Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[explanade]

Any of the services streaming 5.1?

 

[Osprey]

When we got the email on Hulu live increasing to $54.99 a month, I considered switching back to ATT Directv Now but a wall street journal article yesterday on the Hulu price increase stated that last month ATT announced a Direct Now price increase from $50 to $65 a month making the Hulu increase look reasonable. So gonna stick with Hulu for now.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hulu-i.../CpOb6/zaIGZY6+&reflink=article_copyURL_share

 

[Cobra9777]

Any of the services streaming 5.1?

The Streamable has a page with various audio and video specs for each of the major live streaming services. This is what they say about audio:

Most of the services have stereo sound on their streaming channels. DIRECTV NOW has added Dolby Digital 5.1 on many live channels and DVR recording on select devices like Apple TV 4K and Fire TV.

Other services have some on demand content with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound on select devices (PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV, and Sling TV).

Personally, I've yet to run across an on-demand program with 5.1 surround sound during 2 years of using PS Vue. Same during my recent free trials of YTTV and Hulu.

Most content on Netflix and Amazon Prime includes surround sound.

 

[Rustic23]

MSNBC
HGTV
Food Network.

I just checked my YTTV,

HGTV ski commercials
Food Network skip commercials

Never watch or record MSNBC

I believe CBS is the biggest culprit when it comes to replacing shows with DVR you can not fast forward through. There may be others, but CBS is the worst.

 

[ncbill]

Since Disney+ is now available (paid ~$140 for 3 years) I'll just cancel Netflix when my "free" year (bought someone else's promo) ends early 2020.

No need to subscribe to all streaming services all at once...with an attic antenna all broadcast networks are free for me, and with my Tivo Roamio all commercials are easily skipped.

Next week I'll sign up for ESPN+ for a game I want to watch...then I'll cancel before the free trial ends.

 

[RunningBum]

I believe CBS is the biggest culprit when it comes to replacing shows with DVR you can not fast forward through. There may be others, but CBS is the worst.

Yes, that's what I find. If I start watching CBS from the start while the show is recording, I can FF thru commercials. I think I can still do it even after the show is over as long as I watch that evening. The next day or anything after, I get some commercials that I can't stream through. None of the other networks are like this.

I haven't recorded anything from the other channels asked about.

 

[Doribe]

I finally took the plunge. The old TV kicked the bucket so we splurged for a new smart TV. I hooked up the antennae and added a dual Tablo ($149 at Best Buy). I live in the Chicago area so I can pull in all the major networks and a lot of other channels that I probably won't watch. I have extra hard drives to use with the Tablo. I haven't recorded since the VHS days since I could get shows with Comcast's On Demand. I might record one or two shows. I pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and PBS Passport.

The hold up was DH's wish to watch Comedy Central which he seems to be over. We are still figuring out the sports. The Cubs have gone rogue so I don't know what will happen with them next year. I believe we can get football one way or another. We have a son that seems to always know how to stream football.

Comcast bill starting $199/mo -> ending $100/mo for internet, home security, and taxes.

I was getting scared we were tuning into my FIL who used a dialup and got to the point that he couldn't handle the change.

 

[mountainsoft]

My mom is in an assisted living that does not provide any cable TV service. Indoor TV antennas could only pull in one or two stations at her location. She signed up with Comcast when she moved in, but it has just gotten more and more expensive over the last couple years. It already irked me that she had to pay a $10 sports fee when she doesn't watch sports, now they moved her favorite Turner Classic Movies to a sports package that costs another $10. The cost is getting up to $125 a month which is ridiculous for someone with a limited income who only watches 5 or 6 channels.

I looked at FuboTV and YouTube TV, both of which carry TCM and the other channels she likes. She has a really hard time with technology so the simpler the better. I liked FuboTV but the picture quality wasn't as good as YouTube TV. Fubo let me rearrange channels but I couldn't hide sports channels completely. I like that I can hide unwanted channels in YouTube TV and rearrange them in the guide. FuboTV was certainly easier to sign up for and configure on her Roku, but YouTubeTV was easier to manage from the mobile app once everything is up and running.

I wish there was a way to hide the "home" screen in YouTubeTV, or at least let the guide be the default screen when the Roku App opens up.

Anyway, I set her up with a month of YouTubeTV to see if she can adapt to it. It would be half the price of what she is paying for cable, but she doesn't like change. I spent yesterday trying to train her and have her practice using it, but I have a feeling she'll say it's too hard to use and go back to her cable service.

