Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[stephenson]

Like others, we don’t do cable tv any longer. We have Netflix,. Prime, PBS, Hulu (worth $2 a month but no more), Acorn.

Just switched from Cox to ATT - have Cox a chance to match ATT - the answer was no. Installed ATT fiber at 27% less per month, including the required gateway rental. Called Cox to terminate and they immediately offered a rate $1 lower than ATT.

Two of us online constantly, stream about three hours a day.

I owned the slow cable modem for Cox and we got 130mbps down - never an issue streaming, total data never an issue.

ATT speeds around 300-500 mbps down - can’t tell the difference in normal usage - online or streaming.

Have a small hard plastic OTA antenna in same cabinet as gateway, AVR, etc ...get 36 broadcast channels with onscreen channel guide, all integrated through the AppleTV box.

This is all about the price.

I feel better every night knowing I paid Cox back for their rotten customer service, continual price increases without reason that we’re corrected only after HOURS on the phone.

If ATT does the Cox near-criminal dance, I’ll fire them and trade back and forth between the two.

More options are coming!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Wow... hard to believe a full 60% of people watching "TV shows" nowadays are not even watching them on a TV screen. I can't imagine routinely, happily watching a Netflix or HBO movie or series on a cramped little laptop, tablet, or phone(!) screen. I only do that when absolutely necessary, like on a long airplane flight. I guess lots of folks these days don't really care that much about a high-quality, immersive, "theater" viewing experience. Why anyone would forgo that in favor of hunching over in front of little laptop or tablet screen is beyond me... unless they can't afford it or don't really care that much about TV/movies/shows to begin with.

That does surprise me but both my SIL and MIL both watch a significant amount of TV on a tablet or laptop so maybe I shouldn't be surpised. Mostly because they watch something other than what their spouses watch.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

So, question to you cord cutters: is 1TB typically enough for cord cutting in a 2 person (both retired), non-gamer, non-4k, household??

We had Netflix this month and watched probably an average of 1 1/2 hours per day. Our usage was below 0.4TB. I think 1TB should be fine.
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You should be fine. Before going "back on the cord" we streamed exclusively...probably 4-8 hours a day (often TV is left on after going to sleep) and we never used more than 700'ish GB. We are also two person household, no gaming. Oh, and we are both home *all* the time and computer use is pretty heavy.

 

[someguy]

We use around 400GB/mo. Primary/night time TV is often 4K Netflix and Amazon. Plus miscellaneous other HDTV streaming via YTTV. And a fair amount of music and YouTube use, plus working from home.

The next question is provider. I will likely stick with AT&T at their 300Meg plan which includes 1TB cap. I can go uncapped for another $20 and their 1G service. I'd rather not. I've had no problems streaming at 300M.

So, question to you cord cutters: is 1TB typically enough for cord cutting in a 2 person (both retired), non-gamer, non-4k, household??

We had Netflix this month and watched probably an average of 1 1/2 hours per day. Our usage was below 0.4TB. I think 1TB should be fine.
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[JoeWras]

Thanks all! Very helpful. THIS kind of thread is what keeps me coming to ER.org.

BTW, I like AT&T's fiber service. Their equipment has capability to work through short power outages. I guess it comes from their old POTs days.

Inside, you have to have battery backup on the fiber termination and router in your house too.

Spectrum and Google Fiber: no so much.

 

[statsman]

Well, tomorrow my Uverse deal expires. Reading around, it looks like my old trick of calling up and talking to retention won't work anymore, as they'll direct me to this "great deal" of ATT TV for only $65 per month which reverts to $110 in the second (required) year.

Nope, I'm not getting into any 2 year contract with fine print. They can pound sand.

Are you saying existing Uverse customers only have the option of AT&T TV when their Uverse promos expire if they wish to continue with AT&T's TV service? I guess Direct TV is another and not trivial option with AT&T.

^Discovery Plus as a separate service should be coming soon.

Any idea which of the Discovery channels would be available with Discovery Plus and its monthly cost?

 

[JustVisitingThisPlanet]

^Sounds like Discovery+ available in India now at $4/month, but no word on when to be released in US or how much. They might need to wait for license agreements to expire in US before released, not sure.

 

[JoeWras]

Are you saying existing Uverse customers only have the option of AT&T TV when their Uverse promos expire if they wish to continue with AT&T's TV service? I guess Direct TV is another and not trivial option with AT&T.

No I am not. One can continue with Uverse at the normal price.

I am saying they won't offer Uverse incentives anymore. This is reported widely on various forums. I will call and confirm this for myself. I need the right day and right state of mind to give them a call.

