Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) - 2021 version

[Chuckanut]

Spectrum advertises $44.95/mo here, but it's over $130/mo once they add broadcast fees, HD service, DVRs, etc. - what a joke.
.

My local cable company advertises some good rates in big bold print for a two year contract. But, the mouse print gives them the right to raise various other charges (such as local channels, increased from content providers, rental usage fees, etc.) during the two year contract. But, I have no right to exit the contract if these other charges go up. Not so good. They can keep their cables and I will keep my money.

 

[RunningBum]

You can't reorder them, but you can create a list of all your favorite networks, and see only those on the guide. We use that more than the other guide options (e.g. all, recents, sports, news, etc.) - although recents is somewhat useful as well as an alternative to "jump" on a remote (last channel). You can't have favorites appear first followed by all other channels, we used that option back when PSV was around.

Thanks. That sounds workable. I do miss the "last channel" option I had with Dish. If YTTV doesn't settle soon I'll at least try Hulu+. I was thinking I'd have to pay extra for unlimited since I have occasional desire for 3 streams, but I could just get that during college football season and March Madness. Hmm, maybe I'll give it a try now, especially if I can get a free trail. I can't remember if I've done that before with Hulu.

 

[ElizabethT]

My local cable company advertises some good rates in big bold print for a two year contract. But, the mouse print gives them the right to raise various other charges (such as local channels, increased from content providers, rental usage fees, etc.) during the two year contract. But, I have no right to exit the contract if these other charges go up. Not so good. They can keep their cables and I will keep my money.

The further we go down this wormhole of streaming companies becoming as complicated as the cable companies had become when we first jumped off their ship in 2012, the more I feel that kicking the TV habit altogether is about the only way to go. Otherwise, you literally become a hostage to your cable or streaming providers of choice.

Or I guess there is always OTA.

 

[JoeWras]

The further we go down this wormhole of streaming companies becoming as complicated as the cable companies had become when we first jumped off their ship in 2012, the more I feel that kicking the TV habit altogether is about the only way to go. Otherwise, you literally become a hostage to your cable or streaming providers of choice.

Or I guess there is always OTA.

I didn't kick the TV habit, but I kicked the news and sports habit. Once you do that, you can either go with skinny bundles or an individual streamer or two at a fraction of the cost.

 

[ElizabethT]

I didn't kick the TV habit, but I kicked the news and sports habit. Once you do that, you can either go with skinny bundles or an individual streamer or two at a fraction of the cost.

Yes, that is where we are at as well. It does feel good, though it did take some time to do the mental reset. We also have family in significantly different time zones, making the sharing of streaming services very do-able. We pay for one service, Netflix, but enjoy the benefits of Disney+, Amazon Prime, CBS, PBS, and Hulu for free as a result. Streaming companies do not seem to have concern about the number of devices that have access to any given account, only the number of devices being used at a time.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I didn't kick the TV habit, but I kicked the news and sports habit. Once you do that, you can either go with skinny bundles or an individual streamer or two at a fraction of the cost.

+1

We never did sports but had gotten into the bad habit of doomscrolling cable news. By dumping YTTV we’ve freed up enough budget for multiple “traditional” streaming services and our mental health is improving as well.

 

[Venturer]

I have a question for the streaming gurus on here, maybe a dumb one but anyway here goes. We have a local tv cable co. They recently informed everyone that they were going to be doing away with the cable service and converting all to wireless link. They have been in the process of doing this for about 2 years but we were holdouts because of learning how to do it. They sent out their techs and switched us over from cable boxes to wifi router and 3 wifi "receivers". We can stream any programs on our phones, tablets, or computer. They "gave" us 1 fire stick & we purchased 1 more for 2nd tv. We pay for 2 streams. We recently carried 1 of the fire sticks with us when we went on a wekk long camping trip because the campground there has bad ota service. We hooked up the fire stick on the camper tv and started streaming thru our iphone to the tv. Now the problem is we have Verizon "start" unlimited which ggives us 15gigs of high speed data a month and then is is throttled. We streamed 2 programs one evening and got a warning that we were at 13.5 gigs of hotspot data. We unplugged the firestick and didn't use it anymore. Now my question is can we use our regular data to stream programs to our dumb tv without using the hotspot data, and if so how do we do that. We are not really tech savvy, know I can watch some tv on my phone and it dosen't use hotspot but how do I then get that on tv. Thanks in advancefor any help.

 

[RonBoyd]

I do miss the "last channel" option I had with Dish..

We never subscribed to a cable/satellite service so I am unsure what the "last channel" option is exactly.

However, you might be interested in the Fire TV Cube.

As you can see in this screen shot of the "Home" page.



* The top line scrolls through suggested "new" movies (with clickable Trailers) -- on all networks
* The next line is the "Menu" -- 6 "Favorite" networks, + for all others -- including HULU, and Settings
(The next lines are extended by scrolling right)
* The next line is "recently watched" -- which may be what you are referring to. This is handy when quickly switching among several sporting shows on different networks.
* The next line is Sponsored suggestions
* The next line is all subscribed networks

Scrolling down gives many more suggestions.

