Oh, the agony of deciding which cable TV options to cut

By Edward A. Forbes

The Bulletin

Walter and Mildred were quietly watching the 6 p.m. news in their den.

The television’s volume was turned up fairly high, but Walter’s volume switch was even higher.

“Mildred, when we retired and started living on our Social Security, we got rid of cable TV and started streaming because it was cheaper. Now, we are spending over $200 per month on streaming services. We HAVE to cut back. That’s good money we could spend on groceries or to pay utility bills.”

“Let’s see,” pondered Walter. “We have Amazon, but that pays for shipping when we order stuff, and we have Kindles and buy e-books, too, so that stays.”

 Mildred responded: “We pay Amazon extra for PBS Masterpiece, and I love their programs, and oh, yes, PBS Documentaries - we must keep that.

“We have Disney-E for the grandkids, and we can drop that; they’re on their phones all the time, anyway. Oh, that FUBO is over $100 a month,  we can drop that….”

Walter hastily interjects, “No, no, we can’t drop that. It has three of the four ESPN stations and major league baseball, basketball and college football and basketball games. No, that is non-negotiable; we must keep it. Cut PBS Documentary instead.”

They carefully totaled up the keepers and stared at the total, $133.73!!

Walter sadly stares at the total. “I thought we would save a lot by sacrificing, and we’ve gone from $200 a month to $133.73. I wonder how much I would save going to sports bars and drinking beer to watch games. I don’t think it would work. I don’t like sacrificing my stuff.”

Mildred adds: “Yep, and we haven’t even talked about Acorn & AMC, Dry Bar Comedy, Amazon Music, Hulu, Sirius Radio and Peacock. We started small, and like the kids in the candy store, we kept seeing things we liked. We are just as spoiled as the grandchildren; we want it all. There’s probably an app for that.”

Walter adds: “Don’t you miss the old days of a big old antenna and three network stations?

Mildred added: “When we were young, going to school and talking to our friends about what we watched last night and most of them watched the same program. Yes, indeed, I guess we can add this to the list of things we miss.”

Mildred took the initiative to do a little research and found there are options that would offer significant savings and sacrifices.

Tubi and Pluto are both free streaming services supported by ads. Tubi is on-demand programming; Pluto is more like traditional TV with a menu of when the programs are scheduled.

Another option is a high-definition antenna and Tablo, which offers a menu and an optional recorder, and again, all with ads. You must purchase the equipment, and then there is a $24 yearly fee. Music can be received for free through I-Heart radio.

“Walter, we need to cut the cord on everything except Amazon because that includes Prime. We can try Pluto for a month and then Tubi for a month along with our Amazon Prime. Then we can decide and have at least two months of savings.”

Walter ponders this solution and responds: “Mildred, we can get the children to help us set it up and try it, hopefully before football season and the World Series. Those are the important things. It feels like we should be saying, ‘Let The Adventure Begin.’”