The end of a relationship
This Friday will mark the end of one of the longest relationships I've ever been involved in. It wasn't an easy decision to make for a variety of reasons, but it had to be done. I've decided to cancel service from Edinboro's Coaxial Cable TV. Over a decade, Coaxial has increased its basic cable rates about 43 percent (how do I miss thee, days of $27.88 cable bills?), and it's even more if you're a digital cable subscriber. (And where the heck is that HD programming that was promised for this year?) Even with all the additional channels—and I'm know this is a pretty common complaint amongst cable customers—I was consistently watching only a few of them, and lately that's been mostly network programming.
What will I do to satisfy my TV needs? I've purchased this indoor antenna from Wal-Mart, which allows me to pick up the five Erie broadcast stations pretty well. (It takes a little fiddling when you move from station to station, so I'll be getting some exercise from the recliner to the TV.) I've also hooked up an old PC (that thankfully had an S-video output) to my TV and receiver, so I can watch network programming free from their web sites. I tried this out last night with "How I Met Your Mother" from CBS, and it worked pretty well, except that the CBS player wouldn't go full screen in either Internet Explorer or Firefox. Full screen works very well on the TV from Fox and NBC sites, so I can continue to watch The Simpsons, Family Guy, and The Office at my convenience. I may also upgrade my NetFlix subscription, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get through a two-hour movie (which is sort of pathetic). And I'm sure I'll be listening to many more podcasts from NPR and elsewhere.
Will there be things I miss about cable? You bet. South Park, some of the shows on FX, and sitcom reruns always gave me a reason to watch TV instead of doing something else. I'll also miss being able to flip on Monday Night Football and the news channels. But, in the end, I think I'm making the right move by dumping Coaxial.
And there's always Dish Network and DirectTV.
What will I do to satisfy my TV needs? I've purchased this indoor antenna from Wal-Mart, which allows me to pick up the five Erie broadcast stations pretty well. (It takes a little fiddling when you move from station to station, so I'll be getting some exercise from the recliner to the TV.) I've also hooked up an old PC (that thankfully had an S-video output) to my TV and receiver, so I can watch network programming free from their web sites. I tried this out last night with "How I Met Your Mother" from CBS, and it worked pretty well, except that the CBS player wouldn't go full screen in either Internet Explorer or Firefox. Full screen works very well on the TV from Fox and NBC sites, so I can continue to watch The Simpsons, Family Guy, and The Office at my convenience. I may also upgrade my NetFlix subscription, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get through a two-hour movie (which is sort of pathetic). And I'm sure I'll be listening to many more podcasts from NPR and elsewhere.
Will there be things I miss about cable? You bet. South Park, some of the shows on FX, and sitcom reruns always gave me a reason to watch TV instead of doing something else. I'll also miss being able to flip on Monday Night Football and the news channels. But, in the end, I think I'm making the right move by dumping Coaxial.
And there's always Dish Network and DirectTV.
posted by admin@CambridgeSprings.net at 8:10 AM
4 Comments:
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One more thing--just before Thanksgiving, I received the CableCard thing from Coaxial that I assumed would cut off the free premium channels we've had since the new boxes arrived in July--but the premiums all still work after installing the card.
Since you are missing South Park, go to www.allsp.net every episode ever all for your viewing pleasure.
I think you are not the only one that has issues with coaxialcable. I think they have lost many subscribers to satelite services.
http://edinborocable.blogspot.com/
Here is a cable blog just about coaxialcable.
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