![Photo courtesy of rick [Flickr]](http://www.thepracticalnerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/498907138-4c160fb637-b.jpg "Photo courtesy of rick [Flickr]")
[Editor’s note: How weirded out do you think the cable guy was when the guy snapped this picture?]
My name is Tom Meitner, and I’m a television addict. There, I admitted it. Let’s get that out of the way first. Why am I telling you this? Because it’s easy to write off an article like this if you think the person writing it doesn’t watch NEARLY as much TV as you. But I will guarantee you, right here, right now, that I probably watch more TV than you, and I know a ridiculous amount of television trivia. I grew up watching television. When some kids were out throwing the football around with their buddies or hitting home runs in Little League, I was sitting inside next to a fan, keeping me cool while I watched old reruns of Webster and The New Leave It to Beaver. I was a loser, and I’m okay with it.
As I’ve grown up, my love for television has grown. When I bought a TV/VCR for my bedroom, I started to tape repeats of shows as they aired. And so, my videotapes of Friends, Boy Meets World, and Whose Line Is It Anyway? were worn out. Oh, and when they released DVD collections of shows? Forget about it. I went crazy. I now have DVD collections of Friends, The Cosby Show, The Office, The Simpsons, and Home Improvement. Boy, I love TV.
The debut of DVR and Tivo changed the way we all watch TV. Us connoisseurs of television loved the idea of “setting it and forgetting it”. We didn’t have to set VCR clocks. We didn’t have to remember to set up the videotape at the proper spot. We didn’t have to worry about the deteriorating quality of tapes after a certain period of time. All we had to do was tell our little magic box what shows we liked, and they took care of the rest.
But then, I started paying my own cable bills.
When I moved out of my brother’s basement, I began to become more aware of what I was watching on television, and how much I was paying for it. As I discussed with others, there are a lot of things in common among TV watchers.
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We all wear out our DVR on network television shows.
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We all tend to watch cable TV simply because it’s there and we’re paying for it.
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We all hate commercials.
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We all hate paying our TV bill.
Subscription TV means you pay for a long list of channels that you don’t watch. Ever. The only channels I watched on a regular basis were ESPN, occasionally the Travel Channel, and… well, that’s about it. Maybe some repeats on TBS once in a while. My epiphany happened when I realized that all the stuff I had been DVRing was on network television – free TV. I was paying $70/month for functionality that I could get elsewhere.
So, after much trial and error, I eliminated subscription television from my life. And you know what? I’ve never been happier. My TV enjoyment is free – and it’s wonderful. The beauty is that I’m not behind on shows, I don’t necessarily have to watch them live, and I still have high definition television. Here’s how I do it:
Figure out how to hook up your television to your computer.
In my case, I’ve got a laptop and a Dynex 32” LCD HDTV. The beauty there is that I can use a VGA cord (a monitor cord) and run it from my laptop to my television, and the quality is just as good as an HDMI cord for HDTV. Then I run a cord from the audio-in port next to it on the TV to the headphone jack on my laptop. Bingo. All set up.
For others, it could be an S-Video cord, too. An S-Video cord plugs into your computer on one end and then plugs into the TV via the composite (red, white, yellow) plug. Unsure of what kind of plug you need? Go to a store like Best Buy and ask. Make sure you take a look at your computer beforehand, just to make sure. Just tell them you are trying to hook up your computer to your television.
Your first need: new episodes.
You can’t step up to the water cooler at the office without knowing who got kicked off American Idol last night, can you? Let’s save you the embarrassment right now. The first – and easiest – way to watch television is to watch television. Without anything fancy, just sit down and enjoy your favorite show when it actually airs. Strap any antenna to your TV and away you go. Don’t have an HDTV? Get a converter box so that you can handle the digital feeds over-the-air. I have an antenna hooked up to my TV, and the HD is crisp, clean, and wonderful. It’s the best way to watch TV. Plus, there’s something nice about watching something as it’s happening.
What about commercials? Who says you have to watch them? Plenty of people told me they can’t get rid of their DVR because they love being able to pause their TV to go do something quick (make a sandwich, go to the bathroom, etc.). So why can’t you do that during commercial breaks, just like the old days? Time everything right, and you won’t miss anything. You could even spend a couple hundred bucks on a Tivo box that will work with over-the-air television, but that won’t save you nearly as much money.
And your sports fix? If you are just watching ESPN for SportsCenter, you can get most of what that offers you online. There’s plenty to read, you can watch highlights and Top Ten lists, and everything else. If you want a slightly-less-legal way to go for live sports, consider looking into TVAnts or Sopcast. Both let people around the world stream live TV for you, and you can find current games airing on My P2P (consider it TV Guide for TVAnts and Sopcast). I use TVAnts to watch my Milwaukee Brewers play, because most of their games only air on cable (LAME). In the fall and winter, I can catch Monday Night Football and any NFL Network games on TVAnts as well.
Another great route to get your sports fix is to get together with friends to watch games. It gets you out of the house, and you both can enjoy the subscription TV that they are wasting their money on.
What about your DVR needs?
That’s where your computer comes into play. The easiest way to watch TV through your computer is to watch the new episodes online. New episodes generally hit network websites the morning after they air. Need to see the latest episode of The Office? Go to NBC.com and find it. Watch them fullscreen and you’ll barely notice a difference. Easy as pie. Most network websites even offer HD episodes of their shows online! Many cable stations also have full shows on their websites. Browse around your favorite networks’ websites and see what you can find.
Or, if you’re looking for a slightly more complicated, but even better quality version, consider downloading the episodes through torrents. Wait, isn’t that illegal? Technically, yes. My argument in court someday will be that downloading network TV shows, watching them, then deleting them is no different than DVRing them. I’m just having someone else do the legwork. Chances are, if you are just downloading an episode of something and then getting rid of it, you’ll be fine. Most agencies trying to catch people are gunning for those who are distributing these shows, especially in bulk. You can go to a site such as TV RSS or Show RSS where you can find shows to download. Not only that, you can subscribe to shows as well, just like DVR! They usually start downloading a couple hours after the show airs. Instructions on how to do it can be found by Googling it.
And repeats of classic shows?
Well, there is a variety of websites out there that host tons of old TV shows. For example, Hulu remains the most popular, and it is sponsored by pretty much all the networks. Another great source is Surf The Channel, which has every show under the sun. I’ve gone there for my classic Ninja Turtles cartoon fix on more than one occasion.
And of course, Netflix remains a great option as well. My subscription offers me one DVD at a time, but I can exchange it as many times as I want in a given month. It also includes all “Watch Instantly” content that Netflix offers online, which I can watch on my TV thanks to my laptop hookup. After taxes, my monthly Netflix bill comes to $9.49. That’s a far cry from the $70/month I was paying for cable. And you get access to tons of movies on top of that – bye, bye, expensive, “premium” movie channels!
That’s pretty much all there is to it!
It takes quite an attitude change to get rid of your subscription TV and DVR. However, it frees you from wasting your time on shows you don’t really want to watch. Plus, with a little upfront legwork, you can save HUGE money. Think about it: if I’m saving $60 every month on subscription television, I’m saving $720 annually. I can do a lot with that kind of money!
Do you have your own ways of saving on cable? Possibly buying shows on iTunes or something similar? Share in the comments!
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