Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[REWahoo]

Now that leaves have filled in for the summer, I am getting occasional signal drops.

Any suggestions on how I can get around this problem?

Thanks

I recommend using a Stihl Signal Enhancer:

 

[jt999]

Take a Look at Hulu+

I was paying $230+/month for cable silver package (HBO, Showtime), internet and phone bundle.

I dropped the cable and phone and it brought me down to $90/month for 200 MB in internet only package in NY tri-state area.

Picked up Hulu+ for $45/month and don't feel like I'm missing anything at all and saving $90+/month. I thought I would lose the YES network (carry the Yankee games) but I have that with Hulu+ plus a lot of various fox sports regional networks, ESPN + some other sports channels.

I honestly could not be happier and I wish I had done it 1-2 years ago. Hulu+ has been out about 2 years from what I understand.

Before you go the Roku direction, I would check to see what Hulu+ offers in your area...you might be pleasantly surprised as I was. Also have Netflix and watch a few shows on YouTube Channels. Have Amazon Prime also but don't really use it.


Also, HULU+ has DVR storage - I run one through Xbox and another through Smart TV.

 

[Hzefam]

The TV portion of my Spectrum bill rose to over $100 so I cut the cord.

Now have Hulu no commercial plan plus Amazon Prime, CBSN 24 hour news channel and an inexpensive indoor antenna for local news and sports.

TV expenditures have dropped to$11.99 per month with more content than I could ever want.

 

[bUU]

Any theories as to why far more folks are ditching satellite TV than cable?

We were having lunch at Twisted Taco last weekend and they have a bevvy of monitors around the restaurant, evidently tied to satellite. A storm came through during lunchtime and the service was out for about fifteen minutes.

 

[pb4uski]

We live in a satellite only area. We also have limited internet providers, like, one! You have to have both. In my case Dish Network was $120 a month. Youtube TV $35. It makes the decision easy. If your ISP can provide sufficient bandwidth, your savings is obvious. When cable provides both, and they tack a hefty bill on for internet only, there is less incentive. It only takes 6 meg net to stream. Yea, you have to put up with buffering, but lots of rural areas have better than that.

We live in a rural area and have Dish with 3 TVs and out bill is only $62/month. You must have a robust programming package or lots of TVs.

We could save about $7/month with Hulu Live TV with unlimited streams and a DVR but DW prefers Dish so that is what we use.

 

[REWahoo]

pb4, the Dish website says the Welcome Pack is "no longer for sale", so you must be grandfathered or maybe available as a last resort option to those who call to cancel, like I did at the beginning of the year.

Looking at the package, other than your local channels all but 15 or so of the 40 channels appear to be of the religious, shopping or Dish promotional variety. That doesn't look to me to be something I'd consider a real value for your $62/mo.

But I know: Happy wife, happy life

 

[pb4uski]

Yup, it is as I say a "skinny" package... locals (CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, PBS), Food, History, TBS, HGTV, Halllmark, Weather Channel, MSNBC, and a bunch of other "junk" channels for $30/month... part of the cost of living in the boonies and not getting OTA.

My understanding is that it is available to any Dish customer, but you have to call to get it... you can't just opt for it from their website... but that may have changed.

Note that $32 of the $62 is equipment. DW is not technologically proficient but she like the Dish because it is easy to use so that is part of it all.

Since basic cable is included in our HOA fee at our winter condo, I can supplement the Welcome Pack with Fire TV apps and our winter condo cable credentials to view NBCSN, Golf Channel, USA, TNT, etc.

 

[Cobra9777]

...Since basic cable is included in our HOA fee at our winter condo, I can supplement the Welcome Pack with Fire TV apps and our winter condo cable credentials to view NBCSN, Golf Channel, USA, TNT, etc.

Since you already have a cable subscription at the condo, another alternative would be to install FitzyTV on your Fire TV at home. With your cable credentials, Fitzy organizes all your channels with a very nice program guide. The basic app is free but you can pay $5/mo (or $50/yr) for 25 hours of cloud DVR. No equipment. $62 vs $5... and you get all your cable channels from the condo without messing around with different Fire TV apps for each different channel. And no switching inputs. It's worth a try.

 

[stephenson]

bUU,

Raindrop length!

 

[pb4uski]

Since you already have a cable subscription at the condo, another alternative would be to install FitzyTV on your Fire TV at home. With your cable credentials, Fitzy organizes all your channels with a very nice program guide. The basic app is free but you can pay $5/mo (or $50/yr) for 25 hours of cloud DVR. No equipment. $62 vs $5... and you get all your cable channels from the condo without messing around with different Fire TV apps for each different channel. And no switching inputs. It's worth a try.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a look.

 

[stephenson]

In related news, what was renewed and canceled:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts...s-renewed-whats-limbo/?utm_term=.9cb67d5cf4e7

 

[Midpack]

Yup, it is as I say a "skinny" package... locals (CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, PBS), Food, History, TBS, HGTV, Halllmark, Weather Channel, MSNBC, and a bunch of other "junk" channels for $30/month... part of the cost of living in the boonies and not getting OTA.

