Did you know that the average cable bundle has 189 channels but the average subscriber only watches 17 of them (or less than 10%) according to a Nielson study in 2014? Consumers would like to pay for only the channels they watch and free themselves from the shackles of the cable bundle by cutting the cable cord. Let’s look at the top 10 reasons why consumers can cut the cable cord now!
- 70+ Channels of Free Over the Air Channels
For those here in Atlanta there are over 70+ free channels available via an HD antenna including all of the major networks such as NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CW and PBS. These are delivered in High Definition (HD) quality which is better than cable/satellite.
- 100+ Cable channels available through streaming apps
Most people don’t want to give up some of their cable channels such as ESPN, CNN, Fox News, etc. Services such as Sling TV and Sony Playstation Vue with packages are available with up to 100+ cable channels. - Premium channels such as HBO and Showtime can be streamed without a cable package
Many people are concerned they would have to give up their favorite premium channels like as HBO when they cut the cord. Well you can subscribe to HBO and Showtime without a cable package. These can also be subscribed on a month by month basis, so you can subscribe to catch your favorite shows for a few months and then cancel via the web. - You can record your favorite TV Shows
Current solutions let you record up to 250 hours of free over the air shows in HD quality while services like Sony Vue let you record unlimited content for up to 28 days. Services also let you catch-up on episodes you might have missed or lots of content is available “on-demand” - Data Caps are not an issue
Are you concerned that cutting the cord will eat through your residential data cap and add surcharges to your bill. Well this is addressed in 2 ways: 1. Viewing local free over the air channels that comes through your HD antenna will not consume any of your data 2. Providers like ATT are increasing their data caps to 1 Terabyte/month which is equivalent to watching TV for 13 hours per day. So this is not an issue for most cord cutters. - Pay per View Movies
If you are accustomed to renting pay per view movies over your current cable subscription and are concerned about doing this after cutting the cable cord, there are a number of streaming apps like Vudu that will let you stream the latest pay per view movies for the same price as is available on most cable services. - Home Broadband is great for streaming Video
Many people have the perception that streaming video over the Internet is poor quality. But as broadband speeds have increased greatly in recent years, this is less an issue. Most cable/phone companies offer broadband services starting at 25 Mbps which is sufficient to stream 2-3 TVs at once.
- Do I need to run cables throughout my house for free over the air TV?
If you wanted to cut the cord in the past with multiple TVs, you would need to connect an HD antenna to all of the coax cables in your home. Today’s solution can be streamed over Wifi throughout your home so that the internal cabling in your home doesn’t need to be moved. You could even watch your shows on a TV in your backyard even Wifi was available. - What about my Home Network for Streaming Video?
Consumers may be concerned whether their home networks are adequate for streaming video. Newer routers can now ensure sufficient bandwidths to support streaming videos and there are newer techniques to reach even those Wifi dead-zones in larger homes
Can I access my video services on mobile devices away from my home?
This is one of the key advantages of cutting the cable cord. All of a consumer’s video services are available on your tablets, smartphones or laptops away from home wherever an internet connection is available (Wifi or Cellular). So if you are traveling on business or vacation, you can catch-up with your favorite shows wherever you can access an internet connection.
