Is it finally time to cut the cord?
Each month, I pay AT&T $205.02 for its U-Verse and broadband Internet service.
That’s $83 a month for the U200 plan, $16 a month for HBO, and something called an "HD Technology Fee" for $10 per month … plus a whole bunch in taxes and government fees. My Internet fees come to $70.75 after tax, for speeds up to 24 Mbps (although I’ve never seen it anywhere close to that).
Before I switched to U-Verse, I was a Time Warner/RoadRunner customer. The speed, channels and prices were similar, but the service was glitchy, and the customer service was miserable.
Either way, I’m paying a lot of money for Internet and the maybe 10 channels I watch on my TV.
Like you, probably, I watch a lot of content on my iPad, via Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and HBO Go (which is included in my $16 per month plan). I watch some network TV, as well as shows on AMC. I watch Brewers games on FS Wisconsin. I usually read my national/international news online, but if I need to see it, I watch CNN. My kid watches a few shows on Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel and the Cartoon Network, but she prefers viewing content on "her" iPad.
That’s about it, though. I could certainly live with out most of the 360 channels I guess I receive. It would be nice to spend less than $2,500 each year on Internet and TV.
So, I get why so many people want to cut the cord. With almost everything – but not really everything – available in an online on-demand version, the cable or satellite TV model is pretty archaic. And today, AT&T acknowledged this by unveiling DirecTV Now, a streaming service that will go head-to-head with cable (and its own soon-to-be-discontinued U-Verse) service, for $35-70 a month with 60-120 channels and a free Apple TV. It will be available on pretty much every platform except Roku at first. The first version will not have any sort of DVR or pausing abilities.
The packages break down to this:
- Live a Little: $30 a month (60+ channels)
- Just Right: $50 a month (80+ channels) …