We realize that cable or satellite television has been a constant in most homes for a very long time. Imagining turning on a TV without seeing instant entertainment might be a bit weird at first, but you can save thousands every year just by saying goodbye. Is it worth it? And how do you find your local channels for things like local news? Let’s take a look.
Saying Goodbye to Your Monthly Excess
The average cable television payment per user in 2015 was right around $162 every month. Now, most of these include a landline phone for your alarm system and internet access. If you have an alarm system, you may still need that landline- and let’s be honest, you wouldn’t be here without internet access from somewhere.
That said, $162 every month is just under $2000 every single year. That’s just to watch TV and play with Facebook. In 10 years, you could have saved enough to put a major down payment on a home or even purchase a vehicle. In today’s world, there’s really just no reason for cable or satellite television service.
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“But how will I catch my programs? I’m not home for most of them!” you say. Well that’s easy enough. The internet doesn’t forget. You can find just about anything online these days, and not like in the early days of file sharing with Napster or Kazaa. These are legal outlets. Some are free. Some are a very small charge a month compared to your $162 bill.
That also means that you have absolute freedom to watch whatever you want, whenever you want it. If you’re a busy person, that means not being tied to your DVR to begin with. DVRs are nice, but they aren’t necessary these days.
Legalized Streaming and Your Local Channels
With the rise of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, it’s easy to keep up with your favorite shows. Most of these services don’t include local channels though, so how do you watch the news?
There are a number of mirror services that run these broadcasts free of charge, legally, all over the country. There are also official streams from the local news networks themselves. Though some smaller cities may not have this service as of this writing, these companies know that this is where the future is heading. More jump on the bandwagon every day and are leaving cable television behind bit by bit.
If your company is not one that sponsors this kind of streaming, almost every local service has a website where you can read the recent news covered. Most of these sites also offer clip by clip playback service so that you can watch favorite news hosts debate or chat on subjects important to you.
We predict in the next ten years that cable and satellite television service will likely be a thing of the past. Instead, we’ll see bigger internet bundles perhaps with cable television streaming services linked to them as Xfinity/Comcast Company is slowly creating as of this writing.