Cable TV was once the ultimate entertainment necessity. The over-the-air days of VHF/UHF television signals couldn't keep up with voracious viewers who needed more, more, more channels. Having a cable directly pumping all that content into your home became the norm, and the cable providers—which likely provide your high-speed broadband internet access as well—knew they had you on the hook. But cable providers didn't factor in that the internet they provide would become their worst enemy via access to streaming video. Services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video are the most well-known names in what's become known as "cord cutting"—doing away with pay TV and using over-the-air (like the old days) or internet-based services to get all your "television" programming. That means no more paying a huge monthly fee for thousands of hours of TV you don't watch (in theory). Instead, you pay individual services for a la carte programming. It's a lot like paying for just what you watch. Almost. Cable companies, of course, are freaking out: eMarketer says 22.2 million US adults cut the cord by the end of 2017, a trend that will continue for all age demographics below 55. In a November 2017 survey, Leichtman Research said that in the third quarter that year, the top six cable companies lost 290,000 subscribers, compared to 90,000 in Q3 of 2016. It's worse for the satellite providers Dish and DirecTV, which lost 475,000, while internet TV services (specifically via Sling TV and DirecTV Now) gained 536,000. What's ironic is, the cable companies don't always lose those customers entirely; only on the pay TV side. People need a hefty internet pipe to get the same quality of TV programming over the web. If you don't have high-speed internet, cord cutting is probably not for you. In 2015, the FCC redefined what really constitutes "broadband" speed in the US as 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download speeds, up from 4Mbps, which was the standard since 2010. At the time, that put 17 percent of the population (55 million households) without true broadband. According to the FCC's 2016 Broadband Progress Report, 34 million US citizens (10 percent) lack access to such speeds; 23 million are in rural areas. The FCC toyed with lowering the broadband threshold number again, but backed off that plan in 2018 amidst backlash. However you define broadband, a 5Mbps download connection should be enough to handle your binge watches. But more is always better, especially as services role out high-definition offerings like 4K streaming. Here's what else you need to become a full-fledged cord cutter with access to (almost) everything you'd get via regular cable TV. Antennas and DVRs Before we get to into the apps/hardware you need to make it as a cord cutter, consider what you can still get via over-the-air (OTA) broadcast. While you can watch much of what's available on the major networks and several cable channels using streaming apps, you simply can't get it all. That goes especially for the major networks, most of which require you to log in with your pay TV information to watch online. But, most networks are still broadcasting over the airwaves in HD—you just need an HD antenna. Best of all, modern HD antennas don't have to go on the roof of the house or look like you're signaling space. Many are simple affairs you set up next to the TV or flat units you hang in your window. (Outdoor antennas remain a viable option, however.) Before you jump on the antenna train, determine if you have over-the-air HD as an option in your home. Visit AntennaWeb or TV Fool for a listing of the stations broadcasting near you. If you can position your antenna facing the nearest broadcast transmitter, all the better. Just don't be surprised if you don't get access to any stations, or to only a few. It happens. Top-rated HDTV indoor antennas include the window-mountable Moho Leaf Metro ($17, above) or the tower-like Terk Omni ($60), both non-amplified antennas that plug directly into a TV tuner. Outdoors, you could try the roof-mountable Antennas Direct ClearStream 2Max or 4Max models, with 60- and 70-mile ranges, respectively. Other antenna makers include 1byOne and View TV. You probably want amplification, unless you're living next door to the local broadcast tower. They don't make the signal stronger coming in the house; they make an already low signal strong enough for the TV tuner to use. Even some of the flat antennas have amplification options; but amplification ups the cost. Setup is easy, but you'll have to play with the antenna position to maximize reception—just like fiddling with rabbit ear antennas in the 1970s. Some outdoor antennas can work from inside if they're up high—say in your attic—if there isn't a lot of obstruction. You can use a TV antenna to watch live TV, sure, but this isn't the 1970s. You