Traditional TV viewers Steve and Alice Hire, 66 and 63 respectively, are the unlikeliest of cord-cutters.
The Hires, but Steve in particular, love their TV. Steve, who is retired from a printing business but works part-time at a golf pro shop, watches 10 to 15 hours per day; Alice, a retired elementary school teacher, watches 4 or 5 hours per day. Six television sets are spread throughout their San Diego home so they're never too far from tuning in.
These are not the kind of people who'd you expect to make a TV lifestyle change of this magnitude.
But here we are.
The Hires are the second of three San Diego area households I've helped cut the cord as part of my ongoing digital life series on the ever-changing TV landscape. They were paying $240 per month for TV, phone and internet service with Cox, and they wanted to see if they could slash their bill by $70 or more.
When I first exchanged emails and phone calls with Steve, I wasn't sure what the couple's do-it-yourself bundle would look like at the end of the process. In fact, because of their channel and viewing preferences, I was open to the possibility that the Hires might end up as cord-shavers, meaning they might keep basic cable service and supplement with streaming options.
That's not what happened. But ultimately, this series isn't about forcing people to give up something they love. Rather, it's about empowering people to understand what's available to them.
THE HIRES GET HIP TO STREAMING
As it stands, I'm happy to report that the Hires are cordless and using PlayStation Vue's $35-per-month "Core Slim" package, streamed through a Roku stick, as their primary substitute for traditional pay TV. They liked the price and channel selection, and they loved the idea of not having to sacrifice a DVR-like experience to watch their favorite programs without ads. (During this process, PlayStation Vue hiked the price of its plans. Come October, the Core Slim bundle will cost the Hires $44.99 per month.)
The couple is also relying on five old-fashioned antennas, purchased at the 99 Cents Only Store, to fill in any local programming holes.
Steve and Alice's setup is as follows:
Living room TV: A Samsung smart TV with a Roku Streaming Stick and antenna
Kitchen TV: A Samsung smart TV with a Roku Streaming Stick and antenna
Poolside TV: A Samsung smart TV with antenna
Bedroom TV: A Samsung smart TV with antenna
Exercise room TV: Standard flat panel TV with antenna
Garage TV: Older, CRT TV currently not in use
Steve and Alice now spend roughly 60 percent of their viewing hours streaming TV and the rest watching with the help of an antenna. In spite of making the big switch, they haven't cut back on their viewing time. In fact, Steve reports finding several new shows, including one pool construction series on the DIY Network, which they didn't get before.
Cutting the cord proved not to be a problem. The dicier task was determining what to do about internet service.
The original plan was to stick with Cox, as a representative had originally quoted them $60 per month for internet (15 Mbps download speeds) and phone. But different representatives later said the rate would be $80 per month.
So the new plan is to head to AT&T and that process is still under way.
When complete, their new monthly bill for TV, phone and internet service will be $87 per month, which includes a $52 phone and internet (50 Mbps) deal with AT&T. That means the Hires' savings should amount to more than $150 per month, when excluding one-time costs associated with equipment purchases and setup.
They purchased all of their television sets prior to my involvement, but bought two Roku sticks (one for $40, the other $50) at my request.
Even though their primary TVs are smart TVs, which allow for internet access and come with an app store, PlayStation Vue is not supported. I suggested Roku sticks as Roku offers a comprehensive selection of streaming apps, or channels as they're also known, and the overall streaming experience is best-in-class.
The sticks are connected to sets in the living room and kitchen, but are portable and can be used on any HDTV with an HDMI port. Steve has already misplaced one Roku remote, but he said he prefers the company's smartphone remote app for navigating the product.
Eventually, the Hires would like to replace their budget antennas with an outdoor antenna and signal booster configuration to transmit over-the-air signals, through the cable lines, to all of the home's television sets. Their neighbor is helping with that endeavor.
"It's been fun," Steve said of the process. "I've enjoyed the people that come up and say, 'Hey, is that you in the paper?'"
A NEW VIEW WITH PLAYSTATION VUE
As the original alternative for cable TV, PlayStation Vue's streaming service is arguably the most robust, offering a cloud-based DVR with fast-forward functionality and no storage limits. Vue also supports streaming on five devices, and comes with a competitive lineup of channels.
"We've have had quite a bit of time to fine tune everything," Dwayne Benefield told me. "Delivering live TV over the internet is not easy."
Benefield heads up the Vue division at Sony. He says the entertainment company is motivated to blend the best of cable TV with the best of the internet.
"What a lot of people don't know is that PlayStation is the largest distributor of most subscription video on-demand services. We noticed that people were switching back to cable TV (from PlayStation's subscription video app library) for live TV and they were frustrated with the experience.
"By delivering a better experience I thought we could do quite well."
The company doesn't share subscriber numbers. But Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav estimated in late March that Vue has more than 400,000 subscribers.
In San Diego, Vue's Core Slim bundle comes with more than 60 channels, including live access to the local broadcast feeds offered by Fox, NBC and CBS. ABC shows, however, are availably on-demand only.
Otherwise, the Hires also get live and on-demand programming from all of the following: AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, Bravo, Big Ten Network, Cartoon Network, CNBC, CNN, Destination America, Discovery, Discovery Family Disney, Disney Junior, Disney XD, DIY Network, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, Food Network, Fox Businses, Fox News, Fox Sports San Diego, Fox Sports West, Freeform, FS1, FS2, FX, FXX, NBC Golf, HGTV, HLN, IFC, MLB Network, MSNBC, National Geographic, NBA TV, NBC Sports Network, NFL Network, OWN, Oxygen, Pop, Science, SEC Network, Sundance TV, SyFy, TBS, TLC, TNT, Travel Channel, Tru TV, Turner Classic Movies, USA and We TV.
It's a fairly exhaustive list of the most popular local stations, regional and national sports networks, and cable networks.
The only glaring omission for Steve and Alice is local independent TV station KUSI, which they enjoyed watching every morning and hope to get once again when the outdoor antenna system is installed.
CUSTOMER SERVICE NIGHTMARES A REALITY
I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This was not a painless process. In fact, Steve and Alice have endured hours of unpleasant customer service calls with both Cox and AT&T. At times, they were either inadvertently misinformed or given bad information by customer service agents at both companies.
Where they encountered the biggest obstacle was securing internet and phone service at what they considered a reasonable price from Cox, their provider of everything before.
The couple called the company a few weeks prior to canceling cable TV service to inquire about rates for their other services. They were told they could get a phone and internet plan, at their current spend of 15 Mpbs, for $60 a month.
The Hires were satisfied with this rate.
However, when it actually came time to cancel cable TV, the pair were told something else entirely. This time, the rate, multiple customer service reps insisted, would be $80 for month for phone and internet at 15Mpbs. And there was no negotiating.
This price struck me as unnecessarily high given the relatively low internet speed. After they tried one more time without any success to barter for a better rate, I told the Hires to consider switching to AT&T, which gets mixed reviews but was offering a much better deal and faster internet speed.
So they did.
I wish I could say, all's well that ends well, but I can't.
AT&T has already frustrated Steve and Alice, as the company was unable to complete installation on the original date scheduled. As it stands, the couple was slated to soon receive internet and phone service from AT&T. They're committing to a one-year contract with AT&T. Next July, they might once again re-evaluate their options.
"I'm not real happy, but we will see if I have in fact jumped from the fire into the frying pan," Steve said.
So it's not exactly the happiest of endings, but it is one where Steve and Alice get most of what they want for a whole lot less than they were paying before.
"I'm glad that we did it," Steve told me. "I think it makes perfect sense, even if it is a little more work on our part."
