I am feeling pretty darned good today, and I think I know why

[Peacetrain]

Last edited Tue Jul 19, 2022, 02:36 PM - Edit history (1)

We finally cut our cable about three days ago.. They shot the price up another 50.00 and there was no way we were going to pay that kind of money for watching TV.

I thought for sure I was going to go through withdrawal ( I am such a MSNBC watcher)but you know, I have not missed them one bit.. I am a little shocked at that, and maybe later I will be missing them more.. but right now its pretty darned good.

We are going to get an outside antenna so we can catch our local stations and PBS.. but none right now.. just some light jazz off of UTube.. (if you like coffee house jazz you can get like four hours of it, free and just perfect for reading books etc)


EDIT TO ADD: instead of going out and buying an outdoor antenna.. we tried a free app that showed we have a lot of towers near us and just used a indoor antenna that sticks to the window and we are getting all the channels we wanted

[Tetrachloride]

1. About once a year, I buy Netflix for a month

I do other things. read , write, walk, chat

I certainly don’t want Mainstream News

[Peacetrain]

6. A friend told us about ROKU.. and we are thinking of giving that a try

if the antenna works for us..

[csziggy]

14. Roku is great - and there are a lot of free channels

Roku has it's own, then there are others - FreeVee, Tubi, and more - that offer re-runs with commercials. I spend about half my time watching the free channels, then a few hours a week watching paid ones.

I cut the cable five years ago and don't regret it at all. I have not put up an antenna to watch the local channels. The one I'd watch the most, PBS, is in a completely different direction and too far away for me to get it without putting up an exterior antenna on the roof (to get over the ridge that blocks the signal). So I donate money to PBS and have a PBS Passport to stream their programs.

[Emile]

2. I live too far out in the country for an outside antenna.

Back when every local channel went digital, I live too far out to get any reception. The signal is too weak.

[Peacetrain]

5. That certainly makes a difference in if you will get reception

I read about an app (and I put it on my phone) that can track where to point your antenna.. we will see if that helps us.

[H2O Man]

3. Recommended.

As long as you have the internet, you can watch MSNBC and lots of other news sources. I haven't had cable or dish for years now. But my son hooked up the television, so I can go to youtube. Sometimes MSNBC plays an hour later, and many times I see the news live.

[Peacetrain]

4. True that H2O Man..Told hubby

we can watch Jan 6th online.. that is what he did not want to miss.. If the outside antenna works and a friend told us about ROKU.. we may try that.. but you know over the years I have collected so many DVDs ( I even have the full series of the original All Creatures Great and Small) if I get that gotta watch something itch, I think I am all set!!.. I wish we had been as wise as you and cut it earlier..

[H2O Man]

11. It may just be

that I was poor first, and could not justify the seemingly never ending price hikes! (grin) I am definitely watching the J6 Committee hearings, each at very least twice ..... first live, then I replay them later. Plus hundreds of documentaries on topics such as evolution and archaeology, as well as police interrogations and criminal trials.

[Maraya1969]

7. MSNBC has a streaming channel and you can watch what's going on now and also see the shows the next

day. It's fine for me.

[Peacetrain]

9. That is what we will be doing.. I do like MSNBC

I like CNN and the Networks.. Sometimes I get the feeling that all of them push the envelope of outrage to keep people tuned in..

[Trailrider1951]

8. You can live stream MSNBC for free here:

https://www.livenewsnow.com/featured/msnbc.html

Sometimes it does not work, so switch to this live stream:

https://planetnews.com/live/politics.html

Hope this helps!

[Peacetrain]

10. Thank you Trailrider!.. I will bookmark my own thread for Thursday

That is going to bring a lot of joy to my other half..

[Trailrider1951]

12. De nada, mi amigo

[PWPippinesq]

18. Thank you, Trailrider, for giving MSNBC back to me!

It's the only cable I have missed.

[Trailrider1951]

22. Enjoy! and enjoy not having those big cable bills!

[hunter]

13. Congratulations!

After my wife and I cut cable we drifted away from broadcast television.

