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.
You should be watching Community. Best show on TV.
I've never really understood the aversion to television. As long as it's not your only source of entertainment, why not watch T.V.? Sometimes, after a week of running around constantly, being around people all the time, and taking in endless reams of information, it's just nice to sit and veg out in front of the television for a little while.
That said, I'm quite sure I watch much more television now than I did when I was younger.
Nathan,
I was going to tell you not to shit where you eat, but if CBS is one of your handful of channels they should be happy.
I'm wondering if it would be possible for you to pick up more digital channels with an antenna than paying for basic cable? I've tried the indoor antennas and they suck. I bolted a Wingaurd (sp?)to my roof and was able to pick up about 20 channel between Chicago and Madison. If you search Google for "over the air digital TV" you will find a site which tells you which channels are in your area.
Unfortunately I'm a DIY and HDTV junkie.
We fired our Cable company two months ago and haven't looked back. Have a ROKU box and Netflix and digital rabbit ears (we get about 20 HD channels with this alone). We watch MAYBE one regular show – Big Bang Theory – a week.
Have watched a lot of interesting movies and documentaries.
And of course READ!!!!
My husband and I ditched cable a couple of years ago because we just weren't watching that much tv. Now we can't even get regular television channels and that's ok. I watch streaming shows on Netflix on my XBox or on Hulu and if I can't get something on either of those that I really want to watch, I'll buy a season pass on Zune on my XBox. Right now I only watch Supernatural this way. I really don't miss cable as much as I thought I would.
We have basic cable. We'd have even less if it were possible, but we have to buy cable to get cable internet (and I'd give up my hot water before I gave up my cable internet). College pretty much weaned me off TV. I'd rather be writing 🙂 But I do watch nikita online.
Welcome to our world Nathan! Cable cutting is taking over my friend. Haven't had it now for a year plus. I also happen to be writing much more in that time frame. And if you ever want to watch something the internet has it all anyway. TV is only useful for live sports these days.
In New Zealand we have "Sky TV", which is like your cable. I too have been thinking about cancelling or suspending our account. Over the last few months there's only been a couple of good shows a week, if you don't count the regular shows they have on every day about antiques and food.
I suggested this to my husband and he protested vehemently.
Basic cable for us as well. I am happy Parks and Rec is back, and we also are mad for 30 Rock.
I just watched a program I "missed" on my computer and it was way better as there were only a few seconds of commercials, not enough to interrupt the program the way TV commercials do.
NOW that I realize all my shows can be seen on my computer,my biggest consideration is just the "sharing the show" part with my hubby.
Hmm, but now some ideas on rabbit ears. Thanks guys. I thought they wouldn't work anymore after TV changed over.
We only have basic cable. Our ah ha moment came when my husband and I figured out we were watching a lot of DIY home improvement shows when we could be working on the house. DUH! Couldn't agree with you more. Bring back Seinfeld! ; )
I cut the cable a few years ago. I work in television and find Reality TV impossible to watch. I found that the only thing I was watching were sports and cable shows. Oh, and sometimes the news.
Now, my smartphone gives me the news.
Netflix gives me a season's worth of good tv shows. All I have to do is wait, and I don't mind waiting.
And I get the sports via my computer.
To the list of great scripted shows I'd add to yours; Dexter, Southland and The Closer.
All available on your computer.
My tv is rarely even on anymore.
I am a former news and reality tv junky who gave it all up for only two channels 9 years ago
I still dream of Jeff though-can´t hep it 🙂
We've cut it totally. Haven't had television for three years, except for a brief stint when I was home on maternity leave.
The only two shows I miss (and which I watch on the internet at their channel sites) are Bones and The Vampire Diaries.
I don't miss anything else except news. And anything important in the news is on CNN live. 🙂
I watch TV less than anyone in my house… but I haven't cut the (DirecTV) because it makes a great babysitter for my husband. Um, I mean my kids.
