A recent internet and cable outage has led to a significant change in my home – I cut the cord. Well I almost cut the cord. I still have high speed internet, but the PVR for our TV is gone. This is not a decision I made lightly. I have considered doing this for years and over-thought it to death. However, I did make this final decision in frustration, and it came back to bite me.
I have had streaming apps for a few years now, but only for a couple months here and there. A few shows on Netflix were new, so I’d wait and subscribe for a month and binge them – always being cautious to not look at spoilers online. There was a regular rotation of Disney-Plus, Netflix, Paramount-Plus, and most recently Apple TV. Then the outage happened – 12 hours of no internet, and a constantly rebooting PVR. Imagine, 12 hours with no internet and teenagers at home! I am glad I spent most of that day at work.
Even after the internet returned – with appropriate angelic light illuminating the modem box and choirs singing – the PVR did not work right. Technical support, after sitting on hold for 55 minutes, asked me if I had unplugged and re-plugged in the device. Serenity now! A service call was booked for eight days later. Another 45 minute call the next day was met with me cancelling the PVR. I’m free! Except I also dispatched my nose to spite my face.
A show that has been on for 10 seasons was ending that week. A two-part series finale. Finally I’d find out who Raymond Reddington is… except I couldn’t – I didn’t have the right streaming app for the right channel. Even after I caught up on the show days later, I still don’t know who Reddington is. Thanks writers.
I was part way through the latest Star Trek season, but I need to subscribe to another streaming platform to watch the rest of the season. Unlike some Canadian networks, CTV does not have its own paid service like Global or CBC. I may have to put up an antenna to get the local CTV station. I miss watching stories from newspapers broadcast on TV two weeks later.
CBC’s app is “free” except for the 19 million commercials every six minutes, and annoying Gerry Dee spots. But I can pay $6 month to go commercial free. If I pay taxes, which funds the CBC, why do I have to pay to get rid of their commercials too?
As we do not have TV service, my phone/internet/TV bundle became a phone/internet bundle and I lost the “bundling discount.” I now spend the same bundle of money for a two service bundle that I was spending for a three “service” bundle.
In order to watch Ted Lasso (finally) and for other residents of Casa del Blancher to watch shows they want, I need to subscribe to five different services. All these services require internet, and that has an unintended consequence: I need a higher-speed internet package.
I am spending the same amount for less service than before, subscribing to more streaming services than before, and I have to buy an antenna. Clearly less is more applies here. I get less, and it’s more convoluted. I get less, and pay more. Something seems wrong here. I think I’ve messed up.
Growing up, there were seven channels: Global, CJOH, WWNY, CKWS, TVO, WNPE, and Channel 50. If you were lucky, you could get a Montréal station by standing on your head while holding the rabbit ears.
Even after my parents bought a big satellite dish, we still had fewer than 30 channels. Now in the multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-verse, everything is way more complicated than it needs to be. Like programming my VCR. Perhaps my kids can fix this all for me.
Maybe there needs to be one service, a box, that has all the channels in one place. I think I need to make another phone call. Isn’t it funny how the sales department doesn’t make you wait on hold?
This column was originally published in the July 26, 2023 print edition of The Morrisburg Leader.