Slide 1: Cutting the Cable Introduce self. Also, I wanted to give this presentation because I had a firsthand experience in cutting the cord. We will discuss what I did, some of the things that I had to do as a result of cutting the cord, and share some insights afterwards. Before beginning, a show of hands: How many of you have cut the cord? How many are considering it? Slide 2: What: Cutting the cord means that a household has eliminated their cable or satellite TV and possibly their landline phone (associated with their cable account) but retained their Internet. Besides referring to it as cutting the cord, others may call it cutting the cable. Both terms will be used today. How many of us are cutting the cord? According to research cited in SD Union, 8.6 million homes in the US have cut the cord. My process will illustrate one person s solution to cutting the cord. I will mention other alternatives as well. Slide 3: Why did I want to cut the cord? Not a big fan of network TV Do not watch too many sports Already had a Netflix account, which I was using far more than TV With cell phone, not using the landline much Paying over $170 a month for things I wasn t using Slide 4: Next, I will share my personal experiences Slide 5: Process: Cancelled cable TV Had to return cable box Waited to cancel cable phone until I had ported the number Kept Internet but upgraded it Slide 6: What I did in place of Cable: Kept the Internet, and upgraded to premier ($70/mo). More than enough for our house with 3 streaming users pg. 1
Kept the Netflix account ($9/mo) : Movies and TV (selected) when you want it, on any device Purchased a streaming device, Google Chromecast: ($30): Uses Internet connection, connects to TV, allows you to stream from your device to the TV. SO, you can watch Netflix or Google Play or HBO Go If you have a smart TV, you may not even need a streaming device! If your Internet does not reach, you may have to look into a range extender o I purchased an Amped 20000. This device is placed midway through your house, between your wireless router and the TV which you are trying to reach. It extends the reach of the Internet which will then create a network for the TV. o When you set up your streaming device, you will then look for your extender network and not your home network For local TV, I purchased a digital antenna for local network channels o You want to check ahead of time to see what channels are available to your zip code. Go to: http://www.antennaweb.org/address.aspx o You will see what type of antenna you need (small, medium or large directional). You will use this information to help choose an antenna o When you purchase the antenna, you will set it up with your TV. I have about 12 channels that I get. Slide 7: Images of the Chromecast, antenna and extender Slide 8: What I did in place of Landline: Ooma Purchased an Ooma device: Costs $109.99 on Ooma site. Device connects to Router. Pay only taxes on Basic plan (about $3.50/month) Ooma connects to your Internet: Requires your high speed Internet Was able to port my current landline number to Ooma. (Don t cancel your landline until this is done!). There is a fee, currently $39.99. Slide 9: Image of the Ooma Slide 10: More on Ooma pg. 2
Free US calling, device includes answering machine and ability to access voicemail from anywhere You can import your contacts from your cell phone by downloading the app and connecting the accounts. 911 works, but if there are power failures or Internet disruptions, it will not. Additional features with Ooma Premier ($119.99/year) includes free porting of number, voice mail features and ability to call forward. Also blocks telemarketers (which you are not able to do with basic) If you do a lot of International calls, you can use discounted rates if you have Ooma Premier. For unlimited minutes to 61 countries, you can pay $17.99/month. There are other options including magic Jack, Skype and Vonage (http://michaelbluejay.com/consumer/phone.html) Slide 11: Other options for cord cutters Slide 12: Other OTT services and a few words on other streaming devices NOT ON SLIDE BUT MENTION: You may choose instead to purchase another streaming device, such as Roku, Apple TV or the Amazon Fire TV Stick: Each streaming device will offer a different way of viewing. Some, like Roku and AppleTV will offer an on screen menu in which to choose. Others, like Chromecast, may just cast the screen from your mobile device to the TV. Other options for over-the-top (OTT): Showtime ($11/mo), Hulu ($8/mo), HBO Now ($15/mo) Sling TV ($20/mo) (includes shows from cable channels like AMC, TNT, CNN, A&E and Food network. Also ESPN and ESPN2), CBS All Access ($6/mo), Amazon Prime video ($99/year) (includes music streaming and free 2 day shipping on Amazon) You can also pay per show on sites like itunes, Google Play and Amazon. Prices can range from $2 or $3 for a single TV show, to movies ranging from $4 to as much as $20, depending on when it was released. pg. 3
Slide 13: Do you love sports? Some possibilities o Sport options through major sports league services for about $11/month. May black out local games. o NBA League pass ranges from $28 for just running on a smartphone to $65 to watch on mobile devices, to $109 for all devices including TVs and computers. Blackout rules do apply, but game will be available 3 hours after completion o NHL Gamecenter Live offers games (some delayed), as well as game analysis and some classic games. Price of the service is highest at the beginning of the season ($160), but drops as the season progresses. o MLB.TV is similar to NHL Gamecenter in that it covers out of market games and some apps which can be viewed on your mobile devices on game statistics and analysis. Price begins t $130 at beginning of season, but decreases as season goes on. NOTE: These packages can add up. If you watch a lot of sports, and enjoy certain programs on a regular basis, you may just choose to keep your cable! Slide 14: Review: Things you might purchase if you decide to cut the cable: Your streaming device: This is the device which will connect the Internet to your television and allow you to stream movies, TV and music (Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast A couple of subscription services to provide just the programming that you want (Netflix, ESPN, SlingTV) Your device for converting the landline phone into an Internet enabled phone (Ooma, MagicJack, Vonage) If necessary, things such as: o A range extender (if your Internet cannot reach your TV) o The HDTV Antenna (to watch network shows) Slide 15: Lessons learned: pg. 4
Internet connection may vary throughout the house. Be prepared to troubleshoot if you cannot access the Internet from your favorite TV viewing room. Lots of spam advertising on the phone. Yes, I could pay for the premier plan, but instead I frequently ignore my home phone in favor of the cell. The Ooma still takes messages, so I can see who is calling. Haven t really felt the love for the Antenna. Maybe if I really wanted to watch TV with ads, I would spend more time with it. There is something to be said for defining your viewing moment!!! Choose what you will watch, and commit to watching it. When the Internet goes down, things get really quiet around the house! Be prepared to have some challenges; Slide 16: Feedback, questions pg. 5