Well, paid TV at least. As my last post pointed out, I shut off U-Verse TV service. While it was a bumpy road to get U-Verse setup and trialed… I am moving this month, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have tons of TV, when I have tons more work to do. I now have to juggle a startup, and a home moving at the same time.
So, I decided to save $60+ and cancel the TV service.
This is a good experiment. I want to see if I can live on online TV service, and over the air HDTV alone.
So far, I’m about one day in. I’ve already dusted off my TiVo HD and set it to OTA-only mode. After manually pulling the analog channels (which should have already been shut off, had the Obama administration held to the Feburary 17 shutdown time)… I’m all set.
It’s been a bumpy ride still. I have to admit, I’m in a bit of withdrawal. I’ve already pretty much drained my TiVo, which had an abundant storage of shows that I hadn’t watched (that time around). The OTA selection in the Sacramento valley is pretty small for my standards. There aren’t any looping runs of ’90s sitcoms to burn the midnight oil with. I’ve caught myself scrolling through looking for a Cosby Show or Family Matters as background chatter… nothing.
TiVo Suggestions is still paying off though, it’s already coping itself with the short supply of content. For the first time, it’s pulling down PBS shows in desparation. But, it’s all the more valuable when there really is nothing worth watching on. And, when you only have five or six channels, that’s much more often.
Next step? Finding a good way to have internet TV at the ready.
You know what would be cool, Chris? If you did a piece on the classic xbox and the saga of XBMC + hulu. It’s complicated, annoying, and should be remedied asap.
Having said that, I’m very jealous that you’ve been able to cut the cord. Our cable bill is $129 (phone, TV, internet) and I’d love to see if we could get by on internet and OTA TV. However, my wife would probably have a heart attack. haha.