I've considered cutting the cord but with my DirectTV bill about $85 per month, the savings don't seem worth it vs. the convenience. HDHomeRun - all I'm saving is the difference between a set top box rental and $2.00/month for the card rental?
And then for the convenience of on Demand I need to pay for Hulu, etc?
What am I missing here?
HDHomeRun doesn't work with DirecTV, they only have options for OTA (antenna) or cable. Saving the monthly rental fee for the cable box is only one small part of it. The big draw, at least for me, was letting me get rid of the cable box and getting all my media better organized. Saving money was just a bonus.
The savings really arent worth it IMO. We just moved last week and we signed back up for direct TV @ 75 a month. Free NFl ticket for 2 years, all wireless boxes except main DVR box, 3 months free hbo/stars/cinemax and $300 Costco gift card.
If you don't really watch TV then I think cord cutting has its place. But thats not really a cost issue, its that you just don't use it enough to justify the price
It's not just about money, although cord cutting is generally cheaper. Depending on what you want it can be a little cheaper or a lot. One remote, one small hidden device at each TV (no big ugly set top box), access to everything I want including my personal 700+ DVD collection, thousands of movies, TV shows going back decades up through current, music videos, music, live local OTA TV, games..
For me it all started with getting rid of the set top boxes while I still had cable. It had nothing to do with cutting cable, I just wanted all my media in one place, no swapping DVDs, no changing inputs, no big ugly cable box. Eventually this slowly evolved to where the only things I ever watch live is local news and NFL, the same channels I have now with OTA and Sling.TV.
The weak points of cord cutting are live sports and local news with local news and a fair amount of sports covered depending on your ability to receive OTA stations. Beyond that, most everything you could want is available through a streaming service and there is a ton of stuff you can get streaming that you cannot get with cable/sat service.
Cable/Sat is easier, but it's not better. Every year cord cutting gets easier and better with more and more providers getting in on the action. DishTV is jumping on board, Showtime and HBO are available as a subscription service without cable/sat, new streaming deals are being made constantly. Still though, it's not for everyone such as my parents. They have crappy internet where they are, my father watches sports all the time and they have zero interest in tech or change.
I don't see this as strictly a question of monthly bill but since that's what seems to be this thread is focusing on, my total monthly bill is under $45/month. As soon as I cancel sling.tv, likely at the end of the NFL season, it will be under $25/month. Obviously there are other costs involved, highspeed internet which I have anyway, Amazon Prime which I have anyway, streaming devices that I've bought for anywhere from $25 to $300 (or zero for a couple smart TVs), $49 for lifetime subscription to DroidTV (I believe it's now around $100 for lifetime) and an antenna + HDHomeRun device. It might be worth noting that I have the higher priced Hulu with no commercials and the upgraded Netflix that allows more streams and some 4k content (as far as I know, you can't get 4k video with cable or sat service).