Cutting the cord? It's time...

[Judge Smails]

Did a search for the topic on this forum and it showed the last one in 2017.

Anyway, how are some of you doing it? I'm in West Chester, PA. Internet wifi + NBC sports philly for Sixers games + Penn State and college football is really the only thing I care about watching. Isn't the local NBC sports station on Youtube TV? I pay $210/mth to Verizon for internet + the tv package.

 

[bwifan]

An interesting note I heard today on the radio is that Netflix is cutting a bunch of programs like Friends/Seinfeld/etc... as many tv broadcasting corporations(NBC/ABC/CBS) are now starting their own streaming channels. They will retain the rights to these old and current shows when Netflix current contract to broadcast them ends. Streaming is obviously the way of the future.

 

[MJG-90]

Isn't the local NBC sports station on Youtube TV?

Go here and key in your zip code.

https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/

 

[interrobang]

We're going to get overwhelmed with streaming options in the next few years. You'll need one service to watch one type of thing, another service for another, another service for another.

What is now a way to cut costs is just going to turn into something equally as expensive as it is now.

 

[Lion Lineage]

Did a search for the topic on this forum and it showed the last one in 2017.

Anyway, how are some of you doing it? I'm in West Chester, PA. Internet wifi + NBC sports philly for Sixers games + Penn State and college football is really the only thing I care about watching. Isn't the local NBC sports station on Youtube TV? I pay $210/mth to Verizon for internet + the tv package.

My dad recently got rid of his Comcast bundle. He uses them for internet at a cost of $75 mos. and a $13 mos. rental fee for the modem. For $50 mos. he gets Hulu plus live TV (so sports). Total cost is $138 per mos. He had been paying $180 for the bundle. Cheaper but still too expensive if you ask me.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

My dad recently got rid of his Comcast bundle. He uses them for internet at a cost of $75 mos. and a $13 mos. rental fee for the modem. For $50 mos. he gets Hulu plus live TV (so sports). Total cost is $138 per mos. He had been paying $180 for the bundle. Cheaper but still too expensive if you ask me.

Holy shit, they charge $13 for a modem rental? Why doesn't your dad buy his own? They can be had for less than $75.

 

[BobPSU92]

Just sports? I know the news sucks, but doesn't anyone laugh anymore? Are Philly sports funny?

 

[Lion Lineage]

We're going to get overwhelmed with streaming options in the next few years. You'll need one service to watch one type of thing, another service for another, another service for another.

What is now a way to cut costs is just going to turn into something equally as expensive as it is now.

I agree, which is why so far I have stuck with Dish. With Hulu and YouTube being upwards of $50 per month for live TV (sports), the streaming options aren’t that much cheaper than my Dish subscription.

I can for see a future where NBC, CBS, Disney (ABC, ESPN), Fox, et al have their own “pay for” streaming services. Right now a subscription to cable or satellite gets you access to most of their content. It will become like music is now - Tidal, Spotify (still a free option), Amazon Prime, Apple Music, YouTube Music (still a free option), etc.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Just sports? I know the news sucks, but doesn't anyone laugh anymore? Are Philly sports funny?

 

[Judge Smails]

I agree, which is why so far I have stuck with Dish. With Hulu and YouTube being upwards of $50 per month for live TV (sports), the streaming options aren’t that much cheaper than my Dish subscription.

I can for see a future where NBC, CBS, Disney (ABC, ESPN), Fox, et al have their own “pay for” streaming services. Right now a subscription to cable or satellite gets you access to most of their content. It will become like music is now - Tidal, Spotify (still a free option), Amazon Prime, Apple Music, YouTube Music (still a free option), etc.

Thing is, with Cable bundling you're forced to pay for all of that mess. Most people don't care to watch all of that. I don't watch a second of traditional broadcast TV if it's not sports.

 

[poker1]

I agree, which is why so far I have stuck with Dish. With Hulu and YouTube being upwards of $50 per month for live TV (sports), the streaming options aren’t that much cheaper than my Dish subscription.

