Question For All?

[True Blue American]

Have you given up on high priced cable and reverted to streaming?

I just watched a news program on my streaming device about the monopolies in the Us. How they are gouging us, providing lower speed.

Europe has Government controlled services and they are so much cheaper.. It is becoming ridiculous to keep changing providers every year because they offer specials, then double your price after the specified time.

I have found a streaming device that offers all kinds of programs, better than cable.

Would you share your ideas with me?

Thanks in advance.

[Sherman A1]

1. I am about a year away from changing

To streaming service. I have a price guarantee with spectrum for now, but wanted to buy myself some time to learn about how it all works and what is the best deal.

Very interested in following this thread.

[True Blue American]

2. They just raised

My bundle $40. Everyone I know is switching to UVERSE,AT&T. Half the price.

But we do not have it yet in my area. One small company is blockng. But I found a free streaming device on my IPad. It has guides, everything. This is where I listened to a news show about the Monopolies in the US. In Europe they are Government controlled. We have to clean out our corrupt,lobby controlled Congress. We are going down the rabbit hole. And I include all in this.

Like you I am trying to see what is available before I call them.

We shall wait on the experts.

[Sherman A1]

3. I gave up Uverse in favor of spectrum

Cut my bill for the 2 years of the price guarantee. Uverse was up to $150.00/ for their 200 level and all my equipment was original stuff. I had to reboot the thing constantly and was getting a very slow connection. Spectrum is cheaper and better for now, but not without its share of problems. Recording is spotty and it’s getting to be a regular reboot as well.

[True Blue American]

6. I just want others to share

What they have done. The TV has become mostly background noise while I visit everywhere on the IPAD. My IPhone is Spectrum. I took the $14 Gigabyte becauseI mostly use it for connections and is mostly on WiFi

[Sherman A1]

13. Myself i could do without the TV entirely

Just give me the fastest Internet speeds available. I am more than fed up with what seems to be 90 seconds of programing sandwiched in-between hours of commercials mostly for drugs I never knew I needed.

The Wife however does not share my opinion and has a laundry list of shows that are on her Must Watch list. So we absolutely have to have some type of service that gets her what she wants.

[csziggy]

27. I love streaming since many of the programs are shown without commercials

Of course, many of those are older, not first run series, but I don't care about that. Amazon Prime TV has a single ad at the beginning of each show, not intrusive. YouTube (not YouTube TV) also has a commercial at the beginning but most of the streaming channels offer commercial free for a slight increase in the monthly subscription.

I'm streaming using a Roku device - one time cost for the device, then a lot of free, commercial supported options, plus subscription based streams that can be watched nearly commercial free.

Subscription streams I get:
NetFlix
Amazon Prime Video
Hulu
Sling
Curiosity Stream
Acorn TV
Britbox

Free streams:
Roku
Vudu
Tubi
Sony Crackle
Comet
Pluto
SyFlix
Tales of Tomorrow
Free Speech TV
NASA
YouTube

Sling Blue carries most of the regular cable channels for $25 and with an extra $5 you get a selection of news programs including MSNBC. It's equivalent with most basic cable options and you can add other options such as the movie channels. I find that with the other channels we get there is no need for HBO, Showtime or other "premium" movie channels.

Even if all you do is get a streaming device like a Roku and try out the free channels, you may find that you will get a lot of what you want to watch.

[True Blue American]

9. Dennis Donavon

Has provided great advice below. Make sure you bookmark his sites.

I sent it to my computer expert, who watches little TV. He is too busy remodeling his house. Of course he takes after me and does a lot for me, so I do not complain.

[Dennis Donovan]

25. Happy to help! I want all cord cutters to succeed...

[Generic Brad]

4. I use both

I am debt free and keep all my other monthly expenses low, so home entertainment is my big splurge.

I don't have every streaming service, but I do subscribe to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. I also have a cable package that includes sports, HBO, Showtime, Epic, Cinemax, and Starz. And my wife has become a big consumer of YouTube.

I don't feel gouged at all and I enjoy the variety of choices I have during my free time.

[True Blue American]

5. I was OK with Spectrum

Until they just went up $40. After the special is over the price doubles, then goes up again.

Youtube is great. Pluto is the steaming device.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. Cord cutter here, and doing it on 8 mbps down...

...8 messy mips, I might add. While I'll lose a stream occasionally (about 1-2x a day, but only for a few seconds), it's been a good experience and has saved me $100/mo.

Pro tip: I've used both Roku (3 and Premiere+) and Amazon Fire TV (cube), with DirecTV Now, and the Roku handles the occasional internet drops better.

DirecTV Now has recently raised their prices by $10 (so their basic package is $50 now) and stripped 1/3 of the channels, so I'm not recommending it. Probably your best experience would be with SlingTV or YouTubeTV, but neither have Viacom-owned channels (for reference, here is a handy table to see which streaming services have which channels: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jz7LTYo2RvnJH5l4pXn78gKXmO2f5Wfl/view

Good luck!

