HELP- Cutting the Cord, Choosing Live Stream TV

[Loyal]

A few years ago, our local telephone service brought the town into a meeting to announce a new fiber optic television service they would be offering to their customers. Big advantage for us was that during storms/tornado's we would not lose satellite imagery. That lasted a couple of years until they went with an online app and the firestick. Well, the advantage of good weather news during a bad storm was only as good as our WiFi (no better than satellite tv) but it was easier to stay with the service. Now, this subcontracting service is going tits up on June 1st. We paid $85 a month for it and so its seems like an opportunity more than a downer. But, the options are many and no one option is perfect. I will rank the most attractive options for me so far and please tell me what services you use/and or like.

1. Sling TV - The Blue or Orange option are very similar except that one has the ESPN channels and the other offers more devices that can simultaneously watch the programing. I could care less about ESPN, and NFLN is offered by both packages. It costs $35.00 a month. My wife wants Discovery plus which is a seperate service $6 ish dollars a month. I might get Hulu with commercials for around the same price and so $45=$50 a month. Great savings of $35 less a month.

2. Philo TV - This is a hard one. The cost for 63 channels is only $20 month, but there are no sports channels or news channels or local channels(unlimited DVR). So no NFLN and no cable news used to be an automatic deal breaker for me, but I have weaned myself from cable news almost completely due to obvious political slanted coverage and NFLN has lost some utility.I don't think it has Thurs Night football anymore and GMFB is shown on free YouTube almost simultaneous after it airs. I would still get HULU and Discovery Plus. I normally work on the weekends and so I don't get to watch the daytime games and I often stream games from Europe if I have to... It would be about $50 less a month than what we have been paying.

I could list YouTubeTV, Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu TV....Most donj't have live programming which is a must. The MUST channels: History, Discovery, Food, TLC, HGTV, NatGeo, SCI. The nice to have channels would be NFLN, SCIFI, Network channels.

Sorry for the length, but help a brotha out here...

 

[Riverumbbq]

I cut the cord a few years ago and the savings were enormous at that time. Just yesterday I read that AT&T was merging with Discovery and that they would be selling off their Warner Bros. Holdings which includes HBO, CNN & the Warner Bros. Studios etc. My WIFI is currently with AT&T so I'll have to wait on whether they offer Discovery at a discounted rate in the future & if I even want it. I stream both Netflix & Amazon Prime which I feel offers the best programing, and with Prime I also add-on HBO Max & Starz. Amazon Prime will also be delivering Thursday Nite Football for the next several years. Neither Netflix or Amazon are offering the NFL Network as yet, and that I miss. If I want the standard Networks, being in L.A., I can use an indoor antenna, although I don't watch anything other than Football on the networks any longer, that's how much I hate sitting thru a series of commercials.
I'm kind of hoping that Amazon or Netflix purchases the Warner Bros. assets, not sure who else might have the money other than Disney, and I doubt they would be a good fit. jmo.

 

[OldSchool]

I’m planning on dropping direct tv when my deal runs out. I use prime and Netflix. I also use a free app Tubi with my fire cube. It’s not new content but it’s tons of fun older stuff. I’ll chose later on a streaming service for regular sports stuff but absolutely plan on cutting that cord.

 

[Angry Ram]

I cut cable completely a couple months ago. Sounds like you're adamant on keeping things like History, Discovery, etc. All those are available on Hulu + Live, Fubo, Sling, YoutubeTV, etc. The good news is that you're not locked into a contract should you choose one of them.

The first I did was sit down and go through the channel list you're currently paying for and decide how much you actually watch it, if at all. Second, if you do watch a lot find if they are available on-demand somewhere for old shows or next day. For me I realized the only thing I watched was USA Network on Mondays for wrestling and MNF. I had xfinity and then YouTubeTV and I was literally flushing $$$ down the toilet. All the live TV things will cost you. If you factor in your internet cost I don't see where the savings happen. Youtube tv was costing me $90/mo with the NFLN and RZ package. Why the hell was I paying that much for re-runs of crappy 2000s movies and the fuckin Big Bang Theory?

