive) and because the government policies that made them monopolies rewarded lobbying over customer service.

Virginia Postrel

Canadian consumers are finally getting smart and I’ve joined their ranks. Many of us have cut the cable tv cord and have found better and MUCH cheaper ways to watch tv. Although I don’t know if I’ve ever been considered “trendy”, I now find myself part of this very fast growing trend.

According to new research from Ottawa-based Boon Dog Professional Services:

• Canadian TV providers are losing customers six times faster this year than they did last year
• The country’s publicly-traded broadcasters lost a combined 113,000 subscribers in the first half of their fiscal year. That compares to a loss of 19,200 in the same period last year

I was a long time, unhappy customer of Rogers. All of this unhappiness didn’t come cheap; I was paying $70/month for what could best be described as 100s of channels and nothing to watch. As my frustration with Rogers reached a new crescendo, I cancelled my cable tv service several months ago (I cancelled Rogers Internet a year ago and switched to Start.ca - FANTASTIC!). Although there are many options for watching tv without cable, I chose Roku and I couldn’t be more delighted. Roku was a one-time cost of $80. I subscribe to Netflix and Acorn TV for a grand total of $13/month as opposed to $70/month. Now my only problem is what to watch. There is an incredible amount of excellent programming out there and I now have it available on-demand and commercial-free. If you’re paying huge cable tv bills and complaining that there’s nothing to watch, consider cutting the cable tv cord. You’ll be happy you did.

[Television is] an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home. 

David Frost

Make someone smile today.

Geri

My Divorce is Final - From Rogers

After a very long and stormy relationship I am more than delighted to report that my divorce from Rogers Communications is final!

Rogers and I have had a dysfuntional relationship from the beginning. Fate brought us together and lack of options kept us together. Back in the old days when I wanted cable tv and high speed Internet, Rogers was the only provider that addressed my building (in mid-town). So, it was Rogers or nothing. Bell wasn't available until years later. And so began my very unhealthy relationship with Rogers.

The Internet service was never reliable and my passtime was demanding credits for the time my service was down. Of course getting to a live body is an exercise in indigestion. They get away with murder because the series of endless voice prompts and wait times discourage over 90% of the clients from following through with their calls. The tv service is reliable but outrageously priced. There are over 100 channels and nothing to watch. For years there has been talk about a la carte tv, but it has still not come to pass. So I continued to pay big bills for lousy Internet and the very few cable tv channels I watch.

The quality of Rogers Internet service was getting worse until it was about on par with the quality of their customer service. Thanks to my friend and Techie Guru Erik, I learned about small Internet service providers who provide excellent quality and much better prices. After reading the reviews I selected start.ca and have never been happier. They are a wonderful company to do business with and you can reach a live body instantly - every time. What a concept! Rogers was finally banished from my Internet life. Unfortunately I still had them for cable. Until now.

Cable tv is a dinosaur for the younger generations. All of their media is streamed. When it comes to technology the young people are smart and the old farts like me tend to resist change. We either embrace change or go kicking and screaming, but eventually we get there. My eventually finally came. I read about a device called Roku which gives you access to tons of tv, movies and radio that's all streamed on demand. The device is a one time cost (less than $100). From this device there is an enormous amount of free media. Or you can get paid subscriptions to programming from Netflix and others for fractions of what your monthly cable bill is. So I finally took the plunge and dumped Rogers who like a lousy husband, took way too much and gave way too little.

Our divorce is now final and I couldn't be happier.

Make someone smile today.

Geri