We ditched the cable. The few shows I do watch are available online.

I killed my cable over 4 years ago. I now watch the shows I actually want to watch, not the stuff that's just on when I'm bored

We've cut cable back to local channels only -- if my girl can't watch "Law & Order" on a big screen, it gets ugly. It costs $11 a month, and I can handle that, though I really miss live sports. Everything else we watch online. Screw the evil Comcast overlords!!

There is no reason for me to get rid of it. I live in Canada and I can not get online TV / Movies like the rest of you. Things like Netflix, and Hulu do not work. Don't bother telling me to use a proxy because even if I get it to work it is way to slow. Yes I will torrent or download a few things off of iTunes when I really want them. But the rest I watch on TV. Though I do not watch much, there are certain shows.

my husband and i haven't had cable in years. when we moved to our current apartment, i looked into it, but it was so ridiculously expensive and we don't care that much about it. when we used to tell people we didn't have a tv, most would be shocked. but more recently now i'm meeting people who have no tv or just network channels... hopefully this sends some kind of message to the assholes that think they can charge $70/month for basic cable

to oneillkid-- i don't blame you. the only time we've had cable since we moved out of our respective parents' places was when we moved to canada. it really sucks to not be able to watch anything online up there-- we found a netflix-esque service called premieres but even that was kind of a failure.

bought a dell zino, hooked it up to my tv and now I only watch via the internet or over the air hd channels. best move ever. Fuck waiting for a show to come on, now I don't channel surf settling for some stupid show to watch because nothing good is on. I watch what I want whenever I want and with fewer commercials.

sucks for sports but I'll manage

Got rid of Netflix a little over a year ago.
Got rid of Cable TV about 2 years ago.
Got rid of the television in December.

If I can't watch it through the web or computer, I really don't care.

I had no intention of getting cable TV when I moved, but when I signed up for Internet I was told that I'd save $15 a month if I also got cable TV and I could get basic cable for $16 a month. I wouldn't pay much more, but for $1 a month I'll stick with it.

I cancelled my cable a few months ago. Between Nextflix and Hulu I get all the TV that I need.

My BF and I have been working on getting rid of cable for a few months, but havent found the right balance of Netflix (instant) and our favorite shows (which are mostly on cable networks). None of the "boxes" (Apple TV, Roku, video game systems, etc.) meet more than one need and we don't want to replace one cable box with 4 others OR spend 100s of $. Now we're holding out to see if the Boxee system is any better, and if not, we might go with a hacked Apple TV.

@Daesu - I also need my Law & Order (SVU particularly) and that is the one thing we've actually solved! Using an digital HD antenna we get local channels in HD for free and the antenna was less than $50!!

We ditched cable a few months ago. $140 a month for TV plus internet was getting ridiculous, especially since we really only ever watched two channels. We've got cheap DSL for internet now ($20 a month for a year, $35 after that) and stick to DVDs and internet viewing.

haven't had cable since the nineties. Finally succumbed to satellite several years back because the kids were interested in certain channels. We dropped that altogether going on two years now.

We have netflix and watch local HD channels. the traditional networks are mostly junk nowadays but we can get our 30 Rock fix this way. We've tried hulu but personally I find the experience somewhat painful- I think the commercial breaks of increasing length are more irritating since they've gone out of their way to show how long they are. I'm confident content providers will find (and are pioneering, in some cases) more amenable ways to offer their programming online.

200 channels of junk with occasional good things has never made any sense to me. It was just the the only game for a long time. The era of a la carte tv has pretty much arrived, and I'm glad.

Killed my cable and tivo almost 3yrs ago. I feel the pain a little during football season (sometimes the game I want to see is simply not available anywhere but ESPN) and the same would be true of other live sporting events if I followed them closely. But aside from that, I feel no ill effects. I have a mac mini plugged into my tv that I use for online video (plus pics, music, etc)... the money I have saved on monthly cable fees has easily covered the cost for that several times over.

Extra note: I actually killed the cable for self-control purposes. I found I watched a lot of crap a lot of the time with cable (Tivo just made it easier to collect said crap to watch later). For whatever reasons, having just broadcast TV and internet video has really helped cut down on my TV time overall and has reduced the crap quotient in TV I do watch. The cost savings is really just icing for me.... sweet, delicious icing.

Already did. Bought at Roku instead. Best $100 I ever spent. I'm hoping it will someday stream hulu.

I gave up cable 14 months ago - big relief.

we did this a long time ago, netflix and internet offer the same thing for a fraction of the price, plus you get to watch on your own schedule (again, at a fraction of a price of cable DVR).

