With the price of cable going up, and dish offerings that can be sort of… meh depending on where you live, cutting the cord may be right for you. If you are one of those people that has to watch “their shows” as soon as they are available, or you need a specific kinds of sports ball, this may not be for you. In that case, try shopping for a better deal with your cable provider or check out a dish provider.
We’ve been without cable for about 15 years, and Mr. Husband has been without cable for almost 20 years! My kids have never had cable. They don’t miss out, we’ve got an Apple TV, so they can still watch PBS Kids, and we’ve got Hulu too.
With Apple TV, we can watch YouTube (Once the big kid learned about Rube Goldberg machines, it’s all we watched on TV for a week), Hulu, Netflix (we also have a streaming only subscription). We also have an antenna (like this one), so we can watch local over the air TV.
Depending on how strong the signals in your area are, you should be able to receive:
- ABC
- CBS
- NBC
- CW
- Fox
- PBS (We get three PBS channels)
There are additional networks that are available in various areas of the county. Here in So Cal, we also get:
- NBC-2 (Lifestyle)
- NBC-3 (Sports)
- ThisTV
- Me-TV
- MyNetworkTV
Plus we get a few more Spanish language channels, and one Korean language channel.
The thing I like about not having cable is that the kids are not bombarded with commercials for toys, junk food, basic consumer shit that a lot of us were exposed to as kids on TV. I like that the commercials on Hulu are 30 seconds or less and it’s usually only 1 or 2 per break.
And we spend time doing other stuff. Crafts, science, playing with toys, etc. Yesterday we played stuffed animal clinic and built a Lego zoo.
Hewes Family Fun 