Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

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Tivo has introduced a new Bolt OTA unit. This one should be much faster and nicer than the old Roamio units.

I guess they have finally got rid off all the older Roamio OTA units. Still, my Roamio units all came with lifetime guide service. I can put up with a bit slower performance and no 4k to save that on-going cost.

I guess I have not hit the real Blow That Dough time in life.
 
Chuckanut said:
Still, my Roamio units all came with lifetime guide service. I can put up with a bit slower performance and no 4k to save that on-going cost.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. Looks like there's no option for a prepaid guide with the Bolt OTA which brings the price up a couple of hundred above the Roamio. I'm very happy with my Roamio for that difference.

My guess is that the competition may get stiffer with all the cable cutting and that may bring the price down. As I recall the Roamio didn't start out with the prepaid guide option either.
 
My favorite Johnny Carson episode was an episode in 1974. It had Burt Reynolds, Art Carney, and Dom Deluise. What a lineup! So funny.
 
It's on Antenna TV. That's where I saw it. They ran that particular episode about a week or so ago. I think it comes on about 9:30 PM MDT, not sure without looking it up. For those who like Johnny, definitely worth it to see if you get that channel.


ETA- Yes, I just looked, 9:30 MDT is correct.
 
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I’ve caught some episodes of Frasier on Hallmark channel, found myself enjoying those more than I thought I would after all these years.
 
^^^^ Yes, Frasier is hilarious! I had forgotten how good the writing was in that and the characters as they develop....I bust a gut everytime I watch it.
 
Have not seen it mention yet, so here goes

Locast.org

It works on most tablets, pc's and Roku. It is available in Houston, Dallas, Boston, New York, Denver and Chicago. They broadcast free over the air channels for those areas. Seems non-profits can rebroadcast over the air for free. No DVR, but if you are looking for TV sans dvr for free, and you can get this, its FREE. Just outside Houston I get 15 channels, including NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX AND CW.
 
Rustic23 said:
Have not seen it mention yet, so here goes



Locast.org



It works on most tablets, pc's and Roku. It is available in Houston, Dallas, Boston, New York, Denver and Chicago. They broadcast free over the air channels for those areas. Seems non-profits can rebroadcast over the air for free. No DVR, but if you are looking for TV sans dvr for free, and you can get this, its FREE. Just outside Houston I get 15 channels, including NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX AND CW.
Click to expand...



You beat me to it! Just set up the channel on my Roku - very nice option to get live local TV.

Also shows me that Roku is a good streaming option since I could never see Apple TV allowing this channel.
 
I’m a cord cutter. I pay about $60/mo to Charter for Internet and pay about $10/mo to both Netflix and Amazon and about $15/mo to HBO all to stream through a Roku. A couple days ago I discovered Pluto TV, a free streaming app that shows lots of live tv including channels I missed like Bloomberg and CNBC.
 
RenoJay said:
A couple days ago I discovered Pluto TV, a free streaming app that shows lots of live tv including channels I missed like Bloomberg and CNBC.
Click to expand...
Do you happen to know if it(CNBC) is live or just repeats?
 
Pluto TV - I tried getting Bloomberg but got nothing. The other channels worked well.

Free OTA TV is making a comeback thanks to the very high cost of cable subscriptions and the relatively lower cost of one or two streaming channels. Free OTA TV via my antenna, Netflix, Amazon Prime video (I never buy a show) and DVD's from the public library give me more stuff than I can possibly watch and still have a life away from the boob tube.
 
Rustic23 said:
Have not seen it mention yet, so here goes

Locast.org

It works on most tablets, pc's and Roku. It is available in Houston, Dallas, Boston, New York, Denver and Chicago. They broadcast free over the air channels for those areas. Seems non-profits can rebroadcast over the air for free. No DVR, but if you are looking for TV sans dvr for free, and you can get this, its FREE. Just outside Houston I get 15 channels, including NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX AND CW.
Click to expand...