Embarrassed to say I read, The Great Gatsby, for the first time two months ago. Loved it!
Big Bang, Modern Family and Glee, that's about all our family watches. Guess I should think about cutting the cable too.
I've never had more than basic cable, and that I only pay for because I need it to get decent reception. The few shows I still watch are on network tv, and for everything else, there's Netflix. There's just too much else I'd much rather do than watch tv.
I have lived WITHOUT A TV for SIXTEEN MONTHS now!!! It's amazing how life changes…and how much you can still watch online these days. Saving a lot of money and got wayyyyy more writing etc done last year.
I have the opposite problem: all the shows I follow are on premium channels (Showtime, HBO, Logo, Bravo, SyFy, RFD-TV). Many of these are not available on Hulu yet, and I'd have to wait until the seasons came out on DVD to rent. To cut cable means to go without completely.
I wish there were an ala carte option, whereby one could pick and choose only the "favorites" and leave the remaining 7,000 channels off the roster.
Well, I suppose there is–iTunes subscriptions might do the trick. Hmm. You've given me an idea.
Oh, I stopped watching TV 10 years ago and haven't really missed it. I don't even own a TV and don't want one.
But now I have the distraction of the internet. Smack in the middle of writing something, I suddenly have this "urge" to check my email.
So, I turn everything off, do my work, get some reading done and then at the end of the day, have fun on the internet and deal with the emails I didn't get done during the say.
Basic is what we've been the last four years since returning from Asia where we lived for a couple of decades (without cable). The only reason for Basic is because the antenna has terrible reception, it comes cheap with the internet connection, and I like to watch the local news on occasion – plus Bill Moyers was great before he retired.
No cable whatsoever. BUT I just finished The Great Gatsby over the weekend :-). I absolutely loved it. Pop culture melds with Shakespeare…so genius.
Also, I came across this youtube of The Office spliced together to form The Great Gatsby. It made me laugh.
the office
a girl & her books
Can't do it, as I have a package deal–cable, phone and Internet. Reduce the size of the cable package and I also reduce how much I can download per month.
I've talked to the cable company about reducing the cable but keeping the Internet at top levels. They don't allow that. Nor do they allow me to pick which channels I'd like to pay for. Because there are plenty of channels I never watch and never will…but I'm not allowed to just pay for what I use. It's very silly.
Once we reached the point that even the ten-year-old had his own laptop, someone IM’d someone else to turn the TV off because it was so noisy and no one was watching it.
But really, the ten-year-old usually plays outside until the sun goes down and then reads until he falls asleep, unless this schedule is interrupted by whatever sport practice is in season. We are all so busy that we watch things on Vudu or Netflix when we really want to see something, and most days no one even bothers to find the remote.
We could save some serious $ if we made the call to cut the cable. I think we are ready to take that step too.
I don't have cable at all. I used to have bunny ears, but now I have the digital version of bunny ears, which btw STINKS! because that fuzzy picture that you could sort of watch, but more listen to doesn't come in at all now. It shows an icon, No Signal. Boo! I want my static back! LOL 😀 Besides that though, no cable is not that bad anymore. I get lots of channels…and I even catch reruns of Burn Notice, not to mention THREE channels of PBS that feature all the cool stuff PBS used to never have, including craft, cooking, world news, travel, and kid shows. It's like cable, compressed into three stations.
Way to go Nathan. A dollar saved is a dollar earned. 😉 LOL
I've got cable but I'm the only one in my family who doesn't really watch TV all that much. Everyone else does! I only watch roughly two hours a week.
~TRA
https://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
I have no television.
Okay, technically I DO have A television. It doesn't work. I tried to turn it on one day so my mom and I could watch a movie (Time Traveler's Wife. The only way I can get them to read good books is to go watch the movies based on the good books) and the thing made a fizzling sound, and has since refused to turn on.
