Last year I moved from cable TV to satellite but I am still unhappy with the overall monthly cost.  What I especially dislike is the required minimum package that forces me to pay for a large number of channels I never watch.  It seems like no matter which direction you go in, these minimum TV packages are going to end up costing $60 or more monthly.  This is why I have been longing for the day that I can completely drop my satellite subscription and never need to go back to cable TV again.  

My One Year Anniversary With My Roku

Many of you read my first article on Internet TV which I posted exactly one year ago.  In that article I excitedly shared the news of my purchase of a ROKU.   The small device is connected to your TV and then synced to your home Wifi network giving you instant Internet TV.  The ROKU costs only $50 and can be set up in about 10 minutes.

When I announced to my family my purchase of the ROKU a year ago, I got nothing but strange looks across the board.  My teenagers told me that they would never use it and didn't know why I bought the device.  Today, a year later, I can report that my teenagers watch TV 100% of the time using the ROKU.    We have an $8 monthly subscription to Netflix that is integrated with the ROKU and this is what they use to watch their favorite TV programs.

There are plenty of other options, even for me (the official techo-nerd of the family).  ROKU offers more than a hundred channels, most of which are free (some like Netflix have fees associated with them).  The one big advancement in the last year is the growing number of live TV channels I can now access on my ROKU.  I can watch live news from Fox News.com, The Wall St. Journal, and other Internet TV news services.  There are even options available to watch live sporting events such as NHL and MLB games (subscription required).  There is also an expanding menu of niche channels, such as a channel dedicated to sailing (which I watch frequently), one on Internet business, and others on fitness.  For Christians, there are quite a large number of channels with religious programming.  You can even get the new Glenn Beck Internet TV channel (for those that miss Glenn from his days at Fox News).  Yes, all of these options in a small $50 device!

Am I Ready To Go 100% Internet TV?

I can't say that I am ready to drop my satellite TV package quite yet, but I will predict that I should be able to by this time next year. If you are sick of paying for those expensive TV packages buy a ROKU and start transitioning to Internet TV.   If you live near a big city, you may well be able to get all of your local channels without cable and then supplement that with the ROKU (more than 50% of Americans live close enough to a major city to get multiple channels for free with an antenna although most don't realize it).  This could be your ticket to get off the cable TV grid right away.  As I mentioned, there are some costs associated with certain premium channels on the ROKU but these pale in comparision to cable or satellite TV.

Helping you make the most of God’s money!

James L. Paris
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com 
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