Through what service do you watch TV?

[crazytalk]

We have optimum right now, and our trial period for the triple play is over, so our bill went from around $110 up to $145. Which is ridiculous. We don't use the home phone, just our cells, so we really only need cable TV plus internet. (The only reason we had the triple play was for the special price when you had all 3.)

I'm looking into alternatives, but we watch a decent amount of TV, so just going online for shows isn't going to work. After xmas, we'll have a Wii, so we could do hulu plus and still watch on our nice TV, which seems like it'll work for all our shows. But what about sports? Husband is a big fan of MLB and NFL, plus UFC.

Besides the big 3 cable/internet providers (fios, optimum, or the other one whose name I can't think of), what are our options? We're not broke-ass poor, but I can't in good conscience pay $145 a month, when we don't even have showtime.

[aspentosh]

We have FIOS and get tv plus internet for ~$95. This also includes an HD DVR.

[pamela]

DirecTv. We plan on dropping our package down once the bowls are over. It's $110 right now including taxes. That has to stop.

[SJ]

Too many. We have Comcast, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime Streaming, a Roku, Netflix (via Wii).

I feel like all of this must be redundant somehow!

[crazytalk]

Dec 13, 2012 8:49:52 GMT -5 aspentosh said:

We have FIOS and get tv plus internet for ~$95. This also includes an HD DVR.

is this the trial period rate? THat's what they're advertising for the first year, and then it goes up, but maybe I'm wrong. Are you happy w/ Fios?

[womet]

Dec 13, 2012 8:49:17 GMT -5 @peggyolson said:

We have a HD antenna (it cost $45ish in 2010 at Best Buy) and we get all of the major networks in HD plus the free over the air channels. We also pay $7.99 for Netflix and $40 for internet/landline.

Which one do you have?

DH and I are thinking of dropping cable tv, but I'd still like to watch the local news. And I could probably watch shows on stations like NBC, CBS and ABC, right?

[crazytalk]

Dec 13, 2012 8:52:33 GMT -5 pamela said:

DirecTv. We plan on dropping our package down once the bowls are over. It's $110 right now including taxes. That has to stop.

is that for tv plus internet? Are you happy w/ them? Is there special equipment outside, like a dish?

[aspentosh]

Dec 13, 2012 8:58:11 GMT -5 crazytalk said:

Dec 13, 2012 8:49:52 GMT -5 aspentosh said:

We have FIOS and get tv plus internet for ~$95. This also includes an HD DVR.

is this the trial period rate? THat's what they're advertising for the first year, and then it goes up, but maybe I'm wrong. Are you happy w/ Fios?

We renegotiate every 2 years when our rate goes up. We do have $15 in promos each month (same as the past ~5ish years). We've been very happy with them over the past 5 or so years. Never had any issues!

[pamela]

Dec 13, 2012 8:59:32 GMT -5 crazytalk said:

Dec 13, 2012 8:52:33 GMT -5 pamela said:

DirecTv. We plan on dropping our package down once the bowls are over. It's $110 right now including taxes. That has to stop.

is that for tv plus internet? Are you happy w/ them? Is there special equipment outside, like a dish?

No, that's just TV. Yes, have to have a dish outside and they don't do internet. Not particularly happy because of the price. I prefer them over DISH though.

[Deleted]

Dec 13, 2012 9:01:06 GMT -5 aspentosh said:

Dec 13, 2012 8:58:11 GMT -5 crazytalk said:

is this the trial period rate? THat's what they're advertising for the first year, and then it goes up, but maybe I'm wrong. Are you happy w/ Fios?

We renegotiate every 2 years when our rate goes up. We do have $15 in promos each month (same as the past ~5ish years). We've been very happy with them over the past 5 or so years. Never had any issues!

Ditto! 3 yrs w/FIOS and no issues yet. (knock on wood) What I love about them most is that they let you negotiate your rate!!!

[LoveTrains]

I have verizon FIOS and I think its really good. My bill went up to $200 after like $120 after my two year deal was up, but I called to renegotiate and got it back down to $120. That is with a dvr and three boxes (and all the boxes can watch shows on the dvr, which is just in the mancave in the basement).

[mbcdefg]

Right now we have Comcast. IDK what we pay, but a lot of channels are blocked out and we've lost service several times in the past year.

MH wants to switch to FIOS.

I think Comcast is the only regular cable option in our town unless you get FIOS. Prior to moving here, we had Cablevision and we weren't fans of that either.

[womet]

I wish we had Veriozon FIOS here. :-( We're stuck with Comcast. :-(

[crazytalk]

Fios is running a promo right now where they'll give you a $300 visa debit card when you sign up. Holla!

I can't remember why we haven't switched to fios yet.

[niemand88f]

Dec 13, 2012 8:59:20 GMT -5 womet said:

Dec 13, 2012 8:49:17 GMT -5 @peggyolson said:

We have a HD antenna (it cost $45ish in 2010 at Best Buy) and we get all of the major networks in HD plus the free over the air channels. We also pay $7.99 for Netflix and $40 for internet/landline.

Which one do you have?

DH and I are thinking of dropping cable tv, but I'd still like to watch the local news. And I could probably watch shows on stations like NBC, CBS and ABC, right?

I have this antenna, it works very well: amzn.com/B004QK7HI8. It's black on one side and white on the other, and nearly paper thin so it is very unobtrusive.

I just have the antenna and a subscription to Hulu Plus, occasionally I'll renew my subscription to Netflix too. Internet from Comcast.

[Susie]

We had Time Warner until the promotional rate expired and the rate went up. We switched to Fios this fall and are getting cable + internet + phone for right around $100/mo. (No DVR, extra channels beyond regular HD, etc.) That's good for 2 years.

When it runs out, I expect we'll go back to Time Warner for a promotional rate and keep flipping.

[LoveTrains]

Dec 13, 2012 11:06:14 GMT -5 crazytalk said:

Fios is running a promo right now where they'll give you a $300 visa debit card when you sign up. Holla!

I can't remember why we haven't switched to fios yet.

They also game me this when I called to renegotiate my service. Pretty freaking sweet. It might have been possible because I moved, though.

[cjeanette]

stream amazon, hulu, and netflix. Get basic channels.

[Brie]

We have AT&T Uverse.

[Deleted]

Dish.

We would get an antenna for basic channels if not for football August-February and Game of Thrones on HBO in the spring though.

[rosetyler]

We just have an HD antenna for network, and Netflix. We're considering getting Hulu Plus.

I can't help you on the sports - we've learned to listen to some games on the radio, and go out to watch televised big games, or mooch off friends if they aren't on the major networks. We don't care so much about pro sports, more college.

[womet]

Thanks niemand88f and Peggy! This info might push us to give up cable completely.

[Deleted]

I have optimum. Whenever a trial period is up, I call and "cancel"-- and lower my bill as a result. Last time I did it, I got $30/month off my bill and free Showtime.

[DarcyLongfellow]

We have AT&T UVerse for cable, phone, and internet. I can't remember what we pay, but it's SO MUCH less than we were paying Comcast (even after our introductory rate is over).

We don't have any other TV services (no Netflix, no Hulu Plus etc.). We occasionally rent a movie from Red Box. We can stream the Amazon Prime stuff for free, but DH and I have never done that together (since we don't have it hooked up to an actual TV), and I've only used it occasionally for TV shows.

[Deleted]

Comcast--just dropped to virtually the lowest package. Maybe 50 channels, no long distance & internet. The guy quoted me $95/mo on the phone (we were paying over $200 which is why I called) but in reality our bill is more like $115/mo. Sort of pisses me off. We also have Netflix & Amazon Prime.