need a DVR (digital video recorder). Consider the Tivo Bolt Vox (above), a system with six tuners and 75 hours of recording on a 500GB drive for $199.99, or get 150 hours for $299.99. Four of the tuners support OTA recording. (Don't get the high-end $499.99 version—that's cable-ready only.) The companion Vox Mini box sold separately lets you expand DVR coverage to other rooms. As the "vox" implies, you utilize voice control through the remote to run the DVR. Plus, it has plenty of built-in streaming apps. TiVo has a few other OTA DVRs, as do companies like Tablo and Channel Master. Media Hubs and Smart TVs There are a lot of ways to watch internet-based streaming TV as a cord cutter. The options for screens include your phone, tablet, computer, or a big ol' TV itself. All are perfectly capable: just download the apps for the services you want. The big names like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon are all available on just about every platform. On the PC, visit their respective websites. To be honest, if you've got a decent laptop and a nice TV, with an HDMI cable between them you have all you need to be a cord cutter. Stream on your laptop and watch on the big screen. Or use your phone; the apps out there for casting or mirroring what you see on the phone to the TV are too numerous to mention. (Read How to Connect Your iPhone or iPad to Your TV for more.) Then there's the TV itself. Leichtman Research says 69 percent of households in the US have a connected TV of some sort. A lot of modern sets are "smart TVs," which have built-in apps (and app stores) and networking integrated to get on the internet. Use them to download (most of) the cord-cutting apps you'd want. If you don't have a smart TV, get a media hub. You may already have one, in the form of a game console: Xbox One and PlayStation 4 support many streaming apps (the Nintendo Switch only has Hulu for now). Several Blu-ray players also have media hub options. Media hubs come in to other main forms: a thumb-drive sized unit that plugs into the HDMI port on the TV, or a larger media hub the size of a CD player. Our Editors' Choice products for the small "stick" media hubs include the Amazon Fire TV Stick With Alexa Voice Remote and the Google Chromecast. Roku, pictured above, is also a big player in this area—the Roku software is integrated in some smart TV like the Element Roku TV, so you don't even need the stick. If you're thinking about a larger unit that promises faster performance and perhaps even onboard storage, you want the latest Amazon Fire TV or maybe the Apple TV 4K. Again, Roku makes an entire line of products like this, but our analysts haven't cared for some of the latest. Every single one of these products supports the holy trinity of cord-cutter video streaming apps: Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video. Other than that, if you've got a specific service you want to watch, be careful. Buying any media hub (or console or smart TV) doesn't guarantee access to every streaming service. Know Your Cord-Cutting Services The key to effective cord-cuttery is being aware of what apps are available on your hardware of choice, knowing the programming on the various services, and just how much they're going to cost you. Netflix $7.99 per month for one SD stream; $10.99 per month for 2 HD streams, $13.99 per month for 4 streams plus 4K/Ultra HD content support. Netflix is the grand-pappy of online streaming. It started as a DVD-by-mail rental service, and while that's still part of its business, streaming is what it's known for now. It's got a slew of original shows, far too many to mention here. The company will spend up to $8 billion on original movies and shows in 2018 alone. The problem with Netflix is that the catalog of (non-original) films and TV shows is constantly in flux as the studio and networks play games, look for better terms, or set up exclusives on other services. We can't guarantee an entire series or movie will be there forever. But original programming makes Netflix a destination, giving it not only market share, but mind share, the likes of which only HBO can rival. Here's a complete list of devices with Netflix support. (For more, read Netflix Tips to Boost Your Binge-Watching.) Hulu $7.99 per month, with some free content; $11.99 to go commercial free Hulu is literally owned by companies that run three of the major TV networks. So it's the place to go to find the latest TV shows from ABC, NBC, and Fox the day after the program airs. To view these shows on apps with media hubs, consoles, or smart TVs (complete list here), you have to have the premium subscription (which used to be called Hulu Plus, but is now just Hulu). Hulu carries many shows from other sources, like Syfy, that can only be viewed on the Hulu website via a browser, for some asinine reason. For original programming, it