Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[Gotadimple]

In our area an antenna will not work.

Does anyone know if the Roku box offers the PBS news (as well as the programming like Masterpiece)? We watch BBC America news and The News Hour when the news programming appears to be views we don't find too objectionable .

Also is it possible to fast forward through commercials on the streaming from the Roku? With Xfinity on Demand it is not possible to do this so this one advantage of the DVR setup.

Roku does offer PBS - from your local station, but live stream of news is not in the offering. One day delay on Masterpiece is available and your local station may also post any programming they do locally, but delayed by a day or so.

Commercials: you won't find them generically on all the hundreds of channels on the Roku player (most are free). You will find them on Hulu (a paid offering), but not on Netflix (a paid channel). Most television series run 45 minutes in length (that is, 45 minutes without commercials) - on commercial TV that program would run 60 minutes.

As all of these programs are in 'the can,' I don't see the need for a DVR, and especially when most don't have commercials any way. You can check out the channel offerings on the Roku website along with its current players. Then Walmart or Target (or maybe Amazon) is a good place to do pricing on the players.

Rita

 

[bUU]

I may be misreading your point...

It was in regard to the solutions that include same-day broadcasts from local broadcast television stations that were suggested above.

Also, even cloud DVR solutions don't have anything remotely close to the quality and convenience of trick play offered by actual DVRs. It is always, "it's offered, but..." (Heck, I suspect very few cable company DVRs offer the high quality trick play capability matching the responsiveness and convenience of TiVo, my chosen DVR.) Until they do, their inadequacies will be more than enough to account for the difference in overall cost.

And when these streaming services start offering those high quality capabilities, they would be offered from within their applications (Roku, Hulu, etc.) as they are provided on those superior hardware platforms, regardless. It would require nothing more than switching the cable company to Internet only and utilizing the TiVo to download the content from the streaming services, storing it, and replaying it using the TiVo trick play capability. It probably will happen someday, but it's a ways off still.

And not coincidentally, when that happens, you'll see it directly and pretty quickly reflected in the price of cable television service, itself.

 

[GaryTN]

XTV has several local news stations for each State available. Sometimes the Live Stream stops but will come back on when the channel starts streaming again. Sometimes I like to watch the news for a city I have lived in before.

 

[bUU]

Oh! Gary's comment reminds me of the other problem: When you start comparing alternative solutions to cable, it seems to always be presented as a comparison of the best aspects of each individual alternative to the cable service, rather than comparing one alternative, or a specific combination of alternatives, to cable. No one alternative, nor any combination of alternatives, provides all of the content and trick play, much less all of the superior quality and convenience of higher quality trick play. I think many people would be inclined to switch to the alternatives even if it required three or four subscriptions, as long as those options would all offer the viewing experience of (say) TiVo, all accessible from one remote control.

 

[O2Bfree]

We're on a hill, so an antenna works well for basic channels. Also we get Netflix DVDs for just under $9/month. Plus there are lots of free videos on YouTube, especially documentaries that interest us...and we do enjoy an occasional burst of cat videos.

I've done free trials with Amazon Prime and Hulu, but then I started watching too much TV, which was ok when I had shoulder surgery and during long dark winter evenings, but maybe not all the time. I've done the Amazon Prime trial twice now, which is cool because it also gets you free shipping. Gotta look into how often one person can do the trial, might be a nice treat now and then.

Hulu gave me a free month, then some time after I cancelled, they offered another free month. I might look for other free trials in the fall, but not now --too much yard work to do in the evenings!

 

[MissMolly]

With our Roku TVs, a single remote controls everything - turns it on/off, adjust volume, navigate the apps. We watch OTA using a Tablo which serves as a DVR for our OTA stations. We can fast-forward through the commercials. I am not familiar with the term "trick play" so I don't know if that is the same. We have an app on the Roku for the Tablo to watch live/recorded shows.

With the Roku sticks, the Roku remote turns on the TV and navigates the apps. However, the TV remote is needed for volume control and turning off the TV.