Over the past 7 years, it has been worthwhile for me to call, go to USA based retention, and negotiate a deal on getting money off of the Uverse price. In the past 3 years it has been super easy since I now have both Spectrum (cable) and Google Fiber available. They see that and immediately cave with large price reductions. Years ago, I usually had to agree to a 1 year plan with clawbacks on early termination. For the last 3 years, it has been $50 or $60 off with no termination fees. Very nice.

Now that they have scrubbed Uverse from all their marketing, it has become a legacy service. They won't cancel it. However, it is not available to new customers. If you call and ask for a deal, they inform you that their deals on are their new service, AT&T TV. They want Uverse people to move to that. And they'll hard-sell you on the free HBO Max included (which I could care less about).

I'm not sure what happens if your Uverse DVR or set top box fails. Unknown if they'll try to move you or not.

So, sure, one can keep Uverse. And expect price rises each January, which I am guessing will become more aggressive.

 

[aja8888]

I received my new LG 43" Smart TV yesterday via UPS. When I took it out of the box, the screen looked like UPS held a soccer game on it during transit. The outside of the box looked fine though? How could they damage a screen that bad and not tear the box up? Amazing! (could be the driver used it as a long seat cushion)

Best Buy is sending a replacement TV today (one day service!). And, a human answered the phone when I called about the damage.

So long Amazon! (try calling them these days.....impossible)

 

[statsman]

I received my new LG 43" Smart TV yesterday via UPS. When I took it out of the box, the screen looked like UPS held a soccer game on it during transit. The outside of the box looked fine though? How could they damage a screen that bad and not tear the box up? Amazing! (could be the driver used it as a long seat cushion)

Best Buy is sending a replacement TV today (one day service!). And, a human answered the phone when I called about the damage.

So long Amazon! (try calling them these days.....impossible)

Your story is the exact reason we have never ordered a TV online. All brick and mortar purchases. Even when you could save a bit 15 years ago with an online purchase, we still went with a local store (Video Only in the Bay Area of California). The last two TVs purchased 5-6 years ago were both at Best Buy, and the price difference wasn't much more than Amazon at the time.

 

[statsman]

No I am not. One can continue with Uverse at the normal price.

I am saying they won't offer Uverse incentives anymore. This is reported widely on various forums. I will call and confirm this for myself. I need the right day and right state of mind to give them a call.

Yikes. DW is not going to be happy about this. She's 95% of the reason we have TV services.

 

[REWahoo]

I received my new LG 43" Smart TV yesterday via UPS. When I took it out of the box, the screen looked like UPS held a soccer game on it during transit. The outside of the box looked fine though? How could they damage a screen that bad and not tear the box up? Amazing! (could be the driver used it as a long seat cushion)

Had the opposite (and preferable) experience a week ago when UPS delivered the 40" TV I ordered from Costco. Two corners of the box were crushed and showed obvious signs the box had been dropped more than once, but thanks to some well executed package engineering by the folks at Samsung, all was well.

 

[aja8888]

Had the opposite (and preferable) experience a week ago when UPS delivered the 40" TV I ordered from Costco. Two corners of the box were crushed and showed obvious signs the box had been dropped more than once, but thanks to some well executed package engineering by the folks at Samsung, all was well.

The LG was packed to the 10's with moulded styrofoam vertical top and bottom edges and none of that was damaged. I can't figure out how they pushed in the screen.

This was the first of about 6 TV's over the years we have ordered online that was damaged.

Best Buy was great to deal with. None of their stores around us had this model which still has a Cat 5 network connection. I am just cabling this set to the router.

 

[KarenC]

Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV)

Clearing reply because of quoting fail.

 

[pb4uski]

I just wanted to let folks know that Fitzy TV now accepts Spectrum cable credentials. Unfortunately no locals, but numerous other cable channels.

 

[Sojourner]

Over the past 7 years, it has been worthwhile for me to call, go to USA based retention, and negotiate a deal on getting money off of the Uverse price. In the past 3 years it has been super easy since I now have both Spectrum (cable) and Google Fiber available. They see that and immediately cave with large price reductions. Years ago, I usually had to agree to a 1 year plan with clawbacks on early termination. For the last 3 years, it has been $50 or $60 off with no termination fees. Very nice.

Now that they have scrubbed Uverse from all their marketing, it has become a legacy service. They won't cancel it. However, it is not available to new customers. If you call and ask for a deal, they inform you that their deals on are their new service, AT&T TV. They want Uverse people to move to that.

This is almost exactly what my experience has been with DirecTV over the past several years, and, like you, I also expect that being able to call in, threaten to cancel, and then get a great deal will not be possible for much longer. I was able to do this successfully about 3 months ago (getting my monthly bill down to $90 for TV & HSI combined), but I'd guess when my monthly discounts and credits run out early next year, they won't be willing to offer enough new ones to retain me as a customer. DirecTV is losing subscribers at such a huge rate that it wouldn't surprise me at all if AT&T were to announce that they're winding the service down completely within the next couple years.