On edit: a good, recent article from Cord Cutters News: https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/directv-now-vs-youtube-tv-vs-philo-vs-watch-tv-vs-hulu-vs-playstation-vue-vs-sling-tv-vs-fubotv-updated-march-2019/

[True Blue American]

8. Thank you for that!

Sling seems to have the Channels I watch. The only thing missing is the 3 CSPAN channels.

I saved that for my TV experts in the family. You have really been a big help.

Do you have Pluto? It is full of stations with a great gude.

I was already getting Ruko.

[Dennis Donovan]

10. Pluto is a gem, and I hope it stays that way!

They were recently bought out by Viacom.

The CBSN 24 hr live news network is a great feature of it!

[True Blue American]

14. It was on Pluto

Where I listened to how Monopolies are gouging us while Europe has more Government control. Speeds are much faster, prices cheaper.

I am helping many others that did not grow up in the computer age.

You have been a great help for them to start. Spectrum gave a great deal here when laying Cable.$89 for the bundle. After a year, $162, now $202. For those on fixed income it is a killer.

[Dennis Donovan]

17. DirecTV (satellite) did that to me...

...and now their streaming partner, DTV Now is also raising their prices (and losing 1/3 the channels). I'm keeping DTV Now since they have all the locals (OTA is hard for me because I'm over 30 mi from both Syracuse and Rochester, NY) and they aren't forcing existing subscribers off their present plans (but still adding $10/mo, anyway).

If Sling had my locals, I'd switch to them in a heartbeat!

[True Blue American]

20. I understand there

Are Antennas for local. Would that work for you, or too far away?

UVERSE is all over here. One small company is fighting to keep it out.

For British shows BritBox is one advertised on PBS.

[Dennis Donovan]

22. My internet is via fixed wireless, but FiOS is coming!

I pay $80/ mo for 8 messy mips, but FiOS will be run into my development in the spring, which should give me 320 mips for the same price I pay now.

[Iggo]

37. Just remember, Viacom is a monopolizer.

[csziggy]

28. C_SPAN only provides streaming if you subscribe to a cable service

And does not offer it to streaming service subscribers. You can stream C-SPAN 1 from YouTube and they put clips from some of the other C-SPAN channels on YouTube sometimes.

Here is a very good discussion of options to stream C-SPAN:

How to Watch C-SPAN Without Cable
Last modified: September 5, 2018
By Stephen Lovely

How to Watch C-SPAN Online Without Cable

The services that will allow you to watch C-SPAN without cable are all of the same general type. They're called skinny bundles, and together they form one of the most important innovations to come out of the cord cutting revolution.

Skinny bundles aren't actually all that different from cable or satellite in the basic way that they function: they offer live TV and feature familiar networks (like C-SPAN, of course), just as you'd expect from a legacy pay TV service. But there are two key differences at play here: first, skinny bundles of the sort that we're discussing here stream over the internet (or “over the top” in industry lingo). Second, the skinny bundles are, as their name implies, skinny: they feature slimmed-down channel packages that trim out those extra channel that you never actually watched anyway.

The result of these twin innovations is that skinny bundles end up being noticeably cheaper than their legacy pay TV cousins. Since they're delivered over the internet, they compete all over the country and don't enjoy the regional monopolies that cable and satellite giants get. And since they're a little trimmer around the waist, their price can be a bit less hefty, too.

The trick, of course, is that each of the channels getting cut has a dedicated fan base of its own. The good news, though, is that the variety of skinny bundle services on the market means that almost every notable channel is featured in at least one of the major skinny bundles. And there is, thank goodness, an option for watching C-SPAN without cable. We'll cover it below, along with one other non-skinny bundle option that's worth mentioning.

More: https://cordcutting.com/how-to-watch/c-span/

BTW, YouTube is different from YouTube TV. YouTube is the same as the free YouTube you see online. YouTube TV is a subscription streaming service.

[True Blue American]

38. Thank you for that.

Last edited Sun Mar 17, 2019, 04:33 AM - Edit history (1)

From the links in this thread to get all I want would be Sling TV and Youtube. Pluto has many stations I do not get now.

I need to check Amazon Prime. They gave me 30 days before Christmas, free shipping, but I did not follow through.

All of you have been a great help, not only to me, but others who are unsure.

[csziggy]

40. Also check out Pluto

It's supposed to offer a lot of the cable channels for free.

[True Blue American]

43. I have Pluto.

Just found it last week.

[Sherman A1]

11. Thanks for this information and links

Much Appreciated! I will give it all a look-see over the next few days.

[Dennis Donovan]

12. Anyway I can help slay Big Cable, I'm happy to help!

[True Blue American]

15. Same here!

I am on a Crusade.

