For the past few decades, home entertainment and television have been tied to cable and satellite television. Families have paid ever-increasing fees in order to have the latest in television, including large amounts for premium channels that could only be purchased through the cable companies’ various packages. In recent years, the rise of Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and the possibility of HBO Go becoming available without cable has helped people see that their entertainment doesn’t need to cost hundreds of dollars a month, and just as much entertainment can be had without a cable subscription.
What to Watch
Something that often scares people is that when they get rid of cable, they can’t just flip on the TV and start channel surfing, which has become something of a comforting habit for television watchers. Instead, you can go to exactly what you plan on watching, and not have to sit through a million commercials or other shows to get to what you want to watch. Surprisingly, there is a very, very large representation of all shows on these alternative services, so finding your favorite show shouldn’t be an issue.
Availability
Some people worry that their favorite shows won’t be watchable any longer if they cancel cable or satellite. Between all of the different providers, there’s a very good change that your favorite shows will be playing somewhere, and you can even purchase some individual seasons of some cable network shows from the likes of TLC and Discovery on YouTube and Amazon Prime. Basically, there’s no reason to watch anything other than what you want to watch, and the likelihood is that what you want is available, and for much cheaper too.
New Shows
One thing that may be a little more difficult is finding new shows to watch. Since you’ll be actively searching rather than passively waiting for the next thing to come on, it may not come quite as quickly. However, that is not too big of a hindrance. Services like Hulu Plus will automatically start other shows in the same genre so you can give them a shot, and Netflix has a feature that recommends similar features. The beauty of this is that you will not have to sit through a new sow that you don’t like or channel surf for a new one, you can just effortlessly change to something you will like.
Sports
Unfortunately, one hold out in the internet television game is network sports, and that is something that keeps many people from making the switch. Unfortunately, there’s no avenue for people to get their NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL fixes online yet, so fans are reluctant to get rid of their coverage until sports networks untie their programming from cable or satellite packages. However, the sports networks are realizing that this is a void that needs to be filled, and it is likely that they will start to offer simple plans separate from cable companies.
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