A couple years ago when I "cut the cord" the savings from not having to pay a $125 monthly bill from Dish quickly began to add up! Now, a few thousand dollars later my wife and I are spending time with more "quality" TV programming using an Amazon FireStick and a handful of paid apps like Netflix, Hulu, and CBS All Access. We also have a small easily hidden indoor antenna for the local Spokane/Coeur d'Alene channels available for free.
The monthly bill sits at just under $35. Granted, I do miss having a DVR for programs that air on the local stations. And there are still a few providers, like AMC, that "don't get it" quite yet because they require you to have a provider such as cable or satellite company in order to pay for and receive premium service through their app. But it's not the end of the world and, eventually, they'll come around to how this whole cord cutting thing works.
It's good to see huge waves of new cord cutters save so much money by finding alternatives to the once powerful TV providers who over charged and undeserved. Now don't get me wrong...my previous provider for well over a decade, Dish Network, had the best new cutting edge equipment and devices, not to mention the absolute best customer service department on the planet! Over time, however, the value of what they were providing this long time customer was so far below the price they wanted me to pay for it that I simply deiced to be done. Easy enough. Really!
Have you cut the cord? How do you watch TV? Are you opting for a la carte programming? Can the cable and satellite companies adjust their model to survive in the long-term?