I'm often a season behind everyone else on some cable shows but that really doesnt bother me much.

I canceled my cable service two years ago. In my rural area that means no TV at all since broadcast TV isn't available. I use Netflix, Hulu, and NPR for news and entertainment. I don't miss it at all.

All I need is Netflix and Hulu. I haven't had cable in years.

Local broadcast TV (rabbit ear reception) is very similar to basic cable now with those digital receivers. I don't miss cable!

I just have basic cable. I also have internet through my cable company, so it doesn't cost me anything.

I can't bring myself to pay for cable because of the incredible amount of advertising on television. Seems to me the advertisers should be paying me for the privilege of having access to my home. Plus, the programming sucks. Can't escape advertising on the Internet, either, but it seems less intrusive, I can pick and choose what I want to watch, and DSL is much less expensive.

We did this when we moved recently. In our old city we were paying about $80 for internet, digital cable, HD-DVR, and HBO which was fine at the time. In our new city the same package was something like $130 and that was out of the question. We now are getting by just fine with internet, basic cable, free DTV channels, and a Netflix subscription with instant streaming. The only thing I really miss is HBO and Bravo. Now we're only paying $30 plus $10 for Netflix.

The only reason I have cable in the first place and can't bring myself to cancel it is Turner Classic Movies. Too much good stuff you can't get on DVD . . . but it sucks that you have to pay for the second tier just to get that channel. When do we get television reform so we can only buy the channels we want!?!?!?

cable-free and loving it. 4G wireless and torrenting anything i could ever want to see.

Not getting rid of it and I'll tell you why... I get lonely. My television isn't my friend, don't get me wrong. I spend several weeks a year by myself (my long-term, live-in boyfriend travels home to India twice a year). I feel a kinship with other people when I'm watching live TV... I always know there are millions of other people watching the same show with me at the same time. I think about the other people watching a lot when I watch TV. That might sound weird, but for me, it's well worth the money for that peace of mind.

I never (ever) even had a TV! Yes, people tend to think that that's weird and really, really shocking, but it's not like I care about that.

(Well, when I was a kid I actually really wanted to have one because I would feel left out when everyone was talking about their favorite shows or worse, making fun of me for not having a TV...)

Now that I can get everything I want online I don't think I'll ever buy myself one, I don't see the need.

We ditched the cable a few months ago and I don't think I will ever go back now. We were paying way to much for 400 some odd channels that we weren't watching and a home phone that no one would call except telemarketers (eerrrrgggg the MOST annoying thing in the world). So stuck with our cable internet. Now we all get outside much more often and my house is cleaner (well on most occasions LOL). We do use Netflix and Xbox Live and the internet for the shows and movies we want to watch and that means we can watch them on OUR time, not the syndicates time, so outside and running around during the day and inside watching what we want at night!

I only had cable one year. My partner at the time wanted it. Before then and since then I haven't ever had it. And since he digital tv thing started we don't have tv at all. It's reallly fine although there was an occasional program on PBS that i wish I could watch.

Once I went off to college I never had tv. I learned to live without. Once I graduated and moved out I just never hooked it up. Now I have a mixture of Netflix, streaming through the PS3 and I connect the laptop to the tv for all others.

We ditched cable over three years ago. We ditched our landline a few months ago. Other than a few quirks (ATT has messed up my billing for months now, since we have DSL and mobiles), it creates great peace of mind. I hook up my computer to the TV to watch Hulu for a few shows that I miss because I'm working; we have Blockbuster by Mail to get episodes of cable-only shows; we have rabbit ears for the rest of it. He gets live football, I can see The Office.

I really like not being a slave to cable. It's amazing what I discover I don't want once I cut that umbilical cord.

My husband and I decided to cancel our cable in order to save money when we were going to buy our first house last summer. I thought I'd hate not having cable, but after living without it for 3 months, I found out it wasn't that bad. After we moved, we never bothered trying to get cable again. And since we live out in the country and don't even get local channels, we don't even watch "real" TV anymore. We watch movies and TV shows on Netflix, watch our favorite current TV shows (like Lost) on Hulu or get season passes on iTunes (basically, you pay for a season of a TV show and can download and episode the day after it airs).

I canceled my cable last summer because it was over $60 / month and I was watching too much and I needed to save money. I don't have internet at home and don't have a landline, but am thinking I should eventually get internet acess, though it will probably be as expensve as the cable I had cancelled since I have no desire to bundle for services I will not use. I have not figured that out yet, but I find I play more with my cats, knit more, and actually go to bed at a decent hour without cable.

Nice comments.

I actually haven't had cable since 1998 or something like that. I think that back in 2004 for a few months, we had free cable through our building.

