Save almost $500/yr on Dish TV

pb4uski said:

I was just checking out the Tablo item that Carpediem mentioned... I wonder if I could locate the antenna, Tablo and USB drive at a friend's that has great OTA reception and then view the programs at my home that has poor OTA reception.

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Probably not worth the hassle. You'd have to pay extra for this functionality (remote viewing) and you'd be eating into your friend's bandwidth, which might be an issue if they have data caps.

Midpack said:

You probably know this but with a cheapo indoor amplified OTA I got 49 channels upstairs, but only 8 downstairs - location is crucial. And we're 38 miles from the main tower.

Before I discovered PS Vue, I was going to get a better OTA antenna and put it in the attic or failing that, on the roof. FWIW

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Yea, but the OTA at our home address stinks... 6 channels listed... one strong signal, 4 weak signal and one no signal.... if I just put in my zip code (rather than my address) I get all the major channels (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, and 2 PBS) strong... we live in the shadow of a mountain that happens to be directly between us and the transmitters.

Midpack said:

New options are opening up all the time. Sling TV, DirecTV Now and PlayStation Vue all have much cheaper skinny bundles ($20-40/mo) than cable or satellite.

We all want ala carte, and maybe it'll happen one day, but I am not holding my breath. OTOH, CBS has already gone solo, and other majors are rumored to do so. Whether that saves consumers or not - remains to be seen.

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Cut the cord recently after about 15 years with Dish. I told them I was going to stick to streaming. Surprisingly, they didn't offer a discount rate or even suggest Sling TV (Dish's streaming option that competes with PS Vue). They just canceled my service and sent me a box so I could return the DVR.

I have a Roku and subscribe to commercial-free Hulu and Prime Video. I also use the free NBCNews and YouTube apps, and I have a couple more that I rarely access. Hulu is the only one I consider essential; it's by far the app I use the most. For surfing or in case of an internet outage, I have a $10 off-the-air antenna from Channel Master that is highly rated and works great.

I don't think the solo network ventures will succeed. My prediction is that, once the dust settles, the bundle packages that include network offerings (e.g., Hulu or PS Vue) will win out and people will supplement them with niche-specific apps (e.g., Acorn TV for British show lovers).

pb4uski said:

Yea, but the OTA at our home address stinks... 6 channels listed... one strong signal, 4 weak signal and one no signal.... if I just put in my zip code (rather than my address) I get all the major channels (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, and 2 PBS) strong... we live in the shadow of a mountain that happens to be directly between us and the transmitters.

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I have NOT tried this, so I know nothing about security, etc., but I'd probably try it if I couldn't get major networks via streaming or OTA. FWIW

https://youtu.be/mr4zvLIoO-g

Midpack said:

I have NOT tried this, so I know nothing about security, etc., but I'd probably try it if I couldn't get major networks via streaming or OTA. FWIW

https://youtu.be/mr4zvLIoO-g

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Install the newsON channel. It works, and there are many other roku apps to get news.

All you people cutting the cable, switching providers and threatening to cancel are ruining the livelihood of the entertainers and athletes who make tens of millions of dollars a year. Somebody has to pay their high salaries, and you folks are not stepping up to do your part. Shame on you!

pb4uski said:

Yea, but the OTA at our home address stinks... 6 channels listed... one strong signal, 4 weak signal and one no signal.... if I just put in my zip code (rather than my address) I get all the major channels (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, and 2 PBS) strong... we live in the shadow of a mountain that happens to be directly between us and the transmitters.

Click to expand...

Sometimes we forget that the cable industry was born to serve people like you. They put an antenna up on some high hill or building and ran cables to the local residents who otherwise could not pick up broadcast TV signals from the nearest big city. And all they had was the mostly the same broadcast signals that people nearer to Big City could received with an antenna.

Chuckanut said:

All you people cutting the cable, switching providers and threatening to cancel are ruining the livelihood of the entertainers and athletes who make tens of millions of dollars a year. Somebody has to pay their high salaries, and you folks are not stepping up to do your part. Shame on you!

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I realize you're joking, but we're probably paying just as much to content providers including entertainers and athletes.

The savings come from using our own infrastructure (ISP, streaming device, etc.) instead of satellite dishes, extra cables, DVR/receivers, and all the service folks to install and service. If anyone suffers from this, it's probably going to be the service folks - that's unfortunate, but I'm not going to pay double to help them out.

And the cable and satellite folks kept jacking up the prices at 2.5 to 4X inflation and forcing us to buy bloated channel packages that included over 100 channels I'd never watch - for far too long. Too many of them are niche channels or reruns I'd never watch again. And why do I want another 100 music (audio only) channels on my television

Streaming services offer skinny and slim packages, which is all most viewers want. If the Curling Network athletes and the Zombie channel entertainers suffer, oh well.