It wasn’t long ago that Bryce and I sat down and tried to figure out which bills we could cut out or cut back on. We both came up with a simple answer:

We could cut back $100 a month by simply cutting our cable bill down to just internet service and “basic” cable.

So we did.

I have to admit, the kids really don’t like not being able to watch Dora, but because we don’t have cable anymore, they end up watching more PBS if they are watching TV at all. Really, cutting back on TV means the kids are outside playing more.

As for Bryce and I, we just end up watching whatever is on at night and when I miss my favorite prime-time show, I can easily watch it online. We’re a fairly “connected” household and have several computers that are always connected to a high speed internet connection.

The main websites to catch your “network” TV shows are the actual network websites like abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, and fox.com. Also, HULU.com has become a very popular website that is not only free but also is legal, which there are ways to catch your favorite cable shows on the internet, but I’ll let you Google that for yourself rather than me telling you.

There are just so many other ways to get your television than paying outrageous prices for cable TV or satellite TV as long as you have an internet connection.

Also, don’t forget that over-the-air TV is all digital now, so that is another completely free option for everyone who has to have “cable service” with their cable internet (like we do).

The problem is that Viacom is asking for a fee increase of 22 to 36 percent per channel, that would increase the customer’s bill and Time Warner doesn’t necessarily want to have to charge their customers the extra.

Viacom said the increases would cost an extra 23 cents a month per subscriber — which works out to $35.9 million more in total. It said that Americans spend a fifth of their TV time watching Viacom shows but its fees make up less than 2.5 percent of the Time Warner cable bill. – AP

The channels included in the dispute are:Comedy Central, CMT, Logo, Palladia, MTV, MTV 2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, MTV Tr3s, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nick 2, Nicktoons, Spike, The N, TV Land, VH1, VH1 Classic, and VH1 Soul.

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