Opinion: Why I’m considering cutting the cable cord

First thing’s first – I love television.

I, like many people my age, grew up with television as a babysitter. When I was little, every Saturday morning I’d take a bowl of cereal down into the basement, sit on the floor and watch cartoons as my parents slept.

In high school my friends and I would meet up weekly to have dinner and watch our favourite television shows – Quantum Leap, Beverly Hills 90210 and X-Files.

When I moved out I didn’t give a second thought to getting the biggest cable package I could afford. The more television the better!

But now, after all these years of complete devotion, I am considering cutting the the cable cord.

And I’m not alone. According to a new report an estimated 190,000 Canadian TV subscribers called it quits last year. The year before – 105,000. Those are massive jumps compared to 2013 when only 13,000 walked away from traditional cable. The report said that as of year end 2015, 3.43 million Canadian households (23.7 per cent) did not have a traditional TV subscription.

So why is it happening?

According to the report, the two main reasons are cost and online cable subscriptions such as Netflix.

And, frankly, they’re my two main reasons, too.

Having a full cable package is expensive, and as more options become available online it’s getting harder to justify the price.

Now both Bell and Rogers have addressed the cost concerns by offering a lower price basic cable package – which include at least 10 local and regional TV channels, public interest channels (like the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), educational programming, community channels and legislative channels where available.

In addition there’s the option of adding on supplementary channels for a nominal fee. And for those times I want to watch sports there’s always the option of Sportsnet NOW, a live streaming service of six Sportsnet linear channels.

So there are a lot of options out there.

But as someone who doesn’t see the appeal of reality television, over the years I’ve found it harder and harder to find anything in regular programming that appeals to me. I’d rather rewatch the first two seasons of Arrested Development for the 15th time than watch celebrities dance or sing or find love on a tropical island.

As it stands now, there are only two traditional television shows I watch weekly. For everything else I look to Netflix.

It’s become my new norm, and the norm for millions of others.

According to the report, Netflix has over 4.9 million Canadian subscribers. In the past three years their Canadian subscription base has grown 58 per cent.

So why haven’t I cut the cable cord yet?

There are a few reasons, but the first is tradition. I’ve always had cable. It’s been a staple of my life for decades. Being without cable seems weird. It’s like my landline: No one ever calls me on it except my grandmother, but I still can’t get rid of it.

Plus there’s the underlying worry – what if there’s something on that I’d like to watch and I don’t have television? Like when X-Files came back for that six episode stint. Or when there’s an Indiana Jones marathon I didn’t know I wanted to watch until I flipped by it. Or an old movie I’d always wanted to check out but, in reality, never would go out of my way to see. That’s the magic of television. Sometimes you find greatness.

But more and more, those two reasons are starting to fade.

Like any long-term relationship that’s run its course, it takes a while to build up the courage to take that next step. You think about leaving, and then something nice happens and you think maybe you’re overreacting. Then you think about leaving again and then you get nostalgic.

Eventually you know it’s time to move on and start a different chapter in your life.

Not better, just different.