I can for see a future where NBC, CBS, Disney (ABC, ESPN), Fox, et al have their own “pay for” streaming services. Right now a subscription to cable or satellite gets you access to most of their content. It will become like music is now - Tidal, Spotify (still a free option), Amazon Prime, Apple Music, YouTube Music (still a free option), etc.

Not only are they not much cheaper, they are far more inconvenient and it looks like its getting worse, not better. Has anybody figured out a way to bundle multiple streaming services into a single easy-to-use interface? It might mean negotiating pricing with each and maybe offering options, so I guess that gets us back to where we started.

 

[arothman1]

I cut the cord a couple of years ago. PSVue for $55/month. I was paying $200 for DirecTV, so a big difference. It’s been great. I use Hulu and Netflix to supplement, but I was already paying for those.

 

[PS4814]

Has anybody figured out a way to bundle multiple streaming services into a single easy-to-use interface?

Yes - things like Roku, Fire, AppleTV for starters.

Heck even my Samsung TV has built in apps for things like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu. Only one it doesn't have is PSVue b/c Samsung & Sony are competitors.

 

[Obliviax]

I went off to cut the cord: I got 400MB high speed for $49/mo. I then signed up for Hulu but the cable company matched Hulu at $50/month (with DVR and commercial zipping) and threw in HBO. So I am still with a cable provider but still saved the $50/mo.

 

[Lion Lineage]

Thing is, with Cable bundling you're forced to pay for all of that mess. Most people don't care to watch all of that. I don't watch a second of traditional broadcast TV if it's not sports.

Gotcha. So you want internet access and a subscription to individual sports streaming services like BTN, ESPN, NBC to make sure your sports watching is covered?

You could do YouTube TV or Hulu plus for only $50 some per month, but it’s not all that different than Dish or DirectTV in terms of pricing. I guess it’s a bit cheaper but you’re still basically getting a “cable” subscription at that point. Once YouTube TV is available in my area I may try it but I’ve read that streaming live sports can be a bit iffy in terms of picture quality, buffering, etc. I tried a free month of Hulu once and attempted to stream a live sporting event and it didn’t go well.

 

[Agoodnap]

Did a search for the topic on this forum and it showed the last one in 2017.

Anyway, how are some of you doing it? I'm in West Chester, PA. Internet wifi + NBC sports philly for Sixers games + Penn State and college football is really the only thing I care about watching. Isn't the local NBC sports station on Youtube TV? I pay $210/mth to Verizon for internet + the tv package.

You should be able to get Verizon Triple play with the sports package for $79.99/month plus whatever they charge for a the dvr module for one tv.
Get a roku for any other tv's (about $50 at Best Buy) and you're good to go. Looks like they are offering the modem for free right now.

You'll need to be a new customer to get this deal so you'll need to cancel you're current service and sign up for a new account. I do this buy alternating the service between my wife and myself. The sales person will happily make this happen as they earn commissions for new service. I've done this twice and they cut my old plan the morning that the service tech is scheduled to show up. I've only been without service for a few hours both times.

 

[Wandering Spectator]

With all of the content creators now trying to deliver streaming services, the cable companies are in a prime position to be the aggregators and content deliver provider. In order to stay relevant, they need to adapt to a “pick your content” subscription and then allow for reasonably priced “content on demand”.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

Gotcha. So you want internet access and a subscription to individual sports streaming services like BTN, ESPN, NBC to make sure your sports watching is covered?

You could do YouTube TV or Hulu plus for only $50 some per month, but it’s not all that different than Dish or DirectTV in terms of pricing. I guess it’s a bit cheaper but you’re still basically getting a “cable” subscription at that point. Once YouTube TV is available in my area I may try it but I’ve read that streaming live sports can be a bit iffy in terms of picture quality, buffering, etc. I tried a free month of Hulu once and attempted to stream a live sporting event and it didn’t go well.

The important advantage you're leaving out is the fact that there is no contract for YTTV, Hulu Plus, or any other streaming service. I discontinue the services during months when I don't watch much TV and pick it up again for football season. One will pay out the ass for breaking Dish/DirecTV/Comcast contracts.

