After my wife died a few weeks ago, I cancelled TV service with Comcast. I have Netflix, Amazon Prime and an OTA digital antenna so I figured these would suffice.
Within a few days, I stopped watching all TV. I no longer watch movies, TV shows or the news.
Instead I listen to music, read books and write blog posts at night.
Here’s what I have discovered.
Cancelling cable was easy. I contacted Comcast via their app and they called me back in 5 minutes. Since I am keeping their Internet service, I did not have to pay an early termination fee. I had to drop off my Comcast TV boxes at the local store. That was easy. It took less than 30 minutes.
Now that I no longer have a DVR, there’s little point in watching TV. With my digital antenna I get local stations for free, but there are too many commercials. I had Netflix but cancelled it because I had watched everything even remotely interesting on Netflix with my wife. I have Amazon Prime streaming too, but like Netflix, there’s nothing on that I want to watch.
It’s much more rewarding to read a book. I don’t have to fast forward through commercials. I don’t have to look for something to watch. The books I read are not formulaic, predictable or banal. There’s no laugh track. There’s no inane commentary. There’s no fear mongering and political bashing. Sometimes I even learn things.
Skipping the news doesn’t matter – at all. Not only don’t I watch it, I stopped reading it too. Occasionally I’ll hear the news in a store where there is a TV blaring in the background. I’ve even scanned the news online twice this week. I’ve missed nothing. It’s the same blather about Trump, politicians grandstanding, celebrity gossip, fear mongering and much ado about nothing.
YouTube is not satisfying for entertainment. Somehow its algorithms have narrowed my viewing recommendations to bodybuilding, dog videos and trending music videos. I don’t bodybuild. I have watched some dog rescue videos in the past, but don’t make a habit of it. I haven’t watched music videos since the 80s when MTV launched. Apparently YouTube has me confused with someone else.
I don’t miss the sports. I used to record some football games and many UFC fights. They have so many commercials they are unwatchable otherwise. I thought I’d miss them, but I don’t.
I love that I’m not paying for TV. I’m saving at least $100/month. Plus I never have to see any commercials now.
Connecting my TV to my laptop via HDMI gives me a massive computer display.
During the past few years, my wife enjoyed TV a lot.
I liked watching TV with her. We’d watch singing and dancing shows, the news. movies and UFC fights. I’d pre-record everything so we could skip the commercials. When we watched, we’d talk to each other, play with our pets and laugh about the shows.
It was fun to watch TV with Ellen. Without her, it is not.
TV became a primary source of entertainment for my wife as her health declined and she became bedridden.
Towards the end, she had physical and mental problems that made it impossible for her to garden, read or even speak on the phone much. Her only distraction was TV.
It was absolutely worth having cable TV then.
But now that she’s gone, I don’t need it, want it or miss it.