Fall TV is back!

Many Americans have decided to cut their landlines and instead use mobile devices at home. In addition to cutting phone landlines, many Americans have also decided to cut their subscriptions to cable or satellite TV, as they have found alternate ways to stream movies and TV at home via smartphones and tablets.

Americans who no longer subscribe to cable or satellite TV have increased 44 percent in the past four years to 7.6 million households, according to an Experian Marketing Services report.

A recent U.S. Cellular survey revealed that 79 percent of respondents use a smartphone daily. Of those, 84 percent have cable or satellite TV, but 34 percent have considered dropping it for alternate services. Furthermore, 15 percent are likely to discontinue cable or satellite TV in the next year. Smartphones and tablets, such as the 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy S 5 and Apple iPad Air, are popular devices to watch downloaded or streaming video.

Waiting in the parking lot to pick up your child after practice or outside enjoying the cooler fall weather by using a mobile device with 4G LTE speeds is a great way to help keep up with your favorite shows.

Smartphones and tablets have reduced the need to fully depend on a remote control to find your favorite TV show, sporting event or a movie.  I love the ability to be able to use my smartphone or Samsung tablet for mobile entertainment.

With the fall TV season set to debut soon, here are tips and questions to help viewers decide if it’s time to tune out cable or satellite TV:

Determine what TV shows you watch. If your list is small, Google Play and iTunes sell individual TV episodes for $1.99 to $2.99. Season passes are available at a discount rate.
    

Hulu Plus and Netflix offer monthly subscriptions that begin at $7.99, and you can watch HD shows on all of your devices including your computer, tablet or smartphone.      

Are you already a subscriber to at least one of the above mentioned monthly subscription sites? Then you may be interested in purchasing a streaming media player such as a Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire, which allows you access to thousands of channels, subscriptions services, convenient ways to rent or buy movies, watch on demand shows and play games.

Are you always on-the-go and can’t watch your shows when they initially air? Being able to stream them wherever you are from a tablet or smartphone with an inexpensive subscription may be a more efficient way to see your favorite storylines.

Do you watch a variety of comedies, dramas and sporting events on a wide range of channels? While alternatives are available, it may be better to keep your cable or satellite service to ensure you can continue to watch everything you want.  That's what we do.  We use cable for wireless internet access in the home and our cable system has an app we can use on our iPhone 5s to stream entertainment on-the-go or at home in a room without cable tv.  This allows us with U.S. Cellular's 4G LTE network to enable better moments through simplifying and enhancing our lives and watch shows on our time table.  Between work, school, practices and family events, we can't always watch our favorites when they premiere.  And like every fall, there are some great new shows to check out.

And with the options available on smartphones, it might be a good idea to see if your child is using their phones responsibly with a customizable Parent/Child agreement.

Disclosure: I have been compensated by U.S. Cellular for my post.  All opinions expressed are my own.