Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[JoeWras]

Does AT&T offer discounts/promos for their streaming service like they do with DirecTV? I've been paying $61/month for DirecTV's XTRA package for almost the last two years, when my current promo expires in January I'll call them and try to extend it for another year, or switch to another provider if needed.

I really hope not. Promos are just another way to suck you in and then argue with you later when the the offer expires. I'm tired of having to play the game with Uverse every year, getting my 33% discount by threatening to leave. I hope streaming services don't make this a standard practice. Just give us the decent low price.

AT&T will follow with a raise to Uverse next. Their pattern is to jack Uverse every year in the first month of the year or so. They'll also raise their mystery fees (not taxes, but fees they invent like "administrative charge" or "Cost Assessment Fee" used to recover property taxes. Yes, that is not a joke.).

 

[Cobra9777]

Couple of odd things today....

I customized the order of channels in the Live Guide on my laptop. On some TVs it took, and at some it was slower, or maybe not at all (haven't rechecked). On another it took my custom, later reverted to the default, and now it's back to custom....

I just did a 5-day free trial of YTTV. So not an expert by any means. But IIRC, there was a switch on the top left of the guide to toggle between your custom channel layout and the default. I could toggle between the two different guide layouts on all my devices. Perhaps you are inadvertently clicking that switch. Just a thought.

 

[RunningBum]

I just did a 5-day free trial of YTTV. So not an expert by any means. But IIRC, there was a switch on the top left of the guide to toggle between your custom channel layout and the default. I could toggle between the two different guide layouts on all my devices. Perhaps you are inadvertently clicking that switch. Just a thought.

That's very possible. I couldn't find that switch yesterday, but I see it now. Thanks.

There seem to be a few things like that, where I'd think it was missing something or I didn't know how to do something, then I'd find it. I think I just need to get more used to it. I can't even say they were hard to find.

At the end of today I'm going to downgrade my Dish service to something minimal, and after a week or so to make sure I'm happy, I'll cancel it. I've mentioned a couple things that it really was missing (still frame, and one-button recall to previous channel viewed) but there are also things it does better. On my 3-TV football watching setup, one of the TVs had to be OTA, and the other got an SD signal unless I switched that to a second OTA, by manually sliding a A/B splitter switch. Now I can watch anything on any TV in HD, and no changing inputs or getting up to slide a switch.

 

[GenXguy]

I've been an advocate of Tivo products for some time. But, recent decisions Tivo has made regarding inserting ads into recordings people make, has made me cool on the product. Here is a look at some alternatives for OTA recorders.

I've been using SageTV for about 15 years with 2 tuner cards, originally from old analog cable, then QAM cable, then 5 years ago, cut the cord and only have an antenna. I still use only SageTV to schedule and watch TV. I first went with it when it was a commercial product with a free program guide, but it's opensource and completely free to use now, although you will have to pay a couple dollars or so each month to a third party to download program guide data. That makes it more convenient, but I just schedule based on the date/time and use a free phone app to see what's on. The schedule doesn't change much for me, so I keep it totally free by not subscribing to a program guide.

 

[JoeWras]

I've been using SageTV for about 15 years with 2 tuner cards, originally from old analog cable, then QAM cable, then 5 years ago, cut the cord and only have an antenna. I still use only SageTV to schedule and watch TV. I first went with it when it was a commercial product with a free program guide, but it's opensource and completely free to use now, although you will have to pay a couple dollars or so each month to a third party to download program guide data. That makes it more convenient, but I just schedule based on the date/time and use a free phone app to see what's on. The schedule doesn't change much for me, so I keep it totally free by not subscribing to a program guide.

GenXguy. Now if only you could buy a print subscription to "TV Guide", and you'd be your father!

Well, almost. Just kidding. I actually find it refreshing that the next generations are embracing a kind of "back to the future... with benefits" movement in TV watching.

 

[zinger1457]

I hope streaming services don't make this a standard practice. Just give us the decent low price.

If AT&T is now charging $65 for 45 channels it looks like your hope for keeping a decent low price is already out the window.

 

[ncbill]

I’ve continued to be unable to pick up a channel after the repack (WIRP, independent that I liked because it broadcast “Movies!”). Antennaweb seems to indicate it still exists but rescans or manual addition miss it.

It’s not essential so I can live without it. Fortunately, the major broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and especially PBS) made the transition well.

With some TVs you have to disconnect the antenna, then run a rescan, then re-connect the antenna before re-scanning once more.

 

[steelyman]

Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV)

With some TVs you have to disconnect the antenna, then run a rescan, then re-connect the antenna before re-scanning once more.

Hmm! Never heard of that before but it’s easy enough to do so I tried. I didn’t get the missing channel back but didn’t lose any so no harm done. I’ll just keep trying when I think of it, you never know when you’ll get lucky.

My TV is a 50” Samsung UHD bought in Dec 2016.

