Write Team: Cutting the TV cord

I don’t think I’m alone when I say this, but like so many of you, I have cut the cord. Kind of.

In the last couple of years, cutting the cord has turned into a completely unorganized movement by thousands of people to get rid of cable television and the myriad of pointless channels they offer.

For me, it was one of those days where you have nothing else to do so you think to yourself “gee, I never watch the luggage channel, do I really need to keep cable television” and of course the answer was no.

I’m a child of the 70s when our televisions were furniture the size of a canoe, installed in a beautiful wooden cabinet. They almost always took three people to move it. Then mom would use pledge on the top and put grandma’s silver service set as a decoration.

Those TVs have been replaced by state-of-the art 65 inch, or larger, high-definition flat screens that you can talk to and tell it which channel to watch.

Given my history, I was not ready to go cold turkey, so I set upon a media journey to find the best solution for my house. After a brief exploration of my options, I decided to go with the highest quality internet possible, ironically delivered by the cable company, and joined the beautiful world of streaming.

I did have a certain minimum requirement I was looking for in a streaming service. Things like live sports, local television stations and a host of freebies I could simply veg out watching. I quickly learned there is no shortage of available plans and services.

There is a plethora of choices that all seem to outdo the next with goofy names. Sling TV, Tubi and Fubo are just a couple of the streamers that popped up in my search.

I settled on Hulu as my go to programming icon. I have a variety of ways to watch Hulu including Smart TVs, Firesticks and at least one of something called Roku, and all of those have access to Hulu.

According to Wikipedia, Hulu was initially established as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBCUniversal, Providence Equity and later The Walt Disney Company, serving as an aggregation of recent episodes of television series from their respective television broadcasting. In 2010, Hulu launched a subscription service, initially branded as “Hulu Plus,” which featured full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and undelayed access to new episodes. In 2017, the company launched Hulu with Live TV – an over-the-top live TV service featuring broadcast programming channels.

One of the most enjoyable things about streaming is the unlimited selection of commercial free series from the past that you can binge at any given time. 70s hits like “Welcome Back, Kotter,” “MASH” and “Barney Miller;” 80s hits like “LA Law,” “Picket Fences,” “Family Ties” and “Matlock” can be viewed, season after season, without having to get up from your La-Z-Boy, all commercial free.

I even found the all Perry Mason channel. Perry, Della Street, Paul Drake and Lt. Trag all participating in courtroom drama from the 50s and 60s, 24/7.

We’ve come a long way from having outdoor antennas that required a rotor motor to spin to make sure we received the best signal. Also gone are hearing the National Anthem every night at midnight or 1 a.m., when most TV stations signed off.

Somehow, I miss those simpler days. But, I’m not going back.

Jonathan Freeburg is an Ottawa transplant for the past two decades-plus and a regular contributor to 1430 WCMY Radio. He can be reached at newsroom@shawmedia.com.