Second, I'd see what other services you already pay for offer a streaming service for free. I.e., I still have Xfinity internet so I get Peacock (and thereby WWE Network) for free, or $5.00/mo for no ads. Sprint unlimited gets you Hulu for free. ATT I think gets you HBO Max for free. I currently have:

Peacock: $5.00/mo​

​

Disney+: $8.00/mo​

​

HBO Max: $15.00/mo​

​

Hulu w/ ads: (free through Sprint)​

​

Netflix: $18.00/mo​

​

Amazon Prime: $15.00/mo​

​

Local: Free through an amplified antennae​

Total: $61.00/mo; internet $60/mo. So $120.00 for everything, and its shit I actually use or watch. No taxes, no local fees, no stupid HD or regional sports fees. Honestly I'm not really liking the stuff on Netflix too much. I might watch that Jupiter show and then cancel. Then try things like Paramount+. MNF is gonna be hard, but Sling is probably the cheapest option for a few months.

Honestly man it depends on what, where, and how much you watch personally. It's different for everybody.

 

[Loyal]

I cut cable completely a couple months ago. Sounds like you're adamant on keeping things like History, Discovery, etc. All those are available on Hulu + Live, Fubo, Sling, YoutubeTV, etc. The good news is that you're not locked into a contract should you choose one of them.

The first I did was sit down and go through the channel list you're currently paying for and decide how much you actually watch it, if at all. Second, if you do watch a lot find if they are available on-demand somewhere for old shows or next day. For me I realized the only thing I watched was USA Network on Mondays for wrestling and MNF. I had xfinity and then YouTubeTV and I was literally flushing $$$ down the toilet. All the live TV things will cost you. If you factor in your internet cost I don't see where the savings happen. Youtube tv was costing me $90/mo with the NFLN and RZ package. Why the hell was I paying that much for re-runs of crappy 2000s movies and the fuckin Big Bang Theory?

Second, I'd see what other services you already pay for offer a streaming service for free. I.e., I still have Xfinity internet so I get Peacock (and thereby WWE Network) for free, or $5.00/mo for no ads. Sprint unlimited gets you Hulu for free. ATT I think gets you HBO Max for free. I currently have:

​

Peacock: $5.00/mo​

​

Disney+: $8.00/mo​

​

HBO Max: $15.00/mo​

​

Hulu w/ ads: (free through Sprint)​

​

Netflix: $18.00/mo​

​

Amazon Prime: $15.00/mo​

​

Local: Free through an amplified antennae​

Total: $61.00/mo; internet $60/mo. So $120.00 for everything, and its shit I actually use or watch. No taxes, no local fees, no stupid HD or regional sports fees. Honestly I'm not really liking the stuff on Netflix too much. I might watch that Jupiter show and then cancel. Then try things like Paramount+. MNF is gonna be hard, but Sling is probably the cheapest option for a few months.

Honestly man it depends on what, where, and how much you watch personally. It's different for everybody.

I hear what you are saying, but the internet service is limited to what we can get in rural Kansas. We get DSL through beforementioned telephone service and it's fast, but it's also the only service that I know of besides Hughes satellite internet (just, no). Since our small business relies on it, we can't go for anything less, so I don't figure that into the TV service.

The same goes for local channels. One local station is 65 miles away and the others are more than 90 miles away. Last time I looked, getting HDTV for free was extremely limited. Not a big deal because we rarely watch the network stuff anyway.

As for the narrowing process, I've done that. We currently have over 100 channels of crap and the channels that I listed are the ones on which we consume programaming. That's why I am considering the $20 a month philo tv pretty hard...

 

[Dodgersrf]

I actually used sling for a few years with very good results.

I'm not sure how good it is in your area, but the price and channels were unbeatable. I was also able to watch it simultaneously on 3 tvs. All different channels.

