I Pay for Content, Not Cable
I am addicted to great storytelling. I’ve had a subscription to Netflix since the early 2000’s when they used to mail 3 DVD’s at a time to your home. My tenure in Las Vegas is when I allowed myself the bundle. Cox Cable in Nevada had bundle plans that included every channel under the sun plus fast Internet and phone for a reasonable price.
When I moved back to California in 2008, I kept the same preferences, but I didn’t have the same bundle deal that Nevada offered. I started paying a car payment for cable, Internet and phone.
I always said that I would cut the cord eventually, but then Walking Dead, HBO series after series, Ray Donovan, FX, AMC. It just never ended and ten years went by.
Then something happened…
A new series based on the works of Stephen King was advertised. Castle Rock was the catalyst that got me to do my research (Review of the first season coming soon). I made a mental note to record it on my DVR. Then I learned I couldn’t set it on my DVR because I didn’t have Hulu.
This summer was all about self-reflection and re-evaluating my life path. The current set-up in my house is as follows:
The main television has the Xfinity box. This box has all of my premium channels, regular cable, DVR, ondemand, and it can connect to Netflix. I have a smart TV, but full confession, I forgot how to program it about a year ago so I use the Xfinity box as a crutch. I will never move forward as long as that box still remains in my house, but more on that later.
Downstairs I have managed to get rid of the Xfinity box, but I have the TV attached to a PS4. Through the PS4 I watch Amazon Prime and I figured out how to subscribe to Hulu. The PS4 is now referred to as the Hulu box. It has the best visuals because the PS4 TV was chosen for the purpose of playing scary video games on a large screen, I never imagined I would be watching television on it as well. The modem now resides with the PS4 because I could never get my updates to run fast enough without the ethernet cable going directly into it.
This may sound like non-issues, but to someone addicted to content, it’s a huge deal. My wish is to have premium channels, Hulu, Prime & Netflix streaming on every television in my house without any hassle and without any commercials.
I’m at a point now where the only time I ever see commercials is if I have missed the rare show I watch on network television and have to watch it ondemand because I didn’t record it on my DVR. This is where my research took me:
PS4 Vue
PS4 now has the option to purchase a bundle of channels from them, but that didn’t solve my problem of having all the channels streaming on all of the TV’s in the house. If all television viewing happened on the PS4 TV this might have been the right option for me.
Roku
I had Apple TV a few years back. For one reason or another it didn’t last. I always thought I would replace it with a Roku. Friends that use Roku tell me that it meets all of their needs and they have all of the shows they want international and domestic streaming using this stick. For a while, it was definitely the contender I almost chose.
Amazon Firestick
Whether it’s groceries, late-night retail shopping or television, the answer right now seems to be Amazon. The Amazon Firestick will provide everything the Roku has and right now, I’m leaning towards the dashboard for Firestick being easier for me to use, especially with voice command.
Okay, the hardware has been determined, but how will you cut the cord that is cable blood suck?
Hulu with Live TV
I like the way Hulu runs and I’m assuming Hulu with Live TV will run the same way. Not only will I be able to keep all of the channels that I currently have with traditional cable, I can have the premium channels at a lower rate than through cable.
What will my new layout look like now?
Internet will still be Xfinity and since I’m getting rid of the triple play bundle, I will need to ask for the fastest speed connection they have and they will probably bleed me for as much as they possibly can for this speed. I’ll put up with it until there’s a better alternative.
One television will have the Amazon Firestick and the other television will remain with the PS4. This allows everything I stream to appear on any device needed. Hulu with Live TV can be utilized on all devices.
Is this a more convoluted set-up than what I currently have? Possibly, but I love anything that takes me away from a world where one company has a monopoly on the media in my home. I’m weary that over the next decade Amazon will become the blood-sucker that Xfinity is now, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
I stand by the title of this article, I pay for content, not cable. Television viewing has evolved and there’s too much media to consume without being bogged down by commercials and ads. I just want all of my storylines at once where I can freely binge them when I have free time.
If the Emmy’s last night were any indication, everyone’s just watching shows online and on premium channels. We just need to embrace the future and move forward.
