I’ve been thinking about my chosen TV entertainment scheme and how it matches up to what I might be getting by just subscribing to cable. Here’s a table that I made up to help me.
| AppleTV+Netflix Instant Watch | Cable | |
| Watch my six favorite TV shows | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial-free | Yes | No |
| Watch any time | Yes | Yes with DVR option |
| Streaming radio stations | “Hundreds” | “Over 40″ |
| Easy remote/onscreen interface | Yes | No |
| New-release movie rentals | Yes | Yes most packages |
| Back catalog movies | Yes | No |
| Catch up on previous seasons of TV shows | Yes | No |
| Idle channel surfing | Not really | Yes |
| A la carte purchasing of current TV shows | Yes | No |
| Podcasts | Yes | No |
| Project iPhone/iPad to TV | Yes | No |
| Youtube | Yes | No |
| Pro sports option | Yes, but no NFL | Yes |
| Shortcomings never tempt you to piracy | No | No |
| Free updates with new features | Yes | No |
| Eliminates need for disc rentals | Pretty much | Not really |
Note that I really place high value on things like commercial-free viewing, a la carte purchasing and integration with iOS devices. And I don’t place a lot of value on things like channel surfing or pro sports. Your mileage may vary quite a bit.
The cherry on top is that, depending on movie rentals, specific cable packages and other factors, I estimate that going my route saves me 50% or more over cable.
What about local news channels? In some areas, off-air is poor. And then there’s the community television channels for government meeting coverage.
Local news is some of the worst television programming there is. I don’t miss it one tiny bit. But if I did, I’d just plug in an antenna and get local broadcast stations.
What’s stopping me:
-HBO Original Series
-Brewers baseball games
-NFL games
Live pro sports in 1080p is the biggie. AppleTV and every other Internet service just does not have it. And the thing is, sports rules TV advertising – by far. More eyeballs tune to pro sports than any other TV genre. And people want their sports nice & big – not on a 4-inch screen with buffering delays.
What do you do for series like “Mad Men”? Paying per episode through iTunes seems way too expensive.
It’s more expensive per show, but you don’t have to buy a thousand shows you don’t want, either. So even if I’m paying $35 per season of my shows, or even $1.99 per episode if you do it that way, my monthly bill is still less than cable.