Missing the Point of Cord-Cutting (Premium)

Cord-cutting isn’t about saving money, though that’s still very much the case despite recent price increases. It’s about freedom. Period.

Have you ever tried to leave a cable company? Like, really? I had an easier time getting out of Israel when I traveled there for work in 2000, and our small group underwent what felt like an hour of interrogations, with airport security moving from person-to-person to make sure our stories aligned. I also had to open my laptop, let security locate a document, and then explain what it was about.

That comparison will only seem hyperbolic to those who have never tried to drop a cable account. I had an easier time selling my house … OK, sorry. But you get the idea. It ain’t pretty.

It also isn’t the biggest issue with cable (or cable equivalents like FIOS or DirectTV/satellite). The biggest issue is that the monthly price creeps up month after month. A few years in, you’re suddenly wondering why you’re paying $200 per month for a set of channels you never use, a supposed land line that really went VoIP without your knowledge long ago, and, if you’re truly unlucky, some number of cellular phones that are tacked onto the bill. You know, to save money.

It’s infuriating just thinking about it. Cable TV is a black hole of terrible service, terrible hardware, and terrible pricing. And God help you if you need multiple screen support. That cable typically comes with an annual subscription requirement is just the cherry on the shit cake.

Cord-cutting, by which you replace cable TV with some number of online services frees you from all that, assuming, of course, you have a decent Internet connection. Which, ironically, you may need to pay a cable company for. Which is part of the problem: Once you’re sucked into a cable contract with TV service (and phone service, and more, possibly), they don’t want to let you go. And you’ll find, as so many have, that cable will make it “cheaper” for you to stay on your current plan by pricing an Internet-only plan for existing subscribers at some artificially high level.

Som the only option is to leave. And go to another cable provider. Assuming, of course, that you even have a second viable choice where you live.

Yes, it’s daunting. But even in the pre-cord-cutting days, we switched from FIOS to an inferior Comcast service for one year in order to escape from our ever-escalating FIOS costs. We saved almost $100 per month doing this. And when we went back to FIOS a year later as “new” customers, we saved money yet again. Doing this the first time was terrible. But you get used to the EU-style bureaucracy that is designed to keep you down. And you fight through it.

No matter the savings, it’s hard to do this. It’s designed to be hard. But you gotta do it. And once you do, you’re free.

And that’s the point.

Now, you can choose between various cording cutting services—YouTube TV, PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now, and others—at a price of $40 to $50 per month. You can choose one or more services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Now, and more at $10 to $15 per month that you also find valuable. And at the end of that, you total price (which should include Internet access) will be somewhere south of what cable was costing you. And perhaps somewhere around what a new cable TV subscription would cost you, if temporarily. Because, again, that subscription is really a rope-a-dope scheme of ever-escalating prices and lock-in.

Yes, cord-cutting services are getting more expensive. And yes, part of the reason is the same reason that cable TV keeps getting more expensive: The channel bundles are getting more expensive for them, and they’re passing along the costs to consumers.

But giving up on cord-cutting because of this reality is a mistake. These services are still new, they are still relatively unpopular, and there is room for improvement. But remember that you can quit one and choose another if you don’t like the service or the price.

The recent YouTube TV price-hike, for example, came about because YouTube TV is now offering more channels, like Discovery and HGTV. The problem with this price hike isn’t the additional $5 per month. It’s that you, as a YouTube TV subscriber, must pay this cost whether you want those channels are not. It will add complexity, but perhaps there is a solution which includes tiers of channels so that those who only need basic channels can pay less.

Yes, just like cable TV.

Except it’s not just like cable TV: In addition to whatever channel selection you get, YouTube TV and other cord-cutting services offer functionality that is absent from cable TV. YouTube TV, specifically, provides free unlimited DVR storage space, 6 accounts per household (each with its own recorded shows), and 3 simultaneous streams with no-per screen hardware rental costs each month. Try getting any of that for free from cable TV.

Better still, all of those services I mentioned, plus all the services I did not, are month-to-month, so there’s no lock-in. You could pay for Netflix for one month, for example, and binge-watch all the Netflix shows you want. Then you could quit and sign-up for Hulu, or whatever, and do the same. Mad at YouTube TV’s high pricing? Maybe just subscribe during the NFL Football season, if that’s your thing.

Again, that’s the point. You can come and go as you please. And you can take advantage of free offers for new subscribers each time you do so, extending that month to 5-8 weeks, depending on the service.

And you can do so on the go, too: All of these services are available on our phones, tablets, and PCs too. My son is at college in a different state and he can access many of the services we’re paying for. That isn’t possible with cable TV, not to the degree it is with standalone services.

Put simply, there is no point at which cord-cutting services get more expensive and are still not a better deal than cable TV. And whatever amount of management is required to understand your options, choose the best services for you, and then keep on top of that is absolutely worth it. We collectively need to be more mindful about virtually everything in our lives anyway. Choosing the terribleness of cable because it’s easy isn’t just bad for your wallet. It’s bad for your mind and your soul.

I will say on a personal level that cord-cutting services have had another dramatic impact on how my wife and I, and now our kids, watch TV. We don’t watch TV. We don’t care about weekly nonsense, whether it’s drama or reality TV or anything else. Instead, we are now more selective, and we choose only the highest-quality shows that we can binge-watch all at once. We recently subscribed to HBO Now, for example, and are binging award-winning and excellent shows like Veep, Barry, and Game of Thrones. And we also enjoy its excellent documentaries, deep movie selection, and older shows, like The Sopranos, which we may watch again in its entirety soon as well.

Folks, this is what freedom feels like. And if the net cost to us per month is not much different from cable—and, for us, it still very much is—so be it. It’s still much better. Cord-cutting is a win. And that’s true no matter the cost.