Cut the Cord: a survival guide

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Would you like to be a cutting the cord survivor?

Are you tempted by those monthly savings, but think they are too good to be true?  Tired of poor customer service and endless Cable bill increases?  Do you hate being bled to death by those "extra" monthly charges: what? you want HD, a DVR, and multiple rooms with TV?  Are you annoyed that the one channel that you want to watch always seems to be in the most expensive channel package (along with 100s of other channels you could care less about)?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you might just have what it takes to join me on "No-Pay-TV" Island for a little game of "Cut the Cord" Survivor.  Don't worry, I'll walk you through the process starting with a risk-free trial cutting and finishing up as a full-fledged cord cutting advocate!

We have just started season one and casting is about to start.  Before you say yes, let me tell you what you are in for.  Not everyone has the courage and motivation to make it.  Many have dreamed of this and more than a few have failed.  If you ask your friends they might laugh; if you read the news reports they will say it can't be done.  Pay no attention to the nay-sayers.  I'll share all of the secrets and we'll see who laughs last!

Here is a quick outline of the Season:

Episode #1 - Surviving on a crash diet of broadcast TV (this post)
Episode #2 - Foraging for free Internet TV
Episode #3 - Enjoying dessert:  premium streaming TV and rentals
Episode #4 - Winning the kids' hearts and minds
Episode #5 - Keeping your inner sports fan happy
Episode #6 - Miss your DVR yet?  Choosing the best "box" for cutting the cord
Episode #7 - Just say yes to place-shifting
Episode #8 - Dealing with annoying Cable addicts and cord cutting jokes
Episode #9 - Cancel your Cable bill in under 30 minutes

Finally, there is the problem of what to do with your monthly savings.  Sadly, for that, you are on your own.

Still interested?  Think you are up for the challenge?  No ticket is necessary, just follow along.

Feel free to forward to your disbelieving friends.  Let's make this a big party!

Episode #1 has just started and the Island awaits you!

How do you cut the cord - outside the US?

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I think that the combination of broadcast TV (with the recent US conversion to digital TV), and the growing availability Internet video (Netflix, Hulu, etc), makes cutting the cord a really viable prospect for many people.  However, I live in the US and realize that cutting the cord might be an entirely different experience in other countries.

I've been meaning to look into (and write about) this for some time, but this issue became personal on our recent vacation to our east coast.  Netflix and Hulu are great sources of entertainment when you are staying in hotels and don't want to deal with the limited TV programming.  This worked perfectly for us until we crossed the border into Canada.   All of a sudden (as shown above), Netflix wouldn't work anymore.  I knew about this issue, but nevertheless it still came as a rude surprise.

Cut the Cord - and get your sports too!

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I've heard that some of you are addicted to sports and afraid to cut the cord because you'd miss all of your favorite events.  I've written before about what an amazing experience it was watching the Winter Olympics in High Definition via free broadcast TV.  Unfortunately, I deleted all of my recordings after I watched them so I can't post any pictures to brag about it.

Well, the FIFA world cup is here and it is arguably the biggest event in world sports (the Superbowl ranks a lowly 10th).  Soccer fans know this already, but here in the US we are pretty ignorant of this fact.  The world cup is going on now until July 11th and is being broadcast here in glorious High Definition.   For you cord cutters out there, it is also free.

While the last few games appear to be covered by ABC in the US, you are going to miss all of the action that leads up to the finals.  Thankfully, UniVision (channel 14.x in my area) is broadcasting all of the games and most of them are in High Definition.  While the commentary is in Spanish, English speakers need not fear.   Soccer is pretty universal and it isn't hard to figure out what they are talking about.  You can also get live streaming of the games at ESPN.com and Justin.TV (but it probably won't look as good).

Sports programs are the same all over the world.  The world cup in Spanish is no different: wild fans, beer commercials, sexy women, oh and two commercial free 45 minute halves of non-stop action.  What is there not to love?

Did I mention that there are often 3 games per day?  And you wonder why work productivity drops...

One thing I love about watching soccer is that the players aren't afraid to celebrate when they score a GOL (goal) and seem to really ham up the injuries.  Well, it seems that way to me anyway.  American football is like watching paint dry in comparison.   I'll probably get some hate mail for that last statement.

For your Soccer fans, enjoy some screen shots I've taken from via my Media PC of some recent games!  Not bad picture quality for free TV!

Cut the cord with free TV

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Yes, I know it sounds too good to be true...  However, if you live in the US, TV is free to most of us that live in suburban areas that are in range of multiple TV broadcasters.  And the best part of it is that the picture quality is nothing short of awesome.  Not every channel broadcasts in High Definition, but all of the major ones do and look incredible.  There are also lots more channels that you'd expect.  If you are a fan of PBS, you might be lucky enough to receive several different channels.

Here is a demo video of a Media PC showing broadcast HD TV

What is new with Digital TV stations

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Digital TV's programing guide may look a bit different than you are used to...
 
With the digital TV transition last year, most of the broadcasters switched over to a vastly improved method of transmitting TV over the air (OTA).  Those of you who grew up with OTA TV remember that your analog TV got two types of channels:  Very High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency.  VHF channels were numbered from 2 to 13 while UHF channels were larger (e.g. 36, 44, 54, etc.).  The channels were quite simply numbered in order of increasing broadcast frequency.

Virtual Channels

Digital TV uses the same two VHF and UHF frequency bands, but introduced some differences.

With Digital TV, the channel numbers are now "virtual" meaning that the number no longer indicates the frequency.  Channel 2 in your area could be anywhere on either the UHF or VHF band.  Normally, you don't need to care, but since UHF and VHF require different antennas it becomes important when setting up your antenna.