Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[DeborahB]

Well, I did it. I’ve got Fios fiber optic, they threw in Netflix for a year and a free router. I’m happy. I mostly watch Amazon & Netflix anyhow. I’ve got a smart tv & blu-Ray player. So far so good.

 

[REWahoo]

Well, I did it. I’ve got Fios fiber optic...

Speed? Cost? Just curious.

 

[DeborahB]

Speed? Cost? Just curious.

940 mbps download, 880 upload, all fiber optic.
They gave me a router free for 3 years, and a year of Netflix. Total bill will be $80/mo.

I already have amazon prime and Netflix.
I’m just going to subscribe to hbo and watch game of thrones, then ditch it. I don’t watch sports and figure I can gets news online and mirror it if I want.
I’m not even getting an antenna at this point.

I had been paying $160/mo and that was a two-year special that was about to expire. It included HBO and Showtime but I didn’t watch them much.

 

[REWahoo]

940 mbps download, 880 upload, all fiber optic.
They gave me a router free for 3 years, and a year of Netflix. Total bill will be $80/mo.

I'm so jealous...

For that same fiber speed here (minus the Netflix, including the router) I'd have to pay $150/mo. I opted for the base fiber package - 75 Mbps up and down, with router, for $60/mo. But compared to what was available to me for the past 20 years we've lived here, I'm not going to complain.

 

[audreyh1]

Hah! Our internet speed just jumped from 20mbps to 50mpbs and the price dropped $20 a month!

So we are currently $50 internet, ~$30 various streaming subscriptions including 4K Netflix on 2 TVs. ~$80 total.

I know people keep talking about the creeping (expanding) subscriptions, but it just hasn’t happened to us and it’s been years now. I guess we’re just not in the “more is better” camp. We’ll pick up on a special now and then, and catch up on a few series from a new provider, but then we’ll turn it off.

 

[explanade]

YouTube TV just raised prices to $50, copying the price increase by Direct TV Now

 

[audreyh1]

Well, glad I didn’t subscribe!

The content was not of interest to me anyway.

I guess they are just trying to get into the cable business (i.e. price model).

 

[explanade]

There will probably be consolidation.

And since it costs noth8ng to subscribe and unsubscribe, people will bail as prices rise.

Then they will have a better idea of how big the cord cutting OTT market is.

 

[Chuckanut]

Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV)

Said it here before, streaming services are pricing themselves at the level of cable (with a bundle) over time. No one should be surprised pay TV ain't cheap.

Yes. That is happening. OTOH, there are other people who are content with an antenna and DVR, Netflix, and DVDs from the public library. Maybe toss in Amazon Prime also. This keeps entertainment only services to under $30 a month.

 

[DeborahB]

I may buy a DVR/Tivo or something. But almost everything is available streamed now. I’m not sure I need it. Or if it’s news, I can get It online.

 

[camfused]

I just switched from Sling Blue to Philo. I was very happy with Sling, but cut my bill in half with Philo. A few less channels, but we don't watch most of the channels anyway. So far, it seems to be about the same for quality of the stream (good), and if anything, the Philo seems to be a better picture.

Does anyone know if Philo is sending 1080p, and Sling 1080i, or something like that? I can't tell because my FireTV is upscaling it anyway.

 

[ivinsfan]

Does anyone know what media outlets like ESPN, Golf Channel, and that Discovery bunch that includes HGTV charge the streaming outlets?

The reason we haven't tried UTTV is that they didn't offer HGTV and Food network, which they just added and then raised their price. I call those two my brain dump channels and want to have them. OTOH I don't need or want ESPN, I prefer Fox and they carry my local teams. It appears that as the streamers react to consumer demands and add options prices will keep rising.I feel like Sling Blue or Sling Orange is still the best value at 25 a month.

That said, we are with Hulu who just raised their price again to 45 bucks for two reasons, Golf Channel is included without an upcharge unlike Sling and the Hulu streaming platform is so large we cancelled our Netflix account.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes. That is happening. OTOH, there are other people who are content with an antenna and DVR, Netflix, and DVDs from the public library. Maybe toss in Amazon Prime also. This keeps entertainment only services to under $30 a month.

Exactly. I’m not interested in chasing all these channels I didn’t watch in the past when I had cable. Many of the cable channels I used to love turned to crap 10 years ago when they went for the cheapest programming and kept increasing ads.

