"Save thousands of dollars while watching the shows you love"
I'd like to help you save thousands of dollars by showing you how to set up free and cheap alternatives to cable and satellite TV. And it's completely legal!
The average cable customer spends $75 a month on cable. That's $900 per year for the rest of your life, or about $45,000 in your lifetime! Why pay when you can watch many of the same shows for much less or free? People are dropping cable in record numbers (an estimated 425,000 people abandoned cable in Q2 2012). Why not figure out how to watch TV without paying for cable starting right now?
The solution to the ridiculous cost of cable TV is to switch to FREE broadcast TV using an antenna for the network shows (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.). If you want to rent videos as well, you can get a set-top box like Roku or Apple TV. If you want to watch all of the free video from the Internet on your TV, you can connect your computer to your TV. It's all explained on disableMycable.
Start With Free Broadcast Digital TV
Did you know that most people can receive the major network channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW), plus PBS and local stations in Hi-Def for free? It's called broadcast digital TV. (I was able to get thirty channels total). It takes a little leg work to set it up, but I'll guide you through it. Click below to see if you have the right kind of TV, and if you are in the right location for FREE broadcast digital TV:
see if you can get free
broadcast digital TV now
If you have a flat-screen TV, here is a quick and dirty way to test your TV to make sure it has the right kind of input, even if you don't have an antenna at the moment:
a quick way to test your TV now
The Station Finder:
See Which Channels You Can Get!
To see which channels YOU can get using an antenna, enter your zip code below and hit the button. You will see a map of your area. Wait a few seconds for the colored list of stations to appear on the left. The stations in green are ones you should be able to get with a little tweaking using a cheap antenna. The ones in yellow will require more tweaking and probably a better antenna. The ones in orange will require a good antenna and lots of tweaking or an amplified or outdoor antenna. The list is not exact, but will give you a ballpark idea of the number of channels you should be able to get.
If you have a modern flat-screen TV (the kind that you can hang on a wall), all you need is an antenna to get these channels. An old rabbit-ear antenna will do in many cases, and you'll be getting most of these channels in high-definition, often in better quality than you got with cable! If you have an old tube TV, you can still get these channels but you'll need a DTV converter box, and they won't be in HD.
For detailed instructions on how to hook up your antenna and configure your TV, go to the broadcast TV page on this site!
My New Favorite Antenna
Want a sleek indoor antenna that's almost as thin as a sheet of paper? I tried this amazing technology out and found it to be better than a bulky metal antenna, for less money! Check out my review here!
The white sheet on the right is the Mohu Leaf Antenna, not much bigger than a piece of paper. It brings in more channels than the bulky metal antenna on the left! You can hang it on a wall behind a picture frame!
Other Alternatives to Cable and Satellite TV
My other main source of free TV programming comes from the Internet. Most of the major networks have websites with FREE full recent episodes. Check out my Internet Remote Control for links to all of these free TV sites. The main catch is that you can only watch them on a desktop or laptop computer. Most of these sites don't work on a tablet or on any set-top boxes.
If you are willing to pay a little, there are a plethora of set-top boxes and services that offer on-demand programming. Examples include the Roku, Apple TV, and Google TV devices. These devices connect to the Internet through your Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable and stream movies and shows to your TV. It's like having a movie rental store in your home. These cost around $99. If you have a gaming console (Wii, XBOX, PS3), you already have what you need. More info on these here.
Once you have one of these boxes, you can stream programs from pay-per-show sites like Amazon, iTunes, and others. Or, you can subscribe to a service like Netflix and Hulu Plus and stream unlimited shows for a fixed monthly fee. Here's an overview of services.
Personally, I am a cheapskate. I don't want to pay anything to watch TV. If you want to watch all of the free video from the Internet on your TV, you can connect your computer directly to your TV, bypassing the need for a set-top box. Most modern flat-screen TV's have a computer input. If you have an old computer lying around, why not try it? If your TV doesn't have a computer input, you can still do this if you get a video output card or usb interface for your computer. Go to my computer+TV page for more info.
Don't forget about borrowng DVDs from friends and family, and from your local library!
Review: Roku - Why it Might Be Better Than Apple TV
What is Roku and can it replace cable TV? Is it better than Apple TV? Get the answers here.
How to Save Money If You Want to Keep Cable
What if you want to keep cable? If you love to watch sports in real time played by teams that are not in your local area, cable/satellite are probably the only viable options for you. If you live in a remote area, far from digital TV transmitters, you might not be able to get good broadcast reception. If you don't want to deal with antennas, websites, set-top boxes, and the like, or if you simply enjoy surfing through lots of channels without putting much thought into what you want to watch, cable is for you.
Here are some ways to save money if you keep cable:
Negotiate with your cable company. Call them up and tell them you want to cancel cable because it's too expensive. When I did this, they immediately offered me a $15 discount off of my $57/month cable bill if I agreed to a one year contract. This is an unpublished rate. That still wasn't worth it for me, so I passed on it, but it's there if you want it.
Cut the extras. Take a look at your bill and see if you're really using all of the services you're paying for. If you cut a movie channel package, for example, would the money saved by cancelling it pay for a Netflix account that would give you greater satisfaction? Cutting down to basic cable has another nice advantage outlined next.
Ditch the cable TV box and remote. If you just want basic cable, you might not need to use the cable TV box - you can try hooking the cable right into your TV (if it is a modern flat-screen LCD/Plasma/LED). The cable TV companies let you believe that you need a cable box to get high-definition. You often don't. In fact, you'll probably get better picture quality by hooking your cable directly to your TV instead of going through the cable box. The difference can be tremendous. Ditch the cable box and remote control "rental fees". (Plus, you'll save $10 to $30 per year in electricity costs - those set-top boxes really use a lot of power!)
If you want to save on your Internet bill as well, check out some ideas here, including one that will save you 50% no matter who your Internet provider is.
My Story
I was a loyal cable TV customer for all of my adult life, paying about $34/month for basic cable. Then I moved to a different city where the cost was $52/month for basic cable. I paid it and figured, "well, that's just the cost of getting TV". More and more, however, I realized that I wasn't getting good TV. I was just surfing through the channels over and over looking for good TV. Then, my 6-month "introductory cable rate" ended and my cable bill went up to $57/month. Sure, it was only a few dollars more, but that was the last straw. After a few months of putting up with the higher cost and lack of good shows, I decided to disableMycable and try broadcast digital TV. The first thing I tried was an old rabbit-ear antenna that I had from the pre-digital TV days... Read the rest of the story here.
Your Internet TV Remote Control
People have asked me for an easy way to watch their favorite TV shows on the Internet. Here it is: your Internet TV Remote Control! I've assembled the best sources of free TV on the Internet and put them on one easy-to-use page. Click the image below and don't forget to bookmark it! Email me if you know of any new "channels" to add, and I'll add them as long as they have full episodes, not just clips. Note, these channels only work on desktop and laptop computers, not tablets. :-(
Get the latest free TV updates on Facebook and My Blog
Like disableMycable on Facebook for the latest tips, reviews, and comments from me and other users looking for sources of free and cheap TV! Go to the disableMycable Facebook page here!
For more articles on free and cheap sources of TV, check out my brand new Blog which features more updated information and articles!
Read This Site Like a Book!
If you want to read this entire site sequentially like a book, click the "Next Article" links at the bottom of each page. They will take you through every page of this site except for the "Contact" page and the quizzes!
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