 

[sigchip_a_yahoo.com]

Did a search for the topic on this forum and it showed the last one in 2017.

Anyway, how are some of you doing it? I'm in West Chester, PA. Internet wifi + NBC sports philly for Sixers games + Penn State and college football is really the only thing I care about watching. Isn't the local NBC sports station on Youtube TV? I pay $210/mth to Verizon for internet + the tv package.

Judge - I was able to get Comcast for $103 per month for internet and TV. I have my own modem and I get one DVR and one box that can watch anything I tape on the DVR and get on demand on another TV. I do not get the Big Ten and will upgrade right before the season to get it. I also have this with no contract. We go to Florida for 6 months in July(Don't ask why) and I will return the boxes and only pay for internet until I re up when we return. I think right now I have the 140 channel plan and it gets me everything I want except the Big Ten. I live in East Norriton.

 

[PSU22]

https://www.suppose.tv/ - start here

 

[sigchip_a_yahoo.com]

https://www.suppose.tv/ - start here

Interesting site!

 

[LionHoya]

I cut the cord a few months ago. I'm in the DC area and had Verizon FiOS plus TV. I was able to get my Internet through Verizon at 100 Mb/s for $40/month by having my wife as a new user sign up (otherwise it was $70/month for me to go internet only). Have Hulu Plus, HBO, and Showtime (already had netflix and amazon prime). Also bought my own modem. Saving over $100/month when you account for STB/modem rental, taxes/fees, DVR for multiple rooms, and a couple of other expenses. The STB rental and taxes/fees (which don't apply to Internet only) really make me question how the cable companies can compete against streaming services.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

I haven’t missed a game on YouTubeTV and love it.

 

[LoyalandTrueLion]

We're going to get overwhelmed with streaming options in the next few years. You'll need one service to watch one type of thing, another service for another, another service for another.

What is now a way to cut costs is just going to turn into something equally as expensive as it is now.

Equally? You are being modest. It will be more

 

[Zone-Blitz]

Just started with hulu live, upgraded my internet to spectrum ultra here in FLA. It’s an outstanding picture on my samsung tv, but the hockey games have frozen up on me several times the past 2 nights, so i have to change the channel and then turn it back to get it going again. If i watch thru Hulu app via apple tv, the game doesn’t freeze but the picture quality and game speed isn’t as good

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

Just started with hulu live, upgraded my internet to spectrum ultra here in FLA. It’s an outstanding picture on my samsung tv, but the hockey games have frozen up on me several times the past 2 nights, so i have to change the channel and then turn it back to get it going again. If i watch thru Hulu app via apple tv, the game doesn’t freeze but the picture quality and game speed isn’t as good

Get a better router.

 

[psudsl08]

Was paying approx $180/mo for Comcast, not including Netflix. Got 300mpbs through Verizon, paying $80/mo for service, router, extender and taxes. $50/mo for PS Vue Core Package, which provides local and BTN. Have Amazon Prime and Hulu for free through Sprint cell phone service. Have faster internet and save about $50 a month.

 

[artsandletters]

I went off to cut the cord: I got 400MB high speed for $49/mo. I then signed up for Hulu but the cable company matched Hulu at $50/month (with DVR and commercial zipping) and threw in HBO. So I am still with a cable provider but still saved the $50/mo.

Which provider gave you the $49 price for Internet? Thanks.

 

[SLUPSU]

Did a search for the topic on this forum and it showed the last one in 2017.

Anyway, how are some of you doing it? I'm in West Chester, PA. Internet wifi + NBC sports philly for Sixers games + Penn State and college football is really the only thing I care about watching. Isn't the local NBC sports station on Youtube TV? I pay $210/mth to Verizon for internet + the tv package.

I'm with DirecTV/ATT internet (100 mbps) and paying $130/mo (still on new customer pricing, TV is $110 (inc Showtime) and internet is $20. I'm good with that pricing right now, but I thought I would try streaming TV to see what it was like. After doing some research, I chose the $60 PS Vue package, because it provided the best channel mix for me. I signed up, they have a five day free trail. After a couple of days of use I really hated it, the channel guide and DVR interface/functionality are really bad and the picture quality was worse. For now I will live with the cost I'm paying, I suppose I will switch in the future when I lose some of the discounts I have now. In the meantime, I hope that streaming user interfaces will improve in the future.