started weak, but upped it a notch with Casual, which got the critics interested and earned Hulu its first Golden Globe nomination. Now it's got a real cool factor thanks to the multi-award-winner A Handmaid's Tale. It's also made itself the exclusive place to watch the entire back catalog of classic shows like Star Trek, South Park, Seinfeld, the original CSI, and a bunch of Cartoon Network/Adult Swim shows. It has a smattering of movies, but really, Hulu is all about the TV shows. For an extra $8.99 a month, you can add access to all Showtime content; it's $14.99 per month for HBO, $9.99 per month Cinemax, or both for $19.98 per month. That's cheaper than the standalone Showtime service (more on that below) and these options include the channels' whole back catalogs. This doesn't even cover the Live TV option from Hulu—more on that below. CBS is also missing, as is The CW since its programming goes to Netflix after a season ends (and The CW has an app for cable subscribers). (For more, read Hulu Tips for Streaming TV Fans.) Prime Video $99 annual or $10.99 monthly Amazon Prime account, or $8.99 for streaming video service only Prime Video is a nice hybrid of an all-you-can-eat streaming service like Netflix, plus a video-on-demand store, with plenty of original content to go with it. It's "free" to anyone with a Prime account, which is best known for giving customers free two-day shipping—but you can also get Prime Video for $8.99 a month as a standalone service, with none of the other Amazon extras. Amazon has invested heavily in creating original TV shows, and often asks viewers to vote on the pilots they'd like Amazon to develop into full seasons (supposedly they're doing away with "pilot season" in the future). Great shows include The Tick, Sneaky Pete, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Catastrophe, Bosch, Mozart in the Jungle, and The Man in the High Castle. Amazon Studios produces/distributes movies, so the service gets those first, including highly praised films like Manchester by the Sea and The Big Sick. Of course, if you want to rent or buy a movie to stream, you can do that even if it's not part of the Prime streaming—just rent it first on Amazon.com. Want to add on services? Amazon calls them "channels" and they include: CBS All Access, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, Comedy Central Stand-up, Hallmark, Shudder, Acorn TV, and a lot of lesser-known options. They cost an extra $3.99 to $14.99 per month per service, depending on which you pick. (For more, read Amazon Prime Video Features You May Not Know.) YouTube Red $9.99 per month If YouTube is a staple of your cord-cutting experience—and with millions of hours of video uploaded every second, it probably should be—then maybe this paid experience will be to your liking. After a one-month trial, 10 bucks a month gets you completely ad-free YouTubing—plus access to original shows behind the paywall. These aren't TV shows in the classic sense, but originals created by YouTube stars. YouTube also partnered with big names like Eminem and Katy Perry, as well as the Sundance Film Festival. You also get access to YouTube Music and Google Play Music. Don't confuse it with YouTube TV, which we discuss below. Crackle Free, ad-supported Pretty ubiquitous among the streaming hubs, Sony-owned Crackle offers an eclectic selection of content for free, mostly with ads. We are talking really bad commercials cut in at odd moments in movies—sometimes in the middle of a scene—as if an algorithm handles it rather than a human. The movies tend to be pretty craptacular with occasional gems. It's trying more and more to do original content, like TV show version of the movie Snatch, Start Up with Ron Perlman, and the new cop series The Oath with Sean Bean. It once could brag about having Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee but lost it to Netflix. CBS All Access CBS All Access $5.99 per month with limited commercials; $9.99 per month for no ads When you're the No. 1 TV network, you get to do your own thing. That's why CBS launched its own streaming service. You get one week to try All Access free before the fee is applied. That six-or-nine bucks a month gets you access to some of the most popular shows on TV the day after airing, including The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Elementary, Survivor, Amazing Race, even daytime shows. There are also a few thousand old TV shows streaming here, such as Cheers, all the versions of Star Trek (the rights are owned by the CBS Corporation), Brady Bunch, The Twilight Zone, and Hawaii Five-0. You can insert your own joke here about how the Tiffany Network is for your grandparents, because I already made mine above. The crown jewel driving this premium streaming service is Star Trek: Discovery (which isn't even that good a Star Trek show), plus other originals