• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Cord-Cutting Services Are Following Cable TV's Footsteps

bbodb1

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
Messages
4,305
Reaction score
3,824
Points
348
Location
High radiation belt of the Northern Hemisphere
Resorts Owned
RCI Weeks: LaCosta Beach Club, RCI Points: Oakmont Resort, Vacation Village at Parkway. Wyndham: CWA and La Belle Maison, and WorldMark.
We've almost reached the point where another wave of cord cutting options should be materializing soon as a reaction to the too high pricing.
Some outfit, somewhere needs to start the a-la-carte option to allow viewers to pick exactly the channels they want.
 

Steve Fatula

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
3,723
Reaction score
2,718
Points
349
Location
Calera, OK
We've almost reached the point where another wave of cord cutting options should be materializing soon as a reaction to the too high pricing.
Some outfit, somewhere needs to start the a-la-carte option to allow viewers to pick exactly the channels they want.

Good luck with that. The media companies mostly resist a la carte. If you are a provider and you want HGTV, you must also carry this list of channels else we will not sell you HGTV.

There are already good alternatives to the high priced packages. They just don't include sports and news, that should tell you something about the cost of those channels.
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
Good luck with that. The media companies mostly resist a la carte. If you are a provider and you want HGTV, you must also carry this list of channels else we will not sell you HGTV.

There are already good alternatives to the high priced packages. They just don't include sports and news, that should tell you something about the cost of those channels.

Steve, this thread has me exploring cord cutting options. We already have Apple TV 4K boxes on our 4K TVs. Do you know if Philo and similar offer high definition signals? OTA local channels are a challenge for where we live (north of Seattle, and in an area that doesn't get good OTA signals - already tried it with a digital antenna, with poor results.)

But if I can cut a pot of money out of the entertainment costs by dumping the services we don't use or watch, then I'm all for letting the cable go the way of our cell phone carrier. (Last Fall I dumped Verizon after nearly 20 years, for Consumer Cellular. I have a better package of phone service, the same coverage, and I'm paying about half as much. Major savings.) As my retirement is coming faster every day, the idea of cutting costs is important. This is an area that is a huge savings for us.

Dave
 

Steve Fatula

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
3,723
Reaction score
2,718
Points
349
Location
Calera, OK
Steve, this thread has me exploring cord cutting options. We already have Apple TV 4K boxes on our 4K TVs. Do you know if Philo and similar offer high definition signals? OTA local channels are a challenge for where we live (north of Seattle, and in an area that doesn't get good OTA signals - already tried it with a digital antenna, with poor results.)

But if I can cut a pot of money out of the entertainment costs by dumping the services we don't use or watch, then I'm all for letting the cable go the way of our cell phone carrier. (Last Fall I dumped Verizon after nearly 20 years, for Consumer Cellular. I have a better package of phone service, the same coverage, and I'm paying about half as much. Major savings.) As my retirement is coming faster every day, the idea of cutting costs is important. This is an area that is a huge savings for us.

Dave

They are all HD, except for those rare channels that do not provide an HD feed, typically off channels like maybe MTV Classic or oldies type channels. Your main problem will be sports, news, and possibly locals. If you want them, you will pay way more. For us, don't care about major news channels, we get locals via huge antenna, and, sports I care about but not willing to pay that much so will find other sports or go to a place that shows sports for the games I must see and cannot otherwise get.

You tried a large antenna, or, just a typical in house antenna? My 18' (or so) easily pulls from very long distances, over hills. Perfect, do not lose signal ever.
 

sdbrier

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
Messages
572
Reaction score
249
Points
403
Location
West Central Indiana
Just an FYI. I’ve been using the same Winegard antenna for 25 yrs. long before the advent of HD. It work just fine and I get all OTA HD channels just fine. Don’t fall for sales hype. A good antenna works still. Without digital in its name.
 

