Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) - 2021 version

[GalaxyBoy]

Great news about YTTV getting 5.1, that is way overdue.

I had not heard about that; thanks.

However, it appears it will only apply to on-demand content and although YTTV is rolling it out to different devices, they haven't revealed which devices are supported as yet.

https://streamingclarity.com/youtube-tv-5-1-dolby-surround-sound-on-demand-only/

YouTube TV recently started rolling out 5.1 Dolby surround sound support to provide subscribers with a richer listening experience and to match the improved visual experience through the addition of 4K support. However, it now looks like the 5.1 surround sound only actually applies to on-demand content and it remains unclear if that will change anytime soon.

[snip]

When first announcing the 5.1 surround sound rollout, YouTube mentioned movies, but didn’t go into any further details on the exact level of support. Based on this latest update, however, YouTube TV subscribers should only expect to have access to 5.1 surround sound during video on-demand content, something some users on Reddit and elsewhere have already started noticing. Even then, access to surround sound is likely to be further limited based on the device in use. YouTube had previously stated the support would begin by rolling out to “select devices” without detailing which.

 

[GTFan]

That's beyond stupid since all the HD content comes with Dolby 2.0 or 5.1. Live/DVR'd content should be exactly the same as on demand.

Really don't understand the 'select devices' either, pretty much every streamer handles 5.1.

 

[Sojourner]

Well, the moment of truth has finally arrived for me.

My 6-year old Directv receiver gave up the ghost last night. Something inside shorted/burned out (I heard a soft crackle and could even see a faint flash of light in the dark room), and now it is totally dead, won't power on at all.

Ironically, my Directv monthly bill just this month rose from $60 to $140. The $60 bargain price was due to some large discounts I'd negotiated about a year ago.

We don't typically watch much live TV, only the occasional sporting event or maybe a little news here and there. The vast majority of our TV time is spent on Netflix, HBO, and AMZN Prime. But there are certainly some instances where I'd miss having Directv, like during football season (although I'm watching much less now than ever before).

I think something like Sling Blue (or Orange) for $35/month might be a 90% solution for us, especially when supplemented with Locast. As of right now, I am leaning towards just telling Directv that I'm (finally, actually) canceling. It will be really interesting to see how the conversation proceeds when it becomes clear that I'm not just saying "cancel" in order to get some juicy discounts. But, OTOH, if they offer something like $50/month and a new, free receiver to replace the dead one... well, that might be enough to keep me on the hook for another year. Honestly, I almost hope that doesn't happen so I can truly "cut the cord" once and for all.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Locast expanded to its 36th market today, with its launch in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, TV market, which includes cities from Sheboygan to Kenosha.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/locast-brings-free-live-local-channels-to-milwaukee/

 

[pb4uski]

Well, the moment of truth has finally arrived for me. ...

If you have good internet service, then I would jettison DirectTV and go streaming. At our summer home last year we shifted from Dish TV that we had had for over 10 years to streaming using YTTV. IMO, YTTV was every bit as good as Dish or Xfinity that we have in Florida... just a little different. And YTTV is $65/month... about the same as you are paying to Direct TV now and includes your locals that Locast would provide.

Later on, we discovered that we can get pretty decent OTA where the internet tools were saying it would be a longshot. So we now have an antenna and get all the majors except for Fox. We added a Fire TV Recast OTA DVR to record programs off of the antenna and we supplement that with Amazon Prime Video, BritBox and PBS Passport.

So we went from $65 with Dish TV to $50 with YTTV (before the increase to $65) to $7 for BritBox (we previously had Prime Video and PBS Passport for streaming even bachen we had Dish).

Go for it!

 

[REWahoo]

As of right now, I am leaning towards just telling Directv that I'm (finally, actually) canceling. It will be really interesting to see how the conversation proceeds when it becomes clear that I'm not just saying "cancel" in order to get some juicy discounts.

I wondered the same thing when, as a 12+ year customer I called to cancel in late 2018. Apparently there were so many people cutting the cord back then there was little appetite to go to great lengths to retain customers. It was almost as if they had given up. Might be different now.

But, OTOH, if they offer something like $50/month and a new, free receiver to replace the dead one... well, that might be enough to keep me on the hook for another year. Honestly, I almost hope that doesn't happen so I can truly "cut the cord" once and for all.

Tempting as a great deal may be, I think you will find great satisfaction in the freedom to subscribe for a month at a time only to the services you really watch. I'm a big college football fan and having an OTA antenna plus Sling for five months out of the year works great. We have Prime year round and rotate other month-long subscriptions to various services to maintain variety.

 

[Sojourner]

Tempting as a great deal may be, I think you will find great satisfaction in the freedom to subscribe for a month at a time only to the services you really watch. I'm a big college football fan and having an OTA antenna plus Sling for five months out of the year works great. We have Prime year round and rotate other month-long subscriptions to various services to maintain variety.