It is not missed. I have the internet (and an employer who buys 52 inch flatscreen TVs for the breakroom) and if I really want a movie, I can buy the download off of Amazon. And because there are three or four things I need to be doing at any given moment (work on knitting designs, paint something, write, read a book) having a TV that actually functioned wouldn't be a good plan.
And I hate reality television (excepting Deadliest Catch) because most of the time it portrays terrible people doing things a brainless monkey would know not to do. (Teen Mom. TEEN. MOM. WE ARE GLORIFYING PEOPLE MAKING REALLY BAD LIFE DECISIONS GOD HELP US ALL) Most scripted TV is also terrible (2 1/2 men) and the handful of exceptions have lost me due to my not having a TV. If I want a well written story I will buy a book.
I think I'm going to take the tube out of the Telepaperweight and turn it into a bookcase. Just 'cause.
I actually just RESTARTED my cable for the specific purpose of having ESPN. And, almost immediately upon the cable guy leaving, I realized that you can get quite a bit of ESPN programming live through their website. So…
Hi Nathan,
Last year I gave up cable TV for Lent…and never turned it back on. Not only has it been better for my check book, it's been good for my spirit. I used to be addicted and if the tube was on i couldn't get anything done! Especially Writing!
It's been a year now, and I couldn't be happier. I can get most all of the shows I enjoy (Castle, NCIS, Project Runway, Bones) online the day after they air!
And I've written one book and working on another…thinking of writing a screenplay, too! And I see my friends more, socializing now with REAL people rather than the 2D ones….And I've read a lot more as well.
Good for you!! I look forward to your post one year from now celebrating "Cutting the Cable."
Nathan! I just had to comment because I'm currently re-reading The Great Gatsby too–albeit for school, haha. I just love everything about it, especially the setting and the melancholic descriptions of the summer as it comes to its tragic close. Great choice after years of being unable to pleasure re-read!
I usually watch t.v. at night as a break from writing & blogging. No network, just cable channels and movies.
Never had cable. Ever! There are times I think I'd like it, but I have a few shows on regular TV that I watch regularly and that's enough for me!
I haven't had cable, satellite or as much as rabbit ears in 8 years. All my "TV" needs are satisfied through the internet. While everyone complains about paying for HuLu or pays a monthly NetFlix bill I enjoy the free TV shows on the internet right from the three main channels. ABC.com, NBC.com, and CBS.com. THey are as easy to change channels as they always were.
Then I budget in about $20 a month for iTunes downloads. No TV bill what so ever. The only thing I can't get this way is any sports, and that is fine. I can read in the paper.
I will never go back to a TV bill.
Hubs and I have never had cable. Whatever comes through the antenna seems to be fine, and I only need to see House, 30 Rock, The Office and Masterpiece Theater. Netflix is a godsend and I highly recommend HBO's Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Superb TV!
Other than that, I'm reading. (Right now Daniel Abraham's four Long Price Quartet books. Awesome!)
Any TV watched in my house is either streamed from the network or Netflix, or bought per episode or season.
We tried cable TV twice. The DVR kept filling up, and we never used it.
As a college student, my free time for both television and pleasure reading has decreased the closer I get to graduating.
And I agree with Nate Wilson. For the price of Cable TV, I could buy six paperbacks or two hardcover books. I get much more out of reading a book for the first time, than turning my brain off for 24 minutes.
My husband is glued to the TV from the moment he walks into the house. It pulls him in like a magnet. I can't understand it. But he's not a reader. So what's left? I like only a couple of shows. That's it. Much rather prefer to read, write, learn…
Good for you! Money saved.
I can't afford Pay TV – which is what we call it in Aussie – and I'm not a big TV fan. IMHO, which no one else might agree with, I feel the Brits produce the best TV in the world. I love BBC shows like Merlin, The Vicar of Dibley, Dr Who and BBC documentaries. I'm not enamoured with the endless police and murder type shows from the U.S or the over-the-top sitcoms. (Again, this is just IMHO.) However I feel the U.S. does a very entertaining reality TV show. Programs such as The Bachelor and American Idol have me watching every episode. I have to resort to Youtube for American Idol, though, as it's only available on Foxtel or Star something or other.
