My name is Nathan Bransford. And I only have basic cable.
Now, if you are stopping by the blog for the first time, this may not be such a big deal. But know this: I LOVE TV. I love TV like Tyra Banks loves models screaming at her surprise arrival. I love TV like Chris Harrison loves rose ceremonies. I love TV like Don Draper loves almost but not quite unattainable women.
You get the picture.
The decision to cut the cable wasn’t the result of some high-minded, erudite reasoning, like waking up and realizing that TV was rotting my brain. (That dream about Jeff Probst interrogating me about my job performance at Tribal Council? Totally normal!)
My wife and I just noticed something one day: we weren’t really watching TV anymore. And cable is a really, really expensive thing to pay for if you’re not watching it.
In my old job as a literary agent, on weekdays I was working from 7:30 in the morning to 8:00 at night, and I was spending a huge chunk of that time reading. On the weekends I was writing from morning until night. After a day of reading and writing, it’s not particularly relaxing to end it with still more reading. TV was the perfect antidote.
And it just so happens that my time as an agent coincided with a Golden Era of Television, with both reality TV and scripted shows that raised the bar for what was thought possible on television. It was really easy to get sucked in when there was such excellent entertainment to be had (and also The Hills and The Bachelor, which were non-excellently but deeply entertaining).
But now that I no longer read for work, I have rediscovered this crazy indulgence called reading for pleasure. Including books published before 2005! Before 1930 even! I’m even re-reading books I’ve read before! It is amazing!
And I’m sorry to say that I’m feeling like TV overall just isn’t as awesome as it was five years ago, with many reality shows feeling stale and only a few scripted shows that are really killing it. At this point there are only three shows that I feel like I can’t miss:
Parks & Recreation, Modern Family, and Mad Men.
Two of those are on network TV, and one is on hiatus.
Hence: basic cable for us. It still gives me the chills from time to time when I realize I can’t watch ESPN, but the truth is that I’m too busy with other things anyway. For anything else I can’t get on network TV, there’s Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes. We’re saving a ton of money, I’m re-reading The Great Gatsby, and I couldn’t be happier.
How about you? Have your TV habits changed at all, and have you thought about cutting the cord?
Regarding the reference to Jeff Probst and Survivor, which is produced by CBS, which is the parent company of CNET, which is where I am employed: the opinions expressed herein are purely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CBS.
I only watch Chuck. How could I not? Best Show EVER!
Yeah, ditch basic too. We've been off the television grid since 1997 and it's only when we stop at my in-laws' house that we realize what we're not missing.
We do watch lots of movies, and have introduced our kids to a lot of the classics. Our boys — ages ten and six — were transfixed a few weeks ago by an episode of "The Waltons," of all things.
We don't miss it. We're both too busy to miss it, and so are the kids. My wife and I both write and edit at night after the kids go to bed, the kids have their Legos and other toys to play with and plenty of books to read.
The only network show I watch on a regular basis is NCIS. Never miss it.
But I can't get rid of cable because I cannot live without the History Channel. (At least I don't have super duper cable so I can watch History Channel International.)
Actually the History Channel feeds my reading habits. I discover many great books and authors on there. But then I mostly read nonfiction.
yup yup yup. i had the exact same realization. we decided to get rid of our television completely. now if there's anything we want to watch we have netflix, hulu, iTunes, etc. it's amazing.
and.. somehow incredibly liberating.
I've nearly always only had basic, or broadcast over cable, or whatever you want to call it. Every few years I'd get HBO or Showtime for a season. Lately I've had the expanded because I so love AMC. (MAD MEN! BREAKING BAD!) But I could go back down to basic pretty easily.
And yeah, COMMUNITY is pretty awesome. Look for the episode MODERN WARFARE — you can stream it via Amazon. Sooooo funny!
I stopped cable 2 years ago because I found myself turning it on just out of boredom. All of a sudden I realized that I could do so much more with my evenings if the TV wasn't on. I have five channels and never watch them and because of this I finished my first book. Besides…all the really good TV is on Netflix. 🙂
My hubby loves the TV in the evening. He'd never go for basic cable. We watch with the kids usually for a little while. I tend to knit during that time, so I feel like I'm being productive.
