Sling TV & Cord Cutting

[Samurai Bucky]

 

I don't use streaming because it's cheaper than cable, I use it because the original programming is vastly better. Sling for local sports, the rest of it I could really take it or leave it. $25 Sling + $15 Internet + $15 Netflix is hard to beat. I'd get rid of it all before I got cable.

Fixed it for you Price of Netflix is going up, too. Probably in preparation for losing all Disney content soon.

[pacopete4]

Netflix will turn into a thing I buy for like a month a year and binge the things I want to watch. Or I'll find a way to stream it on other sites. 95% of the content they have is garbage.

[young guns]

How are you getting internet for 15 a month?

[logan82]

The internet is going to be needed regardless of any streaming service so the cost is not included.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

 

I don't use streaming because it's cheaper than cable, I use it because the original programming is vastly better. Sling for local sports, the rest of it I could really take it or leave it. $25 Sling + $15 Internet + $15 Netflix is hard to beat. I'd get rid of it all before I got cable.

Fixed it for you Price of Netflix is going up, too. Probably in preparation for losing all Disney content soon.

 

$9 is the increased price from $8 for long timers. It isn't $15 across the board unless you have 4k/multiple screens.

 

The Disney service is going to cheap too. Rumor is $5-8.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

How are you getting internet for 15 a month?

 

 

Spectrum Assist. Got lucky with my address being located in a zip designated for some low income pricing even thought the neighborhood really isn't. Legally they aren't allowed to dictate who gets it based on income and they have to offer it to entire sections.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Netflix will turn into a thing I buy for like a month a year and binge the things I want to watch. Or I'll find a way to stream it on other sites. 95% of the content they have is garbage.

 

 

Idk how you can say that. The original productions are getting Emmys and Oscars now. There are so many good shows on Netflix I could rattle off 10-15 without having to think and it has some of the best documentary material around. It was trash about five years ago but it is fantastic nowadays. It absolutely blows cable out of the water.

[Point Beer Is Best]

 

I don't use streaming because it's cheaper than cable, I use it because the original programming is vastly better. Sling for local sports, the rest of it I could really take it or leave it. $25 Sling + $15 Internet + $15 Netflix is hard to beat. I'd get rid of it all before I got cable.

Fixed it for you Price of Netflix is going up, too. Probably in preparation for losing all Disney content soon.

 

$9 is the increased price from $8 for long timers. It isn't $15 across the board unless you have 4k/multiple screens.

 

The Disney service is going to cheap too. Rumor is $5-8.

 

Disney+ is being released in November (I think the 12th). The info that was released yesterday indicated it would be $69.99 for an annual subscription or $6.99 on a monthly basis. That's pretty decent and in-line with the streaming services that don't offer actual TV channels yet have original content like Netflix.

 

Now, if they would just bring back The Punisher on Disney+ I would be very happy.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I finally got rid of DISH Network about a month ago, after their latest price increase got us up to $130/month for a basic package (no premium channels). We live in the sticks, so our "cable" options were basically limited to DISH or DirecTV. My biggest hang-up on cancelling was not having access to Packers and Brewers games. After researching the heck out of things (this thread helped immensely), I decided to go the old-school digital antenna route, and bought the mid-range RCA Mini Yagi model for about $50. The box has the color coded wheel (it looks like an old Trivia Pursuit game piece with the little colored triangles.) The color coded wheel matches the color codes from the antennaweb page. With just the antenna alone, I was able to pull in NBC (17 miles away) and ABC (repeater 8 miles away), but couldn't pull in CBS/Fox (low-powered repeater about 22 miles away). I bought a $22 RCA pre amp from Menards to mount to the antenna pole. The finally piece of the puzzle for me was a distribution amplifier, (channel master cm3414 4-port, $30 on amazon) so we had sufficient signal to power our four television sets. So overall we now have a good signal, and spent about $100. We now have 12 channels total from NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, WB and PBS. We did have a few kinks to work out, as some of our coax cable from our previous DISH setup were on splitters. Once we removed the splitters our signal came in nicely. It took me about a week of trial and error, and research to figure it all out.

