DAYTON -- Consider how much you spend on your cable bill to watch all the shows you love. Now consider paying a lot less to watch the very same programming.
How-to videos are replacing the cable man.
"The notion of people sitting down and watching a television event has become less and less common," said Art Jipson, a University of Dayton Criminal Justice Professor who studies pop culture and media trends.
More and more people are cutting the cord to cable and satellite subscriptions. The most recent Nielsen data shows traditional TV viewership is down more than 10 percent, while streaming is up more than 60 percent.
"Now for pennies on the proverbial dollar, people can watch all kinds of content."
So how do you do it? First, scan your TV for free network channels over the air, like ABC 22 and FOX 45. You may need an antenna, and that will cost you about $20.
Services like Hulu or Netflix have endless movies and shows for less than ten bucks a month. Sling TV, which allows you to watch any of the channels you could get on cable, is $20 a month and you can add in HBO for an additional $15.
To get all this entertainment into your living room, you need devices like Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and the Amazon Fire Stick - just some of the most popular examples.
You pay about $40 for these, a one-time purchase. Only a more sophisticated Roku model goes for just under $100. When you add it all up, you would pay a fraction of what you would pay on your monthly cable bill, and you are controlling that cost. Jipson says this a la carte model is the future of television viewing.
"It's created a really democratic process, so the end user controls the content," Jipson said.
How-to videos are replacing the cable man.
"The notion of people sitting down and watching a television event has become less and less common," said Art Jipson, a University of Dayton Criminal Justice Professor who studies pop culture and media trends.
More and more people are cutting the cord to cable and satellite subscriptions. The most recent Nielsen data shows traditional TV viewership is down more than 10 percent, while streaming is up more than 60 percent.
"Now for pennies on the proverbial dollar, people can watch all kinds of content."
So how do you do it? First, scan your TV for free network channels over the air, like ABC 22 and FOX 45. You may need an antenna, and that will cost you about $20.
Services like Hulu or Netflix have endless movies and shows for less than ten bucks a month. Sling TV, which allows you to watch any of the channels you could get on cable, is $20 a month and you can add in HBO for an additional $15.
To get all this entertainment into your living room, you need devices like Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and the Amazon Fire Stick - just some of the most popular examples.
You pay about $40 for these, a one-time purchase. Only a more sophisticated Roku model goes for just under $100. When you add it all up, you would pay a fraction of what you would pay on your monthly cable bill, and you are controlling that cost. Jipson says this a la carte model is the future of television viewing.
"It's created a really democratic process, so the end user controls the content," Jipson said.
