They just started refusing us two years ago. Evidently, after a number of years with a discounted rate, their generosity runs out.
Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020
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GTFan
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I get the new customer rate for Comcast double play every two years. Been doing that for over a decade now, and I always select downgrade/cancel service to get retention when I call.
Rustic23
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Update on Youtube tv:
The DVR has taken a turn for the worse! When they reverted the dvr'd video to network recorded, they input commercials. This has been the act all along, however, this seemed to take place several weeks after the recording. Now for some networks it seems it is being done almost daily. Also they changed the format and made it more difficult to know if you have watched the latest episode. It shows a graphic, tells you the number of new episodes, and you have to select to see another graphic. If you have watched it you get a red line. Before it showed a graphic for each episode and a white or red line if you had watched it.
There commercials are about 50% standard commercials and 50% public service announcements. I understand the new Directv Now DVR is due out soon. It gives you 20 hr dvr with a $10 upgrade for 100 hrs, no commercials.
The DVR has taken a turn for the worse! When they reverted the dvr'd video to network recorded, they input commercials. This has been the act all along, however, this seemed to take place several weeks after the recording. Now for some networks it seems it is being done almost daily. Also they changed the format and made it more difficult to know if you have watched the latest episode. It shows a graphic, tells you the number of new episodes, and you have to select to see another graphic. If you have watched it you get a red line. Before it showed a graphic for each episode and a white or red line if you had watched it.
There commercials are about 50% standard commercials and 50% public service announcements. I understand the new Directv Now DVR is due out soon. It gives you 20 hr dvr with a $10 upgrade for 100 hrs, no commercials.
NoMoreJob
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I would consider DirecTV NOW except for the fact that I had it once and had recurring technical problems with it. So I move on to PSVue which also had problems and then to YouTube TV which has completely trouble-free. This was all after having tried Sling and having technical problems.
I'll take commercials over technical issues anytime but I realize that others' priorities may be different or that others may not have experienced the same problems that I have.
Fortunately we have lots of choices now. What I'm learning through online discussions like this and personal discussions is that there isn't just one that will satisfy everyone because experiences and priorities vary.
Rustic23
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I directv now is still available for 3 months for $10 a month, I will give it a try when they have a dvr. No hurry, so until then I will stick with YouTube Tv. I liked Hulu TV, but the lack of a guide made it very difficult for DW to play with. Ok, It took me a week before I had it figured out.
Sojourner
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IMHO, this is the direction we should expect all streaming TV services to go over time. I think the glory days of being able to DVR a show and freely skip commercials at will are slowly slipping away. Seems like there are more and more FF / SKIP restrictions being placed by networks and content owners every month, even with traditional DVRs. As cloud DVRs become more prevalent and mainstream, I'm guessing we'll see substantially more restrictions over a wider variety of content.
folivier
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We're paying for Hulu w/o commercials; Amazon Prime (no commercials); Netflix (no commercials); CBS Now paying for no commercials.
When they try to force commercials back on the few shows we watch that's when I'll use the 60" for a monitor.
When they try to force commercials back on the few shows we watch that's when I'll use the 60" for a monitor.
mpeirce
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I don't know. We have a TiVo and they "recently" made it even easier to skip commercials - for some shows you don't have to FFW past the commercials, just press the skip button.
We'll never pay for any service that forces us to watch commercials.
If someone offers a cloud DVR service, it's a nonstarter for us if it forces commercial viewing.
Remember when cable TV first came out? $10 a month, clear OTA channels, PLUS a few cable-only, commercial-free channels! Where are we now?
Until recently, a majority of consumers took a "money is no object" approach to sports and entertainment. While the cable TV providers and content providers fought over the seemingly endless stream of cash, they began to expect it.
I think we've (finally!) reached a tipping point, where folks are starting to question the value of what they're paying for, and push back.
As far as I'm concerned, it didn't come soon enough. I couldn't care less if all those huge cable, entertainment and sports corporations go bankrupt. I see very little value in their products. Sorry if that offends anyone, I recognize that I'm not in the majority.
Until recently, a majority of consumers took a "money is no object" approach to sports and entertainment. While the cable TV providers and content providers fought over the seemingly endless stream of cash, they began to expect it.
I think we've (finally!) reached a tipping point, where folks are starting to question the value of what they're paying for, and push back.
As far as I'm concerned, it didn't come soon enough. I couldn't care less if all those huge cable, entertainment and sports corporations go bankrupt. I see very little value in their products. Sorry if that offends anyone, I recognize that I'm not in the majority.
Midpack
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Having watched and/or trialed Sling TV, DirecTV Now, PS Vue, Hulu Live and YouTube TV over the past year, IME they all have strengths and weaknesses, and they're all improving over time even if they take two steps forward and one step back sometimes. The live streaming TV providers are still relatively new (compared to most on demand services. e.g. Netflix, original Hulu, "free" YouTube), and I suspect they'll only get better and better. Of course that may mean prices will increase just like cable/satellite did, but hopefully not as much since streaming doesn't require quite as much infrastructure and almost zero field tech service. And I'm very happy saving $500-600/yr in the meantime.