 

For cable/access to Brewer games, I bought Roku Express players ($25 each deal on Groupon). We went with the Sling TV Blue package, and I paid the extra to get Fox Sports Wisconsin. Also previously had Netflix and Amazon Prime, as those are our kids' go-to for more programming. Also downloaded a few extra free apps on the Roku system (PlutoTV, Crackle, Roku Channel, Tubi), and our options are now way, way more than we ever had with just DISH and Netflix). So far the only complaint I have (and its very minor) is that the Sling streaming feed is about 30-45 seconds behind on live stuff.

 

Over all I'm glad we went through the process. Yeah, the hardware was a little but of upfront cost, but we'll be saving about $100/month by not having cable. Internet may eventually be an issue, as we only have a 6 MBPS DSL internet connection speed from Frontier. It's been fine so far, as it's only lagged or kicked us off an app a couple times. We may have to upgrade to the 12 MBPS package at some point.

[pacopete4]

Netflix will turn into a thing I buy for like a month a year and binge the things I want to watch. Or I'll find a way to stream it on other sites. 95% of the content they have is garbage.

 

 

Idk how you can say that. The original productions are getting Emmys and Oscars now. There are so many good shows on Netflix I could rattle off 10-15 without having to think and it has some of the best documentary material around. It was trash about five years ago but it is fantastic nowadays. It absolutely blows cable out of the water.

 

Just can't think of too many shows that are must-watch on there for me.

[JackNicholson1974]

Youtube TV just upped the price from 40 to 50 dollars. That was at the same time as adding the Discovery Networks. Maybe $40 was too good to be true with their prior lineup and the cost increase isnt totally attributed to adding those channels, however...

 

I fear that YTTV is headed to becoming just another bloated cable TV company. I didnt want any more channels. There are a lot of streaming options and it took me YEARS to find one that caused me to quite cable. Reaction online has been interesting...users are overwhelmingly upset about the price increase, and then they usually finish their rant with..."If they just add such-and-such channel I will be happy" and they do not realize they are the problem.

 

Obscure channels like Discovery, HGTV, TLC, etc, which generally only show reality TV trash are best left to the bloated Comcasts and Charters of the world.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I think we all know where this goes. Disney is coming in to undercut Netflix, but once they get people hooked, which they will be, that price is quickly going to be $20. Netflix got huge by aggregating content, but now everyone wants their slice and we're just going to have 20 different streamers with licensing rights that basically add up to the cost of cable.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Youtube TV just upped the price from 40 to 50 dollars. That was at the same time as adding the Discovery Networks. Maybe $40 was too good to be true with their prior lineup and the cost increase isnt totally attributed to adding those channels, however...

 

I fear that YTTV is headed to becoming just another bloated cable TV company. I didnt want any more channels. There are a lot of streaming options and it took me YEARS to find one that caused me to quite cable. Reaction online has been interesting...users are overwhelmingly upset about the price increase, and then they usually finish their rant with..."If they just add such-and-such channel I will be happy" and they do not realize they are the problem.

 

Obscure channels like Discovery, HGTV, TLC, etc, which generally only show reality TV trash are best left to the bloated Comcasts and Charters of the world.

 

HGTV is probably about 75% of our Sling use due to the Mrs.

[xisxisxis]

I think we all know where this goes. Disney is coming in to undercut Netflix, but once they get people hooked, which they will be, that price is quickly going to be $20. Netflix got huge by aggregating content, but now everyone wants their slice and we're just going to have 20 different streamers with licensing rights that basically add up to the cost of cable.

I haven't seen a channel/outlet that doesn't have all of their own content available all-the-time. HBO, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX, etc have their own series available 24/7. I think costs will have to come down or people will do exactly what Brew4U said, they will drop services for months, pick them up for a month or 2 and binge, then drop again. I'm already doing that with Amazon Prime Channels - Two months on then rotate back in 6 months for another 2 months. I can see all the unique content they have without paying a lot. I would expect most people to do the same. if the price was lower I wouldn't drop them, but as you say when you start adding everything up it becomes too expensive to have many of them all the time.

[xisxisxis]

HGTV is probably about 75% of our Sling use due to the Mrs.

Yeah, the double Xers keep HGTV going... And the Hallmark channels and Lifetime Channels...

