Tech View: Cutting The Cord For Cable Not Always The Best Idea
When Netflix recently announced the end of subscription sharing, many budget-conscious viewers were worried. Finally, Netflix has historically encouraged subscription sharing, although it has not fully supported it. Essentially, this subscription exchange, if not created, introduced the concept of "cord cutting". Will cord-cutting be a thing of the past as other vendors are sure to follow suit?
What is cable cutting? Simply put, it's a metaphor for canceling your cable TV subscription. A rope is a rope. For techies, cable can also mean fiber optic or satellite TV, but for the purposes of this column, we'll refer to them all as cable.
With the advent of high-speed Internet, apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling, and more have become readily available. These applications are of high technical quality (not to mention the quality of the content that is related to another section of the document) and in some cases better than those delivered over cable.
Ever since cable television came to Hawaii 40 years ago, people have complained about the cost, regardless of the provider. Therefore, many people consider these alternative services as a way to save money. This is especially true when everyone is talking about the subscription replacement mentioned above.
Can people save money by cutting the cord by sharing subscriptions? The answer, as always, is "it depends." In fact, the app services look cheap, especially for plans that offer the first month free. And if you get it with a subscription or two, it gets cheaper.
But many, if not all, households see a mix of content that requires different services. Like University of Hawaii sports, other live sports, reality shows, and the latest movies when you need local channels and events like a traditional cable schedule, e.g.
It is also worth paying attention to the convenience of the cable. A box, a regular old TV and that's it. All additional services require a Smart TV or a viewing-only device such as Apple TV or Roku.
Also, not all so-called smart TVs support all apps. So be careful when you buy a Smart TV. Almost all work on Apple TV and Roku.
An often overlooked option for cord cutters is over-the-air, or OTA. All local stations broadcast a clear and high-quality signal. Just like the good old days, especially in our Hawaiian mountains and valleys, signal reception varies from area to area. But just like the old days, if you can find a signal, it's high quality and - noticeably - stable. Many people claim to have found OTA channels just by wearing old rabbit ears.
In fact, there are about 60 OTA channels on Oahu. All major local stations have additional channels, some with up to five.
Of course, there are downsides to everything, and with OTA, the downside is the lack of a built-in registration mechanism. Therefore, you should buy third-party DVRs, some of which are subscription-based, since they store your recordings in the cloud.
Perhaps the easiest way to find out if you can beat most people is to keep a log of everything you see for a month. Then find the services that support that content and count. If it seems too expensive, consider whether you can do without it and do the math again. Then compare that to your cable bill.
———
John Agsalud is an IT professional with over 25 years of information technology experience in Hawaii and around the world. He can be reached at jagsalud@live.com.