like The Good Fight, which can only be seen via All Access, at least in the US (ST:D is on Netflix in other countries). You can also add Showtime programming to watch in the All Access interface for $14.99 per month. Premium Cable With Paid Streaming Services HBO Go and HBO Now GO requires cable subscription to HBO. Now is $14.99 per month HBO GO has been around for a while, and is a great streaming service, but is only available to existing HBO subscribers with a cable plan. It has no limits on concurrent streams, though, so plenty of people without pay TV use shared passwords for their Game of Thrones fix. With HBO Now, however, the need for a pilfered password is removed. It's the only option if you don't have someone from whom to pilfer. Anyone with internet and supported hardware can subscribe and watch original HBO programming like GoT, Divorce, Big Little Lies, Insecure, Westworld, Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Silicon Valley, plus the entire back catalog of shows: The Sopranos and The Wire forever! Try it free for an entire month. (For more, check out 9 Secret HBO NOW and HBO GO Features.) Showtime $10.99 per month You could pretty much assume that if HBO is going to do a standalone streaming service, so will its rival Showtime (owned by CBS). If you've already got Showtime via your cable or satellite subscription, that's all you need to watch it streaming—it's called Showtime Anytime (it may be limited by who your provider is). If not, you have the option to subscribe to it alone for $10.99 a month after a one-month trial. You get full access to shows like the revived Twin Peaks, The Chi, SMILF, Shameless, Homeland, Billions, and the whole back catalog (including Dexter and Nurse Jackie). Showtime has made itself an add-on with just about any service that offers the option. It's available through Hulu, Amazon Prime, and CBS All Access, plus the live TV streaming services (below). Or use the apps on Apple TV, iOS, Android, Roku, and Xbox One. The price to get Showtime those services is generally a couple buck lower per month, a $24 a year savings. Starz $8.99 per month The premium cable channel Starz—home of some great shows like Counterpart, Power, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Outlander, and The Girlfriend Experience—is both streaming for those with a cable/satellite subscription to it, available as a discrete streaming service (Starz Streaming), or as an add-on to Amazon Video. There are many apps allowing Starz viewing on almost any hardware (except PS4, but you can get around that by using the Amazon Channel add-on option). The cost is the same no matter how you get Starz. Live TV Stream Services A couple years ago, some services decided it wasn't enough to just provide some a la carte streaming of shows. They wanted to provide what is pretty much a full cable-television subscription experience over the internet. These are those services. They won't necessarily give you super-granular control over content like you'd have with a regular streaming service, or even moreso with a DVR recording stuff off the air, but they give you access to a lot of content you might not otherwise get without a cable subscription—especially news and sports. Sling TV $20 per month for Sling Orange basic package (30 channels); $25 per month for Sling Blue (45 channels) Sling TV was the first of these types of services back in 2015, and is available on many devices (Xbox One, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, iOS, Android, Windows, even the Chrome browser, and a few other hubs, though notable not on PlayStation 4) with a ton of add-on options. That's why it calls itself "a la carte tv." The channel selection is pretty extensive—but far from everything. You won't find CBS on this service, naturally. But premium channels are available as add-ons; in fact, some of what you'd see on basic cable—like SyFy, USA, Fox and NBC—are only available to you on Sling TV by paying a bit more for the Sling Blue package for $25 per month. Then there are more "Lifestyle Extra" add on packages to get other channels you may want; those usually add an extra $5 per month to the price. Like with any of the live TV stream services, check the channel offerings thoroughly before you subscribe to make sure they have what you want. Sony PlayStation Vue $39.99 a month to start There's a reason the PlayStation doesn't always have a lot of other streaming services: it has its own exclusive live TV streaming setup—which you can also get on Android, iOS, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku products, and a browser on a computer. For the base price, you get on-demand stuff from almost all of the networks (but not The CW) and even get them live in some markets. There are lots of basic cable stations (minus Viacom-owned stations like SyFy and Comedy Central). Each new