We have just a few stream sources and that’s plenty. It’s easy to add an extra one for a few months and then turn it back off. This arrangement is working great for us and we are seeing only a small increase in streaming costs over the years due to providers gradually adding $1 here and there.

 

[Midpack]

Well, glad I didn’t subscribe!

The content was not of interest to me anyway.

I guess they are just trying to get into the cable business (i.e. price model).

Might bear repeating.

If you only have/use on TV, using a streaming package like YouTube TV, PS Vue, Hulu w Live may not save you much over cable/satellite.

But if you're a family or household with multiple TV's, YTTV, PSV, Hulu will allow you watch 3 simultaneous streams, still for $50/mo or so. With cable/satellite, IME you'll pay considerably more to setup 3 TV's - even if you only watch one at a time.

I'm sure costs will converge somewhat, but that will take a while and we've saved almost $600 since Feb 2018 with PS Vue. And when they converge, the prices will be higher than todays streaming packages, but lower than todays cable/satellite.

-----------------------------------------------

I'm more concerned with the direction content providers are going than the battle between streaming vs cable/satellite. It might become even more expensive to have all the channels you'd like as Disney, Viacom and others keep content to themselves. Or situations like Netflix cutting off Apple. But who knows...

 

[REWahoo]

If you only have/use on TV, using a streaming package like YouTube TV, PS Vue, Hulu w Live may not save you much over cable/satellite.

But if you're a family or household with multiple TV's, YTTV, PSV, Hulu will allow you watch 3 simultaneous streams, still for $50/mo or so. With cable/satellite, IME you'll pay considerably more to setup 3 TV's - even if you only watch one at a time.

Excellent point.

I've seen a number of articles recently saying streaming is no longer less expensive than cable/satellite. All of them compare the cost of the programming packages and ignore the added cost of a DVR and set-top boxes the cable/satellite providers tack on for multiple TVs. In our case those additional charges were in the $25/mo range and increased every year.

And don't forget the fact you can come and go as you please when streaming rather than be tied to a 1-2 year contract, something I also value.

 

[Midpack]

Excellent point.

I've seen a number of articles recently saying streaming is no longer less expensive than cable/satellite. All of them compare the cost of the programming packages and ignore the added cost of a DVR and set-top boxes the cable/satellite providers tack on for multiple TVs. In our case those additional charges were in the $25/mo range and increased every year.

And don't forget the fact you can come and go as you please when streaming rather than be tied to a 1-2 year contract, something I also value.

For 3 TV's at our house, Dish Network satellite was $96/mo with significant discounts versus $50/mo for PS Vue - comparable channel selection, picture quality, DVR, simultaneous streams. I don't doubt I could get close to $50/mo with Dish Network if I only had 1 TV.

 

[RunningBum]

But if you're a family or household with multiple TV's, YTTV, PSV, Hulu will allow you watch 3 simultaneous streams, still for $50/mo or so. With cable/satellite, IME you'll pay considerably more to setup 3 TV's - even if you only watch one at a time.

With an HDMI splitter and the Dish IR/UHF remotes I'm able to watch HD programming from Dish on 3 TVs in different rooms off of one receiver, as long as I only watch the same thing on all. The remotes are the ones normally used for TV2 with SD signal of RG-6 cabling but it works for TV1 as well. IIRC I used the composite video and optical audio for the TV by the receiver, then ran a long, high quality HDMI cable up a conduit I had put in my house between floors, and a splitter to get it to a 3rd TV. The cable runs may not work well for some people, nor might the inability to watch different channels. For me it was low cost and works very well and has kept from from cutting the cord.

Dish keeps trying to push the Hopper on me but I don't want to pay another $7/month for each additional TV when I have a solution that works.

I tried DishAnywhere and using a Fire stick to watch on the other TVs but it's choppy and buggy. I don't recall exactly but it seemed like once I tried to stream, I could no longer use the remote. IF it worked well that would be another solution to limit the Dish equipment charges with multiple TVs.

 

[aja8888]

Netflix just raised our monthly Premium 4 plan from $12.99 to $15.99. Looks like a 30% increase.

 

[explanade]

I don't subscribe to Netflix but they seem like a channel package.

So out of the dozens of original shows they put on, most people probably watch 5-10?

But they're spending billions to make these shows, as they're transitioning from offering movies and shows from other studios and networks to mostly original content that they pay for.

They're losing large amounts of shows and movies as studios like Disney take them away and launch their own streaming service.