My understanding is that it is available to any Dish customer, but you have to call to get it... you can't just opt for it from their website... but that may have changed.

+1. Before we dropped Dish satellite TV we had a package/channel lineup that you couldn’t find online, but anyone could get it if they asked/pressed hard enough. Cable, satellite, internet and mobile providers go to great lengths to hide what they’re selling and what the rates are after the teaser rates expire. It’s pure BS but it must be working...

 

[Chuckanut]

In related news, what was renewed and canceled:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts...s-renewed-whats-limbo/?utm_term=.9cb67d5cf4e7

Glad to see "The Orville" was renewed.

 

[pb4uski]

Since you already have a cable subscription at the condo, another alternative would be to install FitzyTV on your Fire TV at home. With your cable credentials, Fitzy organizes all your channels with a very nice program guide. The basic app is free but you can pay $5/mo (or $50/yr) for 25 hours of cloud DVR. No equipment. $62 vs $5... and you get all your cable channels from the condo without messing around with different Fire TV apps for each different channel. And no switching inputs. It's worth a try.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a look.

Installed it and put in my credentials... looks good. Interesting that for the major networks it gives me some Boston and NYC that I don't subscribe to. I wonder if I'll be able to get these stations when I am in Florida or whether the majors will be Florida stations. Does anybody know?

If I can get Boston stations with this then that may be easier than Dish Anywhere to watch Patriots games in the fall that are not broadcast on my local CBS affiliate in Florida.

 

[camfused]

Glad to see "The Orville" was renewed.

+1. The only real Star Trek show on, in our opinion

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

In related news, what was renewed and canceled:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts...s-renewed-whats-limbo/?utm_term=.9cb67d5cf4e7

Looking through that list is depressing. So few shows (out of a hundred or so?) are worth watching and really none on the "big" broadcast channels..and, SO MANY "reality" shows...blah!

 

[DeborahB]

Looking through that list is depressing. So few shows (out of a hundred or so?) are worth watching and really none on the "big" broadcast channels..and, SO MANY "reality" shows...blah!

I keep wondering who is watching all that garbage!

I’m content with Netflix and Amazon Prime (both of which I already had). I added Haystack free for some local news and get CNN and some other cable news there. It kind of skips from station to station but that’s fine. I added HBO to watch GoT for a while.

 

[stephenson]

Zactly my point for posting the WAPO article ...

I didn’t find much of the list of interest ...but, there are demographics at work.

IMO we are in a massive entertainment transition.

 

[audreyh1]

Looking through that list is depressing. So few shows (out of a hundred or so?) are worth watching and really none on the "big" broadcast channels..and, SO MANY "reality" shows...blah!

Same here!

I keep wondering who is watching all that garbage!

I’m content with Netflix and Amazon Prime (both of which I already had).

Yeah me too!

I think at one point cable and broadcast providers went for the cheapest content possible. Boosted profits initially, then they lost viewers. But did they return to better content? No!

 

[bUU]

They lost viewers first, as viewers gained more and more and more and more alternative options, so as a result they switched to cheaper content so that they weren't investing as much money to gain so many fewer eyes. Same thing happens in other industries, even in the products world. Have you tried to buy a great refrigerator recently? More competition led to a reduced return for manufacturers, leading to more of them going low-end and thereby risking less, leading to a marketplace with nothing but crappy refrigerators and many of the manufacturers going out of business, but others making massive profit selling junk. It's all about the money you make, so it is a big win for the winners in the marketplace.

 

[davebarnes]

Have you tried to buy a great refrigerator recently? .

Yes.
We bought a Sub-Zero, a great refrigerator made in the USA.

 

[stephenson]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/...html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage

 

[bUU]

Yes. We bought a Sub-Zero, a great refrigerator made in the USA.

Ah yes; that's other side of the coin - GE, Whirlpool and the rest make their offerings crappier and crappier, and that creates a market for the super rich who can afford refrigerators like that.

I sure can't and still keep expenses in the FIRE zone.

 

[steelyman]

Out of nowhere this morning, a bunch of channels showed up on my Samsung TV. The normal source of non-streaming input is an amplified indoor HD antenna that picks up 50+ broadcast stations.

It seems these new channels are from “TV Plus”, which Samsung feeds and installs a related app. The channels magically appeared on the on-screen program listings after the (expected) broadcast channels.

Not sure what to think about this since it wasn’t anything I requested.

 

[W2R]

Ah yes; that's other side of the coin - GE, Whirlpool and the rest make their offerings crappier and crappier, and that creates a market for the super rich who can afford refrigerators like that.

I sure can't and still keep expenses in the FIRE zone.

I am perfectly happy with my Kenmore refrigerator, which is available online at this link for $599.99. I bought it online in the summer of 2015 and it does what it is supposed to do (keep my food at the right temperature). The icemaker is a little noisy but so what, I'm used to it by now.