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February 8, 2011

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Is the weekly sitcom a thing of the past?

I’ve been having a short discussion with @daly_beauty (her name is Jane!) on Twitter recently about cable TV. She loves it and would never give it up but it’s been about a year since I cut the cord and I haven’t looked back. Here’s why.

Macro RemoteMy life is too busy for TV. On a regular schedule anyway. Sure, I watch the odd Sens game here and there and I can make time for the bigger games like the World Junior Hockey Championships or the Olympics. I just can’t seem to do the same for sitcom watching. I know the show will be there waiting for me on its usual day and at its usual time but I always manage to find other things that need doing at that particular time.

And do you think I remember to program the PVR? Nope.

Over the last few months I’ve been watching more TV shows on DVD or Blue Ray. It started with “The Big Bang Theory, Entourage, then “Mad Men” and most recently I’ve been watching full season’s of Dexter. Sometimes I rent them but they’re usually borrowed from friends.

In the beginning, I didn’t know much about the shows themselves but they all came highly recommended friends. I’ll totally take a recommendation from a friend more highly than just aimlessly searching through the channels on the program guide in the hopes of finding something interesting. That rarely happens.

In Canada, we don’t have any good streaming services like Hulu and the big U.S. networks don’t let us watch videos on their websites. They’re all blocked. Netflix just opened their streaming services here but the selection is very very limited compaired to our friends in the U.S. So, we’re pretty much stuck.

Adding more and more cable channels (even in HD) isn’t going to help. It’s simply not convenient for me. Why? No commercials, I can watch it when I want and can even catch an entire season in just a few days. I can see myself doing alot more of this.

How do you watch your TV? Do you use a PVR? Rent or borrow TV shows? Dare I say it: Download them? Or stick to the tried and true “weekly” model?

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About the author

Non-profit web marketer, former IBMer, husband, father, photography nut, Apple junkie, and coffee addict. I also create attractive and compelling online experiences.

  • http://twitter.com/daly_beauty Daly Beauty

    Great post! Although I must say, I watch the cable networks for the convenience of no commercials and the On-Demand service which allows me to watch my favourite shows whenever I like. The difference between the programming on cable vs network is staggering. I can’t imagine being without…as you know :)

  • @TariqPiracha

    We use a PVR regularly to record shows we like, but we also use it to record old movies from TCM. The ability to skip through the commercials feels sweeter everytime we do it. Mind you, renting or borrowing DVD’s/BluRay would also do the trick. I always consider cutting the cord, but now we’re tied into Rogers for Cable, internet and mobile. I may start looking into cutting the cord once our mobile contracts have expired.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the post. I cut the cord and haven’t looked back.

    I recently cancelled my Rogers Internet in favour of Teksavvy as well. I’ll be writing a blog post about it in mid-March.

  • Anonymous

    We have cable but I never watch tv live anymore. The PVR is well programmed (and almost always full – mostly of kids shows) so we have a great selection of shows ready to watch when we have time. I’m not ready to give up treehouse and teletoon and…. mostly the kids shows because I am fully willing to admit that I let my kids watch tv when I’m tired. :)
    We also have netflix, which although limited has a lot of kids’ shows. I’m not ready to give up cable, even though a lot of my friends have.

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