Ditching Cable for the Web: How Much Can You Save Buying, Renting, or Streaming TV

Ever wonder if, for just your favorite shows, it might be smarter to get an iTunes or Amazon season pass? Pondering which shows you'd have to give up if you canceled cable? We compiled a big chart of answers for you.

It's not an easy question to answer, of course. Everybody watches a different set of shows, usually across networks, and the price people pay for straight-up, always-on cable and DVR service varies widely. Among the major buy/rent/stream services themselves, pricing, we found, can be a huge question mark.

If you're a big fan of medical dramas, you'll be pleased to know Grey's Anatomy is only 99 cents an episode, in HD, on Amazon's Video on Demand service—94 cents if you buy a season pass. House, on the other hand, is $2.99 per HD episode, $2.84 with subscription. iTunes gives you 48-hour rental options on certain ABC and Fox shows, but by no means all of them; and Hulu and its Hulu Plus services are, while free, sometimes a gamble when it comes to consistent show availability.


But none of that is a reason not to try and get at least a glimpse at what television would really cost if you went digital-only. So we compiled a list of popular shows in several different categories. The choosing was totally subjective, although we tried to keep an open mind about popular taste. We included online alternatives including Amazon Video on Demand, iTunes, Hulu and its $9.99/month Hulu Plus service, Netflix (in streaming form only), and network sites often accessible through a site like Clicker.com (and its neat apps on platforms like Boxee).

The Chart

Without further ado, here's our findings on what shows are available where, and for how much. Click the image for (much) larger view:

Note: "Past seasons" indicates that the current season's offerings aren't available soon after air date, while previous seasons are offered. Those past seasons usually differ in price, depending on the number of episodes in each, but are often close to the current season pricing, if available.

Update: We've modified the chart from its original version to reflect that Clicker actually indexes and links these shows through their appearances on Amazon Video on Demand, iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu; the "Clicker" column shows when the webapp has other streaming links to offer.


The Sports Exception

Not included in the chart are sports packages. If you're a fan of watching live sports at the moment they're happening, your best bet is still cable or satellite television and a sports package, or living near a good bar with a big screen—with a few exceptions. Major League Baseball has a fairly successful MLB app for iPhones, iPads, and the Boxee platform, for example, and some sporting leagues offer similar live-streaming options for fans that can work on a set-top box.

What the Chart Means for You

Our not-so-little research project was inspired by a real world example of pragmatic cost cutting. In explaining why he canceled Time Warner Cable, Adam Lindsay, a friend of mine, made a list of the 21 shows he and his girlfriend would like regular access to. He found that 14 of the 21 shows they picked as favorites were available through iTunes for purchase (though some are now available as cheaper rentals through the new Apple TV). By buying season passes to each show, he found that the monthly cost of cable over a year exceeded his raw costs of buying his shows individually—usually in HD, too, which was sometimes an upgrade from the cable offering.

The holes in Lindsay's plan? HBO and (some) Showtime offerings, along with BBC programs. Then again, there are ways around the BBC problem, and as for the cable-only offerings? It can be more fun than you think to make a weekly appointment with friends who have similar tastes.


As for your own shows and cost savings? You'll need a good means of getting streaming content onto your TV. A Roku box offers Amazon Video on Demand, Netflix, and, soon enough, Hulu's Plus service. Apple has its Apple TV, offering purchases and rentals of iTunes shows and Netflix streaming. And you can also go the DIY route, building a standalone XBMC media center for $200, a Windows-based, family-friendly media center, or go the elegant route with a Mac Mini and Plex.

Now make your own list of must-watch shows, and also note if you can live without them the night they go up. Most every service makes their download offerings available the morning after a show airs, and more and more these days, we've learned to live without the live airings. Take that list, reference it against our own chart, and fill in the holes with your own research, where necessary.

I made a similar list when I moved into my home in September of 2009. Because my wife and I don't work in big offices where coworkers are likely to ruin surprises in the shows we haven't downloaded yet, we're okay living on a primarily downloaded media supply—though it helps that our basic cable comes free with the internet service. And it's far less stressful to know you've got a hard drive full of stuff you haven't watched yet, rather than a few months' worth of cable service you didn't really enjoy.

Looking at your own must-watch shows, could you see a future in the download-only life? How would you fill in the holes? Tell us how your own cable-cutting experiments are working out in the comments.