Steve Fatula

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
3,723
Reaction score
2,718
Points
349
Location
Calera, OK
Just an FYI. I’ve been using the same Winegard antenna for 25 yrs. long before the advent of HD. It work just fine and I get all OTA HD channels just fine. Don’t fall for sales hype. A good antenna works still. Without digital in its name.

This is a good reminder and so true. It's like TS marketing. You need an HD antenna, blah blah. Size does matter in antennas though.
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
You tried a large antenna, or, just a typical in house antenna? My 18' (or so) easily pulls from very long distances, over hills. Perfect, do not lose signal ever.

Outdoor antennas are prohibited in my neighborhood (HOA rules) except for satellite dishes. The digital antenna I tried was one of those that sticks flat to a window. I'm looking at moving out of state within a year or two, so it's more for long-term planning, than immediate need.

Dave
 

Steve Fatula

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
3,723
Reaction score
2,718
Points
349
Location
Calera, OK
Outdoor antennas are prohibited in my neighborhood (HOA rules) except for satellite dishes. The digital antenna I tried was one of those that sticks flat to a window. I'm looking at moving out of state within a year or two, so it's more for long-term planning, than immediate need.

Dave

They can try to ban them all they want (was involved in many HOA over the years, and not merely as a consumer). We could not ban antennas.

https://www.groundedreason.com/tv-antennas-fcc-hoa/

You tried a small one then, not enough surface area to pull in tougher signals. So, when (if) you move, consider what will be needed and if the house will support such an antenna. In my houses case, we custom built the house, and the wiring and position was already known at design time. While outdoor is always better, we got the massive one instead so we could mount inside in the attic. Not because of any illegal rule against antennas, but, because of wind. I don't want to have to re-point it after a wind storm. We had an 80 mph gust 2 nights ago. I don't want to deal with it! So, a small investment for a massive stacked antenna was worth no hassle.

For TV services, things will probably be a lot different in 2 years, we'll see how it goes. For Philo, the content companies like Viacom, Discovery, etc. are part owners. Hopefully this is an advantage moving forward. Shouldn't at least have any contract disputes!
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
For TV services, things will probably be a lot different in 2 years, we'll see how it goes. For Philo, the content companies like Viacom, Discovery, etc. are part owners. Hopefully this is an advantage moving forward. Shouldn't at least have any contract disputes!

Lots to research. And the tech is kind of a moving target. :)

Dave
 

Ralph Sir Edward

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
2,873
Reaction score
3,501
Points
448
Location
Plano, Texas
This thread made me break out my "green eye shades". . . :D

I was an early adopter of DVDs. I had a music library of CDs and a nice book library. I decided that I wanted a "video" library. When I saw a DVD on a early HDTV, I was hooked.

I now have around 2,000 DVDs (and a few Blu-Rays, replacing bad transfers of DVDs) Movies, TV shows, concerts, documentaries, ect. It has taken around 20 years, and cost me around $20-$25 thousand.

However. . . .

If I had bought cable @$80 a month for that period, I would have spent $19,200 on cable. :ponder: You know, not a whole lot less, and none of my discs force me to watch a commercial. And I can watch <any> of it, and <any> time I want to.

You know there's a lot of material out there, that you may never have seen. Does it matter if it is new, as long as it is new to you?
 

SandyPGravel

Guest
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
1,710
Reaction score
1,148
Points
223
Location
De Forest, Wisconsin
Resorts Owned
Westin St. John Plat+
2 BR-VGV
Westin St. John Plat
2 BR-BV
While outdoor is always better, we got the massive one instead so we could mount inside in the attic.

I'm curious about this. What exactly did you put in the attic? I don't want a large antenna on the outside of my house and my attic space is HUGE. (Because of roof pitch it looks like we have a three story house. )
 

Steve Fatula

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
3,723
Reaction score
2,718
Points
349
Location
Calera, OK
You put an outdoor antenna. I put a stacked antenna so that it's less huge, that just means it's a few antennas stacked on top each other.

Kind of like this:

49936045_scaled_349x262.jpg
 
Top