Yes abge. I buy the rabbit ears for the few times I want to watch something.

my internet service pipes in a tv service (and possible phone service) all in one bundle...
i don't think there is a cheaper option without tv.

Though i haven't paid my tv license this year because of not owning a tv. (national registration to pay for national television channels, in theory...)

Abge - I gave up cable/Sat TV and don't miss it. I have "rabbit ears" to pick up local stations, use Netflix through my XBOX 360 for added content, there is Hulu as well.... paying $60/month for the 3 channels you will watch is insane. Free yourself from this waste of money and put it towards something useful....like a savings account.

I forget, is Abgemacht british? I know they have some weird shit with taxes for accessing what we Americans consider public airwaves.

But most of what keeps you entertained can be gotten the next year over here without cable just by subscribing to an internet based DVD streaming service as well as watching a lot of the shows on most commercial cable and broadcast networks directly from their website as long as you have broadband of some sort. so if you have a phone, bundle your internet and watch everything from TNT/TBS/USA/ABC/CBS/NBX/FOX/whoever directly off their website, just a day or two later than when they aired it initially.

The biggest loss for giving up tv service is sports. If you don't care for sports, I say just get rid of paying that much money for tv.

I'm from Mass.

Yeah, I just ordered a decent Internet connection and no TV. We only watch HBO and it was going to cost about $70 more per month to get it (cause you can't order HBO on their lowest tier). Oh well, looks like I'll just read GoT instead of watching it.

They do have bundles, but it's still a lot of money if you only watch 2 shows a week. And honestly, if I'm busy, I don't watch those shows either. No way to justify the cost.

Interesting to see I'm not alone though.

I haven't paid for cable or satellite since 1996 when I got in a fight with a roommate about it and figured out I really wasn't missing much.

I have Netflix and the internet, that's good enough for me.

Yeah, my roommate loves sports, which was holding us back. But, most games are on ABC, CBS, or NBC, right? I can still get those over the air as long as I have a converter, yes?

And to pick up TB's point, even sports are increasingly being streamed online. Plus it's not like there aren't bars, Buffalo Wild Wings and Chili's around if there's a particular game on you really want to see.

If you just wait another week and a half, GoT season two will be over. They're just starting casting for season three, so there will be a substantial hiatus.

Most games are on ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX. At least most significant ones. The issue comes in that each Sunday only about 6 of the football games are shown on broadcast TV, so if he likes a non-local team he'd have to go to a bar in all likelihood (unless it is a GOOD non-local team).

About sports streaming online: ESPN will do a lot of them, including a football game or two each week, but the NFL really tries to limit how much they make available and the streams are irritating to watch due to repetitive commercials. I watched the bulk of the last World Cup that way, though, and that was great (as well as the last Super Bowl).

wait, is there a bar you can go to in order to watch GoT?

I don't think you can show paid programming without a license to show that specific paid programming in bars...the major sports leagues sell licenses to do it, and ESPN sells a general license.

"Yeah, my roommate loves sports, which was holding us back. But, most games are on ABC, CBS, or NBC, right? I can still get those over the air as long as I have a converter, yes?"

Depends on what sports. If it is the NFL, then yes, they are pretty much all on non-cable tv. Other than that, most are on cable. Especially baseball, hockey, NBA, and some college football.

GoT is already the most pirated TV show ever, might as well not buck the trend, Abge.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

Get Netflix and a roku.

"I'm from Mass."

That really surprises me, I must say, though not for reasons I can put my finger on. I'd have guessed midwest or maybe the middle states. And I have no idea why.

That's OK. Most people seem to think I'm a 75 year old Brit. Clearly I misrepresent myself on a regular basis.

Abge, here's something to consider. We had the minimum cable package because it gave us a discount on internet service that is greater than the cost of cable. We originally got a more expensive deal, and we cancelled most of it the cable company (either through oversight or laziness) did not cancel our service for almost two years.

Similarly, we got the HD upgrade in January for a Super Bowl party, and they went ahead and threw in extra services for free, again either by accident or because they don't want to send a guy out here to turn it off.

You could try for something similar, if you don't mind paying for a month or so of cable and if you don't get charged additional fees for adding or removing service.

Well, unless I really messed up, it's less expensive for me to get just Internet than a bundle.

Also, my time is worth too much to me to be constantly starting and stopping services.

It really isn't that big of an issue. I have plenty of friends in the area who have full cable.

GoT? Hmmm....I feel a little sick here...<cough cough....TORRENT....cough...>

Yeah, I know. Now that I'm out of college, I've tried to be less of a pirate.

Alternate to stealing (now where did that idea come from?) find a friend who has cable, and organize a GoT Game Night where you all get together under the pretense of playing, say, Settlers of Catan, but are really only there to watch GoT on cable. Use your friends - that's what they are there for!

Pirate? Arrrrghhhh....You aint' got the cohones to be a pirate, m'boy...

GoT previous seasons should be streamable off NetFlix (mailable if you want to go that route should they not have it streamable yet) and instead of a Roku, get a decent BluRay player ($150 or less for a quality Sony on Amazon). Most of them have Netflix and Amazon OnDemand built-in nowadays.

GoT is not on Netflix yet --- Might I recommend "The Tudors" as an alternative? It is about Henry the VIII. MY wife enjoyed...and especially int eh earlier seasons, lots of pretty boobies! heee heee! BOOBIES!!!! Did you hear me???

