Cutting The Cable, Pt 1

A few weeks ago I mentioned to some friends that my wife and I were considering cutting off our cable TV services and simply going with their RoadRunner service for Internet, getting a Roku 3 (about $95) and an HD antenna (about $20 for a basic model from Amazon.com). Weʻre figuring that if we cut the cable TV weʻll be saving $80 or so a month.

The HD antenna has not been all that we had hoped. We get the following Hawai‘i broadcast services from our place just above the new Pu‘u Kukui School and below Wailuku Heights:

4.1 – KITV HD (ABC)
4.2 – MeTv
9.1 – K5
10.1 – PBS Hawai‘i
10.2 – KIKU (I think – Japanese programming)
13.1 KHNL (NBC)
13.2 KHNL (Antenna TV)

No KHON2/Fox at all, no matter where the antenna is hung. KITV is usually OK, but shows some pixelation periodically. Perhaps a better quality antenna would help, but from what I’ve been reading in Hawaiʻi discussion forums, a better antenna probably will not help – if the broadcast signal sucks a great antenna won’t help, and reports are that many truly do suck. Iʻve moved the one we got around and mounted it to various flat surfaces that the cable can reach, and the position to the right seems to get the best reception.

The Roku is getting mixed reviews for now. Maybe it’s option anxiety. Tons of movies, TV shows and other content in there, but hard to wade through it all. The acid test will be when the new television season starts in September, and how quickly those shows are available on HuluPlus. The Roku came with two free months of HuluPlus. Based on whatʻs in there now, I don’t think we’ll subscribe, but see what happens in October when the trial is finished.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that PBS has its own channel in there, and not only features national programs but some local programming, like Leslie Wilcox’s “Long Story Short”. We subscribe to Amazon Plus, so plenty of free movies and TV shows, but new releases take a long time for find their way into Prime, and some never do.

I’m trying to stick to the broadcast channels and Roku to see if that combination will be enough to cut the cable soon. It will take some getting used to.