The last show we recorded was the finale of Chuck in January, 2012. Sometime later we rearranged our family room and didn't bother to set up the television antenna connection or video recorder. (I'd previously built an antenna that got all the major networks and their subchannels.)

Mostly my wife and I watch DVDs and Netflix, sometimes sampling other streaming services. Our public library also supports a streaming service.

One of our children, who is a huge fan of low and medium budget movie making, originally set us up with Netflix.

[Peacetrain]

15. Thank you.. we are actually very excited

Mr Peacetrain and I are not what you would call techies.. I make dinner and yell for our son to take care of things.. but getting back to just an antenna is old school and just about right for us .. and thanks for reminding me about the public libraries.. I did not even think of those.. woo hoo

[Sucha NastyWoman]

16. I just switched from Verizon and Comcast/Xfinity

To T-mobile and YouTube TV. This double switch saved a bit less than $150. Now pay about $210 for phones, internet and about the same TV programming as before. And that includes 2 new phones.

Now I need to go after home and auto insurance.

[Peacetrain]

20. I know... Insurance is a killer.. we got rid of my car.. did not need it

We are both retired now.. so piece of cake.. and I thought we were going to have to get an outdoor antenna.. we hooked up a indoor one and viola.. it worked like a charm.. we must just be in the right spot..

[multigraincracker]

17. We got the free app. for samsungtvfree and have

an outside antenna that is directional from amazon for $50.
You don't need a samsung tv, just the ap and a smart tv. Get well over a 100 stations including 24 hour streaming ABC CBS NBC and others. The only thing I miss is some of the local sports. Saving over a grand a years and wasting much less time in front of the boob tube. I get PLUTO on my phone but not the tv. It's a lot like samsung.

[Peacetrain]

19. That is wonderful... we just hooked up a indoor antenna

and got every channel I wanted.. over free air.. I am so excited.. it was a piece of cake..

[highplainsdem]

21. Congrats, Peacetrain! I cut the cord a few years ago when my cable company told me my cost

was going up to about $140/mo, and I realized that would put the cost of the few non-news shows I watched at more per hour than a film in theatrical release.

Depending on where you live and the materials in your house, you might be able to get by with an indoor antenna. They can reach stations more than 50 miles away and aren't as affected by bad weather as outdoor antennas can be. I have one that's a flattened plastic ring roughly the diameter of a frisbee, with the ring part only a couple of inches across, so it's incredibly light. It's propped against the wall above blinds, and it can pull in over 40 channels and sub-channels, some over 50 miles away.

And I recommend Roku, which I see you've already mentioned. Their cheapest devices, which are fine for streaming, are still only about $30, I believe.

I thought I might miss being able to watch MSNBC on TV instead of my laptop, but I don't. I pay little attention to primetime cable news these days. Tbh, I don't need to hear one opinion after another on the same topics, with the shows often repeating those topics hour after hour.

If you skim Twitter doing a keyword search, those opinions, often with video, will often show up there within minutes, so you don't have to spend hours watching to get that content. And you can find MSNBC video on YouTube and on the NBC News app on Roku.

You'll be amazed by how much free entertainment as well as news is available via Roku.

I often have streaming services as well, like Netflix or Disney+ or HBO Max, but I don't subscribe to them year round, just get them when there's something in particular I want to see.

[Peacetrain]

24. Highplains.. that is exactly what we did.. we had this indoor antenna

that we had ordered a few months ago..we hooked it up a couple of hours ago... it is round and we stuck it to the window and got all the channels we wanted from Cedar Rapids and Waterloo.. Got a new 24 hour news channel I had not heard of before Newsy?? have to check that out.. but got all my PBS channels, Dabl (let it be known I am a goof for the English show Escape to the Country}Laff Grio seriously a few others and CBS.. We are so happy.. and Yes we are going to get the ROKU.. so no need to go out and spend on an outdoor..

The thing that ticked us over was the 50 dollar jump in our cable and internet bill.. I enjoy tv but not that much..

[highplainsdem]

30. I love Escape To The Country too! (Though I'm often left wondering how people can stand

the small size of many of those rooms in those old British homes.) As for OTA reception, you'll find it's usually as good as cable, though even with indoor antennas weather can occasionally be a factor, especially fog, which might cause you to lose reception from more distant stations. But there have been times I've been able to watch stations OTA during severe weather when cable has been out.

