How do they manage to sell cable TV anymore?

Please note: The following post arose out of a strange (and probably passing) desire to attempt to write something useful.  I apologize in advance for the comparative lack of sophomoric humor, perverse stories, and/or poop jokes. 

Hi, my name is Pete, and I used to flush good money down the toilet by paying for cable television.  I have been clean for over a year now.

Know what's weird?  When we think of our utility costs each month, almost all of us include something odd.  Electricity.  Water.  Sewer.  Trash removal.  Telephone.  Gas.  Heating...  And cable TV?  Hmmm.  One of these things is definitely not like the others.  So how did we get into the habit of paying a recurring monthly fee for an entertainment service?

The answer is simple: Back in the day, you didn't have much of a choice.  Analog broadcast television was god-awful.  The reception would come and go, the picture was often crappy, and you usually didn't get very many channels to choose from.  When it first came out, cable TV was a godsend.  And it only got better...  As the years went on, more and more channels were developed and presented on cable.  The variety of programming available increased at an astronomical rate.  Flip through today's channel listings, and you'll find something designed to appeal to damn near everyone.  There's a show about a guy who whispers at dogs, and a show about a guy who intentionally gets lost in the woods and survives.  You can watch people repair and upgrade their homes, you can watch people drive big-rig trucks on ice, and you can enjoy the visceral thrill of watching people behave badly in "reality" situations...  The possibilities are endless.

Unfortunately, as the amount of programming available on cable has increased, so has the price.  Drastically.  The last month that I paid for cable TV service, my bill was upwards of $150.  No joke.  That's enough to put a substantial dent in my car payment, but I didn't really pay it any mind because cable is one of those "normal" utilities that you just have to get.

Wrong.

You see, I try my best to be careful with money.  Yes, I'll blow it on stupid things occasionally...  But I like to make sure that I'm not getting jacked on my monthly expenses.  And when I bought my house last year, I had a great opportunity to review everything and weed out or adjust the stuff that I didn't really need.

Cable at my new place would have been a pain in the ass.  Truly.  My house is new, and it came with exactly one cable outlet.  One.  In order to run cable to other rooms, I would've had to install more outlets myself (275 pound man climbing through the attic...  Sounds like a party, right?) or pay Cox to do it.  You know, pay them to install each outlet so that I could then pay them their monthly tithe of $150 for a service that I don't actually even use that often.  To be totally honest, I found that idea offensive.  I also don't really care for the Cox cable company.  It's a long story, and I'm not going to bore you with it...  But I used to joke with Cox's sales and service reps on the phone by saying that the company really lives up to its name.  (There's a great potential blog headline, incidentally: "PETER JOHNSON FIGHTS IT OUT WITH COX." Heh heh.)

Satellite TV looks cool on the surface.  You get a nifty little dish, plunk it in the backyard, and pick up TV signals.  The prices that they presented looked great, too...  At first.  After careful investigation, (by which I mean that I actually read a couple pieces of satellite TV junk-mail before tossing them) I discovered that Satellite television is like a shit sandwich.  They hold it at just the right angle to make it look appealing, so all you see at first is the bread and a little bit of the lettuce poking out the sides...  When you take a bite, though, you discover the hidden turd.  And in this case, said turd is twofold:  The great introductory prices that satellite TV companies offer expire after a while and become pretty damn awful.  What's worse, they generally try to hook you into a multiple year contract.  You know, so you can't run for your life when they up and start molesting your wallet.

So if cable sucks, and satellite sucks, and you still want something to watch... Then what do you do?

Simple:  HDTV antenna + Netflix + Internet = WIN.

Did you know that broadcast television comes through the air in HD these days?  Well I didn't.  Imagine my surprise the first time I hooked up my new ($40) antenna, and watched my screen light up with a brilliant, high-definition signal.  I was furious.  One of the main reasons that I used to pay for cable was so that I could watch football.  Most football games are on the major TV networks, all of which are available via broadcast with an antenna.  That $150-per-month cable TV I used to have?  It was analog!  


Next, I went online and subscribed to Netflix.  For about $25 a month, I get access to their enormous library of television shows and movies, all delivered via the internet.  (Most of which are also delivered in HD.  CURSE YOU COX CABLE!!!)  They also send me 3 Blu-Ray movies per month, which also eliminates the need to rent anything when I want to watch a movie.  Not bad.  If you want to stream Netflix's online content to a TV, you'll need what their website describes as a "Netflix-capable device."  This sounds intimidating, but you've probably already got one.  The Wii, the PS3, and the X-Box 360 will all stream Netflix.  You can also use a internet-capable Blu-Ray player, a laptop (preferably with an HDMI output), or even hook a desktop computer to your TV.  Personally, I use my PS3.  (Which I picked up for $175 on Craig's List, by the way.  I love CHEAP!)

Now I don't watch a lot of TV, because I'm more likely to play video games or surf around on the internet...  But my girlfriend does, so I needed something that would allow her to watch her favorite shows that don't come in via antenna.  This is easy: Almost all of it is on the internet.  If you can use something to stream Netflix to your Television, then odds are that you can use that same something to stream the internet in general.  Once you can surf the 'Net from your TV, it's just a matter of finding what you want to watch.  A lot of shows can be streamed from the websites of the various TV networks.  Others can be found on sites like Hulu.  You can also download episodes of whatever you're into, and stream them from your computer.

None of this is really rocket science, but still there's always the risk that it won't really work.  Well I can vouch: It does.  I ditched my $150 cable bill for a $40 antenna and a $25 Netflix bill, and I don't miss it a bit.