People everywhere have been doing a bit of belt tightening. While many consumers have threatened to cut cable or satellite TV, there are plenty of people out there that have already made that move. According to GigaOM, almost 200,000 subscribers recently cut ties with pay TV in the U.S.—and that was just in the second quarter of 2011.

Of course, people have less money to spend. That said, the report seems to think that those 193,000 households just didn’t think what they were paying was worth it. After all, how many of your service’s 200-plus channels do you actually watch on a regular basis?

Another reason could be the fact that consumers have more options than ever. Not to worry; there are still plenty of channel-surfing couch potatoes out there, even if they don’t have a monthly cable/satellite bill. Despite the recent backlash against Netflix (read about alternatives to Netflx), many consumers have opted for that as a main method of entertainment, as well as services such as Hulu Plus or devices like Roku and smart TVs..

There also seems to be a bit of a resurgence in the good ‘ole antenna. For a small initial equipment fee, viewers can snag a lot of free TV available over the air. However, unlike the good old days of free TV, these new antennas don’t really need tweaking and tinfoil. In fact, since the digital switch, many of the available stations broadcast HD-quality images, absolutely free.

So that got us wondering: Have any of you cut the cord with pay TV? If so, is your TV collecting dust or are you getting your entertainment fix elsewhere? Sound off in the comments section below.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.