Re Roku -- it can use a lot of data. I have unlimited data so I don't worry about it, but if there are any limits on your data plan, you should make sure the Roku player (not just the TV) is off when you're not watching something, since it can use several GB an hour for HD or 4K, and even if the TV is off, if the Roku is on and it's set on streaming video, it'll use data for hours before checking to see if anyone's watching.

Roku has Newsy -- I didn't know it was available OTA -- as well as the 24-hour channels for news from ABC, NBC and CBS, France24, Al Jazeera, etc. There's also NewsOn, which gives you access to lots of local stations in cities all over the country, to get their recent news broadcasts or individual stories. There are a couple of weather channels on Roku, and lots of channels with free movies and TV, and a Search function that lets you find out where you can locate any film you're interested in, to rent or to watch for free or via subscription. Which is handy. And besides the news from the big 3 networks, there are channels on Roku with their primetime offerings, after they're first aired (Peacock for NBC, of course).

I use Roku a lot just for YouTube. With instructional videos especially, it's nice to see them on a large screen.

[Peacetrain]

34. Just had to stop in and post how wonderful it is to not have the talking heads 24/7

The weakness is mine, I admit.. but I seriously feel more pro active and not blasted back into my chair with negativity.. We will try the ROKU in downstairs, but I usually watch TV upstairs and I think I am just going to stick to the air tv off my indoor antenna.. Hubby is much better at keeping things at a distance.. I told him about the ROKU using a lot of data and to be sure to turn it off when he is not watching anything.. 90% of the time he is watching TV with me upstairs when we watch TV..

[womanofthehills]

23. No TV here in my house for 10 yrs

I spent too much time online - if I watched TV too - I would get nothing done. Much more in depth and latest news on Twitter and podcasts. You can get most TV shows on podcast anyway. I can listen to podcasts when I’m doing boring chores,gardening,driving, going to sleep,etc. IPhone has a sleep timer mode which I love.

[Peacetrain]

25. You know I have this horrible habit of waking up at 3 AM and cannot go back to sleep

so I tend to toddle out to the family room and turn on the tv and fall back to sleep on the conch till about 5.. I bet I do that 4 times a week.. that is what I like the TV for

[FakeNoose]

26. Congratulations on cutting the cord

You should be able to get an inexpensive digital antenna that doesn't have to be outside. You can just position it inside near a window. It looks like a small laptop or something - it's almost square and it weighs a couple of pounds. I think I got one for around 20 bucks. For local stations it works great.

It's for digital broadcast only - depending on what UHF and VHF stations you receive in your area.

[Peacetrain]

28. We actually did end up using an indoor antenna we bought a few months ago

and it is working like a charm!! ours is a circle and we just put it on the window.. very good reception.. almost better than the cable..

[brooklynite]

27. To each his/her own...

Happy to pay for the media I consume.

[Peacetrain]

29. I would not mind paying a reasonable charge

but when my bill came this month they had raised it 50.00 plus and it is over 200.00 a month now..that is 2400.00 a year brooklynite.. we just cannot afford that.. that is just being honest.. they priced us right out of their company.. we have kept the internet with them.. but even that is approaching 100 a month.. that is insane for a retired couple

[Demsrule86]

31. I got rid of cable and even sling...and I don't miss cable news at all... I feel much more peaceful.

[Peacetrain]

32. That is true..the couple of days before we got hooked up to air tv.. were

quite peaceful... I have a tendency to listen to too much news.. I now have a station called Newsy.. and it is literally news.. after about 1/2 hour I am done.. much better

[Demsrule86]

33. I have newsy too...if you want to watch some shows...you can get Peacock which is free with

commercials...and they have some MSNBC shows...also good content with movies, TV shows. My internet with ATT gives me HBO Max which I really like...they may have Black Phone by now which is an excellent movie...a bit of supernatural but mostly a thriller. I was on the edge of my seat. Also even if you have a smart TV, I recommend a Roku...the channel is worth it. And if you have Amazon prime, you also have their TV which has great free content (well if you have prime anyway).