Sling TV & Cord Cutting

[RobDeer 45]

Ok, I know there was some discussion going on about Sling TV, but now I'm not even sure where that was! I thought I'd start a thread for people thinking about cutting cords. It seems like it's pretty realistic now to cut cords. My biggest concern was always sporting events. Anyone who has done this, what events are hard to get legally? Can you pay for NFL network, which would get you Thurs night games? Are there any talks of Sunday Ticket streaming options?

[GAME05]

I know there's a couple different NFL options between streaming the game live and another official site where you can pay for a replay without spoilers if you can't watch the game live.

 

I know my playstation has a "live events viewer" which I assume you can get on PC where you can pay for the viewing of a live event like boxing or whatnot.

[JackNicholson1974]

I have crunched the numbers, if you hare trying to save money my .02 are:

 

1. You need an internet connection - cost somewhere between $45-50 without taxes.

2. What else are you going to subscribe to? Netflix $9.99/mo? I pay $12.99 because my kids all use it on more than 2 screens. Hulu 9.99? Amazon $99/yr?

3. Sling I believe is $20.00

4. NFL Network? MLB Network? Those can run you $15-25/mo per service.

 

Still dont have local channels or local sports? I couldnt pull fox11 in oshkosh so I had to consider an HD antenna installed by a pro, which might have been $200/one time fee.

 

Still coudlnt watch local Brewers/Bucks or any Hockey really to speak of (Im a big hockey fan, MN Wild, plus NBCSN)

 

So at the end of the day, to cut the cord I was easily up to $70-80 a month with NO local sports, and all I watch are local sports and for another 15-20 I could have it all without the hassle of Sling, antennas, etc. Plus sling only works on one TV at a time anyway.

 

So I bundled the internet (highest speed possible I believe) for $45 and got the lowest HD cable tier, which gave me all local channels, the espns, news networks, NBCSN and FSN but only got it on ONE TV. The rest of TVs are for movies and streaming only.

 

Cable makes it money off of two things (in my opinion) a $7 monthly charge (it might be 8 now) on every BOX in your house, and getting you to upgrade to premium channels like NFL Network, NHL NEtwork, MLB Network. I would love those, but my bill is currently $100/mo and I dont plan on going any higher.

 

 

 

*** BTW, I hate hate hate the cable companies. But for local sports, its all we have.

[logan82]

Why count the internet connection in? Wouldn't you have that anyway?

[adamb100]

Yeah most people have an internet connection already, so I wouldn't count that. Also, you don't need a big fancy HD antenna. I have a cheap $5 antenna that gets me all the locals just fine. I hide it behind my TV.

 

I agree that sports is the only real reason to have cable these days. Sure, there is MLB.tv but then you have to use a proxy/VPN to get around the blackouts. For football, most of the games are broadcast on locals unless you're an out of market fan.

[ZBTMP]

 

Still coudlnt watch local Brewers/Bucks or any Hockey really to speak of (Im a big hockey fan, MN Wild, plus NBCSN)

 

 

Can anyone confirm this is still the case? This article gives hope that the Brewers may be available online but it doesn't look like FS Wisconsin is offered via the sling website:

 

The multi-stream service provides local sports coverage through FOX RSNs in 16 markets. In-market multi-stream customers can watch their favorite sports on FOX Sports Ohio, FOX Sports West, FOX Sports Florida, FOX Sports South, FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Cincinnati, FOX Sports Detroit, FOX Sports North, FOX Sports Prime Ticket, FOX Sports San Diego, FOX Sports Southeast, FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Sun, SportsTime Ohio, and YES Network.

[GAME05]

A co-worker can't get a cable run to his house. And because it's just the two of them, unlimited phone data to make a hotspot is too pricey, and he said Dish Network to do internet by satellite wants you to add the 125-whatever channel package.

[Outlander]

As noted in the previous thread wherever it is, you can watch Bucks and Brewers on Sling now if you are in the area. I used to have cable and Netflix, now I have Sling, Hulu, and Netflix along with two cheap antennas and would never go back. Also have T-Mobile to get MLB premium for free.

[JackNicholson1974]

Why count the internet connection in? Wouldn't you have that anyway?

 

That's fine to not count it, but people then cant "complain" that their cable bill is $150.00 a month when $50 of it is internet. If we are only counting cable, then my cable bill is about $37.00/month before taxes. That is the basic tier, HD channels, local networks and sports. Sling TV, the idea of which I love, is $20 without local channels and local

I will have to look at Sling again though if it I can get FSN on it now. I did not know that.

 

As far as Antennas go, I have tried a cheap one, a Mohu Leaf expensive one ($40) and I cannot get FOX 11 in Oshkosh, my understanding is that it is on a different frequency than these antennas can pick up. Since football games are on FOX as well as a lot of other sports, it was mandatory to be able to get it.

[1992casey]

Yeah, Green Bay's Channel 11 is VHF, and VHF channels can throw a monkey wrench into your plans. In Milwaukee, Channel 10 is VHF. There's also a second VHF channel in Milwaukee (68) that would have a much smaller potential audience.

 

If the VHF channel is nearby, a UHF antenna might pick it up. Otherwise, you need a bulkier and more expensive antenna designed for VHF. I mentioned in another topic that my moderately priced indoor UHF antenna will pick up Channel 10 on the second floor but not on the first floor.