 

[Bestwifeever]

So do you cordcutters recommend getting the hardware and setting it up to be sure it works and one is comfortable with it, a few months or whatever before cancelling the cable services or switching to internet only?

 

[MissMolly]

So do you cordcutters recommend getting the hardware and setting it up to be sure it works and one is comfortable with it, a few months or whatever before cancelling the cable services or switching to internet only?

That's what we did. We actually had the first Roku for almost a year. During that time we tried a couple of different antennae until we found the one that worked the best for our location. Then we added in the Tablo to see how that worked for us. Then the other Rokus. Then, finally, for one month we did not use cable TV - only the Rokus with all the different apps, including the Table app/live TV. Once we were satisfied we still had access to everything we wanted (and more) we canceled cable, thus reducing our bill from $180/month to $70/month.

 

[Dawg52]

So do you cordcutters recommend getting the hardware and setting it up to be sure it works and one is comfortable with it, a few months or whatever before cancelling the cable services or switching to internet only?

Shouldn't take long to see if you are satisfied. Maybe a month.

 

[athena53]

So do you cordcutters recommend getting the hardware and setting it up to be sure it works and one is comfortable with it, a few months or whatever before cancelling the cable services or switching to internet only?

I did that, too- got a Roku box for the TV we watched most often, then got Netflix up and running. Google Fiber wasn't available till a few months after that, giving us plenty of time to get comfortable with Netflix. The Roku box was $89 at Costco and Netflix doesn't require a contract, so very little money at risk.

 

[bUU]

With our Roku TVs...

It was mentioned earlier that Roku does not offer all the services that cable services offer.

We watch OTA using a Tablo which serves as a DVR for our OTA stations.

So you're actually using two separate devices. I suppose that works if you have the money to invest it a lot of new equipment and have LOS to broadcast transmitters. We don't.

We can fast-forward through the commercials. I am not familiar with the term "trick play" so I don't know if that is the same.

Trick play includes 30 second skip, fast forward with configurable (typically 8 second) overshoot protection, and SkipMode, which now skips to the end of a commercial break for many first-run broadcasts on both broadcast and cable networks.

With the Roku sticks, the Roku remote turns on the TV and navigates the apps. However, the TV remote is needed for volume control and turning off the TV.

You can get a universal remote to put both capabilities on the same remote control. The remote control issue is rarely a big deal anymore. I mentioned it above out of a couple of decades of habit.

So do you cordcutters recommend getting the hardware and setting it up to be sure it works and one is comfortable with it, a few months or whatever before cancelling the cable services or switching to internet only?

With our TiVo we're able to keep checking directly, since all those services provide apps for the TiVo to access their services. We typically subscribe to one or two of them each summer to check to see how far their capabilities and offerings have progressed. We're subscribed to Netflix now, and we'll check out Hulu later in the summer. We may even do a month of Roku. We'll see.

The most important thing for us was checking how much GB these services consume. With young Rachel in the house, her consumption and ours exceeded the monthly limit of our Internet service, and so that would prevent alternatives from being less expensive. With Rachel back north now, our Netflix consumption was well within the quota. So that's not blocking us now. It's just the services and capabilities that are lacking. We'll keep checking.

 

[nun]

I went from cable/phone/internet at $125 per month to just internet at $45 per month. I use a digital antenna to watch TV....about 30 local channels. I don't bother with HBOI, Netflix, Amazom Prime etc and after some initial withdrawal I don't miss them at all. I've rediscovered reading,

 

[MissMolly]

We may even do a month of Roku. We'll see.

I'm not sure what you mean by "do a month of Roku". Roku is not a service you subscribe to for a month or however long. It's a device you purchase ranging in price from $29 for the stick to $110 for the Roku Ultra to several hundreds of dollars for the different sized Roku TVs. There are hundreds of apps you can load to your Roku. Many of them are absolutely free, others require a cable provider login while others are streaming services such as Netflix, HBO, Hulu, PSVue, etc. that you watch through the Roku device.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

DirecTV Now, 120 cable channels, $35 month. Working flawlessly. I went in early and was grandfathered at that rate permanently. They gave us a free year of HBO as well.

