Many times when we talk to people there is an inherit fear about leaving traditional cable behind.

We completely understand this because we were the same way before we as individuals cut the cord.

For most people who are 25 years of age and older you have probably only ever watched TV one way for most of your life.

It has revolved around channels that probably show a few shows you like to watch at specific times.

15 years ago that meant using something like TV guide to keep track of when your shows were on and making sure you were home at the time your shows were broadcast.

Then came the advent of the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) in 1999, this allowed users to record the shows they wanted to watch when they weren’t home and watch them later.

When we consult with potential clients we ask people to think about what shows you like to watch.

If you are taking the time to set the PVR to record a show on a daily or weekly basis then you probably are invested in watching that particular program.

There is a reason people want to get rid of cable, so the first thing you have to understand about the process of cutting the cord is that things will be very different and yet have a very familiar feeling.

It’s hard for people to really name more than a handful of shows that they like to watch and that’s what the cable companies like. First off many shows are seasonal meaning that they spend more time off the air than on the air.

Source: Wikipedia

"In North American television, a series is a connected set of television program episodes that run under the same title, possibly spanning many seasons. Since the late 1960s, this broadcast programming schedule typically includes between 20 and 26 episodes. (Before then, a regular television season could average out to at least 30 episodes.) Up until the 1980s, most (but certainly not all) new programs for the broadcast networks debuted in the "Fall Season", which ran from September through March and nominally contained from 24 to 26 episodes. These episodes were rebroadcast during the Spring (or Summer) Season, from April through August. Because of cable television and the Nielsen sweeps, the "fall" season now normally extends to May. Thus, a "full season" on a broadcast network now usually runs from September through May for at least 22 episodes.[14]

A full season is sometimes split into two separate units with a hiatus around the end of the calendar year, such as the first season of Jericho on CBS. When this split occurs, the last half of the episodes sometimes are referred to with the letter B as in "The last nine episodes (of The Sopranos) will be part of what is being called either "Season 6, Part 2" or "Season 6B,"[15] or in "Futurama is splitting its seasons similar to how South Park does, doing half a season at a time, so this is season 6B for them."[16] Since the 1990s, these shorter seasons also have been referred to as ".5" or half seasons, where the run of shows between September and December is labeled "Season X", and the second run between January and May labeled "Season X.5". Examples of this include the 2004 incarnation of Battlestar Galactica, ABC's FlashForward, and ABC Family's Make It or Break It.

Nowadays, a new series is often ordered (funded) for just the first 10 to 13 episodes, to gauge the audience interest. If it is "picked up", the season is completed to the regular 20 to 26 episodes. A midseason replacement is an inexpensive short-run (10–13 episode) show designed to take the place of an original series that failed to garner an audience and has not been picked up. A "series finale" is the last show of the series before the show is no longer produced. (In the UK, it means the end of a season, what is known in the United States as a "season finale”).”

There is a reason why we ask people to consider shows not channels. Channels are a flawed concept that are exclusive to traditional cable. For most people there really are only a few shows you watch on a particular channel at any given time.

Often there are channels that people tell us that they can’t live without and for that we challenge you to answer why. Ask yourself why is that particular channel so important to you?

Do you like every show that the channel has?

Are you watching this channel non stop or do you like just having it on as background noise?

Do you really think those specific shows you like to watch are only available on that one channel and no where else?

This is where the psychology of cable comes into play.

There is no channel on cable that has more than 4-5 hours of original content on it within any given 24 hour period and most barely have that. News channels like CP24 simply just repeat the same news stories over and over again and while they are nice to have on for background noise there is no content that you can’t get somewhere else in this day and age.

This is the first hurdle you want to get over in your brain. Why is cable so expensive? Because you are paying to access all of these channels all the time even though you probably don’t use them all the time.

Again remember the shows you like to watch follow specific broadcast calendars, so if those shows you like to watch aren’t showing new episodes for 8 months of the year then why are you paying for that channel 12 months of the year?

In our always on society people get the news from their phones, laptops, tablets throughout the day so by the time you get home to turn on your local 6pm news broadcast are you really surprised by any of the stories you see?

Your TV habits will evolve when you cut the cord, but the content you like to watch will still be there just in different delivery formats.

When you subscribe to a streaming service for a month the cost of each service can range from $5.00 - $25.00 but what you are paying for is access to their entire library of content for a 30 day period. You watch as much as you want and then you have the option to walk away or renew.

These streaming services are just the next evolution of TV so if you are ready for your TV watching to evolve where you get to control what you pay each month then get in touch with us and we'll help you through the whole process.

The Psychology of ‘Cutting the Cable Cord’