Cord Cutting pros/cons (book, sell, old, price)

[KCZ]

Another sports conundrum...


Does anyone have a way to cut their cable cord and maintain access to ESPN3, which requires a cable account to log in? I watch women's college basketball, and ESPN3 is the only way to get most games. Does ESPN+ include all the stuff on ESPN3?

[PacoMartin]

Cable TV where I am provides 70 high definition cable channels, 23 high definition over the air channels, and 51 standard definition channels plus 50-100 music channels. We pay $154 for those channels, 50 Mbps internet and modem, and VOIP telephone. The TV stand alone would be $95 plus $22 for equipment rental.

Originally Posted by kukumjacka

Adding those subscriptions can easily reach my previous monthly TV bill.

Certainly if I tried to recreate the entire list of channels (if possible) from streaming services it would probably cost just as much, but most people are saving money by using a smaller list of channels.

Google Fiber was selling 1 Gbps internet for $70 a month, and TV for $90 a month (fiber phone for $10). They cut out the TV in the new cities because it was not very popular. In addition they own Youtube which offers Youtube Live TV for $40 a month and includes 40 channels.

Do basically I am only getting the channels with Youtube TV that come from the media corporations they have contracts with. I have to give up on Discovery/Scripps , or A+E, or Hallmark, or Viacom channels.

Youtube Channel --------- Corporation
CNN --------- AT&T
HLN --------- AT&T
TBS --------- AT&T
TCM --------- AT&T
TNT --------- AT&T
truTV --------- AT&T
Cartoon --------- AT&T
Disney --------- Disney
Disney JR --------- Disney
Freeform --------- Disney
National Geo --------- Disney (Fox)
FX --------- Disney (Fox)
FXM --------- Disney (Fox)
FXX --------- Disney (Fox)
ESPN --------- Disney
ESPN 2 --------- Disney
ESPNEWS --------- Disney
BTN --------- Disney (Fox)
SEC Net. --------- Disney (Fox)
Fox Sports 1 --------- Disney (Fox)
CNBC --------- COMCAST
Bravo --------- COMCAST
NBC Sports PHL --------- COMCAST
NBCSN --------- COMCAST
Syfy --------- COMCAST
USA --------- COMCAST
E! --------- COMCAST
Golf --------- COMCAST
Oxygen --------- COMCAST
Fox Business --------- NewsCorp
Fox News --------- NewsCorp
AMC --------- AMC
BBC America --------- AMC
BBC World News --------- AMC
IFC --------- AMC
Sundance TV --------- AMC
WE TV --------- AMC
Tennis --------- Sinclair Television Group
CBS Sports --------- CBS
History --------- A&E Networks

[eddiehaskell]

^ pretty sure Direct tv now has all those channels. Regardless, I think most people are willing to give up a few channels if it means they pay 60-70% less....especially considering a lot of people have some combination of Netflix/Hulu/Kodi/antenna/internet plus a phone to entertain themselves.

I think about all tv will eventually be streaming. Hopefully that doesn’t mean streaming prices will eventually creep up to what cable is/was. When I first started streaming PlayStation VUE was only $30...then $40 and now $45 for the cheapest package. That’s a 50% increase in just a few years.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by eddiehaskell

^ pretty sure Direct tv now has all those channels.

I made a short list of the channels that were common to all three: Hulu , YouTube and Direct TV Now.

1. CNN --------- AT&T
2. HLN --------- AT&T
3. TBS --------- AT&T
4. TNT --------- AT&T
5. TCM --------- AT&T
6. truTV --------- AT&T
7. Cartoon --------- AT&T
8. Freeform --------- Disney
9. Disney --------- Disney
10. Disney JR --------- Disney
11. ESPN --------- Disney
12. ESPN 2 --------- Disney
13. Fox Sports 1 --------- Disney (Fox)
14. Bravo --------- COMCAST
15. Syfy --------- COMCAST
16. USA --------- COMCAST
17. E! --------- COMCAST
18. CNBC --------- COMCAST
19. History --------- A&E Networks
20. Fox News --------- NewsCorp
21. Fox Business --------- NewsCorp

Outside of this core group the three streaming services differ. Disney just spent a lot of money to acquire FX, FXX, and FXM so they will probably try to force Direct TV Now to adopt these channels.

Originally Posted by eddiehaskell

Regardless, I think most people are willing to give up a few channels if it means they pay 60-70% less....especially considering a lot of people have some combination of Netflix/Hulu/Kodi/antenna/internet plus a phone to entertain themselves.

