Team-BHP - Cutting the cord - Ditching Satellite TV

Was thinking along the same lines! About to decide and this thread shows up! :uncontrol

Our only purpose to retain the cable connection is for the wife to watch a movie sometimes post her work timings. And cable has become very expensive to be retained just for that purpose. Post the new subscription model came into place, we are effectively paying more than earlier just to retain only 10% of the channels we were getting earlier.

Yes I am on the verge of cutting. TataSky monthly recharge has reached all time low of Rs. 300 from yesteryear's 780 already. Every month I am reducing channels. The most expensive channels are Starsports Select 1 & 2 and that is mandatory for Formula 1 as a back up even-though I am a Hotstar Premium subscriber. We are fully satisfied with Kodi, Youtube, Amazon Prime and Hotstar Premium along with free versions of Zee5 and Sony Liv.

Exactly 3 years back we invested in MXQ PRO+ (2GB RAM 16GB ROM) when we got the 100mbps FTTH connection.

Time has arrived to bid-adieu TataSky :D

Cheers!

Voted yes since the TataSky thanks to the brilliant TRAI rules have become unreasonably expensive for people like me who have multiple TV. I can't fully cut the chord due to family and their soap addiction, but am planning to cut it from my bedroom TV.

I need Movies, F1, MotoGP and some news. I think the fire stick can manage that.

Only mess up is now I have to pull one more cable to the other TV so that I can move the recording box there!

I've been a Tata Sky subscriber for last 10 years. It started with 1 TV, then to 2 and then 3. Later on, I realized that we were mostly watching only on single TV. So stopped subscription on 1. Second TV was for general use so it was continued. Last year when Tata Sky started with that single channel subscription plus exorbitant cost of Multi TV, I converted the general use TV to only SD with very few selected Hindi channels. The main TV still has good channels but since last 1 year, it's been hijacked by my son for his cartoons on YouTube.

Since my Tata Sky subscription will last till November end, I'm open to options. I'm also looking at Jio Fiber so that it solves issues of net connectivity as well as TV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4660717)

2. Sports. In particular, F1. Hotstar live streaming takes care of that.

4. The new complicated TV packages & blackouts during the monsoon season have only firmed up my decision.

What about you?

One reason for holding on to it is F1. But I guess I'll he shifting to other means by next season.

Quote:

Originally Posted by centaur (Post 4660785)

I definitely want to but unfortunately, can't. The elders and kids in the family are not very comfortable using apps only for their entertainment.

My Dad catches up on news on his Tablet. My Mom does the same and she even watches her TV shows on Hotstar. She loves it because she can catch up with it any time ahe wants to and can pause as per her requirements.

For movies, we watch on Amazon Prime and now may add others.

So in a way, we are in process of cutting the cord! That's why I voted for others.

I do not watch TV at all. We never had one in our house while growing up.

My wife, on the other hand wanted a TV with a DTH connection. Used Airtel for a year and then stopped recharging it for two years now. It was irritating getting a call from Airtel every 15 days, asking me to recharge. That's how hard they bully you to get back into the trap. I have paid for the second amazon prime renewal this year and have Netflix too. I have my passwords shared with my cousins and have their passwords for Hotstar, Zee5 etc.

Never missed nor will miss cable / DTH TV.

Voted NO. I have a TATA Sky connection which I am paying ₹300 odd monthly. I rarely watch TV, same for my wife. Our TV consumption is less than 30 min average daily. I am subscribed mostly to English movie channels and the infotainment channels. I am not a big movie buff or TV series buff. I don't watch sports and news. So subscription to multiple streaming services will be unnecessary and costly for me. So the TV in its current subscription form is just fine for me, rest of my daily entertainment is taken care by YouTube! :D

The days of "push" content is numbered. Users would prefer to "pull" content at their convenience. Satellite based TV would be history. Though many online content don't have advertisements, it would sure find its way there and giving room for premium subscription for advertisement free viewing. eg. YouTube. It's only a matter of time to spread to other online platforms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swissknife (Post 4660856)

The days of "push" content is numbered. Users would prefer to "pull" content at their convenience.

Very well put!

Haven't had cable/sat TV for maybe 5 years now. As such, my TV watching has basically gone down a lot. Stopped watching F1 a long time ago. Follow test cricket online. News I get from websites and movies from Prime/Netflix.

But can't help wondering if that's somehow 'narrowing' the focus of my entertainment choices. The thing with choosing to stream your own content is that you will keep streaming only the kind of stuff you are used to. For example, if I like action movies or action TV shows, will pull only that stuff. And the way Amazon and Netflix are set up, you will get similar suggestions to 'watch next'. There are fewer chances I'll try a different genre like say rom-coms or perhaps a movie in a different language.

With news, I balance it out by making it a point to read paper/physical newspapers in office and subscribe to magazines like Caravan, so I'll be exposed to writing on different kinds of current affairs. Not sure how to get that diversity in entertainment without prefixed content. Word of mouth I guess.

The only thing really I miss watching on TV are the Olympics and World Cup Football, usually have to head to a friend's place to watch those. Don't miss the ads though!

I voted No.

I love TV because of the variety and random selection it gives me - movies, songs, news, all of this at the same place at a click of few buttons. On many occasions, I am a 'passive' TV watcher. Turn it on, select something which I have watched before (songs/movie) and then continue with some other work. Because of this, I must have watched 'm' number of movies 'n' number of times and yet, I am not tired.:)

Newer channels like Star Movies Select and &Prive showcase a very good selection of movies on most days and with minimal breaks. And I choose a pair of channels with good movies and keep switching between them during ADs.:D

Amazon Prime is my backup when I don't find anything on TV. I have Firestick but prefer my iPad/laptop to watch movies because the navigation here is a LOT easier. Netflix has very good content too but I don't find worth subscribing to it given my very limited usage. Another thing that I don't like about these apps - dynamic suggestions, something that I hated since the YouTube days. I prefer ordered list of items where I can choose something rather than someone prompting me frequently.

Edit: Because of this variety and random selection, I like listening to FM radio channels while driving. They give me a break from my regular playlists and I keep switching between FM and USB/BT(songs from my phone).

Voted No.
Mainly because of my grandparents. Earlier after mom left for her heavenly abode in Feb 2018, dad used to watch TV as his movements were severely restricted due to terminal illness. Lost dad this month.
Since Feb 2018, there are very, very few instances where I was in front of TV, it was cricket match I guess, nothing else. But my grandparents need it for them as they watch TV in evenings.
Slowly it will go away too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashis89 (Post 4660892)

I remember making this same point on some other thread long time back.
The reason why I like Traditional TV and Radio is that you are not living like a frog in your self created well. (Of course you still are, in a lesser way, because of your choice of channels)

I like chancing upon something new and novel every now and then. Quite difficult to do so on the internet especially with the big brothers deciding what content to bombard you with.

I voted No. I have reduced my subscription from a all channel-yearly package into a much smaller regional language plus some assorted stuff bouquet.

The reason is that many a time, I don't have anything particular in mind to watch and don't want to surf endless shows to find one I want. So switch to the TV and surf to see what it wants to show me. Maybe a song program, maybe an old movie that I love, or some comedy scenes. That joy of discovering your favorite movie playing when you have nothing better to do has not left me yet. :)