I haven't owned a TV for 6 years now, and I don't miss it one bit. If there's something I really want to see on Swedish TV, I watch it streamed from their websites. Most major channels stream their main programming and get their ad money that way. If there are series I want to see, I'd rather wait for a DVD since I like to watch stuff in one setting to really get into it.

Ahem...

https://signup.netflix.com/movie/Game-of-Thrones/70177064

Epic. Fucking. Fail.

It may not be streamable, but it is shippable.

Dude...I *just* logged on to my account...it was not available.

But OK...I don't have the DVD plan, because that's just stupid. I hate dealing with DVD's. So we are both correct, because I would *never* recommend wasting money on the DVD plan.

Alternative: Go to the public library. Mine has an extensive collection of DVD's, including TV shows and movies. And it's Frrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........

I gave up on television in 1998 and haven't looked back. Once in awhile I'll hear about a TV show that sounds interesting; when that happens, I buy the first season on DVD and if I like it, I buy the rest. I spend far less money and time doing that than wasting it on monthly paid TV of which 99.3% is not worth watching.

@Tolstoy....so....what...you look real close at the DVD and try to decipher the dots? You gave up on TV? Or PAID TV? Big difference....

<sorry...just picking on you...no harm intended>

Well, technically, I was correct. You said it wasn't available, not it wasn't available for streaming... :-) Just harrasing, krellin. You know you love it when I do.

Oh you mean like cable and that?

Yeah fuck that I've never had that in all my life. As a young boy I hated my parents for not getting cable, but looking back, there was never any need. TV is worthless, especially now that it's all on your computer anyway. The only reasons someone might still want a TV don't have much to do with cable.

I.e. something to plug your computer into so you can watch sports/play video games/watch movies with your friends.

Just get an HDMI cable or something lol.

And I think Tolstoy may not even own a TV. You know, they have these fancy things with DVD players and internet connections called "computers" and they have these monitors that can show video and speaklers that can play audio and this stuff called "software" that can decrypt the shiny reflective bits into video and audio.

And if you don't like to pirate I would just say you should look at direct download options where steaming fails you.

Other than that you can just order the DVDs and then go ahead and pirate it. When you do that, depending on the circumstances, I think pirating is actually legal. I could be wrong.

Because who wants to bother with DVD discs lol. If you're a bit more patient maybe you could buy the DVDs and rip them to a harddrive.

Also I don't have a TV either. But I'm in college. I'd probably pay like $200 for one if I had disposable income.

Well, we do have a super sweet TV. I'll just hook it up to an old PC and use it to stream Netflix and Amazon.

@Draug - I think Tolstoy DOES have a TV...or he's sad and lonely and watches TV alone on his PC,...or his family realllly likes each othe and they gather around the little monitor together...

You could get a smaller TV for that...

26" RCA 720p (for that size, you'd never know the difference) for $200
http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-26-Class-LCD-720p-60Hz-HDTV-26LA33RQ/16874081

@krellin - Or he has a projector and projects the computer to a big screen/wall. That's how I want the mancave set up eventually.

OH, and from the OP title...

TV is still ubiquitous, more so than ever. It's just the physical TV set is not, but the medium the set decodes and presents is continually growing and being presented in other broadcast mediums (e.g. the internet and streamed or rented/purchased DVDs of TV shows). So TV as a form of entertainemnt is still ubitquitous. TV as a technology or a broadcast medium, not so.

When I referred to TV in my OP, I meant the service of paying a monthly fee to watch shows that are broadcast at a certain time.

Obviously, it's hard to define exactly what is meant by "TV".

We recently added TV service because it was bundled with faster internet for 5 more than we paid. I will be dropping it as soon as the promotion lapses, and I worked for a pay tv provider for 7 years. I didn't even have it when it was free through them.

tempus fugit

what's the "time cost" of watching a lot of tv
i've got a digital free to air tv service, cannot be bothered getting "pay tv"
and as for all those programs people tell me i am missing out on, i will make
arrangements for a tv to be stuck into my coffin with me & I might catch up on them then.

I'll "program surf" if there's something that takes my interest, eg 2 nights ago, a doco, "mapping the world" & as i am doing an assignment for Spatial Info services course have been doing research into mapping etc I watched it & pick'd up that i'd
missed mentionong the "carte de cassini", the first accurate maps made of France,

i gave up tv for a 5 year period, 1989 to 94 because i was working for NCR & studying
electronics & computing part time, and when i finished the study, i'd got out of the "come in turn on the crystal bucket & veg out habit" so i'd do other stuff, go out & play a few holes of golf on a public "goat track" course, read a book etc

"program surfing is where i check out all the programs in an evening for all the channels, make a note of anything interesting, turn the tv off, then maybe turn it on when an interesting program starts, watch that, then turn it off

I'll admit the tV is constantly on in my house and I pretty much bogart the remote unless there is just nothing on and I've worked through the DVR list, but I do it while working. I like to multitask and can code whiel watching TV with the occassional pause/rewign to catch salient plot points or interesting bits. But the focus i usual whatever is on my laptop. If I want to read, I let the wife control the TV. And she obviously has control when I'm out in the workshop or in the yard.

Somebody had to point out to me that I didn't own a TV before I knew I didn't have one. You get very used to their absence, particularly when you have a laptop and Internet service.