tier of service adds more channels, going up to $44.99 to add some sports programming, and $54.99 for 90 channels, ending with $74.99—that Ultra package has those 90 channels plus paid cable services HBO and Showtime (but no Starz) for a little less than adding them separately. There is a $10-per-month add-on channel for sports and $4.99-per-month one for Spanish channels. Perhaps the best feature on PS Vue: a cloud-based DVR for storing up to 500 programs to watch whenever you like. Also, you can use the "TV Everywhere" apps that many cable channels have that require a cable subscription—but by authenticating them with PlayStation Vue. And you can pause or rewind or fast forward on every channel. All of them. DirecTV Now $35 per month for 60+ live channels to start Like PlayStation Vue, AT&T's DirecTV Now has several tiers, starting with $35 a month, going to $50 for 80+ channels, $60 for 100+, and $70 for 120+. That does include Viacom stations and all the networks except CBS; the priciest plan offers up multiple Starz-related channels; HBO and Cinemax are here but for $5 per month extra each; Showtime is $8 per month extra. Not everyone thought this was a good service when it debuted, but it's so far stuck with that "introductory" price that would put it in line with icky cable subscriptions. If you've got an AT&T phone plan, you can add DirecTV Now for just $10 a month; HBO is included if you've got an AT&T Unlimited Choice or Plus plan. You can watch DirecTV Now on your PC via browser, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, ChromeCast, Roku devices, iOS, and Android—it's not on any game consoles. Lacking however: DVR options. There's plenty of video on demand, but not for every show. Hulu with Live TV $39.99 per month Hulu is more than just a place to find some streaming originals and a lot of day-after-air shows. Last year it launched a live TV service—and it quickly became the PCMag Editors' Choice in this arena. Yeah, you pay more, but for that $39.99 you get access to the entire Hulu library we discussed above, plus lots of cable channels, including many local affiliates that stream live (depending on your location). Cinemax, HBO, and Showtime are all add-on options like they are with regular Hulu. Sports and news stations galore. You can "record" 50 hours of programming to the cloud-based DVR or upgrade it to 200 hours for extra; it also costs more to have access to Hulu with Live TV on multiple screens. Hulu with Live TV is on a more limited number of devices but includes all the usual suspects: a browser, iOS, Android, Roku products, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox, and Samsung Smart TVs. Try if free for one week. YouTube TV $35 per month We mentioned before: YouTube TV is not YouTube Red. Red is more like an advanced, commercial-free version of regular ol' YouTube. The YouTube TV option costs more and has a lot of catching up to do to rival the other live TV streaming services. It's in limited cities, has limited channels, and is available on limited devices (Chromecast, Android, iOS, LG and Samsung TVs, Xbox One, and browsers on PCs). It doesn't even bundle in YouTube Red as part of the service—you'd have to spend another $10 a month on Red to keep ads out of your regular YouTube streaming. Premium channel add-ons include $11-a-month Showtime, $5-a-month Shudder, and $7-per-month Sundance. The big plus: unlimited storage in the cloud-based DVR option. fuboTV $44.99 a month Sports first is the goal at fuboTV, even if it's not sports exclusive. You get 82 channels of live TV with a intense focus on sports-related channels—even though the service doesn't include any ESPN networks (those are on Sling TV and Hulu with Live TV). But you do get stations like MSG, FS1, NBCSN, NBATV, BTN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports Network, and a lot more—including many entertainment networks like Fox, History Channel, HGTV, FX, E! and others. Add-ons include Showtime for $10.99 a month, plus even more sports channels from different countries for $8.99 a month. It comes with cloud-DVR capability and works on a PC, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Apple TV, and Roku devices; it's in beta on Amazon Fire TV. The first month is only $19.99 before it goes up to full price. TV Providers With Apps Just because you subscribe to cable or satellite doesn't mean you have to use the provided set-top box. In an effort to become part of the cord-cutting landscape, many of the major cable and satellite providers, who double as internet service providers, let users subscribe and then access all programing via apps rather than the cable box or even the tuner in the TV. The apps have names like Spectrum TV, Xfinity Stream, RCN2Go, Cox Contour, Dish Anywhere, Verizon Fios Mobile—you can probably tell who provides them. With Spectrum TV, for example, you