Awesome! Kudos to them! I get Netflix for the same reason. :)

My husband, however, is a TV addict, so we have the huge 250+ channels (plus HD) satellite TV package. We can afford it, and it makes him happy, so I'm not going to complain about the cost. (Which, really, at $103 per month is not that bad.)

$30 (DSL) + $17 (NetFlix) + $40 (Phone line for DSL) + $18 (HTPC actually capable of recording HD w/Blu @ $850 for 48 mos. -- useful life) = $105/mo.

Not a huge savings.. And they don't come out of that with an unlimited phone plan either.

Then again, they could just spend $0/mo. by going to their local library, reading, and not talking to anyone far away. They probably wouldn't die that way either.

The best one is 27.2 "the retro television network"

There are some repeats. I have 4 PBS feeds for a total of 13 of the channels. 6 or 7 spanish, 3 or 4 religious, and even a shopping channel.

Also being so close to the space coast I get the Nasa channel.

@JBlair42081: It states they have a pc they bought that is connected to the tv via hdmi cable so they are doing this already. Its caleld windows media center.

@Serenefengshui: Thanks for mentioning the library. I keep reminding my parents and friends that they can just as easily "rent" DVD's at the local library and save money. Oh and in anticipation of complaints about the local library's crappy DVD selection....

I believe you can reserve a DVD from any library within your public library network. They will simply send it to your local branch and notify you when it is ready for pick-up. Easy peasy!

@tinmanx: @RogueSophist: Hehe, me too. Only reason I still have cable. Plus, the Comcast OnDemand stuff on Discovery and NatGeo are like extra crack. I could give up cable if I had to, but I can afford it for now.

@mzs: Yeah, I live over in NW Indiana and I know that if you have an antenna you can get all those channels as well as pick up the South Bend channels. Nice for watching a Colts games...unless they decide not to air them and show the Bears instead.

2.1*
5.1* 5.2*
7.1* 7.2* 7.3*
9.1* 9.2*
11.1* 11.2* 11.3* 11.4
20.1* 20.3* (20.2 was just SD of 20.1)
23.x* (the rest were duplicates of ones on 26)
26.1* 26.2* 26.3* 26.4* 26.6*
32.1*
38.1* 38.2* 38.3 38.4 (there used to be a ton of religious channels now only one)
44.1*
50.1*
52.1 52.2 (maybe these are 62.x, these are usually religious or ads so I never watch)
56.1* (56.2 is a duplicate of 11.3)
60.1
66.1

Four of these are Spanish only and I get a ton of channels from Indiana that I have not listed except for one (56.1) as they are basically the same a what is coming from Chicago. The news and sports on those are different though. Two of the listed channels are weather and traffic. Also this is all from memory. The channels that my family watch a lot are starred. That comes to 25 channels, take away the weather and news and that leaves 23, very close to your estimate.

Investigate the free-to-air sites. You can easily get all the Dish stations and more--even Italian tv.

History Channel in HD! Thats what I pay cable for!

yes, i follow a number of favourite tv shows, free online from the broadcasters websites. i have a laptop with DVR and two monitors for movie watching. i download series from iTunes periodically.

over the last two months i did some extensive travel which put me in hotels. i tried watching tv. 100s of channels and nothing but crap. even commercials have certainly degraded in the last five years.

give me the internet, a DVD or a good book any day!

I dropped the CTP. Killed Digital Voice and Cable picked up- the Family Plan for $30.00. It gives us Disney, OTA channels, and Discovery. So my phone dropped from $48 to $32, and my cable bill dropped from $110 to $80.

I wish my town would get FIOS and then my bldg would allow it. It's killing that he only choice we have is cable. I do have to buy another HD Indoor amplified antenna. I had the Terk bowtie amplified one, and that picked up all the HD channels in the area.

I just signed myself up on the Boxee list for Windows. I am also looking into a Netflix subscription and possible that Netflix box.

Perhaps they are confusing DTV with HDTV?

And I say BS on "50 channels", here's why:

The article says they live in Oakland. I'm assuming that's California. Oakland California would have the greatest number of local channels available versus, say, another Oakland such as Oakland MD.

I just put in a theoretical location for their antenna into antennaweb.org, which is a website designed to show you all of the possible stations you could receive with varying grades of off-air antennas. Even by putting their location atop the highest point in the hills above Oakland (for virtually 360 degrees of reception) and using the best possible antenna, the greatest number of digital stations reported by antennaweb for that spot would be 23, nowhere close to 50. And most of those 23 are low budget local stations or shopping channels, not national network affiliates which would be most likely showing HD programming.

(pardon my ignorance...I had just not heard of this before, sounds like a good deal!)

I really prefer not to have a live stream off constantly changing programs. It cuts down on my vegging-out time because I'm not just staring at the TV flipping channels and getting caught up in the next show.

People look at me in awe when I tell them that I don't have cable but when they see the selection of shows that I have for so little per month they are truly amazed.

