Flow charts: Ditch cable and still watch TV
The path to relaxing on your couch has never been such a brain exercise.
But the recent announcement of the Sony PlayStation VUE, HBO Now and other services -- and all-but-confirmed details about a new streaming TV service from Apple -- now is the time to take a serious look at the potential money-saving benefits of cutting the cord, a.k.a. opting out of a cable subscription and instead signing up for an Internet service.
Is nixing cable right for you?
Depending on your programming needs, cutting the cord could be well within reach. In three flow charts, we look at the best solution for three types of TV watchers: the sports lover, the news junkie and the entertainment addict. Each service will require a Smart TV or a streaming box (Apple TV, Roku or Amazon Fire, for example), plus a subscription.
THE NEWS JUNKIE
Notes for news junkies:
- You read correctly, we're suggesting an over-the-air antenna, and it's not 1983. Depending on your location, connecting your TV to an antenna can provide you with several local stations — in digital HD and free! WikiHow has an easy tutorial on connecting an antenna. Although some antennas can get strong reception inside your home, you might need to install one on your roof, which is not for the clumsy or the faint of heart.
- What's the hoopla with ABC and Good Morning America? For $49.99 a month, PlayStation VUE offers 50 channels, including several options for news lovers, including local stations. The exception is channels owned by Disney. That means no ABC (and no ESPN either, but we'll get to that). You decide — is it time to join team Today show?
- Another potential PlayStation VUE deal-breaker: The service only works with a PlayStation 3, which retails at $150, or the PlayStation 4, which costs $399. And for now, it's only available in the New York, Chicago and Philadelphia markets.
THE ENTERTAINMENT ADDICT
Notes for entertainment addicts:
- From Empire to The Good Wife, several of today's most-talked-about shows are on network channels (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox). In many areas, these channels are accessible immediately for free with the installation of an over-the-air antenna. For more information, see the above note for news junkies.
- If you can resist the urge to live-tweet your favorite shows, Hulu Plus is your best bet. For a $7.99 monthly subscription, you get the current top shows a day after they air. For ad-free binge-watching of original shows and past seasons of popular network and cable shows, stick to Netflix ($9.99 a month) or Amazon Prime ($99 a year).
- If watching live is what you're looking for, Sling connects you to 20 channels for $20 a month. For a more extensive channel list, PlayStation VUE ($49.99 per month) gives you 50 stations. Both Sling and VUE have add-on packages, as well.
- HBO watchers must stick to cable or wait for Apple's to-be-released streaming service, which has exclusively landed the channel as a launch exclusive for three months, before becoming available with other services. (Or borrow a friend's HBOGO account, which has the OK from HBO's CEO.)
THE SPORTS LOVER
Notes for sports lovers:
- Your cord-cutting options revolve around one question: Do you need ESPN? If you're a sports lover, the chances are the answer is "yes." That's why we've excluded PlayStation VUE from this flow chart.
- Sling is the only service right now that offers ESPN channels, plus TNT and TBS, which carry NBA and MLB games. Apple's new streaming service is also expected to carry ESPN.
- For the ardent baseball, basketball or hockey fan, MLB.TV, NBA League Pass or NHL Center Ice are viable options, with a massive amount of games. But they are not for the hometown fan. Each individual service blacks out the home team's games, even when that team is playing on the road. Bummer.