We haven't had a TV for about 4 years. We do have a large monitor to watch our faves like Lost and Fringe.

I can't stand commercials and I can't stand being tied to a TV-schedule. I usually accumulate shows on my HD. I watch them when I can.

That and the $30-45/year cell phone bill that I now have, instead of the $75-200/month bill that I used to have from my cell when I was living in Canada, are a big difference.

Another perfect-timing post! I am canceling my Dish service at the end of the month, after the season finale of Damages (4/19), because $80/mo for maybe 3 channels I enjoy is lame. We don't have Internet at our house because we can't afford both TV and Internet, so now we can get the web when the Dish goes away. :) Besides, the hubs and I never just sit and channel surf, ever. When we have a break, we'll watch a taped SNL or Jools Holland, but other than that, we're DVD watchers. Thanks for the great post!

I quit my cable in 2002. For a long time didn't really follow any current shows, and then Hulu came along...

Now I have an old laptop hooked up to my tv, and I stream Hulu to that. I kinda miss the freedom of not following tv at all, so looking at maybe scaling back the shows I follow in the near future.

@SheriB - don't feel bad. I totally understand. My weakness is old '80's movies on TBS or something on Saturday/Sunday afternoons. My mother's fault for raising us with family movie weekends...

I still have cable but I have been considering canceling it for a while now, since the prices keep creeping up and the service isn't getting better. Most of my fav shows I can watch online or over the air for free in HD, but there are a few that are only on cable (Nip/Tuck - now cancelled, Damages, and Greek and a host of others that I only watch because my BF tivo's them). Thought about NetFlix, but wasn't sure how current their tv collection was.

I'm sure I wouldn't miss cable once I do cancel it. I barely have time to watch much tv as it is. I only got my HD big screen to watch dvd's/blu-rays in hi-def anyway. :)

Comcast should really offer a la carte channel lineups...

I cut the cable a last year. I bought an AppleTV, and hacked it with Boxee. Now with bitTorrent, and the new bluray player to connect to Netflix, I have too much to watch, and I'm hardly getting around to it. Plus, the AppleTV works great for doing PowerPoint for classes I teach.

i'm saving 80 bucks a month not having cable but i sure miss it and tivo - so convenient! i could just watch what i want when i want. my fave shows are not on hulu nor on rentable dvds. sad face :(

I am not saving that much money by not having cable but every bit helps right? We live across the bay from the TV antennas, so we got a cheap ($35) indoor antenna. I also finally but a USB tuner for the computer that is hooked up to my TV and I split the antenna signal. So now we can record one show and watch one show live. Ideally I would like to be able to record two shows but this works for now.

I canceled my cable to subscribe to a new high speed fiber service. Unfortunately during building construction the fiber was severed somewhere in the building to my condo. The developer has been in negotiations with the phone company for months to determine who pays for the fiber replacement.

Now I doubt I will re-subscribe to anything. I have found that life has been much better without cable TV or broadband. I use my iPhone for casual surfing and email. RedBox for the few movies I watch a month. And the extra $100 goes to dinners out with friends and to my savings account.

I commented above (ditched my cable about 3yrs ago). Thought I would offer one follow-up.

I WOULD consider going back to cable if...
I could choose channels a la carte. I would, potentially, be willing to pay a monthly fee and be able to pick a mix of say 5-6 basic and premium channels.

Example: Give me the following for say, $60/month...
Food Network
ESPN
HBO
Showtime
BBC America
NFL Network
Broadband internet

Add on the ability to change your selected channel list from month-to-month, and you've got a real winning product on your hands.... I bet I'm not the only person who would consider paying for this kind of flexibility.

Before:
-Cable premium
-Broadband
-VoIP phone service

Now:
-Basic cable only
-Broadband (unchanged)
-Phone service canceled

We use Google Voice routed to our cell phones instead of paying for home phone service and we either stream or download (Torrents) of all our TV shows. Saving over $90/month. That's $1,000 a year!!!

Also, we have our Google Voice number set as a "friend" on our cell phone friends & family service, so most of our phone calls don't even use cell minutes which has basically turned our cell accounts into "unlimited" plans at a fraction of the cost.

I would also highly recommend ShowRSS (showrss.karmorra.info).

You can select your favorite shows and set-up an RSS feed. Then plug the RSS feed into uTorrent and set it for "automatic download".

No searching, no missed shows, no commercials.

I haven't had cable since I left school six years ago, where it came with campus housing. The only thing I miss is watching HBO and Showtime shows as they air, and there's no way I'm paying $65 per month (at the introductory rate!) for that.