I also was an early adopter of this service. Initially, it was terrible. Lagging, time outs, it was a terrible service. However, they seem to have worked out the bugs and now have several channels that have 72 hour "rewind", so it's even better value for the $$$. We use the FireTV box on our main TV and Fire Sticks on the bedroom and exercise room TVs for all the apps (Amazon Video and Netflix compliments the DirecTV Now). All in, we pay $97 a month (I don't count the Amazon because we use it for a LOT of other stuff, so the video stuff is an added bonus) for TV. I will add that since we live in the 'burbs of Atlanta, we also get quite a few OTA channels.

Speaking of saving money...I think I can celebrate here. I had Republic Wireless for a little over a year and my bill was usually about $15 a month. But, with the Sprint "Free Unlimited" for a year, my cell phone bill will now be about $7 a month. WOOT!!!

Edit: We also used Sling for a bit, but once DirecTV Now started to behave, we got rid of it. We were never a big fan of the user interface/guide.

 

[explanade]

That's about what I pay for all cable channels + HBO and 75mb HSI from Comcast, $110/mo.

It does help to have a Tivo + 3 Tivo Minis because I don't pay set-top rental fees. That's where they really screw you.

Bonus to this setup is auto-skip of commercials on all the popular channels. I like to watch sports so a good DVR is really a necessity.

"All cable channels" include all the premiums? HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, etc.?

 

[explanade]

I may be misreading your point, but PS Vue includes cloud DVR (for 28 days) and Sling TV is rolling out their cloud DVR (not sure, but I think it's 50 hours of stored programming as long as you want). Other streaming services are rolling out cloud DVR services too.

Skipping commercials is harder than Dish, but still possible, and likely to improve.

And with more and more on-demand content available every day, a DVR is becoming redundant anyway. YMMV

I wouldn't count on streaming services making it easy to skip commercials.

If they haven't started with it, they're likely to insert their own commercials.

One thing to be aware of about the streaming services. Video quality could be variable depending on your bandwidth and audio is almost always stereo only, not 5.1.

 

[Looking4Ward]

We use an Amazon Fire Stick , and the delay in response time is beyond anything I've ever experienced.....

I had the same bad experience with an AmazonFire box on DirecTV Now. Switched it out with an Apple TV and it's even better than the cable box was. Never buffers, audio is always in synch, channel changes are quick, boot-up is fast. I also run Plex on it so access to my Plex server and NAS is just a couple of swipes away.

I also was an early adopter of this service. Initially, it was terrible. Lagging, time outs, it was a terrible service. However, they seem to have worked out the bugs and now have several channels that have 72 hour "rewind", so it's even better value for the $$$.

Same here. The service literally sucked the first couple of months. I signed up in early December and almost let my three month prepay expire and call it even since they gave us an Apple TV.

But I stuck with it and now several months later the service has been impeccable. No buffering, the resolution is much better than other streaming services, and they are continually adding same log-in ability for other apps. Supposedly more local channels will soon be added as well.

Gotta say I'm very happy with the service.

 

[Cobra9777]

I wouldn't count on streaming services making it easy to skip commercials.

If they haven't started with it, they're likely to insert their own commercials.

One thing to be aware of about the streaming services. Video quality could be variable depending on your bandwidth and audio is almost always stereo only, not 5.1.

I subscribe to 3 streaming services:, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Curiosity Stream. None of them have commercials. And most of the programming is 1080p and 5.1 audio.

I run Kodi on a Fire TV box which enables free EPG (electronic program guide) and DVR functionality for broadcast TV, which of course allows me to fast-forward through commercials on recorded content. And again full 1080p and 5.1 audio.

The only case where I'm forced to watch commercials is on a few of the "cable apps" on Fire TV, such as Science Go. Even when streaming, they insert commercials with about the same frequency as if you were watching it live, with no ability to fast-forward through them.