The only draw back was the limited availability of local channels. They offered a few, but I didn't get all of them. (I'm only referring to the large networks).
There are options for them though through apps like Locast or even just an antenna.

Canceling my subscription was also a breeze. I never had an issue with unscrupulous billing.

 

[Neil039]

I cut the cable cord about 6 years ago.

I have the following:
Netflix—-$9.00 a month (rarely use it now). Likely cancel it this summer
HBOMax —— $15.00 a month. Got it for the new movie releases. Likely keep it.
Hulu—- $6.00 a month. Same as Netflix.
Peacock —- Free with cable(so not really).
Amazon Prime —- Free (Long story but they royally screwed up an order, customer service gave me 12 months free).

Comcast— $46.00 a month.

Grand total $76.00..soon to be $61.00.


It didn’t take long for me not to miss it, but I hate wasting money on crap I get no return.

Ditto on @Dodgersrf post on Sling. Not bad, easy to use, and easy to cancel.

 

[Angry Ram]

I hear what you are saying, but the internet service is limited to what we can get in rural Kansas. We get DSL through beforementioned telephone service and it's fast, but it's also the only service that I know of besides Hughes satellite internet (just, no). Since our small business relies on it, we can't go for anything less, so I don't figure that into the TV service.

The same goes for local channels. One local station is 65 miles away and the others are more than 90 miles away. Last time I looked, getting HDTV for free was extremely limited. Not a big deal because we rarely watch the network stuff anyway.

As for the narrowing process, I've done that. We currently have over 100 channels of crap and the channels that I listed are the ones on which we consume programaming. That's why I am considering the $20 a month philo tv pretty hard...

IDK if you ever tried an amplified antennae (its called MOHO leaf and I use a brand called "UMUSTHAVE"). They're designed for tv signals at long distances.

Sounds like you still watch a lot of things. So I'd check the cheap hulu and every other $10 and under streaming first to see if your shows are on there. Might have to make a sacrifice or two.

 

[Force16X]

I cut the cable cord about 6 years ago.

I have the following:
Netflix—-$9.00 a month (rarely use it now). Likely cancel it this summer
HBOMax —— $15.00 a month. Got it for the new movie releases. Likely keep it.
Hulu—- $6.00 a month. Same as Netflix.
Peacock —- Free with cable(so not really).
Amazon Prime —- Free (Long story but they royally screwed up an order, customer service gave me 12 months free).

Comcast— $46.00 a month.

Grand total $76.00..soon to be $61.00.


It didn’t take long for me not to miss it, but I hate wasting money on crap I get no return.

Ditto on @Dodgersrf post on Sling. Not bad, easy to use, and easy to cancel.

Have you watched The Outsider on HBOMax yet ?? if not, and you like science fiction/horror, you may want to have a look.

 

[Psycho_X]

For NFL, buy the international NFL gamepass and use VPN to watch any games I want live. Plug laptop into big screen tv to stream.

Other:
Netflix - always active
Amazon Prime Video - always active (we buy stuff so much the shipping pays for itself)
Disney + - a few months before app went live I pre-purchased 3 years of it for $75 up front. So always active.
Hulu - turn off and on depending on any broadcast shows we want to watch month to month
HBO Max through Hulu - turn off and on depending on a show/movies we want to watch month to month
AMC through Amazon - turn off and on depending on shows I want to watch

That's it that I currently have. Hasn't really been any shows lately that I feel like I have to watch live because broadcast tv mostly sucks anymore. But for the few shows we still watch we just view the next day through Hulu without commercials so don't pay for any of the more expensive "live" options.

 

[Neil039]

Have you watched The Outsider on HBOMax yet ?? if not, and you like science fiction/horror, you may want to have a look.

I like that show, bummer they release the seasons so far apart.

 

[Force16X]

I like that show, bummer they release the seasons so far apart.

stranger things is the king of seasonal gaps though.