Cutting The Cord: 2017 Post-Disaster Edition

"So Hector, when I get my power back what am I going to do for TV?"

I've gotten this question more than I care to admit.  Considering the recent devastation of Hurricane's Irma and Maria, out one Cable TV/Phone Company fared about as well as our electrical grid.  Electricity is on track to be back for everyone by Christmas but Viya (that's the phone/cable company) has a much longer road to go in restoring services.  Fortunately, they do have a 4G LTE network for wireless phone and Internet...but I'll get back to that.  In this entry I'm going to go over what your options are now for entertainment in the wake of no Cable TV.

1. Live Theater

Bet you didn't expect me to go low-tech on my first option.  Yes folks, there is live theater available so check it out while they've still got performances going.  I'm not sure where you can go in St. John or St. Croix (if you know, leave a comment) but Pistarckle Theater survived the storm and they've got a showtime this weekend.

2.  Broadcast Antennae

Slowly building up to the higher tech.  Have you tried just regular broadcast TV?  I know I haven't but it's worth a shot.  Chances are you're only going to get a few stations in Puerto Rico (consider yourself lucky if you can somehow get English closed captioning).  WTJX was our local public broadcasting station but I don't think they're up and running just yet.

3. Satellite TV

Dish and DirectTV are both available here and if you already had either chances are you'll be ready to go when your power comes back (provided you stowed your dish somewhere safe for the storms).  I hear you can get a digital DirectTV plan at the local AT&T store.  Again, if you have details let me know in the comments.

4.  Streaming Services

Ahh, now for the fun stuff.  If you've got a decent wireless plan (wireless is all we've got now) you can sign up with one of a multitude of streaming services.  Heck, you can get all of them if you like. The big guns are Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime.  I'd recommend Hulu if you're into current TV.  Hulu's also good if you want to bundle in HBO and Showtime (of course this option was available well after I signed up for HBONow). Netflix gets them eventually so you Netflix is more for binging.  There's also free streaming services and network TV services.  Some (like CBS) are paid, some get new episodes the week after they air but give you access to all the previous episodes, etc.  You'll have to poke around a bit to find what you like.

Here's the kicker though: You're going to need either a Smart TV or a streaming devices to get to this stuff.  Playstion 3/4 and XBox users have access to most of this stuff but if you needs smaller (more inexpensive) devices you'll want to go with Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Firestick, or Chromecast.  Be careful with AppleTV and Amazon.  AppleTV is a direct competitor of Amazon so you can't play Amazon Prime on it.  And of course you can't rent AppleTV movies on any other device.  Don't want the hassle?  Well if your laptop has an HDMI port you can just plug that into the TV and use these services from a browser or app.  Take a look at this link for a roundup of streaming devices.

5. Cable Replacement Services

This is uncharted territory for me but there are some services that act just like regular Cable TV except it streams over the Internet. I've never tried them as they cost a bit more and the entire reason I have the streaming services is so I can watch when I want to.  However, this may just be the CableTV replacement you've been looking for.  Some examples are SlingTV, DIRECTV NOW (again, check with the local AT&T office for bundles),  YouTube TV, PlayStation Vue (I'm not sure this works here), and even Hulu (live TV is one of the available add-ons).

You can find a number of reviews for these services online, but check this one.  I used this heavily in writing this.

UPDATE 11/24/17
I attempted to upgrade to Hulu Live and found out it's not supported in the Virgin Islands. :(

Moving Forward in the VI

Hey Internets!  It's been a while, huh?  Well for the most part I just really haven't had much to say and the rest we've been recovering from being hit by 2 Category 5 hurricanes...like within 2 weeks of each other.  First Irma and then Maria. Imagine a petulant child spying an anthill and then just stomping the ever lovin' crap out of it.  That's pretty much what nature did with us. Wanna see a few pics?  I took these a few days (maybe a week) after Irma.  This was just a stroll through my neighborhood.

Yep, collapsed canopies, buildings torn in twain, massive trees toppled: this is just a taste of the destruction.  I'd post more but we're not doing so great Internet-wise.  This is actually where this post is going.

Our lives here in the USVI have changed for quite a while.  The question we need to ask ourselves is are we going to be working towards what we used to have or are we going to work for something better.  While we figure out where we plan to go we're all kinda getting used to the new normal.

Currently (This pun is intentional) St. Thomas is projected to be 90% powered by December.  I'd say right now that number is about 58% but that's just me guessing.  Restoration of power though opens to door all the creature comforts we used to have but now have to do without.  We were very fortunate some business were back on their feet within a couple weeks, but there are quite a few who need more time to get back on their feet and even those who have decided getting back in the race isn't worth it.

The most significant impact these storms had on us was destabilizing our communications systems.  Take as an example the local phone and cable company.  So many downed lines means rebuilding those connections starting with the landline phones.  It seems at the moment we're going with the tried and true lines on the poles (BTW many thanks to our linemen and the visiting linemen.  If not for them we've probably be about only half as restored as we are now).  In response to the lack of landlines, our local phone company has gone hard on wireless communications.  This response also includes Internet service.  Before the storm their service came through the same lines as phone and Cable TV.  With the estimation that Cable TV won't be back until late next year you can guess what that means for their other services.  I have a couple predictions for the future here.  Movie theaters would be a great boon here...except for the fact that the only theater on St. Thomas was damaged and is in need of major renovation.  I was even inspired to attempt to open my own small movie theater to fill the void.  It's not something I've quite let go yet; still rattling around the old brain cage.  I do expect that Internet service (and I mean QUALITY Internet service) will become the hottest thing to acquire.  Why?  Netflix.  Hulu.  Amazon. Heck, even Crackle.  People who can't go the satellite dish way or can't make it economically feasible will look to streaming services to fill the entertainment void as well as keep them in the loop on their favorite TV shows.  Streaming rental services will boom too.  It's sort of what PPV is for Cable.

The most significant impact these storms have had on the territory is the hit we're taking to tourism which is our #1 economy.  Many of the huge chain resorts have been forced to close for renovation.  Even the Marriott Frenchman's Reef, a mainstay on St. Thomas for many years and survivor of previous hurricanes that ravaged the territory, succumbed.  They're looking at over $400 million to repair and a downtime of a year and a half.  That means a lot of job losses around the territory.  We can get the cruise industry traffic back up as quickly as we can restore power but hotels were a major source of revenue.

The reality of our situation is although help is on the way, we still need time to prop back up the infrastructure.  Now more than ever we're going to need to get creative on revenue generators and job creators.  In a time when we need to hear these ideas all I've been hearing is more of the same.  Getting us back to where we were isn't going to be enough.  We're going to have to try something new.

As for me, I was very fortunate.  I escaped both storms without major loss, I have power and something that passes for Internet service, I'm still employed and now I have karaoke.  Like everyone else, I keep looking for ways to contribute and make things just a little better for everyone.

If you're reading this and want to know how YOU can help with the recovery, just let me know.  I can put you in touch with people running distribution centers or I can simply distribute myself.  There's also a number of very popular Facebook groups that will put you in direct contact with people living in and recovering the territory.  Leave me a comment and I'll point you in the right direction.