IPTV vs cable TV, including where cable still wins
Cable costs roughly $2,384 in year one once the fee stack and pay-per-view are counted, against $116.00 for a comparable IPTV year. But there are four situations where cable is genuinely the better choice, and we would rather tell you than have you cancel and regret it.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026
Quick answer
Is IPTV better than cable TV?
For most households, yes — on cost, channel count, device flexibility and contract terms. A realistic first-year cable bill including box rentals, broadcast fees, regional sports fees, installation and five pay-per-view events is around $2,384; a comparable DrexTV year costs $116, with 24,000+ channels rather than 150 to 300. Cable retains three real advantages: it does not depend on your internet connection, it guarantees local channels and emergency alerts, and it can be genuinely cheaper when bundled with discounted broadband. If your connection is below 15 Mbps or unstable, stay on cable.
- $2,304
- Year-one saving
- ~40%
- Of a cable bill is fees
- 24,000+
- Channels
- $0
- Install & contract
Against a mid-tier cable bill
Not the advertised price
vs 150–300 on cable
vs $99 and 24 months
Line by line
Eighteen points of comparison
Cable figures reflect published US mid-tier package pricing and fee schedules as of August 2026. Your bill will differ by carrier and market — check your own statement against the fee rows.
| Factor | DrexTV IPTV | Typical cable TV | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertised monthly price | $116.00 per year ($9.67/month) | $80–$120 | IPTV |
| Equipment rental | None — uses devices you own | $8–$15 per box, per month | IPTV |
| Broadcast / regional fees | None | $12–$27 per month | IPTV |
| Installation | None — self-service in minutes | $50–$150 one-off | IPTV |
| Contract length | None — month to month | 12–24 months typical | IPTV |
| Early termination fee | None | $120–$480 remaining | IPTV |
| Live channels | 24,000+ | 150–300 in a mid package | IPTV |
| Pay-per-view events | Included | $60–$90 per event | IPTV |
| On-demand titles | 140,000+ | 5,000–20,000, tier-dependent | IPTV |
| Max resolution | 4K UHD | 4K on select channels only | IPTV |
| Catch-up window | 7 days | Varies, often 7 days on select shows | Cable |
| Simultaneous streams | 1–4 by plan | Per box, unlimited in-home | Cable |
| Works away from home | Yes, anywhere with internet | App only, often geo-restricted | IPTV |
| Depends on your internet | Yes | No | Cable |
| Local channels & emergency alerts | International feeds | Guaranteed local | Cable |
| Bundled internet discount | Not applicable | Often $10–$30 off | Cable |
| Price increases after year one | None | Common — promotional rates expire | IPTV |
| Support response | 5-minute target, 24/7 | Phone queues, business hours common | IPTV |
The arithmetic
What a cable year actually costs
Built from a mid-tier 200-channel package with two set-top boxes, standard fees, installation, and five pay-per-view events — a fairly ordinary sports household.
| Line item | Amount | Frequency | Year one |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base package (mid-tier, 200 channels) | $94.99 | ×12 | $1,139.88 |
| Set-top box rental (two boxes) | $21.98 | ×12 | $263.76 |
| Broadcast TV fee | $18.50 | ×12 | $222.00 |
| Regional sports fee | $13.75 | ×12 | $165.00 |
| HD technology fee | $9.99 | ×12 | $119.88 |
| Pay-per-view (5 events at $74.99) | $74.99 | ×5 | $374.95 |
| One-off installation | $99.00 | ×1 | $99.00 |
| Cable total, year one | — | — | $2,384.47 |
| DrexTV 12 Months plan | — | ×1 | $116.00 |
| Difference | — | — | $2268.47 saved |
Two things about this table are worth dwelling on. First, the advertised price — $94.99 — accounts for less than half the total. The rest is equipment rental, fees with official names that are effectively price increases, and pay-per-view. Second, in year two the promotional rate expires and the base package typically rises by $20 to $40 a month, while none of the fees fall.
We are not claiming every household spends $2,384. If you have one box, skip pay-per-view entirely and are on a genuinely discounted bundle, cable might cost you $1,100 a year — still fourteen times the annual DrexTV plan. The point of the table is that you should price your own bill from your own statement rather than from the number in the advertisement. Our pricing has no equivalent fee stack — the number you see is the number you pay.