[nodakfan17]

I have TiVo ($15/month) and Hulu ($1/month special through November). Disney owns Hulu via their Fox acquisitions and I was really hoping they’d just re-brand the Hulu platform after adding their own content. My wife has already determined we’ll get Disney+. I know my TV bill is light, but I hate stacking subscriptions. After a certain point, you might as well just have cable. Heck, my internet bill is up to $74, so Spectrum has found a way to extract their pound of flesh even after we cut the cord 4 years ago.

[young guns]

That's the problem I have too. I'm paying 60 a month to attend for internet and, because it's cheaper this way, the most basic tv package they have. I'm way less than satisfied with the internet too.

[CheezWizHed]

Paid $60 for my Brewers MLB subscription and watching Brewers/Cardinals on my phone. Streaming the Bucks/Pistons from reddit NBA streams for free on my laptop (cast to my TV).

 

So much better than cable....

[reillymcshane]

I got rid of cable years ago. I think the big issue now is there are too many subscription services. A recent study showed that the optimum number for a family is around three. Beyond that, people just don't get value out of them.

 

I had Netflix, Hulu and Amazon for a while. I have kept Netflix and Amazon (I use Amazon a lot for things, so it makes sense), and I rotate out services. I have HBO for right now - mainly for Game Of Thrones. I look at the other stuff on the channel I am interested, and will watch over the next couple of months - then cancel. I did the same thing with CBS All Access. My wife had a few shows she wanted to watch - so we ordered it about a month ago - and once we we are done binge-watching the shows we want to watch - we will cancel.

 

Netflix really is cranking out the original content - and I find myself watching it more than anything. And they are moving more and more to that arena, as a lot of quality programming is leaving for the company's own platform (such as the Disney/Marvel type stuff).

 

The Disney program would be hard not to buy if you have kids. That's not an issue anymore for me as I'm older, but I can't believe how many Disney and superhero shows we bought on DVD. It's the kind of programming I could see buying for a few months - catching up on all the stuff I like - and then canceling.

 

I think you'll see this happening more and more. With so many pay services, people can only have so many. They will rotate out services - a few months for HBO, then a few months for Hulu, then a few months for Disney, etc., etc.

[cesser000]

So both my parents and I live in California, and they have had DirecTV for about 20 years now. Like everyone else though, they are finally fed up with the multiple cost increases (think they're paying close to $200/month now???) and they want to switch to something else. Between them they don't watch that many channels, and they don't subscribe to any additional premium channels. They do however pay for the MLB Extra Innings package each year to watch Brewer games, and included with that is an MLB.TV account, which is what I use to stream all the Brewer games here in the Bay Area.

 

After checking out the info online and reading the reviews here, seems like Youtube TV is the way to go, and I'll be recommending they try it. I'm not clear though - does Youtube TV have MLB.TV built into it so we can continue watching Brewer games? Or will we need to pay for an MLB.TV account each year and tie that in as well?

[FVBrewerFan]

The mlb network, the channel, is included. Mlb tv is not, i think thats extra no matter what service you would use.

[cesser000]

That's what I figured, thanks. I read that Youtube TV may at some point start offering MLB.TV as an extra, which would be nice to have it integrated in the same app, but no word on when that might happen.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I've been using all the free samples of the streaming options since Sling TV dropped Fox Sports Wisconsin, and each have their good and bad points. The best was probably YouTube TV, simply due to the fewest glitches and functionality. As for offerings, I like Playstation Vue the best, as it is the only one that offers close to everything I'm looking for channel-wise. I've found it to be a little glitchy with my slower internet speed, though. Tried Hulu Live TV, AT&T TV and Fubo Live TV, and hated them for various reasons.

 

Not only is Sling the cheapest, it is also the easiest to use IMO, and least glitchy. I'll probably be switching back to Sling once the Brewers are done playing this year, then pick up something else next spring. Really wish that Sling would pick the Fox regional sports networks back up, but it doesn't look its ever going to happen now.

[nate82]

Is cable TV now on its death bed with Apple launching a streaming service?

[nate82]

Is cable TV now on its death bed with Apple launching a streaming service?