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Cord cutting is a term you may have been hearing lately. "Cutting the cord" is the practice of divorcing your self from one or more of the content services you pay for, and replacing them with an alternative that's [usually] delivered over the internet. Commonly, this means dropping your television package through Comcast, Cox, or Verizon and instead watching things online. Some people do this to save money, and others do it for technological advantages. Here I'll attempt to explain some of the possibilities of cord cutting and whether it might be right for you.
First, though, lets talk about cord shaving, which when you just try to pay less for the services you already use. It's always a good idea to call up your service provider(s) and ask them how you might save some money on your subscription. Most of the time they're happy to help you, but you might have to lead the way. The representative might try to up-sell you on services/speeds/channels/etc, when all you want to do is lower your bill. Go into the discussion knowing what you need. With Fios, for example, most people don't actually need anything but the lowest-tier internet package, which in our area is currently 25Mbps down/up. That's enough for three people to simultaneously stream HD Netflix, and that's plenty for most households. You should also ask the representative to tell you which channels you would lose if you went down a tier in your TV package. I dropped my house to the lowest possible TV tier and we haven't missed any of the channels we lost. Lastly, try agreeing to a new contract period (usually two years). This will tie you into their service, but given how often most people change or drop their provider, combined with how little competition there is, usually a contract isn't too bad. I was able to save $25/month by agreeing to a new two year contract.
But the biggest way to save money off your bill is, of course cutting cords. The only one that can't really be cut these days (for most people) is the internet. But everything else can go! Phone service can be done over the internet, and TV can use the internet or old-school broadcast TV signals.
Lets start with Phone service because it's a shorter discussion. The service I recommend is from a company called Ooma that sells a device called the Ooma Telo. Once you have an Ooma Telo, Ooma can port your number from Verizon over to their service (possibly for a small one-time fee). Once that's done, you'll never pay for phone service again. Ooma makes their money by promoting a second tier, for-pay service with additional features that most people won't need (like call forwarding and multiple lines). The Ooma Telo connects to your router to transmit phone calls over the internet. On your end, it also connects to a telephone that will operate just like any other landline phone you've ever used. This could be a single phone, or it could be a base unit with wireless handsets you can place around your home. This model gives you five phones to place around your house. You can either leave voicemail responsibility up to Ooma or to whatever phone system you attach to it. I would recommend Ooma, as it can give you access to your voicemails on the internet as well.
Now lets talk about TV. TV is far more complicated for a myriad of reasons. There are way more players - old and new - and they all have different approaches and goals. Getting your TV "over the top" (a phrase to describe the circumvention of traditional subscription TV sources) is more fractured than simply paying for a cable subscription, but for some people it does make more sense. If you find that you don't watch much TV, cutting the cord might work for you, but there are several things to look at and consider before doing so. Here are some questions to think over:
- what shows do you watch, and which ones are most important to you?
- are most of your shows on a small number of channels?
- do you mostly watch TV on network television or cable channels?
- approximately how much is your current monthly bill for TV alone?
- do you watch ESPN?
This should get you started. Here are some of the options you can look at:
Media streamer
The most popular devices for streaming video to a TV are the Roku 3 and the Apple TV. If you're already in the Apple ecosystem, and everyone in your home has an iPhone, the Apple TV is probably best, although it doesn't have nearly as many video sources as the Roku. The Roku has apps on it for streaming video from Amazon, Google, vudu, and dozens of other companies. If you like Netflix, don't worry. Netflix is everywhere.
What the Apple TV is good for is if you want to buy episodes of TV shows. Their library of TV is usually larger than most, although Amazon and Google are catching up.
Streaming TV Services
Most people who want to watch a decent amount of current TV, though, will subscribe to a service like Hulu. This will give you access to most of the shows on most of the major broadcast networks (but not CBS - they didn't join in). They're also starting to add original programming. The only downside to Hulu is that even if you pay for the service, you still get ads during the programs. You can try it out for free to see if you can live with that.
Netflix has been the leader in streaming video for years now. While you could get almost any movie from their DVD mailing service, unfortunately their streaming video service has very little by way of recent movies you might want to watch. They do, however have a very good selection of television series from the broadcast and cable networks. They also have what is considered to be the best slate of original programming in the field, with the Emmy-winning series House of Cards, for example.
Another up-and-coming streaming service is one called Sling TV. For $20/month you can access live TV from these channels. This is good if you're the type of TV viewer who just wants to turn on HGTV and watch whichever episode of House Hunters is on that moment. It's also the only way to get ESPN without a cable subscription.
Over the Air
It's funny, but the best TV signal you can get is actually the one being broadcast over the air (check your location here to see how well you're situated to receive OTA signals). It's the oldest way to get TV, but at the moment it's the clearest, least-compressed signal you'll find. Getting an OTA signal into your house after you've cut the cord is also the only way to watch locally-broadcasted live TV events like awards shows and sports.
There are several ways to capture this signal. If you don't care about recording it, and just want to be able to watch live network TV, you can pick up an antenna, plug it into your TV and be done with it. But if you want to record your programs and pause live TV, you'll need to attach a DVR to that antenna. There are generally two recommended options:
Tivo Roamio OTA - This limited offer includes a lifetime service fee, so you won't have a monthly bill. It has the easy to use Tivo interface, and can record up to 4 shows at once and store 500 hours of TV. Plus, if you purchase Tivo's Mini product, you can attach it to other TVs and give them instant access to all live and recorded content that the main unit can access. Lastly, adding a Tivo Stream lets you access all the recorded content on the Roamio from anywhere you are in the world.
Channel Master - The Roamio lifetime service is a limited offer, but this device is never sold with a subscription plan. Beyond that, it's a little more complicated. You have to supply the hard drive, and the software isn't quite up to par with Tivo's. But it's a very popular product that will work well to get you access to live and recorded over the air content.
Summary
This info should be enough to get you started thinking about what you'd like to do, but the advantages and disadvantages of cord cutting - especially at this stage - are going to depend on the individual. I'd be happy to give a free assessment to anyone interested.
Postscript
Another way to "shave" the cord is to own your equipment. Instead of paying a certain amount for your cable company's DVR and set top boxes is to buy your own. Buying a Tivo and the associated products can be a big up-front cost, but depending on how much you pay Verizon every month, you could break even after 2-3 years.