Has it Really Been 20 Years?

Today, my high school, The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, or LACHSA for short, is having a 20 year reunion for the 1992 graduating class. They are also including other years close by including the 91 graduates and more. It's going to be a great gathering from my point of view. Unfortunately, I was not able to physically make it, but I am hoping to see lots of pictures. There's even the possibility of some Skyping while there. That would be awesome.

I was sitting back and thinking what have I done in 20 years? Did I do anything I had hoped to do when graduating high school? I was certain on becoming a famous Hollywood actor. Well, that did not exactly come into play for me, but the skills I learned from LACHSA have proved helpful in my career. I spent 8 to 12 hours a day at school during play season. I now work an average of 50 to 60 hours a week. I had to be comfortable on stage in front of a couple hundred people. Today, I have to speak with business owners and leaders and be persuasive and confident in my conversations when needed. I also need to be articulate in those conversations to ensure complex points are not missed. Thank you for that skill, Mrs. Gerald!

Am I a famous Hollywood actor today? Am I rich enough to buy my own island? Am I influential in my field and among my peers?

No, no, and mostly. I may not be the rich and famous Hollywood actor I set out to be. But I am successful in my field of work. I am a consultant helping companies to better utilize their IT assets and be more productive, profitable, and edging the competition. I am influential among my peers and clients.

It would have been great to see all of those faces I knew 20 years ago and see where they landed and where they are still heading. I see some of them on Facebook and TV and movies. I see they have all become successful in what they are doing. I have to wonder where we would all be had we not had the opportunity to go to a school we all wanted to attend and bust our butts doing it.

Way to go LACHSA class of 92! Keep up the greatness and show what future classes can look forward to when their 20 year reunion comes around. Gosh I don't even want to think how old I will be at that time.

The Hidden HD TV Signal

I'm getting ready to cut the cord at home. No more Satellite and Cable TV subscriptions. I'm already taking advantage of my Western Digital Live TV Media Player, and I am cutting out my Satellite subscription in September. That's when the termination fee is less than what I would pay for the months I have remaining on the contract.

I do have Cable Modem at home and get a some pretty good speeds on it. I had heard long ago that people could sometimes get Cable TV channels on a Cable Internet line just by splitting the cable before it connects to the cable modem. So, I gave it a shot this past weekend.

Lo and behold I pulled in about 45 channels. Out of those, I think only about 10 to 15 or so were actually worth watching. But, there were quite a few coming across in HD. Yep, full 1080p video and Dolby Digital sound. Not bad! I don't think I will be utilizing it, because I couldn't get all of the local channels. I had heard some lower channels were reserved for other purposes and that canceled out two of my favorite local channels. I was able to catch 3 different broadcasts of the same network, though. Here they go by WFAA, but there were three different broadcasts of it and two were in full HD. I thought that was somewhat fascinating. I knew networks broadcast different information depending on the market, but since this is a local network, it seemed odd to have 3 different broadcasts.

In a couple more weeks I will be trying an HD antenna and see what I get over the air. I'm excited to try this cable cutting thing. It has real potential to make an impact in how people watch TV, how networks respond to the trend, and what cable and satellite providers are going to do to keep their customers.

Taking the Cable Cutter Challenge

I am taking on the challenge to join the cable cutters that is continually growing. I am not switching to anyone else. I am not renewing my service or keeping it month to month. My family and I have found something strange about our TV shows. We can watch almost any of our shows through other mediums that are either free or require a nominal monthly payment with no commitment. The savings could be up to $900/yr for us.

Stay tuned as the time closes in and I make the call to cut our paid TV service. We will pay for Netflix and Hulu Plus access, have an HDTV antenna for local stations, and use a computer or mobile phone to access web sites of content providers to watch our other favorite shows. We may also pay for individual movie rentals from our local rental store or even watch a show or two on iTunes. I don't think we can stop watching The Walking Dead cold turkey.

Why are we doing this, you might ask? Well, first of all we pay around $80/month for our TV subscription. We can probably go with another provider for less for a year, then switch again. I really don't enjoy switching every year just keep my cost down. I don't like having to find a provider, find a package, wait for installation, take off work for installation, deal with the problems after installation, and deal with customer service during the whole process. It's annoying, inconvenient, and pointless to have to wait at home between the hours of 8 to noon or noon to 4 to get setup and installed. Then, after all that go through the process of learning the new channel line up and finding the shows I like to watch. It's just a complete multi week long beating.

The average person over 15 years old watched 2.8 hours of television per day in 2011 according to a Bureau of Labor and Statistics study ( http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm/). People pay an average of $73.35/mo of cable or satellite charges according to the Benton Foundation (http://benton.org/node/79458). Include Internet and a phone and the average home entertainment and communications bill is about $200 or higher! That's at least $2400/yr. With prices continuing to rise for each of these services, something is going to have to give between the consumers and the providers.

To prepare ourselves for the transition we have started to write down the shows we must have, shows we like, shows we sort of like, and shows we can live without. We have located these shows on various outlets. Some are free, some not, some can be had OTA, and others on DVD. A new trend the major networks have started is requiring some sort of Cable or Satellite account to watch shows on their sites. Some shows have an 8 day waiting period, while others have even a 30-day waiting period, if you don't have such an account. I think this will ultimately hurt the networks, since they are broadcasting OTA for free, yet making people suffer for trying to watch on their web site. The good news is that Hulu Plus, for example, is allowing the shows to be aired the next day like always. But you must have a paid Hulu Plus account. That's a small price to pay and acceptable.

We would like to create a lifestyle out of doing this. I have been researching and there is a movement, albeit, small at this time, but as the media players start to come of age and become more advanced, I believe there will be a battle between the networks, satellite and cable providers, and online content providers, with the consumer holding the power to force change in any direction. Without our money, they cannot survive. I may be dating myself a little here, but I can remember a time when TV was primarily watched OTA, and cable channels were an after thought. I can remember when my family had dinner in the living room and watched the Cosby Show. No recording, no fast forwarding, no pausing. Just watching it live at Prime Time.

I already have a Western Digital Live TV Media Player that does several streaming sources, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, and MLB TV, among many others. I also have a hard drive attached with all my movies. I will be buying a Mohu HD antenna for my OTA channels. It gets really high reviews and is less than $50. I live within 12 miles of all of the stations in my area. This antenna has a range of 30 miles and has a better Db rating than a lot of others. My next post will be the testing of OTA reception and ease of use. Stay tuned.

Provide your feedback on how you might do this or have done it.