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Why You Should Care

Are you tired of paying way too much for TV every month? Then watch our weekly web series Cord Cutters, read first-hand survival stories of real-life cord cutters and check out our product reviews if you’re in the market for cord cutting gear like the Apple TV, the Boxee Box or the Roku media streamer.

Keep up to date
Don’t want to miss any episode of Cord Cutters? Then subscribe to the GigaOM TV iTunes podcast or directly to our Cord Cutters podcast RSS feed.
Want daily cord cutting news and commentary? Then follow us on Twitter or check out our tweets below:

Learn the basics Are you’re looking for some easy-to-understand advice on how to get rid of your cable or satellite TV subscription? Then check out our Guide to Canceling Cable: 5 Steps to Cutting the Cord

Check out the gear Want to read in-depth reviews of Google TV, the Boxee Box or the Apple TV? We got that too:

Find content online Still looking for online services to replace your cable line-up? Then check out these articles:

Connect with others We’re going to offer more ways to directly connect with other cord cutters soon. Stay tuned!

And now read on for the latest Cord Cutters episodes & recent cord cutting news:

Nielsen: 1.5M U.S. households cut the cord in 2011

By May. 4, 2012, 3:39pm PT No Comments

Belying several earlier research studies, which said growth of U.S. multi-channel subscriptions has slowed significantly but not stopped, Nielsen’s latest “Cross-Platform Report” says the number of U.S. homes paying a multi-channel provider for TV services last year actually declined by 1.5 million, or about 1.5 percent. Read More »

TV disruption: It’s not about the cord

By Paul Sweeting Apr. 27, 2012, 6:20am PT No Comments

The power of network owners to bundle channels together — to force pay-TV operators as well as subscribers to buy programming as a package — is at the heart of the current TV ecosystem. If it’s being lost today, it’s not because people are cutting the …

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The cable industry isn’t stupid, right?

By Apr. 10, 2012, 10:11am PT 31 Comments

A new study predicts $200 bills for the pay-TV portion of your cable bill by 2020. Here’s how the cable companies are using both a carrot and a stick to keep pay TV necessary in an IP age. Can government or consumers stop them? Read More »

Watch out, Aereo: Skitter brings live TV to Roku

By Apr. 9, 2012, 2:55pm PT 10 Comments

Want to watch live TV on your Roku without subscribing to cable? Then you should take a look at Skitter, which is rolling out a low-cost live TV service for connected devices. Simliar efforts have failed in court in the past, but Skitter is completely licensed. Read More »

Cord Cutters: A first look at Plex for Roku

By Apr. 4, 2012, 5:46pm PT 17 Comments

Want to watch YouTube videos on your Roku? Then you might want to check out the new Plex channel for Roku, which brings a whole bunch of online content as well as personal file sharing to the device. Check it out in this week’s Cord Cutters. Read More »

The Good And Bad News From The Latest Pay TV Subscriber Figures

By Mar. 20, 2012, 4:17pm PT No Comments

The good news for the traditional subscription TV industry: subscriber counts across the cable/satellite/telco television services industry… Read More »

Patching the cord

By Paul Sweeting Mar. 16, 2012, 6:00am PT No Comments

In just the past few weeks, Barry Diller-backed Aereo launched a subscriptions streaming service in New York City, Cisco bought NDS for $5 billion, word leaked of Intel’s plans to create a nationwide virtual cable TV service and Netflix began chatting up cable operators about addings …

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More Must Reads
A first look at Simple.tv’s HTML5 app
By Mar. 6, 2012, 9:33am PT 7 Comments

Simple.tv is targeting cord cutters with its low-cost, bring-your-own-storage DVR that’s slated for release by the end of spring. We have the first screenshots of the HTML5 app that the company will use to target Boxee, Google TV and other connected devices. Read More »

Cord Cutters: Plex adds DLNA support
By Mar. 1, 2012, 11:46am PT 10 Comments

Good news for Plex users: The next version of the company’s media center server software will have support for DLNA devices, which brings Plex to the PS3, connected TVs and a bunch of other devices. Check out this episode of Cord Cutters for an exclusive preview. Read More »

