Reed Hastings put his Netflix strategy deck online a few days ago. In it, he says “almost no consumers leave Cable/Satellite/Telco for Netflix.” Later this summer, Lori and I are going to join those “almost no consumers.” We’re moving in to a just-renovated building in Center City that’s serviced only by Comcast, not by my beloved FiOS.
It’s going to be a busy summer, and I don’t much care for the idea of waiting all day for a cable guy to come. And I’m not convinced that we need to pay $150 per month to get the same level of home entertainment that we currently get from cable. Here’s my current plan:
- Grab a WiMax modem from Clear to replace our current broadband connection. Speed tests in our new neighborhood look great for streaming.
- Replace my current Moxi setup with a Mac mini running EyeTV for OTA broadcasts.
- Download Hulu Desktop to replace much of our current DVR/on-demand viewing.
- Grab our favorite cable series from iTunes. (Mad Men, It’s Always Sunny.)
- Add streaming Netflix for movies.
I don’t watch very much TV, usually just 3-4 hours per week. Lori, however, likes to cozy up while I’m writing, and asked me how we’d replace something like Turner Classic Movies. So I told her I’d look into it.
Let’s look at Sunday’s schedule: TCM posts all their listings well in advance.
- 10:15am: Strangers on a Train (Available by DVD Delivery)
- 12:00pm: The Keys of the Kingdom (Available by DVD Delivery)?
- 2:30pm: Lolita (Available by DVD Delivery)?
- 5:15pm: Funny Girl (Available to Watch Instantly)
- 8:00pm: Old Yeller (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 9:30pm: The Yearling (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 12:00am: The Sea Hawk (Available by DVD Delivery)??
Maybe that Sunday’s not a typical day. How about the following Saturday?
- 9am: Monkey Business (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 10:30am: Hold that Baby! (Not available.)
- 12pm: A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 2pm: Ivanhoe (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 4pm: The Wreck of the Mary Deare (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 6pm: The Last Voyage (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 8pm: San Francisco (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 10pm: Flower Drum Song (Available by DVD Delivery)??
- 12:30am: Bullitt (Available to Watch Instantly)?
With the exception of a lone Bowery Boys feature, we can use our Netflix queue to recreate an entire rainy day weekend of TCM. We really adore Robert Osborne, and have even been to his film festival, so we may just subscribe to Now Playing as thanks for curating the queue for us. But I don’t think we’ll need to keep paying $150 a month for cable, especially since TCM is only available here in standard-definition, anyway!
