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(Excerpted from Stop Getting Ripped Off) Free TV Now, what if you found out that the person sitting in the window seat on that expensive flight you were taking paid nothing? Nada. Zilch. You’d certainly ask a few question about how they pulled that off, wouldn’t you? This is the question that every television watcher should be asking right now. The real revolution hitting Pay TV these days is the possible end of the word “pay.” As they said in Washington D.C. an awful lot during the 2008 presidential campaign, change is coming. Cable and satellite companies long resisted the notion of a la carte programming, which would allow consumers to pay for only the channels they watch (rather than packages of 100 useless channels and 5 good ones). Now, entertainment providers are offering this service on their own, through the Internet. If you are a consumer who buys cable or satellite only for sporting events or Comedy Central programs like The Daily Show, the Internet has a deal for you. Many shows can now be purchased directly from their maker, or on iTunes.com. Others are free, as long as you sit through some advertisements – usually far fewer than you’ll watch on television you pay for. The Web site Hulu.com –part-owned by the corporate parents of NBC, ABC, and Fox – offers instant access to many popular shows, including The Colbert Report, The Office, Heroes, and thousands more. Subscribers to the popular movie rental firm Netflix can view archives of thousands more shows on their computers instantly. The list of networks is impressive, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The Discovery Channel, and many more. All the major sports leagues now have Internet pay plans or, at the very least, highlight packages. Purchasing programs directly from the source, you’ll save money and you won’t feel like you’re paying for things you don’t want. This news is incredibly important to the 30 percent of the U.S. population that lives in multi-family units, like apartment buildings, where dishes are difficult if not impossible to install. So far, many of these consumer had absolutely no choice in Pay TV service. Until now. Connecting a laptop television to your flat-screen TV might seem like a bridge too far for some. There are a long list of caveats about Internet-delivered TV: No one wants to watch TV on a computer; it can hard to find the show you want; some shows are only available "after" the initial viewing on “real” TV; sports fans have severely limited options; the quality isn't as good; it's really difficult to make Web TV work on multiple TVs around the house; and the kicker: "I don't want to trade in my remote control for a keyboard!" All these things are true, but are becoming less true over time. Netflix, for example, now sells a $100 set-top box named Roku, which makes its service work just like traditional television, remote control included. Meanwhile, most flat-panel televisions now have easy connections for PC video. Just sit your laptop next to your TV and beam it there. And it’s true, the signal is not as good as cable. But would you be willing to accept 80 percent of the quality for 20 percent of the price? That’s what Internet-based TV is currently offering. Afraid you’ll miss out on the most popular programs? Don’t be. In 2009, complete episodes of 9 in 10 prime-time network television shows and roughly 20% of cable shows were available online. And a small but fervent Internet movement was growing, led by Web sites like Cancel-cable.com, that made it easier to cut the cord. Cancel-cable.com even offers a TV-Guide-style listing called Showfinder of program available for download or streaming. But what about that $1,000 42-inch flat-screen TV you just purchased? Isn’t it a waste of good technology to watch pixilated TV shows on it? Not if you add one small piece of really sophisticated new technology – an antenna. The changeover to digital television was a confusing hassle for many people, but it did come with a gift-wrapped present. The new free digital television signals are fantastic. In most markets, there are now more channels, in much higher quality, than ever before. For about 90 percent of television watchers, only an old-fashioned antenna is needed to capture the latest digital channels from your local broadcasters. You might even get channels that are unavailable on your dish or cable service. Most TV watchers are stunned by what’s available for free over-the-air, and how good it looks on an HDTV. In fact, videophiles claim that over-the-air HD is actually better than cable or satellite TV, because the Pay providers must compress their signals for delivery. You probably won’t notice the difference – except in the price. I recommend that every consumer take a cable-free day about once every six months and explore free offerings over the air. Supplement those channels with Internet broadcasts and you will wrack up some serious savings. Cancel-cable.com has a tool to show TV watchers how much they’ll save for their industriousness. At $95 a month, assuming 5 percent annual interest earnings, those who cut the pay TV cord will save $1,116 in one year, or nearly $40,000 in 20 years. Or, as the site likes to say, paying for cable is the equivalent of buying a 50-inch flat-panel television and throwing it in the trash every year.
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