How one sports geek wants to save cable TV with data
By Mar. 1, 2012, 9:53am PT 1 Comment

Mark Phillip wants to save cable television, kind of. He really wants to make life easier for sports fanatics like himself, but in doing so has created something he thinks could save cable and satellite from the cord-cutting craze. The secret to his possible success: data. Read More »

From over-the-top to over-the-air
By Paul Sweeting Feb. 24, 2012, 6:00am PT Comments Off

Google, Aereo and Boxee are shifting the focus of OTT video from catch-up TV and on-demand movie titles that make up much of the Hulu and Netflix libraries to live TV content. If their efforts are successful, they will pose a far greater threat to the …

What are Boxee’s upcoming mystery products?
By Feb. 9, 2012, 11:17am PT Comments Off

Boxee revealed in a filing with the FCC this week that it’s working on additional products that could be used as alternatives to traditional cable set-top boxes. What does the company have up its sleeve? We can only guess — but, hey, that’s fun too! Read More »

Cord Cutters: Lilyhammer, Battleground & Co.
By Feb. 7, 2012, 11:46am PT 6 Comments

Thought online video was just about short clips? Think again: Netflix and Hulu are both premiering online-exclusive TV shows this month, and Sony is airing the third episode of its reality TV show on the PlayStation Network. We are taking a first look at these shows. Read More »

Cord Cutters: A first look at Boxee Live TV (video)
By Jan. 24, 2012, 6:02am PT 12 Comments

Boxee’s new Live TV dongle combines free over-the-air HD TV with social sharing and an electronic programming guide. The device is specifically being marketed to cord cutters and people interested in ditching their pay TV subscription – but is it worth $50? Check out our review. Read More »

Cord Cutters: Netgear’s NeoTV reviewed
By Jan. 10, 2012, 12:46pm PT 7 Comments

Netgear is trying to compete with Roku, Apple TV and Boxee with its own streaming media player. The NeoTV has a few hundred apps, including Vudu, Netflix and YouTube, but lacks local playback capability and Hulu Plus. Should you buy it? Check out our review. Read More »

Deloitte: 9% have cut cable, another 11% are considering it
By Jan. 4, 2012, 4:08pm PT 31 Comments

While cable operators and networks continue to downplay the effect of cord cutting, in Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy survey, the firm reports that 9 percent of respondents have already canceled their cable subscriptions, with another 11 percent saying they are considering doing so. Read More »

NFL breaks up the pay-TV huddle
By Paul Sweeting Dec. 16, 2011, 3:00pm PT Comments Off

The steep prices of the NFL’s new broadcast rights deals are likely to put pressure on rapidly growing fault lines within the pay-TV industry that could, ironically, accelerate the breakup of the broad bundle of channels at the core of the current business model — something …

The Cord Cutters holiday gift guide
By Nov. 24, 2011, 12:01am PT 7 Comments

Still looking for the perfect present? Then look no further: We have compiled seven gifts for cord cutters and TV junkies alike, and we are showing off three of them in a special gift guide episode of our Cord Cutters web series. Read More »

Cord Cutters: Channel Master — a DVR for cord cutting
By Nov. 17, 2011, 4:47pm PT 15 Comments

Channel Master is squarely targeting cord cutters with its new DVR product, which promises TiVo-like time shifting functionality and online video content without any monthly subscription fees, for a price: The device costs a whopping $400. Is it worth the money? Check out our review. Read More »

Confirmed: The Boxee Box is getting a live TV dongle
By Nov. 16, 2011, 6:00am PT 16 Comments

Boxee just confirmed the live TV dongle we first reported about a week ago: Boxee Box users will be able to watch free live HD TV on the device starting in January, when the USB dongle will go on sale for $49. Read More »

Scoop: The Boxee Box is getting a live TV tuner
By Nov. 8, 2011, 2:11pm PT 23 Comments

Huge news for Boxee Box owners: Boxee will soon release a major update that will include the capability to watch live, free over-the-air HD TV on the device though a USB dongle. We were able to take a first peek at the unreleased feature. Read More »