My roommate has cable. I rarely use it, and sort of resent being asked to pay my "half" for it. I have Netflix, and I'm perfectly happy with that. But the cable is tied in with the Internet, and I do use that quite a bit.
Myself and my partner choose not to have a tv. We watch a film a couple of times a week on one of our laptops. We don't download or stream shows. We are both studying and noise of tv in house would just disrupt the other person.
We can't afford anything TV. We do HAVE a TV, though. Combine that with a DVD player and a library card, and you get hours of Star Trek, Deep Space Nine. (Which I'm just discovering, and am (almost) unashamed to admit it.)
Meanwhile, my side of the bed is overflowing with half-read books. Edgar Allen Poe, Disney's Fairies, Rick Riordon's Red Pyramid, The Grimms Brothers, Lori Copeland's Heavenly Daze… I'm having trouble finding the spark that keeps me reading. Although, the first thirty pages of Suzanne Collins' Greg the Overlander seems promising.
In the frustration of my rut, I picked up drawing again. It's exciting. I'd forgotten the physics of that world.
Wait… this isn't my diary. Wait… I don't have a diary!
I swear, for a split second, I thought you loved TV like Chris Hansen liked rose ceremonies. You know, the guy from To Catch a Predator? I thought maybe TV had reached a new low.
We canceled cable a few years ago, opting to watch everything online instead. Partly it was to save money, but mostly it was because we were fed up with the crappy service and intermittent functionality from our cable provider. Between Netflix, Hulu, the networks' own websites, and fancast, we're missing only a couple shows that we used to watch. One of those we pick up on DVD when it comes out, another releases some episodes online periodically, and the third we really don't miss. We've also discovered so many other shows that we missed the first time around, like Buffy, Angel, Veronica Mars, and Eureka. So I can't really see going back to cable.
After deciding to cut our cable two years ago, we had to get inventive for Hockey Night in Canada. My husband and I call it the "hell raiser". He made it out of a plank of wood and a bunch of nails. When hung at the right angle, we can get the games in HD!
It's simple for us. We live in the boonies where no cable company dares to come. 🙂
My husband and I have decided to go without any TV—or rather, we still have the television, but the only thing it’s hooked up to is the DVD player. We still watch tons of shows, but we watch through hulu or Netflix. On our own schedule, not cable’s.
I will admit there are few things I don’t love about it … I don’t love that I’m the last to know when something amazing happens on True Blood because I have to wait for the season to be available for rent. And there are three times a year when I truly deeply painfully wish I had TV – the Super Bowl, the Oscars and the Macys Thanksgiving Parade. These three traditions can’t really be watched any way but live, and I miss that. But there are sports bars, fashion magazines and relatives’ houses for those. You get over it pretty fast.
Trying to keep mine closed as much as I can. I put it on "HDMI 1" so it only works with the playstation (games + movies). It's already time gained.
Trying to keep mine closed as much as I can. I put it on "HDMI 1" so it only works with the playstation (games + movies). It's already time gained.
I could "cut the cord" in a minute, but my husband is addicted to Turner Classic Movies and sports.
I have been known to sit with my laptop, earphones and a DVD of Man Men while he watches whatever he watches. At least we are in the same room!
My hubby and I have never been big television watchers. We do have ESPN due to being crazy football fans, but that's about the extent of our must-watch tv. We're also big nerds and love NatGeo–we've watched about four documentaries in the last few weeks.
The only time we watch on-going shows are through Netflix. We've seen BSG, and are currently watching Glee. I've heard Modern Family is great, so maybe we'll try that next.
I canceled my cable when I moved into my house and replaced rent with mortgage.
Without basic cable, I had to buy the rabbit ears converter boxes when everything went digital a few years back. Since then, one has died and I'm waiting for the 2nd one to follow suit.
Overall, I don't miss it. I can get my baseball audio feel online, most of my shows via hulu or the network site, and really, when I think long and hard about it, I don't even care about the shows I do watch online.
My tv watching habits changed after I had our first child. I needed to record shows that I could watch in the wee hours of the morning while I fed my son but knew I wouldn't be awake or too busy during primetime tv. I also don't watch the news anymore because its too depressing or infuriating.