 

[JoeWras]

Another question. Now that I'm getting serious about this...

Hulu Live vs. YTTV. Which?

Suddenly, hulu is looking better to me because I don't think I need unlimited DVR. Also, I can get an add on and get my beloved Sci Channel at about the same price as YTTV which has no option for Sci Channel.

I'll probably trial it live today so I can see how the sports look (hockey tonight).

Opinions on hulu vs. YTTV for someone looking for locals and regional sports?

Yes, I know this has been covered in past pages but the situation changes monthly, what with the recent $15 rise in price on YTTV.

 

[REWahoo]

Another question. Now that I'm getting serious about this...

Hulu Live vs. YTTV. Which?

Cost aside, I think it's a matter of personal preference. I've used both and had no major complaint about either service.

Great thing is they are both free to try for a week or so, then if you make a choice and have second thoughts you are only locked in for 30 days.

 

[JustVisitingThisPlanet]

Another question. Now that I'm getting serious about this...

Hulu Live vs. YTTV. Which?

Suddenly, hulu is looking better to me because I don't think I need unlimited DVR. Also, I can get an add on and get my beloved Sci Channel at about the same price as YTTV which has no option for Sci Channel.

I'll probably trial it live today so I can see how the sports look (hockey tonight).

Opinions on hulu vs. YTTV for someone looking for locals and regional sports?

Yes, I know this has been covered in past pages but the situation changes monthly, what with the recent $15 rise in price on YTTV.

Trial both. I prefer the YTTV interface but Hulu includes the OnDemand content. If you want to extend trial, use another credit card and email address.

 

[JoeWras]

Trying Hulu as I type. The key will be the hockey game tonight. YTTV did a lot of apparent fall back to 360 or 720 resolution. I don't think it was my connection.

The Hulu interface has plusses and minuses. I can perhaps manage with favorite channels. We'll see. Great picture so far. Uverse does extra compression which always makes it soft.

I'm trying to make this process fun.

 

[statsman]

The Hulu interface has plusses and minuses. I can perhaps manage with favorite channels. We'll see. Great picture so far. Uverse does extra compression which always makes it soft.

I noticed that in what little TV I watch. It was a similar experience in our old house that had Comcast cable TV. You could see the compression with the motion artifacts with Comcast. With Uverse, only a few shows I've seen that, but as you said, somewhat soft picture with much of it.

 

[Midpack]

Trying Hulu as I type. The key will be the hockey game tonight. YTTV did a lot of apparent fall back to 360 or 720 resolution. I don't think it was my connection.

The Hulu interface has plusses and minuses. I can perhaps manage with favorite channels. We'll see. Great picture so far. Uverse does extra compression which always makes it soft.

I'm trying to make this process fun.

We have Hulu Live if you have questions. We like the matrix channel guide, hate the icon (Netflix style) UI.

You can’t beat the on demand library with Hulu and we’re fine with the 50 hour DVR. We can find almost anything we want on demand, so why bother with DVR (you still can’t FF thru ads with some programming/networks)? Then with the YTTV price increase, I’m glad we chose Hulu. If you want Viacom you’ll have to go with YTTV, we didn’t care as we can see The Daily Show on free YT. And full disclosure, we’re not Google fans, so that was another strike against YTTV for us.

 

[JoeWras]

We have Hulu Live if you have questions. We like the matrix channel guide, hate the icon (Netflix style) UI.

You can’t beat the on demand library with Hulu and we’re fine with the 50 hour DVR. We can find almost anything we want on demand, so why bother with DVR (you still can’t FF thru ads with some programming/networks)? Then with the YTTV price increase, I’m glad we chose Hulu. If you want Viacom you’ll have to go with YTTV, we didn’t care as we can see The Daily Show on free YT. And full disclosure, we’re not Google fans, so that was another strike against YTTV for us.

Well much like the thread about Amazon (which has a sub theme of Walmart), I'm trying to lesson my Google use too. Not avoid it, just lessen it. That is a plus to me for Hulu.

I don't watch anything Viacom. Never watched the Daily Show. So I guess I'm OK there. No wonder the channel list looked so good to me. It's too bad, I used to like MTV and VH1, but they went off the rails. One guy on the reddit YTTV thread calls MTV the "Ridiculousness Channel". He's right. That's almost all they play now.

 

[JustVisitingThisPlanet]

^Pluto is loaded with older Viacom content for free.

 

[JoeWras]

Impressed with the stability of the Hulu stream and app on Roku for fast paced NHL hockey so far.

For me, this alone is a win over YTTV.