Excellent point, definitely need to keep this in mind. By rotating monthly subscriptions, there is little doubt I could get almost everything I want/need for less than I'd be paying DirecTV.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Amazon Video will no longer support older Roku Devices as of 11/1/21

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I would post this new info here. I received this email today from Amazon Video:

Dear Customer,

Amazon will no longer be supporting the Prime Video app on your Roku device (The specific models no longer supported are: 3500X, 2710X, 2720X, 2700X, 3050X, 3100X, 2400X, 3000X, 2500X, 2450X, 3400X, and 3420X) as of 1st November, 2021. We are continually upgrading our service and this occasionally means we can no longer support certain device models.

To help you to continue streaming your favorite content, customers may purchase a new Roku device at a discount. Log in with your Roku account to see the offer: https://my.roku.com/upgrade/prime-exclusive-upgrade/details.

A complete list of compatible devices where you can continue to watch Prime Video can be found here: https://www.primevideo.com/help/?nodeId=GXMWDGNCPX2JLPFH.

Thanks for watching with us.

Sincerely,

Prime Video
www.amazon.com

No sooner did Roku finalize its agreement with Spectrum (last week) so that Spectrum is now viewable again on Roku, for new subscribers and this happens. It think the content providers are trying to force their own streaming devices on the viewer.

 

[zinger1457]

Many of those Roku devices listed are old models and also no longer supported by Roku.

 

[Midpack]

Amazon will no longer be supporting the Prime Video app on your Roku device (The specific models no longer supported are: 3500X, 2710X, 2720X, 2700X, 3050X, 3100X, 2400X, 3000X, 2500X, 2450X, 3400X, and 3420X) as of 1st November, 2021. We are continually upgrading our service and this occasionally means we can no longer support certain device models.

It think the content providers are trying to force their own streaming devices on the viewer.

Not sure what's surprising about that announcement. Upgrading a Roku after close to 10 years doesn't seem at all unreasonable or uncommon in consumer electronics. Amazon isn't doing anything many providers don't routinely do periodically, so your conclusion may mistaken?

Amazon is going to drop support for older players. Many providers don't support those models. They simply don't have the processing power to work with the latest channels. Some of those models are close to 10 years old (if not more). Roku itself still officially supports only four of those devices listed, and they are really old, underpowered devices, dating from 2013 & 2014: models 2700, 2710, 2720, & 3500. All the rest in that list are already not supported by Roku, and have not been supported for years.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Not sure what's surprising about that announcement. Upgrading a Roku after close to 10 years doesn't seem at all unreasonable or uncommon in consumer electronics. Amazon isn't doing anything many providers don't routinely do periodically, so your conclusion may mistaken?

Amazon is going to drop support for older players. Many providers don't support those models. They simply don't have the processing power to work with the latest channels. Some of those models are close to 10 years old (if not more). Roku itself still officially supports only four of those devices listed, and they are really old, underpowered devices, dating from 2013 & 2014: models 2700, 2710, 2720, & 3500. All the rest in that list are already not supported by Roku, and have not been supported for years.

Good to know. I tried to figure out what models my 4 Roku devices and 1 Roku smart TV are, but could not find a model number anywhere on the devices. 3 of the devices look like the stick which Amazon wants users to upgrade to, so I'm hopeful that those 3 will still work. One roku stick we have will likely not work, after 11/1. Not sure about the Sharp Smart TV with built in Roku. I might need a stick for that set.

 

[Midpack]

Good to know. I tried to figure out what models my 4 Roku devices and 1 Roku smart TV are, but could not find a model number anywhere on the devices. 3 of the devices look like the stick which Amazon wants users to upgrade to, so I'm hopeful that those 3 will still work. One roku stick we have will likely not work, after 11/1. Not sure about the Sharp Smart TV with built in Roku. I might need a stick for that set.

Here you go…

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

It's over for Locast

Locast lost a pretrial motion for a summary judgement a few days ago and this morning they shut down operations.
A sad day for many people who can't get an Antenna signal in their location.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/locast-suspends-service-as-legal-battle-with-broadcasters-continues/

 

[bltkmt]

Locast lost a pretrial motion for a summary judgement a few days ago and this morning they shut down operations.
A sad day for many people who can't get an Antenna signal in their location.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/locast-suspends-service-as-legal-battle-with-broadcasters-continues/

That sucks.

