In January 2020, I stopped watching cable because the cost was increasing, and I didn’t watch many channels. I was tired of playing the game. I could have reduced the package to exclude some channels I liked to watch or canceled and switched to another provider, hoping to be lured back by a package at a discount rate.
Just the internet portion of my bill dropped from $220 to $50. With a $25 digital antenna purchased as a one-time purchase, I can now receive 65 free channels. For $12 per month, I subscribe to SiriusXM for news coverage. YouTube and Twitter are the first places I look for video clips.
The system I developed to cut the cord worked well, but I missed watching baseball, especially the Detroit Tigers.
It’s possible to listen to games on the Major League Baseball App or via radio. Even so, I still enjoyed sitting down and watching a few innings of America’s favorite pastime in the summer.
There may be a way for those who don’t want to pay the cable bill but still watch sports coverage.
Deb Wan, a New York Yankees fan, pays more than $160 monthly to watch the team she loves. Jordon Low, a Phoenix Suns fan, has a better deal. He pays $0.
Wan uses a cable subscription and streaming services to watch all Yankees matches. Low only needs a free Suns antenna to catch the regular season.
The vast difference between the experiences of both fans is indicative of how sports viewing in America has fragmented. Cord-cutting, the proliferation of platforms, and other factors have made it easier for some and more difficult and expensive for others.
A consortium of media companies announced plans last month for a new streaming platform that will simplify sports viewing. The streaming service, scheduled to launch this fall, will bundle 14 sports-heavy networks owned by the company’s parents, Fox, Disney’s ESPN, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The bankruptcy of Bally Sports could bring good news to teams and fans, including those in my hometown, Detroit.
The sheer number of Americans who watch sports in any way, shape, or form is too large to ignore.
Sports have never been more important to the survival of traditional television. The importance of sports to traditional television has never been greater: According to Nielsen, sports will account for 96 out of the top 100 broadcasts in 2023.
Some observers have claimed that the proposed sports streaming services would be the end of traditional television. Others have dismissed the effort as an attempt to fix the long-broken American sports viewing experience.
Ninety-six out of 100 is impressive.
Everybody has their way of relaxing. I don’t even know what my colleagues do to unwind after spending all day immersed in politics, which is like bathing in radioactive goop in the current environment. My method is to watch some baseball and occasionally have a nice bourbon.
Detroit only offers baseball six months of the year. The bourbons and whiskeys are available 365 days a year.
If you have ever considered cutting the cord for five minutes, or even five years, I would like to give some advice.
Unknown to me, a local man had made the switch a few years earlier and was amazed at how easy it went. I was skeptical because I relied heavily on cable news to do the job. I would listen to the baseball games and not miss a few innings at a given time.
It was said that I could create a system where the cable news isn’t on 24/7 in the background. That is exactly what happened. After cutting the cord, I had to fill in a few pieces and save over $125 per month. I’m even saving more because I know the price of cable with the package that I had before I cut the cord has increased since I did it four years ago.
Try it for at least two or three weeks. You can call back your cable provider and ask for a discount if you are a returning or new customer.
Capitalism and a free market are the only options that make sense. This new service will be rolled out this fall. Consumers will have a choice of what they pay for and hopefully won’t be charged for things they don’t want or watch.