 

[easysurfer]

Hmm! Never heard of that before but it’s easy enough to do so I tried. I didn’t get the missing channel back but didn’t lose any so no harm done. I’ll just keep trying when I think of it, you never know when you’ll get lucky.

My TV is a 50” Samsung UHD bought in Dec 2016.

Is your antenna outdoor or indoor?

In my situation, I have an indoor antenna but there's also an outdoor antenna on the roof (condo). Before the repack, my antenna picked up all major networks and more. After the repack, can't pick up FOX unless 1) connecting to the outdoor antenna (through a coax jack on a wall plate). But doing so, I only get FOX and ABC, other major networks are lost or 2) Put the antenna on the balcony -- which I really don't want to do mainly as as I don't want to pull a Ben Franklin.

My work around is I've ordered an A/B switch that should arrive tomorrow. This way, I can switch back and forth between indoor/outdoor antennas. But this still isn't pretty as each time switching, I'd have to rescan.

Alternatively, I've thought about trying other indoor antennas and maybe I'll get lucky with one better than the one I currently have. But that seems like a lot of trial and error, buying antennas and returning which can be a pain in itself.

The one bright spot is I only watch FOX for sports (mostly NFC games) not other programs. So, FOX viewing doesn't take up a lot of my viewing time. There'd be days I'd go without switching antennas.

 

[steelyman]

Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV)

Is your antenna outdoor or indoor?

My antenna is indoor, an Amazon Basics 50-mile amplified. I was surprised how well it worked when I moved to my current home given the surroundings, especially tall trees and nearby higher elevations (high points for this area of NC although it seems the transmitters are to the south and east, the opposite direction).

I liked it so much that I bought two more. One was later given to a very accommodating local bartender. [emoji4]

I’m OK with my setup and you can’t even tell the antenna’s there unless you’re looking for it (good color blend with the interior background). So I’m not very motivated to change things and have plenty (too many?) of other choices for movies. But Movies! does show some cool classic ones that may not be available on Netflix, Prime, TCM et al.

 

[bobandsherry]

A Tivo rep has said that you can call CS and get the pre-roll ads removed, so not as big a deal as first thought. Bad move on Tivo's part to do these but can be avoided.



What can't be avoided now is the stupid decision to put the new, crappy Tivo+ service into the guide (taking up a row on the page) instead of making it an app like everything else.

Yeah, I know what's been said about calling TiVo to remove, but as the ads haven't shown on my system I don't if that's true or not. Even if it's not, can skip. So either way a lot about nothing to get excited about. And still my point is, even if that wasn't the case, any other option will force you to watch more commercials. So out of the fry pan and into the fire.....

Haven't seen TiVo+ either, so can't comment. But at face value not much to get excited about. I can put up with that vs the subpar experience I've seen from any other option including streaming.

 

[easysurfer]

My antenna is indoor, an Amazon Basics 50-mile amplified. I was surprised how well it worked when I moved to my current home given the surroundings, especially tall trees and nearby higher elevations (high points for this area of NC although it seems the transmitters are to the south and east, the opposite direction).

I liked it so much that I bought two more. One was later given to a very accommodating local bartender. [emoji4]

I’m OK with my setup and you can’t even tell the antenna’s there unless you’re looking for it (good color blend with the interior background). So I’m not very motivated to change things and have plenty (too many?) of other choices for movies. But Movies! does show some cool classic ones that may not be available on Netflix, Prime, TCM et al.

Glad the setup works for you.

I decided to order a tiny Amazon Basics antenna (for about $12) to see if I can pick up FOX with that. I chose a tiny one as I could manipulate that easier than my current antenna to hopefully find a sweet spot. Won't arrive until around a week as got a $1 digital credit for the no-rush delivery .

I was watching this guy on youtube called the antenna man. He was saying that some stations are slow with getting the repack done. So, if you don't get a channel, that might be where the station is still working on the repack and operating on a lower power transmission until all the repack work is done. In other words, maybe down the road, the stations not picked up now will come back.

 

[explanade]

I really hope not. Promos are just another way to suck you in and then argue with you later when the the offer expires. I'm tired of having to play the game with Uverse every year, getting my 33% discount by threatening to leave. I hope streaming services don't make this a standard practice. Just give us the decent low price.

AT&T will follow with a raise to Uverse next. Their pattern is to jack Uverse every year in the first month of the year or so. They'll also raise their mystery fees (not taxes, but fees they invent like "administrative charge" or "Cost Assessment Fee" used to recover property taxes. Yes, that is not a joke.).

I'm on a 1-year deal with Uverse through Jan or Feb.

If they try to raise after the 1-year, I'm gone.

Back to Comcast probably.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Speaking of channel guides (well I guess we were a page or so ago), which of the services has a more traditional grid guide that can be customized? I tried Hulu Live a while back but I absolutely hated the guide. I couldn't customize it with my favorite channels, and their idea of "favorites" were the last nine or so channels viewed, in the order they were viewed. There's still going to be a ton of channels I don't care to ever watch and I hate to have to plod through them to find a channel I'm actually interested in.