 

[pb4uski]

I just checked my YTTV,

HGTV ski commercials
Food Network skip commercials

Never watch or record MSNBC

I believe CBS is the biggest culprit when it comes to replacing shows with DVR you can not fast forward through. There may be others, but CBS is the worst.

Talk about skipping commercials... when we got to the winter condo and upgraded to a Xfinity DVR for the winter we noticed that it has a neat new feature that it didn't have last year... when watching many (but not all) recorded shows and looking at the recording timeline... the timeline is blue for the show and gold for commercials... when you get to a comercial and hit fast forward (or FF 4 times) it automatically fast forwards to the end of the commercial break and resumes the program... similar to Auto-Hop on our Dish DVR.

 

[MissMolly]

Tablo upgraded their software earlier this year so now you don't have to fast forward through commercials any longer. They are just automatically filtered out by the software (provided you enable that option). You only have to enable the option once and it then it works for all recorded OTA shows.

 

[explanade]

The Streamable has a page with various audio and video specs for each of the major live streaming services. This is what they say about audio:



Personally, I've yet to run across an on-demand program with 5.1 surround sound during 2 years of using PS Vue. Same during my recent free trials of YTTV and Hulu.

Most content on Netflix and Amazon Prime includes surround sound.

Thanks for the rundown, so something to keep in mind.

The Showtime Anytime and HBO Go apps. produce better than regular Dolby Digital, so these services are cutting corners.

 

[Katsmeow]

FWIW we only have 3 days experience with Hulu Live and standard 50 hour DVR, but we’ve DVR’d several programs and we were able to FF at will thru program content and commercials. Permits X2, X4, X16 or X32 and even shows frames so you know when commercials are over to resume play. I’ve read the same things that led me to believe we wouldn’t be able to FF without paying for the enhanced DVR?

Of course we can’t FF at all with Hulu on-demand content BUT many on-demand programs have far fewer ads than live, 1/2 to 2/3rds less than the original live versions.

If you DVR something that Hulu offers on demand do they replace your DVR content with the on demand version and then you can't FF?

I just checked my YTTV,

HGTV ski commercials
Food Network skip commercials

Never watch or record MSNBC

I believe CBS is the biggest culprit when it comes to replacing shows with DVR you can not fast forward through. There may be others, but CBS is the worst.

This is helpful. I think we will trial YTTV.

 

[Midpack]

If you DVR something that Hulu offers on demand do they replace your DVR content with the on demand version and then you can't FF?

Early on but we’ve recorded over a dozen programs and none appear to have been replaced with on demand versions. I think I’ve found the FF rub with DVR. We can FF at will thru content and ads on recorded epidsodes - but if you start watching an ad block, you can’t then FF thru. So you can skip whole blocks, but not once you start watching - maybe that’s what changes with the enhanced DVR. There’s an onscreen message that’s says you can’t rewind or fast forward during commercials. BUT again, there are far fewer commercials in some/many on demand programs, as little as 30 secs or 1 min-30 sec blocks in many I’ve seen so far - way less than the 3 and 4 minutes blocks in many live broadcasts.

And we have been able to FF thru ads on some on demand programs, I just did with an early Veronica Mars episode. But some you can’t, though ads are fewer than originals. I haven’t figured out what the rules are...

...FWIW, with PS Vue we found we could FF thru ads was mostly dictated by network. Some networks allowed unlimited FF, some never allowed FF, and a few networks dictated by program (FF not allowed with popular programs, allowed with less popular). I don’t think it’s always determined by the streaming package, it’s the networks.

 

[bUU]

So I threw in the cord cutting towel for now. I'm going to wait out the big streaming competition coming over the next two years to see how it plays out (I will keep my netflix for now). ... This USA Today article matches my feelings. "Too much: Why the streaming wars between Apple, Disney, HBO and more are ruining TV".."Television is no longer easy entertainment delivered directly to our living rooms. Instead, it's become one more thing we have to “keep up with.”

Looks like those of us enjoying the flexible, contract-free, low cost benefits of streaming will soon have to kiss low cost goodbye.

This was inevitable, and basically what I've been saying would happen (in some form) since joining this thread years ago. However, it should be noted that what timo2 has decided to "wait out" is probably the last two years there will be any early adopter advantage whatsoever.

