The Ultimate Cord Cutter’s Guide

Cable TV was once the ultimate entertainment necessity. Pumping hundreds of channels, many of which you never watched, into your home became the norm, and cable providers knew they had you on the hook with bundles that also included internet and phone service.

But not everyone wants to pay $200-plus per month for a service they’re only half using. This prompted the rise of “cord cutting”: doing away with traditional pay TV service and relying solely on streaming services for movies, shows, and live sports.

According to eMarketer(Opens in a new window), by 2024, the number of cord cutters and even “cord nevers”—people who never had cable or satellite TV—will finally surpass those with paid TV in the US. It’s already happening: In July, video streaming claimed a record 34.8% share of total television consumption in the country, narrowly beating the 34.4% share of cable TV.

Pay TV companies such as Comcast, Charter/Spectrum, and Altice can weather the subscriber loss because they also sell broadband internet service. Cord cutters need a hefty pipe to get quality video over the internet. If you have slow internet service, data caps, or poor Wi-Fi at home, cord cutting is probably not for you.

A fast pipe is just the beginning. Here’s what you need to become a full-fledged cord cutter with access to (almost) everything you’d get via cable TV.

Over-the-Air Antennas and DVRs

Before we get into the apps and hardware you need to make it as a digital cord cutter, consider what you can still get via over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts of the networks: Think ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox—even The CW and PBS, with a few others(Opens in a new window) in some areas.

Major network affiliates in big cities still broadcast over the airwaves in HD; you just need an HD antenna to get the signal. Modern HD antennas(Opens in a new window) don’t have to be mounted on the roof or take up as much space as a satellite dish. Many are simple affairs you set up next to the TV or flat units you hang in your window. That said, powerful outdoor antennas remain a viable option.

Before you jump on the antenna train, determine if OTA HD is an option for you. Visit AntennaWeb(Opens in a new window) or TV Fool(Opens in a new window) for a list or map of stations broadcasting nearby. If you can position your antenna facing the nearest broadcast transmitter, all the better. Don’t be surprised, though, if you only get access to a few or no stations. It happens.

Andmei Digital Antenna
(Credit: Andmei)

One of our favorite HDTV indoor digital antennas is the Andmei Digital Antenna(Opens in a new window). It’s one of many options for a flat, window-mountable antenna that can plug right into your TV, but it has a limited range. Outdoors, you could try mounting the Antennas Direct DB8e 8-Element Bowtie Attic/Outdoor HDTV Antenna(Opens in a new window).

Unless you’re living next door to the local broadcast tower, you will probably want signal amplification. That doesn’t make the signal stronger coming in the house, but it does make a low signal strong enough for the TV tuner to use. Even some of the flat antennas have amplification options, but they increase the cost.

Antenna setup is typically easy, but you’ll have to play with the antenna’s position to maximize reception—just like fiddling with rabbit-ear antennas. Some outdoor antennas can work from inside, assuming they’re up high—say, in your attic—and if there isn’t a lot of obstruction.

You could use a TV antenna to watch live TV, of course, but this isn’t the 1970s. You want to watch TV on your schedule. For that, you need a digital video recorder (DVR) to capture shows to play back later. The TiVo Edge for Antenna system has two tuners and 75 hours of recording storage, but it requires a $70 annual subscription. TiVo has other OTA DVRs, as does Tablo.

(Credit: Vidmir Raic/Pixabay)

There are a lot of ways to watch internet-based streaming TV as a cord cutter.

Screen options include your phone, tablet, computer, or even your TV. All are perfectly capable: just download the app for the video streaming service you want. Big names including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, and YouTube are available on all platforms. On a computer, visit each service’s respective website.

If you’ve got a decent laptop and a nice TV, an HDMI cable is all you need to be a cord cutter: Stream on your laptop and watch it mirrored on the big screen. You can also use your phone or tablet; the apps and options for casting or mirroring what you see on your iPhone or Android device to the TV are too numerous to mention.

Then there’s the actual TV. Leichtman Research says(Opens in a new window) 80% of households in the US have internet-connected smart TVs with apps and app stores. You can use them to download most of the cord-cutting apps you’d want.

Chromecast With Google TV
(Credit: Google)

If you don’t have a smart TV, or you hate your smart TV’s interface, get a media-streaming device. You may already have one in the form of a game console: Both the Xbox and PlayStation support most streaming apps (the Nintendo Switch is much more limited).

Media streamers come in two other main forms: a larger-than-thumb-drive-size unit that plugs into the HDMI port on the TV, which is great for taking with you anywhere, or a less portable streaming-hub set-top box with a little more power.

Our Editors’ Choice products for small “stick” media hubs include the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and Chromecast with Google TV, as well as devices from Roku. Amazon and Roku have teamed up with TV makers including Toshiba, TCL, and Walmart’s .onn to sell TVs with their software built in, so you don’t even need the stick or set-top box.

Our Top-Rated Media Streaming Devices

Know Your Cord-Cutting Services

The key to effective cord-cutting is being aware of what apps are available on your hardware of choice, knowing the programming on the various services, and figuring out just how much they’re going to cost you. Here’s a rundown.

On-Demand Streaming Services

(Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images)

These are the services you’re used to reading about the most. They’re subscription-based; let you watch whatever you want whenever you want, depending on availability; and offer original movies and series. Some originals are prestige programming, some are foreign imports, and some are cheap junk—so, a lot like all OTA TV.

Our Top-Rated Video Streaming Services

Live TV Streaming Services

YouTube TV
(Credit: PCMag)

For some services, it isn’t enough to just provide on-demand shows: They want to take on cable itself via a cable-television experience over the internet. Live TV streaming services won’t necessarily give you super-granular control over content—it’s not really that you pay just for the few channels or shows you really want to watch. But they provide access to a lot of content you might not otherwise get without a cable subscription—especially news and sports. (For more, read Hulu + Live TV vs. YouTube TV: Which Is Best for Cord Cutters?)

Our Top-Rated Live TV Streaming Services

Sports Streaming Services

Sports fans want their sports live, and thankfully, our top live TV streaming services include excellent sports channels (fuboTV in particular, as it started with a sports focus) or as add-ons. You can also get premium sports channel add-ons(Opens in a new window) on Amazon Prime Video.

We still choose Hulu + Live TV as the best live-streaming option, even for sports, as it features(Opens in a new window) sports from BTN, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, Fox, NBC Gold, NBCSN, and more—in addition to local channels you get in your area. It’s also our top pick for streaming NFL and NBA games.

Our Top-Rated Sports Streaming Services 

Premium Cable With Paid Streaming Services

(Credit: PCMag)

Not that long ago, the only way you could watch HBO online was by adding it to your cable subscription and tapping into HBO GO. But as the popularity of Game of Thrones exploded, HBO stepped into the 21st century and launched an online-only version of its premium channel in 2015. That has since evolved into HBO Max, and that metamorphosis will continue. A number of other premium cable channels followed suit with their own services/apps, including Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz.

Our Top-Rated Premium TV Streaming Services

Consider the Cutting Cost

Cord cutting has its conveniences, but will it really save you cash? Chances are slim, especially if you want access to all content. For that, you need a subscription to every major service, which is not cheap. And prices keep rising.

Here’s a pre-tax breakdown without even factoring in live TV or sports needs:

That monthly total is… not insignificant.

If you keep cable alone, you’re not going to get access to much-discussed streaming originals such as The Sandman, Stranger Things, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Terminal List, The Old Man, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Boys, Ted Lasso, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and too many more to mention. How you proceed as a cord cutter really depends on what you want to see.