The children are our future, and they don’t pay for TV
By Nov. 8, 2011, 10:31am PT 34 Comments

A weak economy is putting pressure on the pay TV industry, but a bigger issue is the number of young people opting for online services instead. That’s an issue faced by Dish Network, which is trying to figure out how to win over those possible subscribers. Read More »

Cord Cutters: A first look at Google TV 2.0
By Oct. 28, 2011, 8:00am PT 11 Comments

Google has updated its Google TV platform with a new UI, a bunch of interesting apps and access to the Android Market. The update is rolling out this Sunday, but we already have a first look at the next version of Google TV right here. Read More »

Happy birthday, Cord Cutters!
By Oct. 19, 2011, 2:44pm PT 5 Comments

Happy birthday to us: It’s been a year since we published the very first episode of Cord Cutters. In that time, we’ve not only released 35 additional episodes but also learned a whole lot about the future of TV, and the people who reinvent it. Read More »

The pay TV market is still resisting disruption
By Paul Sweeting Oct. 11, 2011, 9:00am PT 2 Comments

For all the talk, there’s little evidence that cord cutting, to whatever extent it is actually happening, has loosened the grip of the networks or cable operators on the TV business. If anything, they’ve tightened their hold, as evidence from this last quarter shows. Read More »

9M households won’t have cable by 2016
By Oct. 6, 2011, 12:09pm PT 1 Comment

Cord cutting will continue to grow in the next five years, but pay TV providers will also be squeezed by households who never subscribe to begin with. Altogether, nine million households won’t have cable in five years time. DVR growth is also slowing as a result. Read More »

Cord Cutters: A first look at the WD TV with Spotify
By Oct. 6, 2011, 5:00am PT 3 Comments

WD revamped their entry-level media player, giving it a new UI as well as integrated WiFi and access to Spotify. How does the music service look like on your big screen TV? Check out this episode of Cord Cutters to find out. Read More »

Cord Cutters: Multiple queues for your Netflix account
By Oct. 4, 2011, 2:23pm PT 7 Comments

Have your kids taken over your Netflix queue? Does your recently watched list look like the broadcast schedule of Nickelodeon? Then check out this episode of Cord Cutters for a closer look at a service that promises to sort your family’s Netflix favorites into separate queues. Read More »

TV Everywhere is coming to Google TV
By Sep. 21, 2011, 1:47pm PT 16 Comments

Turner is going to launch dedicated apps for Google TV that offer access to full episodes of TNT and TBS shows, as long as viewers authenticate themselves as pay TV subscribers. The apps were briefly on the Android market last week, but have since been removed. Read More »

Cord Cutters: LG’s Plex box
By Sep. 8, 2011, 3:47pm PT 1 Comment

The LG ST600 set-top box doesn’t just offer access to Netflix, VUDU and Amazon VOD, but also integrates with Plex, the media center solution of choice for many cord cutters. Check it out in this episode of Cord Cutters. Read More »

Watching video podcasts on your Apple TV
By Aug. 25, 2011, 2:24pm PT 2 Comments

Podcasts have become a good way for cord cutters to get up to date info in lieu of broadcast news or TV shows. Thanks to the Apple TV, bringing them into the living room is a piece of cake. Here are two ways to do it. Read More »

Cord Cutters: Checking out the Boxee iPad app
By Aug. 11, 2011, 5:14pm PT 5 Comments

Boxee’s new iPad app aggregates videos from your Twitter and Facebook contacts, plays videos files stored on your computer and beams videos straight to the Boxee Box or an Apple TV. Check out a detailed walk-through in this week’s episode of Cord Cutters Read More »

Cable subscriber losses could re-ignite the cord cutting debate
By Aug. 4, 2011, 11:26am PT 2 Comments

Most major public cable, satelleite and IPTV providers have announced earnings, and it’s clear that the second quarter was a weak one in terms of net subscriber additions. That will cause many to once again question whether online video services are causing viewers to quit cable. Read More »

