Back in 2021, I wrote a post about how sometimes it's okay to keep cable. The idea wasn't to go back to the old way of watching TV, but to find a clever compromise. For a household in a location where a TV antenna wouldn't work, a cheap "locals-only" cable package was a simple way to get a few essential channels for just a fraction of the cost of a live TV streaming service. At the time, that was a financially smart way to "trim the cord" without having to fully cut it.
The problem is, the entire TV landscape has changed in just a few short years. I recently looked into that same compromise, and the numbers tell a story that's both frustrating and revealing. What was once an affordable hack has become a new, and much more expensive, trap.
The New Math of "Trimming the Cord"
In 2021, that locals-only package was a real bargain, priced around $10 a month with broadcast fees being a fraction of that. Today, that very same plan -- now called "Choice TV" -- has a base price that has more than tripled, and it comes with an astonishing $29.10 in mandatory broadcast fees. In the Savannah market, that plan, with all fees, costs around $59.10 a month.
This new price point fundamentally changes the entire conversation. For a long time, the biggest obstacle to cutting the cord has been the fear of missing live, local content. The locals-only package was a perfect solution for that. Now, its price is so inflated that it’s nearly as expensive as a full-featured live TV streaming service. For instance, my preferred service, Sling TV, starts at just $46 a month, and that includes dozens of popular channels like ESPN.
The Obstacle Is Not Always the Bill
We know that a high percentage of Americans still pay for traditional cable. The latest data shows the average monthly bill is over $120, with some people paying far more. The bulk of these subscribers are over 50 years old, a group that is also the most reluctant to change.
That's a powerful point that hits very close to home. My own mother, who loved her Roku device and was an avid Netflix streamer, kept a cable subscription for years. She rarely watched it herself, but held onto it just in case members of the family that didn't stream came to visit. She was paying over $200 a month for the TV portion of her Xfinity bill for a service she almost never used. It wasn't until a year before she died that she finally "trimmed" the cord to that locals-only package. The technology wasn't the obstacle -- it was the habit of a lifetime.
Conclusion: The Story Has Changed
In 2021, it was okay to keep cable. Today, with no cheap locals-only options and the average bill for a full package well over $120 a month, it's a completely different story. The "trimming the cord" compromise is no longer a wise financial move, and the real hurdle remains what it always has been -- the fear of change.
My Streaming Life is a journey of staying agile and not getting stuck in old, expensive habits. It's a journey that I'm glad I'm on, and one that is well worth it, in my opinion.
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