And I read, write, go on the Internet, etc. while I watch TV. I learned how to do that when I was a kid and I couldn't decide between cartoons and a book. Sometimes when I'm writing, I'll mute the sound but leave on the picture. It's easy for me to lose track of the show but if the TV isn't on, I can't concentrate. My brain needs something to block out.

And how exactly did you come to such a conclusion?

The wife and I don't care. We cancelled our regular cable because we didn't watch it enough to really have it. All of the shows we watch are on OTA HD for the most part and available on Hulu otherwise. We have a PS3 (though 360 would work as well) and just stream the video for the cable shows we watch to the TV.

But now.. I dunno.

We would miss all the cable shows on HGTV, Discovery Health, History channel, and Lifetime Movie network. That's at least 70% of what we watch.

The kicker is that broadcast reception in our area (Seattle) totally sucks, lots of hills make ghosts on every channel.

That's not necessarily true. My husband and I have high-speed internet through Qwest with no phone line.

I had a tech come to my house replaced the box and the same thing happened, after numerous techs the last one admitted that they are having issues and that they were waiting on an update from Microsoft, so I just canceled I had U400 and I didnt want to spend 140 for a service that worked when it wanted to and the fact that I could access one HD channel at a time. I could not record one HD show and watch another!

@rtmccormick: justin.tv? That got my dad to finally go along with dsl when my mom wanted it.

Anytime I think "it's just TV" and I think I can just let it go, and maybe cancel it, I remember that I really enjoy television, and it's not just mindless entertainment to me. I hate reality TV, I don't watch it, so what I do enjoy are dramas and science fiction shows, and there are plenty of good things to watch out there. And I love my DVR.

does no one use fta (free to air) satellite? I'm in florida and if i point mine at the nimiq 2 sat. i get _hundreds_ of channels, in multiple languages, and all the free payperview i want. :/ really just need a decent fta reciever (like a coolsat) and a B.U.D. and a good forum to keep you up to date.

What would be nice is a la carte cable service to get a targeted package of channels for less price. But I'm not holding my breath.

So no, and no, then.

@silverundertone: seriously. everyone here is offering advice on how to get the cheapest tv...how about you just don't get tv at all?

i recently had to move back in with my parents (relationship ended, had to move out), but for the three years i lived with my SO we had no tv at all. it was kinda nice. we read a lot, did a lot of internetting.

Read a book. Have a conversation. Bake some cookies.

@CuriousO: I'm getting UVerse installed tomorrow (disclaimer: I work for AT&T). I was on the trial two years ago (when I used to work for BellSouth), and it was nothing but great. I'm hoping UVerse isn't a step backwards. What problems were you having with it?

@joel.:
What do you mean they cant running windows? There's an alpha for windows. You just need to have the invite for it.

Congratulations! Awesome! I'm watching SDTV with antenna and it's good enough. I watch other stuff on Hulu or Fancast and this is good enough for me. I rent videos 1 at a time, since I don't watch that many movies. I get crazed if I spend more than $40-$50/mo on passive entertainment. There's so much to do without spending money on junk.

Through in a few religious broadcasters, maybe a couple of Spanish language channels and we're up to 10, 15 at the outside.

Even if they live in an area that's served by two TV markets, we're still just getting up to 20-25 channels or so, mostly with duplicated programming.

I just don't see anyone pulling in 50 channels with a rooftop antenna from anywhere in the country, regardless of whether they're analog, digital or HD.

My wife hates watching movies repeated times and I can only watch a comedy so much (two times) before I have the lines memorized and I begin annoying my wife. I'm fortunate to have been able to get her to watch Clerks, Mallrats, and Monty Python & The Holy Grail with me. I'm not about to ruin it by cutting cable.

If you have internet access and a dvd player, then ditching cable is painless. I've been without cable/satellite for over 3 years and it's easy! Here's how I survived:

-My tv hookup picks up the basics {ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and random shop networks}. Most of my favorite shows are on these channels anyway. {yay FREE!}

-I watch all my premium channel shows, like Dexter and Trueblood, online FOR FREE.

-I have the cheapest subscription of Netflix {rent 2 movies a month 1 @ a time with on-demand access for $6}.

-Use my Erewards{FREE} member points to rent a free blockbuster movie every month.

So don't believe everything you read--however, in the Bay Area where they live there are over 65 *digital* channels available ([www.choisser.com]) but certainly not all are HD. Most if not all would need a high-gain outdoor antenna as well (the "rabbit-ear" antenna idea mostly sucks in all but the strongest-signal areas). Most consumers confuse and co-mingle "digital" with "HD" and we should save that discussion for a later time.

@rtmccormick: Are you expressing shock that women make decisions about how thier households run, and that many (evolved, confident) men welcome that?

Do you live in 1954?

The cable company wanted almost $100 to reconnect the cable since apparently the previous tenant had it disconnected for nonpayment. I told them that was ridiculous, paid the outstanding balance on the account and closed my account.