The Hearing Aid Industry is gouging Seniors, so is big Pharm. many Medicare Advantage plans provide Insurance, so the Provders and middle men doubled the price. The company that handles the Insurance is making huge profits, even though Grassley and Warren passed over the counter deals. Not working.

Big banks have invested in private prisons. They made $2 billion off the Immigrants housing.

Robot calls, press 77.

[Dennis Donovan]

19. But, we got this HUGE tax cut!

...wait, I forgot, I'm not a billionaire. Oops.

[True Blue American]

21. I refuse to say what happened to me this year.:(

Something had to be cashed in. Whooie!

[Dennis Donovan]

23. Had the same kinda year...

[True Blue American]

24. I am hearing the same all over.

[sarge43]

16. Yes, mainly because there isn't much in the way of cable offered shows we care to watch.

Last edited Sat Mar 16, 2019, 05:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Give it go. You can always go back. In fact, you'll be nagged for months to do so.

[True Blue American]

39. Brilliant, Sarge!:)

[True Blue American]

18. Yes, I had Dish, they make all kinds of

Offers. Direct now has a 2 year deal.

The only problem is the net. I need that. We have no other provider except DSL. That is awful.calling tomorrow. Just received my bill.

[pandr32]

26. Happily streaming

Three years now.

[True Blue American]

29. Which one?

Or ones? Enquiring minds would like to know.

Love Pluto and Sling has almost everything I watch.

And what about DVR?

[pandr32]

41. We had Kodi until our new TV in the living room this year

We now just basically stream Netflix, Amazon, and Youtube. There are so many programs to watch and more added all the time. We always find a live stream to important events, such as hearings and votes in Congress.
No DVR. Of course we live in Hawaii and spend much of our time outside with the TV off, so that may be a factor. Bottom line is we have all the entertainment and news we want, and very few commercials.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. I'm nearly eleven years into not having a TV

and watching various streaming services.

I have Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.

Also, whenever some kind of important breaking news happens, local TV stations typically go to live streaming. Like when Denver was having its blizzard. I don't miss out on very much. Plus I read a lot.

This is the fourth time in my life I've gone without TV/cable, although it is by far the longest. I can't imagine I'll ever go back. There is more than enough to keep me happy without.

[True Blue American]

31. Reading is my prime

Diversion. Nothing matches. After years of buying books I am now giving them away.

My Library can find anything, including Political. I seldom finish those as I already know what they say.. Newspaper gone, day old news. Bulletin flashes on.

I feel I am paying big price for repitition, old shows and silly pundits.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

32. During one earlier time of no TV, long before the internet,

a co-worker was convinced I couldn't possibly have a clue about what was going on in the world. So periodically he'd quiz me. I always knew whatever news story he asked about. For one thing, I was reading the Washington Post every day at that time.

I also read a lot of non-fiction books, which gives a much more in-depth look at whatever the topic is than a two minute report on TV.

[True Blue American]

33. Yes!

My Son calls every so aften on a History or some item because I have all these things in my head!

Reading,buster, from the time the Bookmobile stopped in front of my house every two weeks when I was old enough to read. Three of us would come out a few days later, exchange books. Then wait anxiously on the Book mobile.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. In first grade I attended St. Francis de Sales Catholic school

in Utica, NY. It was next to the library, and once I learned to read I got a library card and would regularly go there after school. I took the public bus to and from school, so I'd just take a later bus home.

The library habit has never been broken.

[True Blue American]

35. I honesty do not think

I could do without the Library. Took my Sons with me, they had the Grandson. He tutored students here. My DIL reads as much as I do. She is never without a book.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. I always have a book with me.

Despite my screen name, I am a woman, so I carry a purse. I don't understand women who carry one too small to hold a book.

I'm actually rather obsessive about having a book or two with me at all times, because on several occasions I was stuck somewhere without one and thought I'd go crazy.

[pandr32]

42. We read a lot more as well.

[hunter]

44. My wife and I quit television entirely many years ago. No cable, no satellite, no broadcast.

Our television plays DVDs and Netflix. That's all it does. We rent DVDs from the neighborhood Redbox, buy them in thrift stores, and trade them among friends and family. Occasionally we'll buy a movie we really like.

We have an inexpensive DSL internet connection. It's fast enough for a single stream of Netflix. Netflix just raised their prices, we now pay $8.99 a month.

My wife and I have been living without "traditional" television for many years now. As others have noted here on DU, once you quit traditional television you never go back.

For myself, television commercials and "news" have become intolerable noise. I never see television commercials anymore except a few clever ones people post here on DU as youtube videos.

Our adult kids don't even have DVD players in their homes. They do everything with Chromecast from their phones and laptops. Other than Netflix, I don't know what streaming services they subscribe to.

[True Blue American]

45. Thank you for that.

Since I use my IPad for everything, get the latest bulletins, and watch UTube, plus many others cable is getting more useless by the minute.

Force of habit keep us tethered to something that is repetitious and useless.

Try Pluto though, it is free! Great movies there!