Yep, I loaded the shotgun this morning and wandered out to the fish barrel, where I blasted away at hapless statistics. It was ugly.

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According to the Convergence Consulting Group, 190,000 Canadians ended their ties with traditional TV in 2015. That’s an 80 per cent increase from the previous year when 105,000 people cut the cord.

“It’s almost a doubling of a loss,” comments Brahm Eiley, president of the Toronto-based market research company. He says the jump is statistically significant because it’s such a radical shift compared with just two years ago.

Let’s do the math. Netflix is about 10 bucks a month, Shomi about $8. I cannot be bothered to remember. So for $18 per month my wife and I sit before the screen most evenings and are enthralled to great televisual entertainment, for hours. For about $53 a month I remain on cable to watch, very occasionally, advertizer-driven stuff of inferior quality.

Why? I ask myself. There is only one answer to that question and as soon as I can summon the energy and get the wife’s permission, say goodbye to cable.

The drawback? Using your computer to move the cursor becomes increasingly difficult after the second scotch. Also, the absence of advertizing means one must make a conscious decisions to pause the play for obvious reasons. That’s about it.

The Internet is bringing us a superior product. Just as voice over IP tumbled phone rates, so this Internet is going to change, and eventually reduce to insignificance, the regulated business of Canadian cable television. My apologies for stating the obvious.