Very interesting. I installed it on my Android phone and cast to the TV using Chromecast. We get the Dallas stations. Quality is pretty good. I had some buffering and pixelation but that was mainly due to screen casting from my phone. The phone itself was fine. There does not appear to be any in-app casting functionality. And no app yet for Fire TV. I did sideload the Android app to Fire TV. It loaded fine but you can't navigate with the remote so that was pretty useless. I couldn't even log in.

It will be interesting to see if the "nonprofit" status gets them around the legal issues that shutdown Aereo and FilmOn. I suspect it will not... or the nonprofit status will be challenged. But time will tell. I doubt we'll see apps for streaming devices other than Roku until the legal status is more certain.
 
Cobra9777 said:
It will be interesting to see if the "nonprofit" status gets them around the legal issues that shutdown Aereo and FilmOn. I suspect it will not... or the nonprofit status will be challenged. But time will tell.
Click to expand...
+1, exactly what I thought when I read about locast...
 
I thought I'd try Locast.org even thought I don't live in any of the cities by using VPN to change my location to NYC and Chicago but apparently it continued to tell me that there was no broadcasting in my area. I even deleting their cookies just in case they contained the original location before I used the VPN. I wonder why VPN didn't fool their site?
 
MJ said:
I thought I'd try Locast.org even thought I don't live in any of the cities by using VPN to change my location to NYC and Chicago but apparently it continued to tell me that there was no broadcasting in my area. I even deleting their cookies just in case they contained the original location before I used the VPN. I wonder why VPN didn't fool their site?
Click to expand...

I believe the app uses your device location (GPS/cell tower), not IP address, to determine your physical location. I remember giving it permission to access my device location at first start-up.
 
Cobra9777 said:
I believe the app uses your device location (GPS/cell tower), not IP address, to determine your physical location. I remember giving it permission to access my device location at first start-up.
Click to expand...
That makes same but where is that information being stored if I deleted locast's cookies?
 
MJ said:
That makes same but where is that information being stored if I deleted locast's cookies?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't you like to know..... :) It's more that you blocked them, they will no longer actively "talk" to you. Look at their instructions, you need to unblock them.
 
Adios Comcast

Cutting the cord (one month in)

What we had and what we paid:
1. Comcast cable - “Digital Start + Digital Preferred” with 220 channels for $130/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo

What we have now and pay:
1. Hulu with Live TV - basic (no add ons) with 50+ channels for $40/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo
4. Two (2) new Apple TV boxes at $5/mo/each. Amortized over 3 years.

What we gave up:
1. Two local PBS channels - I know I can solve this with an OTA, but the wife’s aesthetic objection to the “unsightly” indoor antenna might be a problem. I was able to put a Mohu Leaf antenna in our basement and now we get one of the two PBS channels. We do have RMPBS Passport because of our annual donation.
2. DIY and Cooking
3. BBC America
4. TLC
5. A whole bunch of channels we don’t care about. Home Shopping Network, anyone?

How much we save each month:
1. $80/mo

What is different about our viewing habits:
1. We seem to be watching a greater variety of programming. More fiction, less “house/food porn” from Discovery.

P.S. And, we lost the electrical vampire known as the cable box.
 
davebarnes said:
Cutting the cord (one month in)

What we had and what we paid:
1. Comcast cable - “Digital Start + Digital Preferred” with 220 channels for $130/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo

What we have now and pay:
1. Hulu with Live TV - basic (no add ons) with 50+ channels for $40/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo
4. Two (2) new Apple TV boxes at $5/mo/each. Amortized over 3 years.

What we gave up:
1. Two local PBS channels - I know I can solve this with an OTA, but the wife’s aesthetic objection to the “unsightly” indoor antenna might be a problem. I was able to put a Mohu Leaf antenna in our basement and now we get one of the two PBS channels. We do have RMPBS Passport because of our annual donation.
2. DIY and Cooking
3. BBC America
4. TLC
5. A whole bunch of channels we don’t care about. Home Shopping Network, anyone?

How much we save each month:
1. $80/mo

What is different about our viewing habits:
1. We seem to be watching a greater variety of programming. More fiction, less “house/food porn” from Discovery.

P.S. And, we lost the electrical vampire known as the cable box.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good trade. Do you get the local daytime programming on the network channels (NBC, CBS, ABC)?
 
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