Genuinely
Four situations where cable is the better choice
We sell IPTV, so read this section knowing that. It is here because a customer who switches and regrets it costs us more than one who never switched.
Your internet is unreliable or slow
This is the honest dealbreaker. IPTV needs a stable connection of at least 15 Mbps for HD and around 25 Mbps for 4K. If you are on rural DSL, a congested shared line, satellite internet with high latency, or a connection that drops several times an evening, cable will simply work better — it does not care about your broadband at all. No amount of provider-side engineering fixes a bad line.
You need guaranteed local channels and emergency alerts
Cable and over-the-air broadcast carry your local affiliate stations and the emergency alert system for your area. If local news, local weather warnings, school closures or civil emergency broadcasts matter to you — and in tornado, hurricane or wildfire regions they genuinely do — keep an aerial at minimum, and consider keeping a basic cable tier. A rooftop aerial is free to run and covers this.
Your internet and TV are bundled at a real discount
Some carriers discount internet meaningfully when TV is bundled. Do the arithmetic before cancelling: if dropping the TV package raises your internet bill by $30 a month, the saving is $30 smaller than it appears. Sometimes the bundle genuinely is the cheaper route, and we would rather you check than take our word for it.
Nobody in the household will tolerate an app
IPTV means a player app, a channel list and occasionally reopening something that has frozen. It is a small ask, but it is not zero, and a cable box with a physical remote and a fixed channel-number layout is genuinely simpler for some households. If a family member will be frustrated by it, that friction is a real cost even though it does not appear on a bill.
The other side
Six places IPTV is clearly ahead
Assuming your internet connection clears the threshold, these are the differences that show up in practice rather than on paper.
Cost, by an enormous margin
The fee stack is the point. The advertised cable price is roughly 60% of what you actually pay once boxes, broadcast fees, regional sports fees and pay-per-view are added — and the promotional rate expires after twelve months while the fees do not.
Channel breadth, especially international
24,000+ channels against 150 to 300, and critically across 100+ countries. If anyone in your household wants channels in a language other than the local one, cable's international tiers are expensive add-ons and IPTV includes them by default.
No contract, no installation, no engineer
You set it up yourself in about 5 minutes on hardware you already own, and you can cancel at the end of any billing period without a termination fee. There is no truck roll, no drilling and no appointment window.
It travels with you
The same subscription works at home, in a hotel, at a holiday rental or in another country, on a phone or a laptop. Cable's companion apps are usually geo-restricted and carry a subset of channels.
Pay-per-view included
For sports households this is often the single largest difference. Five events a year at cable pricing often cost more than a full annual IPTV subscription.
Genuine 4K breadth
Around 420 dedicated 4K channels at up to 22 Mbps, plus 9,600+ 4K on-demand titles, against cable's handful of 4K channels usually gated behind the top tier and a compatible box.
If you decide to switch
How to cut the cord without a bad week
Six steps in order. The first one is a genuine stop-go gate — do not skip it.
- 1
Check your internet before anything else
Run a speed test at 8pm, not at 11am. You want at least 15 Mbps sustained for HD or 25 Mbps for 4K, per simultaneous stream, with stable latency. If you fail this, stop here — fix the connection first or stay on cable.
- 2
Run the free 24-hour trial while still on cable
Do not cancel anything yet. Overlap deliberately, and test during your worst-case viewing moment — a Saturday afternoon of football, a Sunday NFL slate, or a fight night. Keep the cable box plugged in as your fallback.
- 3
Have the household test it, not just you
Give the remote to whoever complains most. If they can find their channels and their shows without help, the migration will succeed. If they cannot, that is worth knowing before you cancel a contract.
- 4
Check your contract before you cancel
Look up your remaining term and any early termination fee. If you have four months left at $30 a month in ETF, it may be cheaper to run both until the term expires — an annual IPTV plan costs less than most termination fees anyway.
- 5
Keep an aerial for local channels
A one-off $30 to $60 indoor or rooftop aerial covers local affiliates and emergency alerts permanently, at no monthly cost. This closes the one genuine gap in the IPTV case for most households.
- 6
Cancel, and return the boxes
Cancel in writing and get a reference number. Return every set-top box and remote, and keep the receipt — unreturned-equipment charges are one of the most common post-cancellation billing disputes.
Test it against your cable box, side by side
Run the free 24-hour trial before cancelling anything. Compare the same channel on both, during the busiest hour of your week.
Comparison questions