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The Source: The Rise In Cable Cutters Troubles Industry

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Thinking about ditching the dish or cutting the cable? But you still want to watch the TV entertainment that everyone is talking about? Now might be the time to quit paying that monthly cable bill. 

There’s a growing number of options to watch popular programs - Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. These have been the go-to web streaming services. But then marry them with the free off-air programming available from local network affiliates then a viewer will find plenty of programming. However, what about wall-to-wall news and sports? Sling TV is promising to fill that void.

So with all these choices, which option is right for you and your budget? The best way to figure that out is to do an audit of your TV watching habits and determine what channels and programs are regularly watched by the family. You might find that the kids of today’s YouTube Generation don’t watch TV at all. And your favorite shows are available away from the cable box.

Also you can experiment. The cost to try out Chromecast, Amazon Firestick, Roku and a digital antenna are each under $50. You can try one or two out. And if you cut the cable and decide you want it back, the cable company will be happy to have a prodigal customer and probably give you a discount.

Guest

  • Billy Purser, Vice President of Marketing for Digitalsmiths – a company that connects consumers to relevant video content through personalized search, recommendations and discovery.
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David Martin Davies can be reached at dmdavies@tpr.org and on Twitter at @DavidMartinDavi