Cutting the Cable Cord: a Practical Guide - Upper Dublin ...
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Cutting the Cable Cord: a Practical Guide
For many years, if you wanted tv you had this:
Now however, you can have this:
Which leads to this:
...a Practical Guide 2012: 112 million television subscribers 2022 (11 million more households): predicted 102 million television subscribers Television penetration: 87.4% to 75.2% of households An individual choice Not for everyone! This class: ● How cutting the cord works ● How to make the choice: a walkthrough and a case study of two geeks ● Review of common streaming channel choices
What is it? 1. Stopping TV service through a cable company 2. BUT continuing Internet service 3. All TV will be delivered to your house via the internet or an antenna Does not mean that you...: ● ...will pay nothing ● ...will ditch your tv
What do you need?
● FAST Internet
○ If you can’t stream youtube videos, forget it
○ The more people using it, the faster you will need
● A local home Wi-fi network (a Router that is wi-fi enabled)
● TV
○ Either a streaming device
○ Or an Internet enabled TV
● Lots and lots of lots of Digital Channels-which you pay for
● Optional: a Digital Antenna
● Optional: A streaming device to make it easier
How do you start? The three questions: Who? What? How? ● How many people do you have watching? (Who) ● What do they watch? (What) ● Do they have to watch immediately after it broadcasts? (What) ● Are their shows available in streaming channels? (How)
A Tale of Two Geeks
Who?
Kay:
● Watches sci fi & fantasy shows
● Addicted to BBC Detective Shows (Netflix & Acorn)
● Watches less than five shows live
Bryan:
● Watches sci fi & fantasy shows,
but different ones than Kay
● Addicted to Anime (Japanese animation for adults-
Crunchyroll, Funimation, Anime Network)
● Rarely watches live tv except for football, which
he turns off halfway through in disgust
Nellie
● Likes carrots and anything
that isn’t her kibble
● Would be happiest if
the tv was turned off
permanentlyNotes on Who
● It’s harder to cut the tv cord when
○ More people watching tv
○ People watching different things
○ You watch a lot of tv live
○ You watch things that are expensive to replace (sports)
● Tale of two geeks
○ Only two people who watch tv=Good
○ They don’t watch a lot of live tv=Good
○ Their shows can be sourced from the internet=Good
○ They watch completely different things=BadWhat? You need to do a usage survey Exactly what shows do you watch? How much do you care about them?
A Tale of Two Geeks
Notes on What
● Get down everything you watch and would miss-even if it’s “I turn on the
Baseball Channel for background every evening”
● The goal of this is to replace what you actually watch, not suffer
● More than one page? Too many shows...How (and how much?)
How (and How Much?) Notes
● Can you replace everything that’s a 5 easily?
● Can you eventually find the shows that are lower “rated”?
● Research
○ Is it on one of the common streaming channels?
○ https://www.justwatch.com/
○ Canistreamit does not work
● Alternatively…
○ If the channel is not common: sign up for a trial
○ Ask around with your friends
○ Or call me at workThe final tally
Equipment to make it Easier ● Roku ● Chromecast: Can also mirror a Chrome browser ● Apple TV: Getting Amazon Prime is tricky
Streaming Sources Roundup Streaming Channels: ● Netflix ● Amazon Prime ● Hulu Reproducing the Cable Experience ● Sling TV ● DirectTV Now ● Playstation Vue ● Hulu TV (Brand new) Antenna
Things to consider-streaming channels ● Not programming-just shows ● How often do they change their content? ● Do they have original programming? ● How many people can stream at one time (or sign up at one time)? ● Is it a monthly or yearly fee? ● Does my device support their channel?
Netflix ● $7.99 a month: 1 stream at a time ● $9.99 a month: 2 stream at a time ● Coverage: Mostly “backlist” items. ● Adding new original programming to drive sign-ups
Amazon Prime ● $99 a month or $8.25 a month ● 2 devices at a time ● Backlist items ● Adding new original programming ● Counts by Show, not by episode
Hulu ● 7.99 a month or add Showtime for $8.99/month more ● $11.99 for an “ad-free experience” ● New shows a day after they air ● Works with most major channels ● 1 stream at a time ● CBS shows
Replacing Cable with OnlineTV (sort of)
● Replay is hit or miss
○ some channels allow and some don’t
● Don’t get too far behind
○ many channels only replay up to 3 days
● On demand not universally available
● Some channels don’t give you all rights to programs
● Commercials includedSports
● Cable replacement services probably won’t cover local games
● Most sports have their own channel
○ There may be a delay on showing the game
● AntennaSling TV ● $20-40 a month ● Fox, ABC, NBC available: No CBS ● https://www.sling.com/service
DirectTV Now
● Had a rough start
● $35.00 a month for the “Live a Little” Package
● ABC, NBC, Fox: No CBS
● http://cdn.directv.com/content/dam/dtv/gmott/html/compare-packages-account
.htmlPlaystation VUE ● $39.99 a month ● CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox Channels available ● https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/channels/
Hulu TV ● $40 a month ● Has ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC (we are one of the few markets this is in) ● https://www.hulu.com/live-tv
Antenna
● Digital Antennas are much more powerful
● More channels available too
● Channels broadcast at different strengths
● ABC-Philadelphia only
● http://www.stationindex.com/tv/markets/philadelphia
● May have to set-up your tv to “see”
Digital channelsPutting it All Together
● Complete your Usage Survey
● Try out a few services and see if they work for you before cutting the cord
● Do a “stress test”: Have everyone bring up something and try to stream at
once
● Compare the services:
https://www.cnet.com/news/playstation-vue-vs-sling-tv-streaming-live-tv-comp
ared
● You don’t have to do it immediately...Thank you!
Kay Klocko
Head of Reference & Digital Literacy
Upper Dublin Public Library
kklocko@mclinc.org
215-628-8744 x3344You can also read
