Don't Tell the Kids But I Cancelled Our Satellite Service

Yes, I cancelled my satellite service. Everywhere grandparents are applauding me and saying what a good mother I am because, clearly, there is too much violence and sex on TV. Hopefully, they won’t read the rest of this post.

My action was not a platform for not watching TV (although I think most kids watch too much—but not my point). This summer, judging by other mother’s reactions when I tell them, I had a radical policy of “no screens” from 10 a.m. to after dinner. No computer, no iPods, no TV, no DS, no screen of ANY kind. Get up, move your body, DO something. But again, this isn’t about that.

Our satellite TV service cost us 77 dollars/month (and we don’t even have anything fancy). We also have TiVo (which I prefer over any bundled DVR program). That was $25 for the two TiVo boxes. In addition to satellite and TiVo, we have ROKU and Apple TV. I can’t decide which I like better. Each does really cool stuff. Each are about 100/each and afterward there is no service fees. Buy it and it works using your internet connection. You can stream Netflix, HuluPlus, Pandora (MY FAVE) and others. (Psst—NO COMMERCIALS). Satellite TV just seemed redundant and WAY freakin’ expensive. In addition, I would have to pay more and get a pricier box to get TV in HD. With Roku and AppleTV I get HD automatically. 

A nice benefit to Apple TV is that I can quickly and easily play movies that I own on iTunes. NO MORE DISCS!! I am convinced that DVDs are are like VHS. They won’t be around much longer. We can also rent movies instantly using ROKU and Apple TV for our weekly Friday Night Movie Night with the kids. Most are from $1.99 to as much as $4. No going to a video store (we don’t have any). No late fees. No effort really other than pressing a button.

I realized after Irene (the storm that rocked the east coast recently) that my kids NEVER watch regular TV. We didn’t have power for a while after the storm and that was annoying. We didn’t have internet and that ROCKED their worlds. When my husband hooked the TV up to the generator and we still had satellite service they complained, “Where’s Netflix??!” I pointed at the moving pictures on the screen and said, “Look! TV!” and they left in disgust. No internet meant no Netflix.

So why was I spending money for all this service that no one was using? I also mostly watch Netflix and Amazon. Amazon also streams movies and I’m a prime member so I get quite a few free.

The bottom line is that I cancelled service five days ago and NO ONE has said a thing. It’s my little experiment...let’s see how long it takes before one of the kids notices.