Streaming Smarts

Recently, I’ve had several people speak with me about abandoning their current cable provider and switching all of their TV viewing to Internet streaming. There are several things that should be considered when contemplating such a move.

Replacing Local Channels

When you drop cable you also lose access to your local TV channels. The addition of an antenna can often replace them. Old analog broadcast TV was often difficult to receive even with a good antenna but today’s digital TV broadcasting has made it easier to receive channels. In some cases some of your local channels can be received without an antenna but for the best results a small antenna, often just placed behind the TV, can bring in more local stations. For the best information, I suggest going to https://www.antennaweb.org enter your street address and see what they recommend.

If that’s not satisfactory you can subscribe to any of a number of streaming services that offer local channels. Some alternatives are YouTube TV at https://tv.youtube.com/welcome, Fubo TV at https://www.fubo.tv/welcome. and DirecTV Stream at https://www.directv.com/stream/. All currently provide at least ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX and generally cost around $80/month. Each service also provides other channels as well such as A&E, Bravo, The Food Network, CNN, ESPN, AMC and FX. If you have favorite non-broadcast channels such as those listed, it’s best to search for a streaming service that provides access to them.

Streaming Service Price Increases

All of the streaming services have increased their prices fairly dramatically. YouTube TV, for instance, started out charging $35/month in 2017. In January of 2025 they charged $82.99/month, an increase of over 200%. Netflix included streaming with their subscription until 2011 when they introduced a streaming only plan for $7.99/month. Today you can still get Netflix for $7.99/month with ads. It costs $17.99/month to get it without ads so the equivalent services increased by over 200%. If you are thinking of getting rid of cable, be sure to take into account any free or reduced prices for streaming services that you want to keep.

Don’t Forget Your Internet!

Once you drop your cable subscription you will be totally dependent on your Internet connection for all of your viewing so there are a few things you should consider. First is your internet speed. The speed you need is dictated by what format you prefer to watch. The most common formats are SD, HD, and 4K (see https://www.buddycompany.com/post/difference-sd-hd-4k for a description of each of these). If all you want is standard definition (SD) then you’ll need a speed of 3Mbps (mega bits per second) to 4Mbps. Most of us prefer to watch in at least high definition (HD) and that requires a speed of from 5Mbps to 10Mbps. If you want to watch in 4K then you’ll need anywhere from 20Mbps to 25Mbps.

Data Caps

Now that you’re streaming everything you need to consider the data cap imposed by your Internet provider. What is a data cap? It’s the amount of data you are allowed to consume in a month. Some providers impose a “hard” data cap meaning you’re not allowed to exceed that amount of data in a month. Others have a “soft cap” which means they will give you a little leeway on your maximums. Still others will charge you for any amount you use over your allotment. It’s best to check with your Internet provider to see and understand their policy.

How much can you expect to need? It depends on how much you stream and what format you prefer to use to watch. The best way to estimate your need is to know how much each format uses per hour and then compute how many hours a week or a month you intend to stream. SD uses a little less than 1GB (1 GigaByte or roughly 1000 Megabits) per hour. HD uses 1.5GB to 3GB per hour and 4K uses 7GB to 10GB per hour.

If you have a 4K TV then you’ll likely be using 7GB to 10GB per hour. If you stream 3 hours per day that comes out to anywhere from 21GB to 30GB per day so in a month you’d need a data cap of anywhere from 630GB to 900GB! You can downgrade your stream to HD so, using the same 3 hours per day you would use 4.5GB to 9GB per day which comes out to anywhere between 135GB and 270GB per month - quite a difference! But I would also encourage you to pad it a little to accommodate an occasional heavier streaming schedule. And if you have others in your home, don’t forget to include an allotment for them. Then, of course, there’s your regular Internet use - we’re only covering the amount of data you’ll need to stream video.

That’s all for this time

I hope this gives you a little insight to some of the considerations associated with dropping your cable TV provider and streaming all of your TV viewing. Don't hesitate to write to me if you have questions!

As always, my intent is to help you understand the basics and equip you to search for more detailed information.

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