Well the corporations are making some of the choices. Viacom's most important channel is Nickelodeon, which competes directly with Disney Channel. Viacom's other channels like MTV, CMT, VHS are often considered somewhat archaic given the number of competitors like Spotify, and Pandora. Viacom is frequently cut out.

But the second part of your question is very germane to younger people who wonder why they should pay so much money to have commercials blared at them. Hulu Video on Demand for $12 gives you commercial free nearly every entertainment show on broadcast and cable a day late.

[KCZ]

Originally Posted by PacoMartin

...people who wonder why they should pay so much money to have commercials blared at them. Hulu Video on Demand for $12 gives you commercial free nearly every entertainment show on broadcast and cable a day late.

I've spent the summer at a family cabin where another family member has Direct TV via satellite dish, with a pretty basic package. I am just floored by the number of channels that are actually shopping networks or infomercial channels. If I took the time to add them up, I bet they are at least 25-30% of the total. Some of their "programs" now have very ingenuous names on the channel guide and semi-legit clips on their broadcast so that you can watch something for 5 or 10 minutes before realizing they're trying to get you to buy something.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by KCZ

Does anyone have a way to cut their cable cord and maintain access to ESPN3, which requires a cable account to log in?

You need to borrow the login of someone that has cable, friend, neighbor, family member; maybe take them out to eat a few times a year or help them with a home project, in exchange for the login!

Luckily, I just use my Dad's Comcast login and get all the ESPNs, FS1, Pac-12 network, Big 10 Network, etc.

[ndcairngorm]

Here's an interesting question: we have Comcast in Florida where we winter. Is it possible to piggyback on the Florida subscription for our condo in Texas? Or are all Comcast locations separate cost centers?

[KCZ]

Originally Posted by ndcairngorm

Here's an interesting question: we have Comcast in Florida where we winter. Is it possible to piggyback on the Florida subscription for our condo in Texas? Or are all Comcast locations separate cost centers?

I don't believe there's any way to transfer live television programming because you need a box and Comcast needs to send a signal to that box at that residence. You could ask them about a seasonal suspension of service at your summer residence, and a seasonal package at your Florida home. You can also use your Comcast log-in credentials from your existing account to stream programs from Comcast channels the next day.

[ndcairngorm]

I talked to Comcast. They acted as though they'd never heard of that kind of situation. I had to take another subscription, so decided to take the internet only and use Roku for TV. One of the benefits of Comcast is the access to wi-fi hotspots everywhere for free, but of course you don't want to do business on those.

[PacoMartin]

TV Everywhere refers to a business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themselves as current subscribers to the channel, via an account provided by their participating pay television provider, in order to access the content.

Originally Posted by ndcairngorm

I had to take another subscription, so decided to take the internet only and use Roku for TV.

I think that once you have a subscription to COMCAST, you can download the TV Everywhere apps on your Roku and log in to your COMCAST account at your second home. Usually you get a six digit alphanumeric code on the Roku and you use that to activate the account on a web browser (you can use your phone). It can be annoying particularly since many apps must be logged back in after a few weeks.

TV Everywhere channels (apps)

1. CNNgo
2. Animal Planet GO
3. Destination America GO
4. Discovery GO
5. Discovery Life GO
6. FOX Sports GO
7. Investigation Discovery GO
8. Science Channel GO
9. TLC GO
10. Velocity GO
11. Telemundo Deportes En Vivo
12. BET
13. Comedy Central
14. Cooking Channel
15. Cartoon Network
16. CNBC
17. DIY Network
18. Food Network
19. Freeform
20. HGTV
21. Nat Geo TV
22. Nick Jr.
23. Nickelodeon
24. SYFY
25. Travel Channel
26. USA Network
27. VH1
28. Watch OWN
29. Watch ESPN
30. Bravo Now
31. E! NOW
32. FOX NOW
33. FXNOW
34. GSN Now
35. Telemundo Now
36. Univision NOW

I don't have COMCAST so I don't know what kind of restrictions apply, but I doubt that you have the ability to stream to an unlimited number of devices simultaneously. Obviously the words NOW or GO are popular for TV Anywhere apps.

The naming convention is not consistent. HBO NOW refers to the standalone streaming app, and HBO GO refer to the TV Anywhere service that requires a cable subscription

A new variant, usually labelled PLUS costs extra money, but allows you to stream the content commercial free and view older content. It requires a cable subscription.
https://fxplus.fxnetworks.com/