I wonder how many people will keep subscribing when it's over $20 as they're inevitably headed that way.

 

[Midpack]

With an HDMI splitter and the Dish IR/UHF remotes I'm able to watch HD programming from Dish on 3 TVs in different rooms off of one receiver, as long as I only watch the same thing on all. The remotes are the ones normally used for TV2 with SD signal of RG-6 cabling but it works for TV1 as well. IIRC I used the composite video and optical audio for the TV by the receiver, then ran a long, high quality HDMI cable up a conduit I had put in my house between floors, and a splitter to get it to a 3rd TV. The cable runs may not work well for some people, nor might the inability to watch different channels. For me it was low cost and works very well and has kept from from cutting the cord.

Dish keeps trying to push the Hopper on me but I don't want to pay another $7/month for each additional TV when I have a solution that works.

I know it can be done but some/many of us have family members who a) refuse to fuss with changing sources, and b) both of us watching the "same thing on all" different TV's - why

How many people in your household?

 

[RunningBum]

I know it can be done but some/many of us have family members who a) refuse to fuss with changing sources, and b) both of us watching the "same thing on all" different TV's - why

How many people in your household?

Just me, with my son a regular visitor but he rarely watches TV. He'll usually sit in the same room with me and surf the web or maybe stream something. If he really wants to watch something, I'll record what I want and we'll watch his. Can't remember last time that happened.

I don't have to change sources, so that has nothing to do with my setup (actually I do, for my college football setup of 3 TVs on one wall, but that's not part of what I'm talking about). And I can have the same thing on at the same time on multiple TVs, so that's not a factor either. Actually, I lose sound on one TV if all are on, probably due to a weakened signal, but I don't watch that way so I haven't looked into solving it and I don't want to mess with what works and fully meets my needs.

I think the stopper for most multi-person households is that there would be times when they want to watch something different. That would require recording and watching one later, changing sources, watching one in SD or in HD with OTA but no DVR ability to rewind or pause. A solvable issue, but with more costs. But you had brought up multiple TVs even watching the same thing, which is what I have.

 

[SmallCityDave]

I just switched from Sling Blue to Philo. I was very happy with Sling, but cut my bill in half with Philo. A few less channels, but we don't watch most of the channels anyway. So far, it seems to be about the same for quality of the stream (good), and if anything, the Philo seems to be a better picture.

Does anyone know if Philo is sending 1080p, and Sling 1080i, or something like that? I can't tell because my FireTV is upscaling it anyway.

You should look into Hulu for $6 and add on Playon (Lifetime) for $35 as a great budget add on to Philo.

 

[explanade]

Disney announced a Netflix-killer price for Disney Plus service coming in November.

$7 a month or $70 for the year.

Most of Disney's big properties, including Star Wars and Pixar movies, all the "princess" movies. Presumably Snow White all the time rather than them putting their classics in the vault and periodically making them available.

But it won't have all the Marvel movies in the first year. Maybe 4 they said.

Disney has been removing their content from Netflix the past year or two.

 

[timo2]

Disney announced a Netflix-killer price for Disney Plus service coming in November.

$7 a month or $70 for the year.

Most of Disney's big properties, including Star Wars and Pixar movies, all the "princess" movies. Presumably Snow White all the time rather than them putting their classics in the vault and periodically making them available.

But it won't have all the Marvel movies in the first year. Maybe 4 they said.

Disney has been removing their content from Netflix the past year or two.

I'm thinking Disney priced it low to start so people could afford both Netflix and Disney to begin with. I read they will eventually bundle Disney, Hulu, and ESPN+.

Sent from my LG-V930 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[explanade]

Sure it's definitely a play to accumulate market share right away and quickly.

You can bet they will find a reason to raise prices, though if they keep the bundle prices attractive they might survive.

Disney will have a huge library but that content is available in other venues -- at the theaters, on discs, etc.

Netflix will be more and more reliant on original content that they pay to produce.

It will be interesting to see which model takes hold. Netflix original shows are popular but they just flood the service with volume and the quality sounds spotty.

So Netflix is like a cable TV package of 200 channels and you might watch 10, maybe 20 regularly. Similarly, how many of the dozens or maybe hundreds of Netflix shows are you going to watch season after season?

The binging lets you try to consume whole seasons right away so maybe you could watch way more shows this way. But do people want to watch that much TV, year round? It's not like they have a summer season while they put out their best shows for the fall.