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We had Direct TV and got tired of being charged for NFL Sunday Ticket when we didn’t order it. Our normal $130 bill went up to $206 and I’d finally had it. I’d been researching various services and TV watching scenarios for the past 6 months and we finally cut the cord this week. You’re not going to find one service that completely replaces expensive cable or satellite TV; it will need to be a combination of services that will depend on what/how you like to whatch.
This is the solution that worked best for us:
Hubby and I are in our 50s, so we’re not really dialed in to watching on our phones or the iPad. I watch a very few things on my computer, but mostly watch on 1 of our 2 TVs. Hubby watches exclusively on our TVs. Daughter watches exclusively on her computer, son watches on the TVs and iPad.
We had DirectTV, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime (I order enough on Amazon throughout the year that would have this service anyway), high speed internet thru Soectrum (needed for work, so I’d have it anyway), and no land lines, cell phones only. Other than The Handmaids Tale, I didn’t watch Hulu for anything else and was paying $11.99/mo for nothing. But before we cancelled anything, we bought a Roku box for $30 for our living room TV and signed up with YouTube TV for 1 week free to try it out. The YouTube subscription is $40/mo after the trial week (more on what they provide later). Once we decided we liked YouTube TV, I cancelled DirectTV and Hulu on the same day. I easily negotiated a 6 month refund from Hulu after telling them that I hadn’t watched anything in 6 or 8 months since I last logged in to binge Handmaids Tale (they can see my useage so they were able to verify what I was saying). I’m still waiting for DirectTV to send me an email with the address where I have to ship back their equipment (at my cost thankyouverymuch) or risk being charged for unreturned equipment.
I’m keeping Netflix for now because it seems to have a lot more useful content that’s different from what Amazon Prime offers.
YouTube TV has the following live tv channels: CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, KCAL9, TBS, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, SEC ESPN, ESPN U, ESPN NEWS, FS1, FS2, FOX Prime Ticket, NBC SN, NBA TV, MLB Network, BTN, CBS Sports Network, Olympic Channel, NBC Golf, Tennis Channel, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Universal Mids, Carlton Network, AMC, BBC America, BBC World News, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, IFC, My13, TCM, TRU, USA, Nationa Geographic, National Geo Wild, Smithsonian, SyFy, Bravo, E, Oxygen, WE, Cheddar, CNN, FOX News, HLN, MSNBC, Newsy, CNBC, FOX Business, TYT, Telemundo, Universo, Decades, Comet. The only channel I don’t get that I watch regularly is History.
The Roku Box itself has a lot of free TV shows and movies. It pulls all your apps together so you can access them from one central location: YouTubeTV, Prime (Amazon), HBO NOW, Hulu, Netflix, Slimg, Showtime, The Roku Channel, ESPN, Vudu, Direct Now, CBS All Access, Google Play Movies & TV, Comedy Central, Food Network, History, Lifetime, NDL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL Sunday Ticket, Prime Music, Pandora, iHeart Radio, Vivo, Philo. These are all apps that can be purchased or watched through an app like YouTubeTV if the app offers that programming (YouTubeTV doesn’t offer History Channel as part of its lineup so I’d have to pay if I went to watch anything on that app).
Free Current TV Shows: Hero’s, Anthony Bourdain, Will & Grace, Samantha Who?, AP Bio, House Hunters, Felicity, Seinfeld, Family Guy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bob’s Burgers, Grown-ish, House, Designated Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, Friday Night Lights, Scandal, Originals, The Good Doctor, Black Lightening, The Outpost, 9-11, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Kitchen Nightmares, Storage Wars, Duck Dynasty, America’s Got Talent.
Free Classic TV Shows: Bewitched, Bonanza, This Old House, I Dream of Genie, Miami Vice, 3rd Rock from the Sun, ALF.
Free Movies: a very limited selection.
My monthly costs were: DirectTV (including HBO & Starz) $130/mo, Netflix $14/mo, and Hulu $12/mo for a total of $156/mo.
My monthly costs now are: YouTube TV ($30 one time fee for the box) $40/mo, HBO $15/mo, Starz $9/mo, and Netflix $14/mo, for a total of $78/mo.
Savings of $78/mo. That represents DVR fees, additional boxes, and all the associated taxes. Plus all the billing headaches.<—- That alone is worth cutting the cord.
Starz is $8.99/mo thru Roku. Outlander is $3/episode HD, $2/ep SD, or $30/season HD and $23/season SD. Counterpart is $20 & $18/season for HD & SD respectively with the same individual HD & SD episode prices.
HBO is $15/mo thru Roku. Game of a thrones is $4/ep HD, $3/ep SD, $27/season HD, $20/season SD. Westworld is the same prices per episode, but $39/season HD and $29/season SD.