We scaled back our fios package to save money a few months ago though- diaper prices keep increasing
Nice idea, but I'd miss CNN, headline news and others. I use the Weather channel a lot, also.
Just found "Being Human" on the Syfy channel (there is also a BBC version). Love it!
My husband and I decided almost a year ago that anything on tv worth watching we can catch on hulu. We don't even have basic anymore. When we sold the big screen for the computer-sized screen, I will admit, I had a slight panic attack. But it's been great. The kids watch less, I watch less, and more stuff gets accomplished. I savor the special shows for when I'm folding clothes (it makes folding them bearable).
I don't pay for TV at all.
I use a digital antennae and get about six channels.
The rest of my viewing pleasure comes from free DVDs borrowed from the library. You can even get TV on DVD there so it's a perfect (and cost effective way) to watch.
I don't even have basic cable.
Why?
Because I am a hopeless addict of all things smut/awful/pointless TV. I will watch ALL day if it's available.
I love smut TV like the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" love cat fights, plastic surgery, and fake Manolos. It's B.A.D.{ and quite sad, really}.
Good for you for making a little break from some of it.
Oh, and your three "can't miss" shows? SO there with you. We stream Mad Men onto the laptop, and love watching the other two on the 5 channels we get for free 🙂
I'm still waiting for ANYTHING to top Arrested Development though. Ah, those were the good old days…
Goodness What a great blog, i'm sure you get tired of hearing that! Or perhaps you don't!
🙂 Who am i to judge foibles.
Thanks for some fantastic links!
I will follow your blog with over avid eagerness I'm sure.
i am a brand spanking new author 🙂 Just starting to play. What fun! What fun!
this is Moi! –> https://precociousscribe.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html
Well done
Constance (or some other such name)
Well, despite your advice a few weeks ago to be one of the first 10 commenters, I couldn't get by yesterday, but I want to say that 30 Rock is one of the best scripted shows on TV. For the record, I agree with your top three, but 30 is also amazing and on right after Parks&Rec.
We only have basic cable, too. I was raised on a TV, and so prefer not having so many options that I keep flipping for hours instead of just turning the TV off and reading a good book. The author took the time to think through every sentence and every word. TV shows are written quickly to get to the masses, and it's hard to sense the care involved that is easily found in a nice paperback written with love and passion for words.
nathan- i haven't been by in awhile, so wanted to say hi and I can't believe you're not agenting! whoo!
re: tv: we cut the cord 3 years ago when our cheapy introductory rate expired. glad we did! our electricity bill went down by $15/month and we're more active overall.
We cut the cable about two years ago. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it from time to time (usually on days of big sports events that I have to go over to someone else's house to watch), but most of the time I hardly notice it's gone. I only watch two shows that are airing right now and I can get both of them on Hulu. Anything else I can watch on Netflix whenever I want. And there aren't as many commercials.
I too am considering cutting the cable. I watch very little during the week besides the news and The Daily Show…and it's just too expensive.
I'm still stuck with my parents, but whenever I move out, I plan on not having TV. At all. Yeah. That's right. Why?
Easy – all the shows I watch are *online*. Why would I bother paying for TV when I can just get online, watch my 2 or 3 shows and then be done with it? Half the time I'm only looking for movies on TV anyway, so I might as well just pop in stuff I like and enjoy. 🙂
I think it's ok not to cut the cord, but I do think people should try and be disciplined about the time they spend glued to Jersey Shore etc… just like you need discipline to keep writing!
I couldn't do without cable, if only for USA. Burn Notice, White Collar, Psych.. USA shows are consistently excellent. The rest of the cable channels though aren't really worth it, except the HD versions of the network channels.
I cut the cord about 10 years ago when the local cable company raised their prices again. I had a tight budget then, and it didn't make sense to pay for 70 channels when I watched only 8 of them, 5 of which were free over-the-air broadcasters that my tv could receive with an antenna. Now, I don't see a reason to go back to cable or try satellite when most shows are available online or are released on DVD within a year. Plus, by limiting my live tv choices, I'm less inclined to sit in front of the set and vegetate. I fill up my time by writing, drawing, socializing, or anything else that interests me.