 

[statsman]

Well, I guess that simplifies matters somewhat. DW really doesn't have much interest in broadcast TV anymore. TV is full of garbage these days, and broadcast TV is the poster child for that. If push comes to shove and we absolutely need to view a broadcast TV channel, an indoor antenna works for us. DVR-ing a local channel would be another matter.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Cobra9777]

I was a locast fan. But honestly, it lasted a lot longer than I expected. I think the broadcast networks needed some time to find an argument against the non-profit exception. In the end, they just convinced the court that locast was not really a non-profit because the monthly "donation" was necessary to make the service watchable, due to the constant interruptions on the free version. So maybe that paves the path for a locast 2.0 with a different method of collecting donations. Locast stopped the interruptions yesterday, which I thought was their response to the court's ruling. But it now appears that locast as an entity is dead.

 

[Trailwalker]

Hopefully, the automatic donations stop also. It's definitely dead in the water. Back to screwing around with installing an antenna. An indoor antenna does not work for us, and my wife hates the idea of an outdoor antenna.

 

[REWahoo]

An indoor antenna does not work for us, and my wife hates the idea of an outdoor antenna.

I installed the Channel Master antenna pictured below in our attic and get great reception from 47 miles away. It isn't large (2ft x 3ft) and was really easy to install.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I'm assuming since they ceased operations then the automatic donation will just stop on it's own.
I'll find out next month, it's to much work for $5.50 to bother about right now.
What I don't understand about this is that Locast in it's own way was helping the networks, their paid commercials were being broadcast to so many more households. In theory that should have helped them to raise their ad rates but I suppose if no way to prove it then then it wouldn't.

 

[Cobra9777]

Locast is dead

I find it strange that some people get the broadcast networks for free and others have to pay, just based on geography. We live about 50 miles from the broadcast towers. But there's a rather large hill next door that completely blocks the already-weak signal. Yet two streets over, all the houses have antennas and get reasonably good reception.

We live in tornado country, so it's essential to have access to local weather break-in's during these events. With no OTA available, we are forced to subscribe to something to get this critical information in real time. We used locast for quite a while. But DW likes YTTV now. It's over $70/mo all-in. And all she really watches is network stuff that we could have accessed on locast. Oh well, I guess that argument is gone now.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I installed the Channel Master antenna pictured below in our attic and get great reception from 47 miles away. It isn't large (2ft x 3ft) and was really easy to install.

After you recommended this antenna at what was a great price at the time I bought and it's still sitting in the box. Now with Locast gone, I need to get it installed soon. Right now a cheap indoor flat panel one taped to the window is doing the job but it will be nice when I can get the signal in all rooms in the house.
Another downside to antenna reception is that the smoke from the fires in California has been messing with the signal, that never happened with Locast.

 

[Trailwalker]

I've had one sitting in a box for awhile. I also have a big wooded hill behind the house, and the tv broadcast towers are about 35 miles away. The attic installation might work. I'm trying to figure out a good way to test it before any access holes are drilled. I'm going to need a longer cable, and I've read that the longer the cable the more degraded the signal can become. Maybe it's just a good time to give up tv.....but just before Packer season. Rats.

 

[Chuckanut]

I find it strange that some people get the broadcast networks for free and others have to pay, just based on geography

That's the way it's been for decades. The only difference today is that the people who could not get broadcast TV in the 1950's had no other choice. Well, they could drive over to a friends house who did get the signals and watch there.

My parents first had cable when they moved to a retirement community outside of the big city. The community (over 500 homes) erected a tower on a nearby hill with an antenna and then sent the signal to the homes via a network of cables. That was it. No Comcast or other source of TV signals.

 

[Sojourner]

I find it strange that some people get the broadcast networks for free and others have to pay, just based on geography. We live about 50 miles from the broadcast towers. But there's a rather large hill next door that completely blocks the already-weak signal. Yet two streets over, all the houses have antennas and get reasonably good reception.

I don't see what's so strange about this. Seems to me it's just the natural state of the world. Some will live in spots with good broadcast TV reception (or access to hospitals, or good cell tower coverage, or hi-speed internet access, etc.) and some won't. The specific location where my house is built has pretty bad cellular network reception (only 1-2 bars, typically) and spotty, mediocre broadcast TV reception. So, I have to pay for good HSI in order to use VOIP for most of my phone calls, and I have to pay for DirecTV (or similar) in order to get high quality broadcast TV programming. IMHO, this isn't strange... just somewhat annoying, like many other things in life.

 

[Cobra9777]

That's the way it's been for decades...

I don't see what's so strange about this. Seems to me it's just the natural state of the world...

What's so strange is that it can be easily fixed. That's exactly what locast was. So it's obviously not a technical challenge. As someone previously posted, one would think that the broadcast networks would WANT expanded distribution of their ad-heavy content. But locast threatened the very lucrative retransmission fees that the broadcast networks now charge to cable, satellite, and streaming services.

So yeah, I think it's strange that ad revenue is obviously less important now than retransmission revenue. Yet some people, based purely on geography, don't have to pay it. It's clearly not a physical or technical problem. It's just a mucked up business model IMHO.