If you are like I was, you are paying for satellite or cable TV and complain about not having anything to watch. Or, what's worse, you find yourself watching local channels more often than not. My advice to you is, "Stop paying to watch TV!" That's what I did and I haven't looked back.
You might be thinking that you have to give up your favorite shows or that you are limited to the movies in your DVD collection, but don't despair. I am about to open up your eyes to a universe of entertainment. You'll not only be able to watch any TV show you want virtually on demand, but you will also be saving money. It's all about using technology to your advantage. Here's how it works.
First of all, you're flat screen HD TV doesn't have to go to waste. Networks and their local affiliates broadcast most of their shows in HD these days and you can watch them for free. I bought an HD antenna for $35 from Radio Shack. I get about 17 local stations and the picture is actually better because the signal isn't being compressed as is the case with a cable or satellite company.
Now for the fun part. Almost all network TV shows are available to watch free on their web sites. For instance, I used to watch 24 the day after it aired on the Fox web site. Do a search on the internet to find your favorite show and then follow the links to the network site that it is on. If you don't want to huddle over your monitor to watch it, you can always hook up your laptop or desktop to your TV. If you have an HD TV, the connection is fairly simple. Just unplug the cable from your monitor and put it into a similar port on the back of your TV. There are detailed instructions in this post.
So far we have taken care of watching current network shows either in real time or later without the need for cable and satellite. Next, we are going to look at the ways you can watch a ton of great TV shows and movies for very little cost, Netflix.
I pay under $20 a month for Netflix and it is worth every penny. Not only does this get me 2 DVDs at a time and unlimited per month, but it also covers as much streaming video as I can watch. I'm not proud to say it, but I watched 4 seasons of Prison Break in 3 weeks. Netflix has tons of movies and TV shows that are available for instant viewing or rent. The bonus is that you aren't limited to watching the instantly viewed titles on your computer. There are several Netflix ready devices and you probably own at least one of them already. If you own a Wii, PS3 or an XBox 360 you can stream the movies or TV shows through that device and onto your TV. There are also blu-ray and dvd players from LG that support netflix as well. Do you have an Iphone? Just download the netflix app and watch movies anywhere.
My family loves movies and video games, so I have a PS3 hooked up to my flat screen, and a Wii in a family room. Of course if you don't own any of those devices you can also hook your laptop or desktop to your TV and stream the movies that way.
Now some of you may be asking how do kids get along without Disney, Nick Jr and Teen Nick. So far I haven't had any complaints from my kids. They can always find episodes of That's so Raven, Hannah Montanna, Drake and Josh, etc...on netflix. Keep in mind that these stations also offer free videos of their shows on their web sites as well.
Hopefully i have shown that you can have all of the TV you want without paying for cable or satellite. My total cost for this freedom was an initial investment of $35 followed by the cost to have internet and netflix. Compare that to your cable bill and see if it isn't worth it.
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