 

[pb4uski]

It's still early.... eventually the surviving players will want to compete for share and prices will decline, similar what we have seen for cellphone services... today I pay $18/month for unlimited talk/text and 1GB of high speed data and I paid many time that 10 years ago.

 

[zinger1457]

The Showtime Anytime and HBO Go apps. produce better than regular Dolby Digital, so these services are cutting corners.

I noticed something similar when I had HBO/Showtime as a promo with DirecTV, I ended up using the apps. on my 4K Firestick most of the time, the picture quality was noticeably better.

 

[RonBoyd]

… none appear to have been replaced with on demand versions.

Just curious. Is there a separate version from the "on demand" one? The reason I ask is I always record the "on demand" broadcast with PlayOn... or believe that is the version.

In any event, I have no problem FFing the resulting files. This may be because I use PlayOn to record everything and play back with the PlayOn Player (in ROKU or Shield). The commercials are skipped during playback but I can go forward or back at will; displaying the commercials if I choose to. (When playing the recording with another program -- i.e., PLEX, VLC, etc. -- however, the commercials, of course, are not skipped but I can go forward/back without issue.)

 

[GenXguy]

I cut the cord 6 1/2 years ago (estimated 5 years earlier in this thread, but looked up my antenna purchase, which was in 2013.) I'm using a HTPC with a couple OTA tuner cards and free OpenSource SageTV software. I'm a true cord cutter of all paid TV services, meaning I haven't even spent a cent on any streaming services - ever. And based on these prices I'm seeing people posting here, I can't imagine ever doing so. At this point, I've even held off on the $2/mo program guide subscription. If I had to pay near $50/mo for a decent streaming package, that might be the incentive I need to give up TV completely. But with all this free OTA programming, I don't think that's ever going to happen.

 

[Midpack]

Just curious. Is there a separate version from the "on demand" one?

Yes

 

[bUU]

It's still early.... eventually the surviving players will want to compete for share and prices will decline...

However, invariably, the total expenditure for video entertainment will be roughly the same, overall, adjusted for inflation.

similar what we have seen for cellphone services.... today I pay $18/month for unlimited talk/text and 1GB of high speed data and I paid many time that 10 years ago.

I think I paid a total of $18/month to cover my communications needs back in the early 1980s. I'm paying roughly the same now to cover my communications needs, overall, adjusted for inflation.

 

[RonBoyd]

Yes

Okay, I deserved that. <chuckle> How do they differ? And, more importantly, are they found in different locations... by different methods?

 

[zinger1457]

It's still early.... eventually the surviving players will want to compete for share and prices will decline, similar what we have seen for cellphone services... today I pay $18/month for unlimited talk/text and 1GB of high speed data and I paid many time that 10 years ago.

I just don't see prices dropping for the 'live' TV bundle streaming services, if anything prices will continue to go up, they have little to no control over their programming cost. They are all bleeding money as it is and there are only three main players left in the game. Intel, Apple, and Verizon all dropped plans for live bundle TV service, just no money in it. Will likely see more of the specialized streaming services like Netflex, Disney+, Apple+, etc.

 

[deadhorse]

Apple TV+ on Roku

I purchased a new iPhone and have one year of Apple TV+ free. I have the free year on my iPhone. Is there any way to get the free year on my TV using Roku?

 

[MissMolly]

I purchased a new iPhone and have one year of Apple TV+ free. I have the free year on my iPhone. Is there any way to get the free year on my TV using Roku?

It depends on your Roku player. https://support.roku.com/article/360036652634-how-do-i-use-the-apple-tv-channel-on-my-roku-streaming-device-

 

[Midpack]

Okay, I deserved that. <chuckle> How do they differ? And, more importantly, are they found in different locations... by different methods?

I’m sure the differences depend on which live app you’re using e.g. Hulu, YTTV, etc. On Hulu Live I can go to My Stuff>TV Shows, pick a particular show, and it shows all available On-Demand seasons/episodes and it shows any DVR recordings of that show as well. Or in MyStuff>Manage DVR it shows all our recorded shows, so we can delete shows as we watch them and preserve hours.

It’s been discussed many times already, generally we can FF thru content and ads at will with DVR recordings, but not with more recent On-Demand. However, with older on-demand content, there are way fewer ads and some we can FF thru at will. Whatever rules govern on-demand ad FF or not are a mystery to me, other than I know networks themselves have a lot of influence there.