The cheapest option would be to wait until all the shows have aired, then order each premium channel for 1 month each and binge watch all the episodes. The only problem with that is that plot points would be spoiled one way or another well before I was able to order the service. While with DirectTV, I tried keeping the service only long enough to get through all the episodes of my 2 favorite shows, but then life gets busy, I get lazy, and I end up keeping the premium services for much longer than I’d intended. Most of the programming on the premium channels is overpriced considering how often the same few viewing options are repeated over and over in a given month.
There’s too much to list that’s available on Amazon Prime; it’s definitely worth the price to me. We buy a lot of items on Amazon, so we’re already paying for the Prime shipping service. For that reason, I’m not including it in my cost comparison. Prime is $119 billed annually ($9.92/mo), or you can elect to be billed monthly at $12.99/mo ($155.88 total over 12 months) if $119 all at once is too much to swallow.
Once upon a time, I watched TV (because that was "what people do!") but I grew out of it. It was such a waste of time, and it contributed to a sedentary, weight-gaining-friendly lifestyle. If there is any show that catches my eyes now (American Horror Story, Nashville, Empire, Shameless, Rupaul's Drag Race, Power) I watch it once in a while on one of those "Watch TV Online Free" sites. Since I am not the 'get hooked on shows and watch every episode religiously" kind of person, but I ocassionally enjoy watching certain performers in some of the above-mentioned shows, I watch once in a while. I also use Youtube for that.
But nope, no cable for me or even streaming channels.
They are rip offs.
Once upon a time, I watched TV (because that was "what people do!") but I grew out of it. It was such a waste of time, and it contributed to a sedentary, weight-gaining-friendly lifestyle. If there is any show that catches my eyes now (American Horror Story, Nashville, Empire, Shameless, Rupaul's Drag Race, Power) I watch it once in a while on one of those "Watch TV Online Free" sites. Since I am not the 'get hooked on shows and watch every episode religiously" kind of person, but I ocassionally enjoy watching certain performers in some of the above-mentioned shows, I watch once in a while. I also use Youtube for that.
But nope, no cable for me or even streaming channels.
They are rip offs.
I pnce was told by an apartment complex that I would be forced to buy cable the following year, as they were putting it in every unit. I called the front desk and said I would not be paying it because I did not ever use cable and hardly watched TV. She said, and I quote, “But ... what do you do?!?”
I moved out and found another complex.
I simply can’t believe how much it costs. Too rich for my blood!
I wanted to contribute to this thread since it helped me find two services I wasn't aware of: Yahoo View (Hulu) and ATT WatchTV.
I pay $36/month for 3mbps Spectrum (formerly TimeWarner) internet and all the free shows/movies I can find out here (Hoopla, Pluto, Crackle, etc).
I only do free trials for the pay-services once/year each. One HD antenna, with
extension cables, gets me a steady 20 live, local channels for free on three tv's
I just ended a rare, summer-long stint paying for Spectrum TV Choice. Choose ten
tv channels for about $21. Includes local channels and 20+ Music channels. Add five Premium movie channels for $15 (more like two dozen movie channels with each
one's alternate channels). With addon fees/taxes, about $47/mo. Two streams.
Works on browsers other than Chrome. Downside is having to deal with phone reps
to sign up, change channel selections, and to cancel (not to mention any tech
support needed). The reps are either under-trained or obnoxious.
I thought that was a great deal until I realized that 90% of tv and movie channels just
rotate a limited content selection (mostly reruns) over and over again. The only channel I really enjoy is TCM. I also stream lots of internet radio/music for free (currently ACCURADIO).
Now watching old sitcom's on Yahoo View and preparing for a free trial of ATT Watchtv.
Last edited by highplainsrus; 09-24-2018 at 12:44 PM..
I pnce was told by an apartment complex that I would be forced to buy cable the following year, as they were putting it in every unit. I called the front desk and said I would not be paying it because I did not ever use cable and hardly watched TV. She said, and I quote, “But ... what do you do?!?”
I moved out and found another complex.
Good for you!!
“But ... what do you do?!?”???
See? It's one of those social constructs that has been in place for so long that people are utterly convinced that watching TV is "what one does."
I posted that long winded post thinking you wanted advice on how to cut the cord and what to get as replacement. Sorry for being a windbag.
The short answer to your original question is: Hulu is similar to Netflix but with fewer choices.
I found some excellent info in your long post -- thank you!
Now... what about sports? We're not fanatics, but do enjoy MLB & NFL. OK -- won't go without the NFL, although no need for "all access" or their NFL Ticket package.
Just 2-3 games on a Sunday & then Monday & Thursday night. Any hope for reducing Comcast bill but still getting those?
Good info here. We have YouTube tv and like it a lot. I just cut all the “tv” cables off of my house except for one- Internet. We use a roku stick for each tv. We also have amazon prime. YouTube tv includes all three of our local broadcast affiliates. Lots of sports. Most of the cable offerings that most people watch. Great picture, no freezing, no problems, just works well. We’re saving a hundred a month.
Interesting note: Spectrum has been offering a ten channel internet service with all the local channels for under $30.00. I predict all tv services will be over the internet within ten or fifteen years.
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And if Sports are required ...?
