Why I Quit Cable

BY Erin Mckeever
2012/02/15

Last month, I finally took the plunge on a change I’ve been debating for quite some time now, a change that people are increasingly starting to become comfortable making, but also one that many people cannot comprehend. Last month, I quit cable.

Now some of you may be debating this very move yourself; others may have already made the switch, and for some, it just seems impossible. I promise you, it is possible. And it actually felt kind of liberating.

Everyone likely has their own reasons for cutting the cord, but for me, it was all about utility and value. My cable service was just not providing me with the utility and value that I expected, and there are numerous other services and media consumption channels that do. I subscribe to Netflix, a great place to just find something to throw on TV when I’m home, my iPad when I’m travelling, or even my iPhone if I feel so inclined. To serve my need to get the latest movies, I rent digital movies from iTunes and CinemaNow. As for TV, most of my favourite shows are still aired on their Canadian network websites, and for those that aren’t, I can always get episodes on iTunes as they come out. I can even watch news (and in my husband’s case, sports) live on my computer or tablet on the rare occasion that the broadcast schedule matches mine.

At the end of the day, it came down to the simple fact that I was spending $100/month for cable that I wasn’t even using because of all the other channels that were more convenient, flexible, and a better value (many even free). And like any product you use, if you’re not getting the utility and value you expect, why wouldn’t you see what else is out there? Have you cut the cord? Are you thinking about it? Let me know in the comments

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  • 15/02/12

    Reina says:

    This post made me feel so much better about cancelling my cable! It took a lot of time (and courage) to finally do it, but I did! And I didn't lose to all the promotions they offered ("keep the cable, we'll add 40GB of bandwidth to your wireless internet AND we'll reduce the cost of your bill! Oh but you're locked in for 24mon").
  • 15/02/12

    Dashboard says:

    Glad we could help!
  • 15/02/12

    Heidi says:

    Yay, Erin! I don't have cable either, opting not to sign up when I moved to my new place. I feel much leaner for it. I think we all need to give some more thought to how we're spending our money. What are those shows worth? If someone dangled a $100 bill in front of someone and said, "I'll give you this if you cut out watching your shows on cable," my guess is most people would take it. In the end, it's about taking an active stance in how you spend your time and money.
  • 15/02/12

    Dashboard says:

    Thanks Heidi! Totally agree, especially when the networks offer so many of their shows online anyway, and it's pretty easy to hook your computer into a TV
  • 16/02/12

    Nik says:

    Got rid of it 2 years ago, and mostly because wasn't getting any value for it. It boiled down to 2 reasons for me. My first issue with cable was that a limited number of channels are severely non-competitive with virtually unlimited streams of video YOU can decide to chose from, available on the internet. I was especially having lots of issues with Rogers almost always having on the games that I didn't want to watch, and very rarely the ones I did. My second issue with it was that I would be paying for 70 or so channels when I really needed about 5
  • 18/02/12

    Amanda says:

    I couldn't agree more Nik. The way in which we consume media is changing, becoming more focused and specialized, and instead of getting a more personalized offering that we can just select what we want from the menu, we are expected to pay for an all-you-can-eat-buffet in order to get the few selections we really want. We cut our cable, installed an HD antenna to still get the live event TV we wanted and the rest we get from Netflix or purchase from iTunes. At least then I'm only paying for what I want. Which makes sense to me.
  • 21/02/12

    Ralph says:

    I cancelled over six years ago and have not missed it at all. After the break I found that I became more selective about what I watch and hope that when this becomes the norm within society content producers will take note and declutter the "300 channels of garbage" they offer on TV.
  • 13/04/12

    Tam says:

    Thanks Jocelyn for letting us know your class was nivahg an issue with the new live online platform release. Whenever you or your instructor or class members have any issues with the online classroom, the best first step is to always contact West Tech Support at 602-627-4614 or 866-881-4540. Technological issues can result from many different variables. It could be that the internet connections your professor or class members are using are wireless, which can tend to have less reliable signals and sometime briefly lose connectivity. Or it might be something with your Internet browser version or your Adobe flash or other computer settings that are causing the issues. Tech Support may be able to help you diagnose and correct the issue for your computer, and they also log each call so that we can see trends when issues are being reported in larger numbers. That’s often the only way we can find out that these issues exist. If Tech Support is unable to assist, the Suggestion Box is another great place to let us know about these things, because that’s again how we find out. We can’t address something if we haven’t been told that there is a concern, so thanks again for bringing it to our attention so that we can look into it. I checked with some other West students and professors. A few of them did say they have similar issues to what your class is experiencing, but many reported no problems at all. Now we can look into it further and see if there is really an issue with the class platform or if it might be individual internet or computer connections. Again, please have your class members contact West Tech Support so we can identify why their online class connection is being interrupted.Thank you!!JR