“Like electricity and hot water, pay TV has become a vital source of comfort in my home. But unlike the basic utilities, pay TV has become incredibly expensive. So while it’ll take a radical change in how I consume media, pay TV has got to go,” Roberto Baldwin reports for Wired. “Pay TV puts hundreds, if not thousands, of channels at the fingertips of those willing to fork over a hefty sum for its warm glow. Entertainment is available on every channel (if you don’t count MTV) and it never sleeps. But, the nonstop onslaught of reality shows, nature documentaries and AMC Originals comes at a price I’ve decided I’m unwilling to pay. I’m walking away and not looking back.”

“I’m paying $94 a month for basic digital cable. $94 a month for something I’ve been supplementing with streaming services because I’ve realized I only watching a few shows on a few channels. The rest is just noise,” Baldwin reports. “That noise has pushed me to the Apple TV… But, I’m also a big fan of Breaking Bad and saving money. Both are in direct conflict with one another. Currently, I could only keep up with the best show on television if I continued to suckle at the Comcast teat. Sure, AMC offers full episodes on AMC.com a few days after the show airs, but convincing my wife to huddle around a computer to watch a show when we have a 56-inch TV in the living room was a tough sell. Luckily, something big happened in Appleland that changed all that.”

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Baldwin reports, “With Mountain Lion’s new AirPlay mirroring to Apple TV, I can watch anything that’s on the internet, including Breaking Bad, on my HDTV with the push of a button… As long as the system works to force consumers to pay for channels they don’t want, I’ll be streaming my content and watching over-the-air HD of the big four networks. It won’t always look as pristine as HD cable, but that extra $94 in my pockets every month, I think I’ll be OK with a few pixels.”

Read more in the full article here.