Could you perhaps clarify the bolded part? It's not clear to me what changed.
On PS Vue, the cloud DVR content contains commercials but I can fast-forward through them. Are you saying YouTube DVR recording previously did not have commercials? Or can you no longer fast-forward through them?
Interesting point. I wonder how the market for streaming will prove different from the old model.
I think the biggest factor which could keep prices WAY down is competition. Many places (like where I live) still only have one cable provider.
There may also be a generational thing going on. The YouTube generation probably expects free video. Us old timers still remember free OTA TV. Maybe it's just the group in the middle who think $200 a month is reasonable.
However, what they expect for free is quite different. 6 Minute episodes, vlogging, high quality school projects, etc.
I just made the switch to YouTube TV. I live in far southern IL, where the St. Louis Cardinals have the largest fanbase, including me. Comcast, as we know, is part of NBC. On their system here, at the start of baseball season, Fox Sports Midwest (Cardinals channel), is suddenly dropped and replaced by NBCSN Chicago with Cubs and White Sox games. Comcast says Fox Midwest wanted too much money. Of course, Comcast owns NBCSN, or vice versa.
Anyway, this lengthy thread helped me to make a decision on a streaming service.
Anyway, this lengthy thread helped me to make a decision on a streaming service.
The way I figure it, YouTube has over a decade of experience streaming billions of videos, and has done it reliably. That alone was a big factor in making my choice. So far, I haven't had one problem. Looks and sounds just like cable.
timo2
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Maybe this was already mentioned here, but we can get local news broadcasts via the NewsOn site. Here is an article https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/newson-now-streams-local-news-in-84-of-the-united-states/
from the article: "Want to watch your local news on the go? NewsON is a free streaming service that gives users live and on-demand access to local news. You can access your local news when and how you want via iOS, Android, and Roku. When the news is live you will get a live feed, and if you miss it live NewsON will reair the last news broadcast any time you want.
NewsON is comprised of 173 stations in 116 markets covering 84% of the U.S. population. So it is very likely that NewsON has at least one of your local news stations streaming online."
from the article: "Want to watch your local news on the go? NewsON is a free streaming service that gives users live and on-demand access to local news. You can access your local news when and how you want via iOS, Android, and Roku. When the news is live you will get a live feed, and if you miss it live NewsON will reair the last news broadcast any time you want.
NewsON is comprised of 173 stations in 116 markets covering 84% of the U.S. population. So it is very likely that NewsON has at least one of your local news stations streaming online."
timo2
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What I found interesting about NewsON was the categories. The weather news has snippets of weather related stories from around the country.
bobandsherry
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Sums up my experience.Been following this thread and looking for ways to cut the cord, but nothing seems without issues or a downgrade in service.
We just called Comcast today and renegotiated our old fashioned cable and we were able to save almost $80/month and we lose only two channels: Indieplex and Retroplex, that we watch.
Dawg52
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
As mentioned previously, I rejoined the cable world about 2 months ago. What does Comcast do right out of the gate? Move a channel from my package to a higher tier one. When I called to complain they offered the package for $10 more which I declined. Chaps me as they are big on contracts but it's a one way street with them. They keep the price in check for the term of the contract but they can move channels as they desire. Similar to products like a cereal company reducing the size of the box. Just a sneaky price increase.
Got my Channel Master Stream+ (OTA +AndroidTV DVR device) on Friday. Loving it so far. Tuners are excellent and even with just rabbit ears I get the main 5 stations and the usual sub channels. The online guide is fast and feature filled. Google Play uploaded a few apps like Hulu, Pluto, ABC, FOXNOW, etc and they all work great. Love the bluetooth remote so device can stay hidden. Haven’t DVRed or Cast yet, but will soon. There are some bugs with usb harddrive compatibility that some are having. They still have to get Netflix and Direct TVNOW and a few other main players to recognize the device but so far so good on the ones they have.
Midpack
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I didn't like it either, but cable and satellite providers really have no choice. They have to amortize the cost of multiple receivers and "joey" type devices, DVRs, dishes, cabling and field installation, not to mention ongoing field service. If they went "no contract," the cancellation fee would have to be horrendous. With streaming there is no additional hardware except a streaming device like Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple, Chromecast, etc. - and those are much cheaper in the long run. It took us less than 4 months to breakeven on streaming devices, satellite vs streaming, and we'll save $500-600/yr from now on. YMMV
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Z3Dreamer
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Tell me more about the guide. Who supplies it? Cost? How easy is it to let the Channel Master Stream+ which channels you get so as to get the right guide channels?
aja8888
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The way things are shaping up with the subscription viewing and streaming services, sooner or later, cable will be less expensive.
NoMoreJob
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The way things are shaping up with the subscription viewing and streaming services, sooner or later, cable will be less expensive.
I think it's more likely that cable will suffer the fate of landline phone service. If the cable companies don't position themselves as streaming companies (like DirecTV Now) they will eventually disappear.
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