Cutting Cable TV and Switching to MOD Set-Top Box and Netflix Streaming: A User Experience

After cutting off cable TV last year and switching to Chunghwa Telecom MOD for watching shows and movies, I gradually added paid subscriptions to several streaming services, including the foreign YouTube Premium, Netflix, iQIYI, as well as domestic Chunghwa Telecom MOD and LiTV streaming services.

Let me share my personal thoughts first. Although it may seem like I am slapping my own face, MOD can replace cable TV and provides a convenient set-top box (digital set-top box, STB) and remote control that give a sense of reassurance, but it is likewise a platform that can be completely replaced by other products.

Even though Chunghwa Telecom tries to offer a five-in-one bundle of drama, movies, animation, documentaries, and cartoons, the value for money is still quite low. After a year of subscription, I found that I simply never watch cartoons or animation on MOD, because this is also a battleground for other platforms, and the overlap is simply too high.

Rather, I even regret buying this bundle, and every so often I check whether the contract period has ended. Because the MOD offer for Fiber Optic already includes a choice of either movies or drama, and for just a hundred dollars more you can have both major viewing categories at once, meaning I paid extra to subscribe to channels I rarely watch.

Many modern digital TVs (for example, the TCL 65-inch LCD TV) also have a built-in Google Android playback system, allowing you to directly install apps like YouTube, Netflix, and iQIYI, completely replacing expensive, troublesome-to-install set-top boxes with a tangle of cables such as OVO and Unblock Tech. This naturally makes people even less willing to connect an external MOD set-top box, since it no longer has much competitive advantage in terms of program richness or exclusivity.

Advantages of the MOD Set-Top Box

Although I believe the MOD digital set-top box will soon be replaced and phased out, it still has some advantages, so let me briefly cover them here.

It does not consume resources! Because the TV has a built-in streaming player, it means additional computing processing and memory storage space are needed, and these are fixed hardware that can no longer be changed.

The computer generation that grew up alongside technology should be well aware that hardware resources will always become obsolete over time.

In other words, the built-in playback device that is sufficient now may not be sufficient later. The screen itself, however, can be used until it breaks, meaning that in the future you may still need to buy a set-top box to watch the latest platform content.

Well, the failure rate of modern TVs is already an open secret that cannot be spoken of, so there is no need to worry too much about this issue. It is better to keep a close eye on how much warranty time is left and watch more during that time, which is more practical.

On the other hand, the heat generated by these computing hardware components during operation also accumulates inside the TV, and once ventilation is poor, it is more prone to failure than traditional TVs.

Energy saving for the lazy. Because the TV’s built-in user interface is really cumbersome, restarting it jumps back to the home screen, and you have to find the content you were watching all over again.

If you are only leaving briefly, such as to take a shower or cook, you can simply turn off the TV screen and leave MOD on. Since MOD itself consumes less power, you can then immediately play MOD content as soon as you turn on the TV, conveniently continuing to enjoy a movie while also saving on the electricity wasted by the high-power screen (the lazy person’s self-justification process).

Watching News and Political Commentary Online

As for news and political commentary programs, given that the government previously forced the closure of CTi News on channel 52 while practically giving channel 52 away to CTS News, every news station felt threatened and all automatically rushed to develop streaming services.

Not only did media companies set up channels, but even popular and not-so-popular anchors set up their own dedicated channels, making the entire information ecosystem appear rich and diverse. Compared with the traditional setup where a single TV channel plays different content over time, the depth and breadth of news reporting has undergone a qualitative change.

The main platform among these is YouTube, and some channels have also developed their own apps for direct viewing, even building in more services to attract viewers, such as CTi’s Kuaidian TV.

Although recently, due to some unspeakable secrets[2], some news stations voluntarily withdrew their live news services from YouTube, watching news and political commentary on YouTube has long become the mainstream usage for many people, and it is hard to go back to traditional viewing habits.

Also, LiTV provides some cable TV content and uses a similar channel-selection method. Unfortunately, it is only similar, not exactly the same. For those who want to get the same viewing experience on streaming channels as traditional cable TV, you should still think twice, as many channels are still missing.

Platform Choices for Drama and Movie Entertainment

As for drama and movies, perhaps because the upstream distributors are similar, MOD and other domestic commercial streaming services have a fairly high overlap in their film lists. This means the program content you see on each platform, even the latest weekly blockbuster recommendations, are highly similar.

Based on the film list I often watch, the only show I cannot find on YouTube or Netflix is the South Korean variety show “2 Days & 1 Night” (abbreviated 2D1N).

Also, MOD cannot beat Netflix for American dramas, nor can it beat the likes of iQIYI for Chinese dramas. These days even YouTube occasionally has gems (though I will not say where they come from).

However, 2 Days & 1 Night is still broadcast on some domestic commercial streaming platforms. On LiTV, for example, for just NT$99 a month you can watch movie and variety channels, including 2 Days & 1 Night. Although the control interface is slightly more complicated than traditional cable TV or MOD, the price is cheaper, and even the elders in my family can learn it, so I believe many people can pick it up easily.

Even for the quadrennial Olympic broadcasts or the World Cup, the broadcasting rights are often won by ELTA Sports. Although it is a flagship channel on MOD, it is still a commercial company after all, so related broadcasts can still be found on other commercial streaming services.

Strictly speaking, as we have complained about in previous articles, there is the rather special case of Videoland Japan. Videoland Japan is, to date, still broadcast only on dedicated cable TV channels, which means some interesting Japanese variety shows (such as “Japan’s Amazing Hidden Inns”) can only be regretfully given up. This is also the only regret I have had since cutting off cable TV.

1. Cutting off cable TV, terminating the subscription, and switching to MOD 🎉
2. CTi News becomes Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s exclusive live channel / commentary