Right now, our household subscribes to the double-play (Extreme HD) from Verizon. The TV-portion of the bill, including three set-top boxes and the miscellaneous fees and taxes amounts to about $120 per month. Currently, we don't have HBO or streaming services like Netflix or Hulu Plus. But, for the holidays, our kids gave us Apple TV. They also purchased (with our money) Seasons I and II of the Newsroom. (We watched the first two episodes last night. Great show!)
It made me think....What would it take to pull the plug on our cable subscription? The answer....ESPN and its affiliated channels offered over-the-top.
A quick assessment....We could get the over-the-air (free) broadcast channels by purchasing antennas for the three rooms with televisions. We would then need two more Apple TVs since we would want to be able to watch "our shows" on any television in the house. Finally, we would need to subscribe to Netflix and Hulu Plus. The bottom line is that we would have an upfront expenditure of about $500, but our monthly charges would drop to about $20 (for Netflix and Hulu Plus). A huge savings! But, without ESPN, we are staying put.
The ball is in ESPN's court. And, a recent agreement with Dish suggests that a move into online streaming is not a head-fake We might be able to cut the cord sooner than we thought!
Business Insider.com - dish-sling-tv
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