Who needs a cable subscription?

As the web continues to evolve I find myself asking questions like, “who needs an encyclopedia?” or, “why do I still have this Blockbuster card?” With the rise of streaming media, I think it’s time to ask the question, “who needs a cable subscription?”

Note that I’m referring to the cable subscription that we use to watch television with. I guess this also applies to satellite users, though it seems that not as many people are disgruntled with them and many rural customers don’t have a choice. So, just to be clear my focus is on those companies like Cox Communications and Comcast.

My argument leans firmly on services offered by Netflix, Amazon’s Video on Demand, and Hulu. With just one of these services, namely Netflix, I can watch just about all the television I can handle. I name Netflix above the others simply because I get so much for my money. About $15/mo lands me around 8-10 DVD rentals and the ability to watch streaming movies at no additional cost.

What really pushes me over the edge is how about $80 of my monthly cable bill applies television alone. That’s nearly $1,000 a year in television entertainment. Do I feel like I watch $1000 worth of TV? No, not really.

I can hear a few of you asking, “what about my local channels?” Fear not! Your local channels can probably be picked up over the air with an antenna… in HD! For the cost of a couple of month’s worth of cable television, you can have the equipment you need to watch over-the-air broadcasts for free. A couple of great sites to learn more about this are AntennaWeb.org and TitanTV.com.

I want to wrap up this post by saying that although I’m considering dropping my cable television subscription, I’m far from thinking about canceling my internet connection. After all, every one of these services rely on a fast and solid connection to the web.