TV Everywhere is the new DRM
By Aug. 3, 2011, 12:00pm PT 14 Comments

Online TV viewing is about to get a whole lot more complicated soon, as Fox.com and others are introducing pay-TV walls that force consumers to authenticate themselves as paying customers. It’s like DRM for online video — and, once again, consumers are getting screwed. Read More »

2011 Mac mini review: Ding dong, the disc is dead
By Aug. 1, 2011, 12:32pm PT 12 Comments

The new Mac mini does away with the optical disc drive, leading to a price reduction for Apple’s diminutive desktop. Without it, and with the addition of Thunderbolt and dedicated graphics, how does the mini stack up as a desktop and as a home theater PC? Read More »

Cord Cutters: A first look at the Roku 2
By Aug. 1, 2011, 11:32am PT 19 Comments

Roku just came out with a new generation of streaming media players, complete with support for Angry Birds and other casual games as well as advanced Netflix streaming. Want to see it in action? Then check out this week’s episode of Cord Cutters. Read More »

Cord cutters not replacing cable TV with online video
By Jul. 25, 2011, 9:13am PT 6 Comments

People who have cut the cord aren’t doing so because they think Netflix provides a good alternative to their local cable TV company. In fact, those that go broadband-only are only slightly more likely to watch online video than those with pay-TV subscriptions, according to LRG. Read More »

Cord Cutters: Take over-the-air TV everywhere
By Jul. 19, 2011, 5:29pm PT 2 Comments

Over-the-air television is great — unless you run into reception issues that prevent you from enjoying those free HD channels. In this episode of Cord Cutters, we are taking a look at a device that allows you to take over the air everywhere. Read More »

Ready to cancel Netflix? Take this test first
By Jul. 13, 2011, 1:44pm PT 13 Comments

Netflix will start to charge $16 per month come September if you want to rent both DVDs and watch movies online. Should you accept the price hike or downgrade your subscription? This easy online test will tell you how to get your money’s worth. Read More »

Cord Cutters: Supercharging your Boxee browser
By Jun. 28, 2011, 12:12pm PT 9 Comments

Have you ever used an Etch-A-Sketch with one hand tied behind your back? That’s what it’s been to use the Boxee Box browser, thanks to a hardly usable mouse pointer. An update to the Boxee iOS remote control app now solves these issues. Read More »

Will Google TV 2.0 embrace cord cutting?
By Jun. 22, 2011, 10:37am PT 3 Comments

Google TV development boxes sent out to a limited number of Android developers spot an interesting feature: an antenna input. This would enable Google TV users to access free OTA HD programming. Does that mean that Google TV’s next iteration will embrace cord cutting? Read More »

Cord Cutters: Sync mobile media with Miro 4
By Jun. 15, 2011, 11:04am PT Comments Off

This week’s episode of Cord Cutters is all about taking your media on the go, and automatically syncing it with your Android phone. We take a closer look at the newly-released Miro 4 video player, which is optimized for this kind of mobile video syncing. Read More »

Who are we kidding? Of course it’s Netflix vs. cable.
By Jun. 14, 2011, 10:00am PT 30 Comments

Netflix execs may insist publicly that they’re no threat to cable, but there’s plenty of evidence that the company’s subscription service and pay TV offerings are squarely competing for the eye balls and subscription dollars of the very same audience. In other words: It’s on! Read More »

Cord Cutters: Watch Hulu on your PS3 with ORB BR
By Jun. 7, 2011, 12:01am PT 7 Comments

Hulu charges its users $8 per month to watch videos on the PS3. Bay Area–based ORB Networks is starting to ship a Blu-ray disc this week that makes it possible to watch Hulu content on the PS3 for free. Check out our video review. Read More »

Cord Cutters: How to Turn Your Roku Into a DVR
By May. 24, 2011, 2:00pm PT 10 Comments

Want to watch live TV on your Roku media streamer, and maybe even pause live feeds whenever you need a quick break? How about watching recordings of your favorite broadcast TV shows? All of this is possible if you turn your Roku into a DVR. Read More »

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