get access to live TV streams for any of the networks in your tier of service. There's also lots of on-demand content for individual shows and some movies. It integrates channel guides and search for select shows/movies. If a channel (or show on a channel) that isn't available to you shows up on a menu, it's generally grayed out. And you can mark shows as favorites so they're easier to follow. But what's annoying is it takes a lot longer for a show to appear in the on-demand section—three or four days, instead of just one with a show on Hulu or even a network's own app, for example. The commercials are still there—and repetitive to the extreme. Each break may show the same commercials over and over, sometimes the same ad back-to-back, as if they couldn't find any sponsors who believe in streaming. Or perhaps it's to torture you into using regular cable and a DVR (if you get a DVR from Spectrum, the app can be used to program it.) Thankfully, using such apps typically won't cost a dime above and beyond what you're already paying for cable/satellite. Networks and Channels With Apps Sometimes called "TV Everywhere" apps, these are the apps for individual networks or cable channels that provide video-on-demand of their current shows (usually a day or two after they air). All of them have wildly different interfaces. Almost all of them require you to sign in using existing credentials for a cable or satellite TV subscription. And even then, almost all force you to watch commercials while viewing shows, with no way to skip them. The networks like ABC, NBC, Fox, PBS, even CBS have such apps. The CW has two—the second one is called CW Seed and is used to show almost all old shows they got the exclusive rights to. There's even the occasional original-only on there (CW Seed had most of the Arrow-verse animated shows like Vixen, for example.) No two of these apps are alike in interface or even features. You'll learn to hate how some provide captions, love others that provide a usable fast-forward or rewind, etc. The list of basic cable channels with a view-everywhere app option is truly staggering: A&E Adult Swim AMC Animal Planet Go Bravo Now BBC America Cartoon Network CNN Comedy Central Cooking Channel Discovery Go Disney Channel Disney XD Watch DIY E! Now WatchESPN Food Network Fox Business Fox News Fox Sports Freeform FX Now Golf Channel Hallmark Channel Everywhere HLN Watch HGTV IFC MSNBC MTV Play Nat Geo Oxygen Now Science Channel Go Sony Movie Channel Sundance TV SyFy Now Watch TBS TLC GO Watch TNT Watch truTV Turner Classic Movies USA Now That is far from an exhaustive list. You may find some of these on your big TV streaming hub (Roku has a great list of apps), but not all—some may only be on mobile devices. Remember, a lot of the shows that you watch on these stations end up on other services—specifically Netflix, Hulu, or Prime Video. So you may not have to suffer through watching these on small screens with un-skippable advertising. Consider the Cutting Cost Cord cutting has its conveniences, but will it really save you cash? At least one survey says it does. LendEDU found that the average cord-cutter saves $115.33 per month after killing cable. That's probably true if they only use one or two streaming services. That's because the price of paying for cable always goes up. Leichtman Research Group says the monthly average in September 2017 stood at $106 (that's $1,272 a year), an increase of 3 percent since 2016. The price of cable has almost doubled since 2009, not even a decade. Now consider all of the services we've mentioned above, not even factoring in the cost of buying a media hub or smart TV if needed. Assuming you need subscriptions to all of them to get as thorough a cross section of channels as you'd get with cable, it's not cheap. Remember, all these prices are before applicable tax and with the lowest tier of service. Service Monthly Yearly Netflix (with SD streaming) $7.99 $95.88 Hulu (with commercials) $7.99 $95.88 Prime Video $8.99 $99.00 YouTube Red $9.99 $119.88 HBO Now $14.99 $179.88 CBS All Access $5.99 $71.88 Showtime (add-on price) $8.99 $107.88 Starz $8.99 $107.88 TOTAL $73.92 $878.16 That total is not inexpensive, but cheaper than the average cable number above. Also, that's not factoring in other costs like DVR subscriptions for cable users. Plus, now that there are several live TV streaming services, that may be the best way to handle all the viewing sans cable. Hulu with live TV is $479.88 per year—add HBO and Showtime to it and the price jumps to $719.76. If you add all the remaining streaming services (Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube Red, CBS, and Starz) that's $1,214.38—still cheaper than the average pay TV cable service. Take it all into account if you want to cut the cord and go cable-TV free.

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