***********
As an aside the Cube is my favorite streaming device for a lot of reasons:
* It can do everything Alexa can do but on screen.
* When someone rings our doorbell, the camera opens a PIP image that I can use to answer the door without getting up.
* I can monitor all of the security cameras directly on the TV
* Video calls (including ZOOM)
* etc.

 

[REWahoo]

Now my question is can we use our regular data to stream programs to our dumb tv without using the hotspot data, and if so how do we do that.

Yes.

You need to set the Fire stick to your home router wi-fi network. Search YouTube for one of the many videos on "How to set up a Fire TV stick" and follow the instructions.

A second option is to bribe a teenage boy to do it for you.

 

[statsman]

My local cable company advertises some good rates in big bold print for a two year contract. But, the mouse print gives them the right to raise various other charges (such as local channels, increased from content providers, rental usage fees, etc.) during the two year contract. But, I have no right to exit the contract if these other charges go up. Not so good. They can keep their cables and I will keep my money.

My DW and I weren't ready to move off of Uverse last month when our promo expired. I got on the phone with someone from AT&T retention/loyalty, and we pretty much got the same promo for another year.

I still didn't want to do it, despite not being ready to move to streaming services. I was also told the promo for the year wasn't a locked contract. The base rate with promo will remain fixed for the year, but some of the above you listed could increase.

The only thing that kept us with Uverse at this time is we were told we could cancel the service before the promo year was up *without* penalty. The only hitch was if we canceled Uverse TV service, we could never go back. AT&T is not adding new customers to their Uverse service, and anyone who cancels out of Uverse would fall into that category.

So, we now have a Roku Ultra LT to try out. As soon as I can convince my DW this will work for us, we'll finally cancel Uverse. But don't be surprised, given how my DW is, if we're still using Uverse for the entire promo period.

 

[RunningBum]

We never subscribed to a cable/satellite service so I am unsure what the "last channel" option is exactly.

However, you might be interested in the Fire TV Cube.

As you can see in this screen shot of the "Home" page.

View attachment 41190

* The top line scrolls through suggested "new" movies (with clickable Trailers) -- on all networks
* The next line is the "Menu" -- 6 "Favorite" networks, + for all others -- including HULU, and Settings
(The next lines are extended by scrolling right)
* The next line is "recently watched" -- which may be what you are referring to. This is handy when quickly switching among several sporting shows on different networks.
* The next line is Sponsored suggestions
* The next line is all subscribed networks

Scrolling down gives many more suggestions.

The "last" or "recall" button would immediately return you to the previous channel you were watching. Handy if you were swapping between 2 sporting events. No need to go back through a guide, or remember the channel numbers. I'll bet most people who used this grab the remote and find that button without even looking.

The Firestick has the same function you are showing.

Problem one is that it doesn't do this for most apps. If I'm watching YTTV or Sling, and I go back to the home screen, I don't see what I was watching in that "recently watched" list. It has stuff from my Fire Recast, and a few other things that the Firestick knows more about and handled differently than other apps. So right away this isn't a solution unless I happen to be watching OTA over Recast.

Problem two is that it's not consistent, nor is it a single button. You have to hit the home button, then the down button. You might be on the previous channel so you could just hit the play button, or you might be on the one you were just on when you hit home, so you have to scroll to get to the next one. So you have to look at the little box and figure out what you have to do. Not a deal breaker, but it's just not what I had before.

 

[Dreamer]

YouTube TV settled with Disney! So glad that it is settled.

 

[explanade]

YouTube TV settled with Disney! So glad that it is settled.

They should give subscribers the option of keeping Disney channels off for $15 less.

But I’m sure their deal with Disney won’t allow that.

 

[harllee]

They should give subscribers the option of keeping Disney channels off for $15 less.

But I’m sure their deal with Disney won’t allow that.

Youtube is giving subscribers a one time credit of $15.

 

[gotlost33]

Is your hotspot plan truly unlimited or is it unlimited but is not high speed after a certain amount of usage each month?

We pay $50 per mo. for ATT rural internet for up to 500GB per mo. and this is more than we need. If it would slow down after say 50GB per month it wouldn't work for us.

From what I've read about the plan and seen in our usage it is not throttled at any point, currently at 55gb for the month but past months over 100gb. This is the Calyx plan and there is a fair amount of discussion on Reddit of the plan and various devices they offer. They now do a 3 month option so you can try the service out before locking into the full year cost.

 

[gotlost33]

We streamed (mostly 720p) HD for years on a Comcast 25 mbps service, 2 TVs and assorted tablets/phones, with no problems whatsoever. For HD you only need about 5 mbps per HD stream, it's only when you start using a lot more devices and/or 4K that you will need more bandwidth. Right now there isn't a lot of 4K content, most HD content is still 720p (vs 1080p) so most people would be fine with 30 mbps - they've just been led to believe they need more...

https://www.consumerreports.org/bro...least 15 Mbps for the highest-quality video.)

We are generally streaming from the services noted (Amazon, Hulu, and Pluto) on a 50inch TV with clear picture but not 4k. Not a ton of TV watching but also works fine for work in parallel (Zoom etc.).