I've gotten by with Hulu and other free sites like that for the most part. Anything that wasn't free was available on iTunes and given how few shows I watch I usualy spend about 2-3 months worth of cable fees for a year's worth of shows.

My Mom uses a HD antenna and she is perfectly happy without cable (of course she never had cable in her life so its not cutting back for her). And as someone who grew up without a t.v. in the house (and no I'm not 80, I'm in my 30s) its actually quite easy to live without t.v. and be happy. Me and Mr. Sam plan to cut out the t.v. when we have kids.

I completely ditched cable though. Now I just use off-air channels and my 360 for Hulu (via playon, a little buggy with FF/RW though). I would definitely suggest Hulu as an alternative to cable. It has old movies and shows like AMC and some HGTV type shows also.

We tried this, but it wound up not working out. I like the Discovery line of channels too much to give them up. Mythbusters is awesome in HD. :)

I'm not sure it'd be so great where I am, Lincoln, Nebraska. Antenna and rabbit ears only pick up the local stations, nothing from far away Kansas City or anything more than your basic networks, and PBS.

I mostly have cable for my computer. Every time I think about downgrading to basic, I get hooked on a show that isn't on basic. D'oh! At least I never got into the box needing channels like HBO and such. I've stuck with Blockbuster Online ever since I realized that, at the time, they were closer, and faster, than Netflix, and so have one of the nice plans with coupons that I can use for video games as well. (Try it out, either hate it and don't waste my money, like enough to play once...and am done, or then go hunting for the game somewhere cheap.)

I am glad for movie rentals, though. The urge to go to the theater (10 bucks plus goodies add up fast (I know, could skip them, but...it's part of the experience.), anyway, the urge to go to the theater goes away except for a few times a year.

How does that have anything to do with what live sports are available over the air?

I don't get it either. Perhaps they are confusing DTV with HDTV?

And I wager (that they are confusing the two and):
5 major networks (including PBS)
15 public info channels
25 music channels
5 weather channels

I travel for a living and only need a couple of hours of satellite in a hotel room to remind me why this s**t isn't worth $80 p/month.

How many 3 day old "breaking news" stories still airing 3 on all the cable news networks can you watch?

I kinda miss cable but, our apartment complex only allows U-Verse. I had U-Verse before and had nothing but problems. I guess I'm stuck with 10 channels.

also, agreed, $600 computer seems pretty useless when all tvs (not monitors) come with tuner and you can get a PS2 for $400.

Total monthly cost <$30

Sorry, but my internet and cable with a HD DVR adds up to $110, or about $4/day. As expenses go, it's not so terrible.

Look on newegg. Blu-ray BURNERS are only $250.

50 HD channels?

I wager:
4 networks
41 music channels
5 weather channels

@bovinekid:

There are plenty of places that offer live sporting events (NHL, NBA, NFL, etc) usually they stream in international channels from abroad to get around the legalities, since these leagues already have contracts in place prohibiting them from broadcasting anywhere but their current partners....works for me, and don't have to keep cable just for sports...
Granted there is a price...but usually $15 per year or so, so a great money saver!

I only had internet to begin with but they offered me a killer deal for digital cable + HBO for only about $50 on top of what I was already paying.

I cancelled the HBO because I have Netflix, but I really can't cancel the digicable because the only channels we watch really are Discovery, Science, Military, History, and BBC America. None of those are available over the air :-/

I don't have a existing roof top antenna. I played with a couple of set top ones and they were worthless. Even when I could get channels to come in I couldn't get the HD feed. So good for them on that bit of luck.

I was also thrilled to find out when I cut my television cable it resulted in my internet cable going up $10 a month (with no service upgrade) so my savings were already cut into just by cutting the TV.

The only thing I'd miss is TNT, which is the only non-broadcast station we get on basic cable (13 channels) for $17/mo.

It's the next-closest thing to just going with an antenna, and I rarely miss the other 50+ channels for the extra $40. Most of it is crap, but you don't realize this until it's gone ("Why the hell was I watching Celebrity Fit Club again?")

I've been trying to do something similar with my household, but no one is budging. I had a HD cable box, worthless. My cable service is lousy. So I ditched the box, plugged the cable into the back of the TV and bought some rabbit ears. I get HD over the air like this couple and its fine for me. It's what I wanted anyhow.

I was grandfathered into a great Blockbuster online plan, 3 at a time, unlimited returns for the old price, and use that instead of the movie channels. In my case that saves a good amount a month, and we get what movies we want.

But the family has to have their news and hgtv and classic movie channel. So 4 channels is all they watch and are paying 60+ a month for 2 cable boxes and service. sigh...

If I was living by myself, that would be the quickest way for me to dave $52 a month from Comcast.

I dont watch sports, but can't you pay some leagues (like the NFL or MLB) to watch live games off their sites?

All of the major ones I care about are on broadcast channels so I don't see how that would be an issue at all.