 

[explanade]

I subscribe to 3 streaming services:, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Curiosity Stream. None of them have commercials. And most of the programming is 1080p and 5.1 audio.

I run Kodi on a Fire TV box which enables free EPG (electronic program guide) and DVR functionality for broadcast TV, which of course allows me to fast-forward through commercials on recorded content. And again full 1080p and 5.1 audio.

The only case where I'm forced to watch commercials is on a few of the "cable apps" on Fire TV, such as Science Go. Even when streaming, they insert commercials with about the same frequency as if you were watching it live, with no ability to fast-forward through them.

There's a difference between streaming services like Netflix which streams older content from other sources and mostly their original content and services like Playstation Vue or DirecTV Now, which are replicating cable TV channels, which include all kinds of commercials.

 

[greydog17]

We've been streaming PS Vue for a week. So far, no issue with the programming but the interface is disappointing. We use an Amazon Fire Stick , and the delay in response time is beyond anything I've ever experienced. I takes around 4 minutes to turn on the tv and get to a specific channel, not including any browsing of the guide. I have no way to determine if this is the Fire Stick, the wi-fi, or the PS-V interface, and am not willing to buy a new Roku unit to find out. The Roku unit we have for our other second TV won't download the PS-V app, it apparently is too old. We've paid for the month so we have a few weeks to decide what to do, but so far the PS-Vue is not the robust option I expected.

Had same issue with Fire Stick when relocated TV to different room. TV worked fine but Fire Stick slowed way down upon start up as you describe. Found that I plugged fire stick power to TV using USB, vs orig setup where fire stick AC adapter was plugged to outlet. When I changed back to AC adapter Fire Stick resumed its quick start up.

 

[Cobra9777]

There's a difference between streaming services like Netflix which streams older content from other sources and mostly their original content and services like Playstation Vue or DirecTV Now, which are replicating cable TV channels, which include all kinds of commercials.

OK gotcha. I usually think of such live TV services as just an alternative delivery of standard cable offerings, not "streaming" in the classic sense. With classic streaming there's no need for a DVR and no commercials (except Hulu).

 

[IMATERP]

We just signed on to Google Fiber! The lower speed is much faster than AOL/Time/Spectrum ever was. We did opt for the Television package as the package is much more robust than AOL/Time/Spectrum enhanced basic. Anyway, we went up a few dollars on this go around - but no more than what AOL/Time/Spectrum would have increased us to - had we remained.

My wife and I agreed to get us much out of the service as possible over the next year - and then revisit the decision. I wanted to fully cut the chord but wife talked me into at least trying another provider.

Michael

 

[Midpack]

OK gotcha. I usually think of such live TV services as just an alternative delivery of standard cable offerings, not "streaming" in the classic sense. With classic streaming there's no need for a DVR and no commercials (except Hulu).

PS Vue, Sling TV, DirectTV Now, YouTube TV and Hulu Live all have varying levels of on-demand programming, and they're adding more all the time. Many cord-cutters don't realize there may be little if any need for a DVR sooner or later. In time the rerun only services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime will be redundant if they're not already. It depends on what's available where you are, what your wants/needs are and what you're willing to pay. It's the beginning of the end for traditional cable and satellite, good riddance IMO.

 

[Pilot2013]

I run Kodi on a Fire TV box which enables free EPG (electronic program guide) and DVR functionality for broadcast TV

I have kodi on a fire stick. Does the stick also have the DVR functionality for broadcast tv?

I also saw someone say Apple TV has Directv NOW as well?

I have Directv Sat now at $118/month. I am seriously considering changing to Directv NOW. Just have to convince DW it will work correctly and won't be a nightmare for her to learn how to navigate.

 

[Cobra9777]

I have kodi on a fire stick. Does the stick also have the DVR functionality for broadcast tv?

If you can run Kodi on the stick, the answer is yes. But it does require some one-time, upfront configuration. I described my set up in an earlier thread here.