So a couple things happened recently that made me revisit my cable. First my latest discount level contract expired and my cost for my Digital Starter package of 140+ channels went up. Second my channel lineup made yet another adjustment where they decided that Viceland, a channel where I only watch King of the Road – a skateboarding scavenger hunt show, is now worthy of being on a higher level. This is the second of the two ‘junky’ reality shows getting nixed, the first was Ink Master – the tattoo competition. Now when I lost Ink Master I debated upgrading my cable but it’s already so expensive it just didn’t seem worth it for one junky show. But two junky shows started to get my ire up.
So I did what any person in my social circles would do, threaten to cut the cord. Now as this blog makes pretty clear I’m not one of those people who doesn’t watch television but there are so many options out there that one might not need to have ‘cable’. But before I cut the cord I’ll need to research what I’m replacing it with. I already have Netflix and Amazon Prime. But if I added Hulu does that cover enough of the shows I’m currently watching? And do I need to supplement with other channels? And are they current? Can I shift to just not having shows in real time? Can I watch them online on the channel’s sites? And what are these new services I keep hearing about? In the end am I just sacrificing other shows? Or am I now going to spend so much money on other technologies that are going to be a pain to make up for it? Phew this was exhausting and I hadn’t even started.
So I did what any normal person in my social circles would do, punted the decision for another year. I signed up for another year’s contract at a discounted rate and went ahead and went for the upgrade. I’m probably spending $10/mo more than I was previously but really how big of a deal is that in the grand scheme of things? Plus now I finally also get Sundance and IFC among some other stuff. Still no HBO and all but I am still working my way through The Wire on Prime so no need to go crazy for now.