 

[Midpack]

Speaking of channel guides (well I guess we were a page or so ago), which of the services has a more traditional grid guide that can be customized? I tried Hulu Live a while back but I absolutely hated the guide. I couldn't customize it with my favorite channels, and their idea of "favorites" were the last nine or so channels viewed, in the order they were viewed. There's still going to be a ton of channels I don't care to ever watch and I hate to have to plod through them to find a channel I'm actually interested in.

PS Vue has a grid channel guide, it was the only one that had it on a Roku at the time, and that was very important to DW. I still don't like the icon style guides either. As for customization, you can have your favorite channels appears first, and then all others after - all alphabetical. We like that feature.

I think some of the other live streaming packages have added grid guides too, but I'll let firsthand users reply since I'm not current.

 

[RunningBum]

YTTV has a customizable channel guide, where you can put your favorites on top, lump similar channels together, and hide channels you don't want to see at all. Any order you want.

It seems like the guide only goes out for about 12 hours though. With Dish, I have something like 5-7 days, so if you want to look ahead to see what movies are coming to record them, for example, you have to look elsewhere. Then I think you can enter the movie name and it should record it whenever it actually plays. I haven't really tried this though. What I have done is to set it to record my favorite sports teams, whenever they come on. We'll see if that works next weekend.

 

[Midpack]

YTTV has a customizable channel guide, where you can put your favorites on top, lump similar channels together, and hide channels you don't want to see at all. Any order you want.

It seems like the guide only goes out for about 12 hours though. With Dish, I have something like 5-7 days, so if you want to look ahead to see what movies are coming to record them, for example, you have to look elsewhere. Then I think you can enter the movie name and it should record it whenever it actually plays. I haven't really tried this though. What I have done is to set it to record my favorite sports teams, whenever they come on. We'll see if that works next weekend.

Does YTTV have a grid guide now, I know they didn't when they first launched.

PS Vue will let you see 5-7 days, but admittedly it's more of a PITA than Dish was FWIW.

 

[Rustic23]

I go to the Movie button on YTTV about once a month. I go through and check any movie I want. They record whenever the show. The movies not recorded show at the bottom of you Library. If you click on one not recorded the screen will give you info on the movie but no icon to watch.

 

[RunningBum]

Does YTTV have a grid guide now, I know they didn't when they first launched.

PS Vue will let you see 5-7 days, but admittedly it's more of a PITA than Dish was FWIW.

Yes, they call it the live guide. You have to customize it on your laptop, or maybe your phone app, then it'll show on the TV. Here's how to customize it:

As I said, it only shows a few hours, so "Live Guide" is a pretty accurate description.

 

[Cobra9777]

I've used PS Vue, Hulu Live, and YTTV. IMO, YTTV has the best guide functionality.

Hulu is the worst by far. Not customizable and only shows what's playing now and what's coming up next. That's it. It does have "tabs" with all the sports channels together in one, new channels, movie channels, etc. And one tab for your last 10 channels viewed. They need to add a tab for your favorite or custom channels. They sort-of have that on the main screen menu (not the guide), but it only shows what's playing now.

PS Vue has several days forward and back, which is useful at times. And you can put your favorites at the front, which is helpful. But beyond that it's not customizable. You get your favorites, then the networks, and then everything else in alphabetical order. And on Fire TV, you scroll through the channels horizontally, which is very unconventional.

YTTV allows full customization... any channels you want, in any order, plus you can toggle between your custom layout and the default. And this custom layout is on all your devices.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm on a 1-year deal with Uverse through Jan or Feb.

If they try to raise after the 1-year, I'm gone.

Back to Comcast probably.

Not sure what kind of deal you got, but the AT&T ones are usually x-dollars OFF kind of deals. So, even during the year, you may see price and fee increases. I did.

Now if you got a bottom line all-in deal, that's better. Those usually require a contract and termination.

And regardless of what deal you got, after 1 yr, you'll have to re-negotiate. They never auto extend them.

 

[JoeWras]

It seems like the guide only goes out for about 12 hours though.

Woa! That's not good at all. Seriously? 12 hours?

 

[Midpack]

PS Vue has several days forward and back, which is useful at times. And you can put your favorites at the front, which is helpful. But beyond that it's not customizable. You get your favorites (including favorite major networks up front) in alpha order, then networks (not in favorites, if any) and then everything else in alphabetical order.

May be picking nits, but FWIW.

 

[RunningBum]

Woa! That's not good at all. Seriously? 12 hours?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm only on day 4 or 5.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Yes, they call it the live guide. You have to customize it on your laptop, or maybe your phone app, then it'll show on the TV. Here's how to customize it:

As I said, it only shows a few hours, so "Live Guide" is a pretty accurate description.

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I think I might start my YTTV trial shortly.