 

[Judge Smails]

LOL, just called Verizon for a last ditch effort to see if they could cut my bill. I'm out of contract. Best they could offer was to return some of the TV boxes that I'm being charged for.

 

[Grant Green]

Did a search for the topic on this forum and it showed the last one in 2017.

Anyway, how are some of you doing it? I'm in West Chester, PA. Internet wifi + NBC sports philly for Sixers games + Penn State and college football is really the only thing I care about watching. Isn't the local NBC sports station on Youtube TV? I pay $210/mth to Verizon for internet + the tv package.

Yeah, do it. I pay $55 for internet and $50 for PSVue.
PSV, youtubetv, hulutv, and slingplayer should all work for you, but check to see the channels you get for each. I think one of them doesn't do the B10 network but can't recall which. There may also be local channels missing (I don't get CBS). If you have a smart tv, it is even easier than using a roku/apple tv/ etc.

you may want to also check to see how many devices can stream at once and DVR capacity.

 

[SLUPSU]

LOL, just called Verizon for a last ditch effort to see if they could cut my bill. I'm out of contract. Best they could offer was to return some of the TV boxes that I'm being charged for.

Keep in mind that if you are using or are thinking of using Amazon Fire Stick as your streaming device that it is not currently compatible with youtubeTV.

 

[sigchip_a_yahoo.com]

I'm with DirecTV/ATT internet (100 mbps) and paying $130/mo (still on new customer pricing, TV is $110 (inc Showtime) and internet is $20. I'm good with that pricing right now, but I thought I would try streaming TV to see what it was like. After doing some research, I chose the $60 PS Vue package, because it provided the best channel mix for me. I signed up, they have a five day free trail. After a couple of days of use I really hated it, the channel guide and DVR interface/functionality are really bad and the picture quality was worse. For now I will live with the cost I'm paying, I suppose I will switch in the future when I lose some of the discounts I have now. In the meantime, I hope that streaming user interfaces will improve in the future.

I am willing to pay a little more for cable, my brother has PlayStation Vue and he said I would be frustrated with it as well

 

[Lion Lineage]

Keep in mind that if you are using or are thinking of using Amazon Fire Stick as your streaming device that it is not currently compatible with youtubeTV.

YouTube TV will be available sometime this year as will the YouTube app.

 

[Lion Lineage]

LOL, just called Verizon for a last ditch effort to see if they could cut my bill. I'm out of contract. Best they could offer was to return some of the TV boxes that I'm being charged for.

If you don’t mind, up date the board with your streaming experience when it comes to sports. That’s the only bit that has me hesitant to make the switch from Dish to YouTube TV as I could save $25 or $30 per month if I did that.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

If you don’t mind, up date the board with your streaming experience when it comes to sports. That’s the only bit that has me hesitant to make the switch from Dish to YouTube TV as I could save $25 or $30 per month if I did that.

I had issues initially so I bumped up my bandwidth and now use Google WiFi to extend and strengthen the signal. I never buffer anymore and I have 3 kids with devices. Both my wife and I are in IT and we never bog down anymore.

 

[Creek Side]

Comcast just launched a streaming service. Called Xfinity Instant TV. Google it for details if interested.

 

[Judge Smails]

Keep in mind that if you are using or are thinking of using Amazon Fire Stick as your streaming device that it is not currently compatible with youtubeTV.

I have a smart tv. Think it is just a matter of using the youtube tv app on there.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

I have a smart tv. Think it is just a matter of using the youtube tv app on there.

Depends on the TV...LG and Samsung I believe have it. I actually bought 2-3 TCL's which are Roku TV's and they work just fine. If your TV isn't compatible you can just order a Roku stick and download the app there.

 

[mjh218]

I cut the cord and got Playstation Vue. I like it. Has all the channels I need and the quality is just as good as cable. I use a Roku on a few TVs and have a one with Roku built in.