Nope, 'cause my hubs is a TV addict, we're fully cable-fied. Although I love TV, I'm pretty disciplined about my watching: only my few favorites (Modern Family and Mad Men included), and only during "brain dead" time.
We have TV, but I don't watch much except for peeking in on some Glenn Beck when Mom watches it, and Big Bang Theory — which is a lovely way to waste time, I tell you! I don't get into movies much either — except good stuff, like Inception, Batman Begins, and Dark Knight. ;D
I find I just don't have much time for TV, what with a full time job, kids, and writing. And since I am not an agent, I definitely prefer reading to watching the tube. But I do have a couple faves.
I'm down to antenna only. On an HDTV… just as good as cable reception.
I stopped watching TV in 1982. My only regret is never seeing the final episode of MASH. That's it.
"The rest is silence."
I have box sets of The Tudors, Deadwood and Big Love. What more does one need?
The Borgias, that's what. Bring it, Showtime.
With rabbit ears I get cbs, abc, nbc, fox, cw/wb, 4 or 5 PBS stations, a weather channel, pentagon channel, and about six stations in Spanish. I go to Hulu for what I miss seeing at its original air time. Why pay for anything when I get that much for free? I'm hooked on Fringe right now.
Try rabbit ears for digital signals. You might get more stations than you do with basic cable.
We LOVE TV and movies! We had the platinum version of cable that included EVERYTHING for over a year, and we loved it. But we work in the industry and we're too busy to watch all the shows we record. We'd have marathon sessions watching all the CSI episodes we'd taped, then all the Dexters, then all the Chucks, etc. And we'd fall exhausted into bed. Then one day someone invited us for lunch on a Saturday – TV watching day! When we hesitated to say yes, we realized maybe we had a tiny problem. LOL! So we cut it all the way back to basic – and then summer came and we weren't missing anything. Now we're reading more again, so we rent or buy the full season of whatever we can't see and we have a marathon session at our own leisure. (We just watched all four years of Farscape over three months! Awesome!)
When my wife and I bought our house, our monthly outflow for housing went from $1100/month to $1400, and my wife was only working part time, so we cut cable. We watch HDTV using rabbit ears and TiVO, and it works great. Anything we can't watch that way, we either wait for DVD or watch it on Hulu.
That said, I'm also almost always within reach of several books, so a lot of reading gets done, too.
…cut the cable when my daughter was 5 years old…she's now a scholarship sophomore at Yale…
Holy cow, if you ever get to this one, Nathan, I'll be giddy. My husband and I have thought of cutting cable for awhile now. The problem is, we get cable/cable internet in a bundle and we'd only save about $10 if we cut the cable and kept the internet. It doesn't really seem worth it.
My name is Kerry Gans. I have NO cable! That's right, just broadcast TV.
Even before our baby came along, I only watched a little TV – my husband didn't even HAVE a TV before we married. After the baby came, well, forget about it! Any time I have free is for writing and other things that do not involve the TV. So, broadcast works for us!
We've never had cable, but just bought a new wide-screen TV because are old one packed in.
Now, there are lot's of new channels, but I still don't watch it much. The only programes I watch are the news and animal shows. I can't miss Bondi Vet. (Chris Brown is awesome.)
I mainly write, read, work, excersise, and life. No time left for TV.
I don't want to alarm you with The CrazyTalk here, but I recommend ditching cable altogether. We did years ago and don't miss it at all. Between the internet, Netflix, Hulu, etc. we can get pretty much everything we need, with the added benefit of a friends and family filter ("Hey, we just finished watching seasons one and two of Lie to Me. What do you recommend watching next?").
Also? You could spend even *more* money on books published before 2005/1930. 😉