 

I've always thought that the Internet portion of my Time Warner bill has been fine. It's the $100 for cable programming and equipment rental that bugs me. Plus, I have Netflix, Hulu, and MLB.tv on top of that. Dropping those wouldn't make sense as I spend at least as much time watching them as I do cable.

[JackNicholson1974]

Yeah, Green Bay's Channel 11 is VHF, and VHF channels can throw a monkey wrench into your plans. In Milwaukee, Channel 10 is VHF. There's also a second VHF channel in Milwaukee (68) that would have a much smaller potential audience.

 

If the VHF channel is nearby, a UHF antenna might pick it up. Otherwise, you need a bulkier and more expensive antenna designed for VHF. I mentioned in another topic that my moderately priced indoor UHF antenna will pick up Channel 10 on the second floor but not on the first floor.

 

I've always thought that the Internet portion of my Time Warner bill has been fine. It's the $100 for cable programming and equipment rental that bugs me. Plus, I have Netflix, Hulu, and MLB.tv on top of that. Dropping those wouldn't make sense as I spend at least as much time watching them as I do cable.

 

If I had the Platinum package and 3 TVs mine would be $100.00 too! Like I said, one TV box $7.00, basic HD package $29.99.

[bjkrautk]

Just spoke with one of my co-workers, who started a sling subscription for Game of Thrones season.

He said that he is able to watch Brewers games through sling (I assume via FS Wisconsin).

[burnzy24]

Just spoke with one of my co-workers, who started a sling subscription for Game of Thrones season.

He said that he is able to watch Brewers games through sling (I assume via FS Wisconsin).

 

 

I am watching the Brewers on Sling right now. You just need to switch to the Beta subscription. It is the same price as the other option ($20) but with 5 more channels.

[statman0007]

If Sling ever added Big Ten Network I would switch in a heartbeat. I'm hopeful that it may someday now that Fox is participating. For those concerned about Brewers coverage, as stated by others you can get a Sling package that includes FSW. The downside is that it is in the opposite package as ESPN, so you can only have one or the other. I'm also curious what Hulu's offering will be, from what I understand they are getting in the business of streaming live TV starting in 2017.

[nate82]

Playstation VUE doesn't have FSWI yet along with some other FS networks but the last I heard they are working on it. In Phoenix now they have a couple of the local channels. Plus it has the Big Ten Network, ESPN and nearly all of the FSN's.

[JackNicholson1974]

This is encouraging news about Sling!

 

For me though, it comes down to convenience and money saved. I couldnt save enough by cobbling to make it worth the effort. Like I said, I have my cable bill down to between $40-50 a month (with all taxes and fees) for the basic HD tier. That gets me local news and ESPN, ESPN2, FSN, BTN and NBCSN. I cant remember the last time I watched a show on TV that wasnt local news or a live sporting event. If sling added NBCSN I would probably look at it again.

[Samurai Bucky]

Just spoke with one of my co-workers, who started a sling subscription for Game of Thrones season.

He said that he is able to watch Brewers games through sling (I assume via FS Wisconsin).

 

 

I am watching the Brewers on Sling right now. You just need to switch to the Beta subscription. It is the same price as the other option ($20) but with 5 more channels.

 

I compared the packages and the Disney family of networks doesn't seem to be in the Beta package.

[nate82]

I read somewhere that Disney pulled all of their channels from sling and are now available on Playstation VUE.

[burnzy24]

This is because it is likely cheaper to not include espn so they include more channels than the other subscription.

[fondybrewfan]

How is the watching quality of a sporting event on cable vs. through Sling? I have Charter High Speed internet but I would still be afraid of some buffering or slow/interrupted feeds at times

[burnzy24]

How is the watching quality of a sporting event on cable vs. through Sling? I have Charter High Speed internet but I would still be afraid of some buffering or slow/interrupted feeds at times

 

I also have charter and use a roku and rarely have issues with buffering.

[owbc]

How is the watching quality of a sporting event on cable vs. through Sling? I have Charter High Speed internet but I would still be afraid of some buffering or slow/interrupted feeds at times

 

After I moved into an apartment complex with built-in 100 mpbs Internet, buffering went away entirely. During college football season, I streamed 2-3 different HD windows of watchESPN/FSGo at the same time with no interruptions while my partner was watching Netflix on a different computer. No wonder the cable companies are so afraid of fast Internet...old fashioned TV is entirely pointless now.

[1992casey]

I almost never encounter buffering on any service, even with my wimpy 25MB connection. The few times I've experienced it, it's been more of a blip on the radar.

 

When there's been weirdness, I can usually pin it down to the app or service itself rather than my device, my router, or my Internet connection. When Hulu acts up, restarting the app takes care of it. One time on MLB.TV, I could pin the issue down to equipment in San Diego (which, of course, I couldn't fix). Both live feeds of a Padres-Dodgers game were were constantly "rewinding" by a few seconds. It sounded like the broadcasters were repeating themselves. The other live games that were on at that time were fine.

 

I think it's reasonable to expect that streaming will have a few occasional quirks. But so does cable. The picture seems nicer when I stream, though.

[Samurai Bucky]

A little bit of Googling found the Disney answer:

 

http://www.techhive.com/article/3060615/streaming-services/why-sling-tv-multi-stream-plans-are-missing-espn-and-disney-for-now.html

 

The article also talks about Viacom being added. I don't want those channels, so please give me the ability to not pay for them. I thought SlingTV was going to be more of an a-la-carte subscription service. Before long, it will cost $70 with 300 channels I don't care about.

[nate82]

PlayStation Vue now has MLB Network.