Agree with Midpack, we had an Xfinity 50 mbps plan prior to making the switch and we rarely got the full 50 mbps which is what led me to think trying the hotspot was worth a shot... If Sprint (now they seem to be integrating some Tmobile and 5g in areas) coverage is bad for you then it wont work well but we have been pleasantly surprised at home and traveling throughout the country so far.

 

[thefist]

YouTube TV settled with Disney! So glad that it is settled.

And now on to the next one….

In my 2yrs with YTTV, Lose sports from Sinclair.
Then Comcast feuds, then Disney. All settle but Sinclair, and I’ll bet they do their own sports only app soon.

Who’s next? I’ll bet a nickel it’s ATT/Discovery.

 

[Midpack]

And now on to the next one….

In my 2yrs with YTTV, Lose sports from Sinclair.
Then Comcast feuds, then Disney. All settle but Sinclair, and I’ll bet they do their own sports only app soon.

Who’s next? I’ll bet a nickel it’s ATT/Discovery.

Streaming has disrupted broadcast TV, so the shake out will take quite a while between content owners, legacy cable/satellite providers, streaming platforms, ISPs, etc. - all trying to grab or hold onto their slice of the pie. We went from Dish to PSV, then Hulu+Live, and I’d be surprised if that lasts forever. On the plus side, we’ve saved almost $2K since 2018 vs staying with cable/satellite.

 

[JoeWras]

Streaming has disrupted broadcast TV, so the shake out will take quite a while between content owners, legacy cable/satellite providers, streaming platforms, ISPs, etc. - all trying to grab or hold onto their slice of the pie. We went from Dish to PSV, then Hulu+Live, and I’d be surprised if that lasts forever. On the plus side, we’ve saved almost $2K since 2018 vs staying with cable/satellite.

Almost enough to pay for shortage-pricing on the new car.

I'll let myself out.

(All in fun, I hope. And I totally agree about the disruption aspect.)

 

[thefist]

My parents are 85 and live in a smaller town served by Atlantic Broadband. The prices for the full phone/internet/TV bundle are exorbitant. Wish I could get them switched to cell and streaming.

 

[thefist]

Streaming has disrupted broadcast TV, so the shake out will take quite a while between content owners, legacy cable/satellite providers, streaming platforms, ISPs, etc. - all trying to grab or hold onto their slice of the pie. We went from Dish to PSV, then Hulu+Live, and I’d be surprised if that lasts forever. On the plus side, we’ve saved almost $2K since 2018 vs staying with cable/satellite.

Yep, we’re watching both greed and fear in action, live!

I’m 50% down from DISH pricing 3yrs ago. They did make a pretty good retainer offer for me, but not quite good enough.

 

[Davidhelp]

I use a ROKU box and have the Yahoo app on it and I subscribe to various 'channels' of users who upload all kinds of content. Their 5 min to 25 min videos I find more entertaining then those on the networks.

Use your pc at youtube to find then subscribe then go into the Roku box settings to update. The channel now shows up. You can move the tile to where you want it.

I also have the FREE Pluto TV app. That has most every old tv show. A few commercials. Owned by Viacom.

I have Amazon prime and they include many free movies and tv shows.
I like the Grand Tour and Clarkson Farm shows.
I also have Netflix.

I find myself looking thru all the thumbnails of the shows on the Roku box as my entertainment : )

 

[MichaelL]

Now my question is can we use our regular data to stream programs to our dumb tv without using the hotspot data, and if so how do we do that. We are not really tech savvy, know I can watch some tv on my phone and it dosen't use hotspot but how do I then get that on tv. Thanks in advancefor any help.

I presume that this question is about streaming when you are away from home, as it sounds like it's all working at home. In that case you won't be within reach of your regular data as it comes over your home WiFi. You could try and link the Fire Stick to the WiFi where you are if your campsite or hotel has good WiFi. You can go to the set up and make the change. Otherwise you have to do like you already did and use the hotspot data on the phone.

 

[Davidhelp]

PLEX to share files to the tv - cell phone - tablet - pc

I use a network cable from my cable modem to a router. Then a cable from the router to my Roku box and another cable from the router to my computer. The ROKU box is connected using a HDMI cable to the tv set.

If you want to stream data / photos, video, music from your computer to the Roku box then to your tv you use PLEX.
PLEX https://www.plex.tv

You will see they have many free tv shows and movies already. The free Pluto TV app is better for shows : )

Install on your pc then get the PLEX app.
I cannot really explain more but they see each other.

Quick-Start & Step by Step Guides for Plex Media Server
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200264746-quick-start-step-by-step-guides/

You have a folder on the computer with what you want to see on the tv set. Just copy the files there and right click on the PLEX icon in the lower right corner where your time is and 'Open Plex' and create 'Libraries' and call them as example: Movies

Then browse to the folder on your pc where they are at and afterward use the PLEX icon in the lower right to 'Update Libraries'. On the tv you switch using the tv remote to a HDMI port that the ROKU device is plugged into. In the future you just copy the new files to the folder and 'Update Libraries'.

Example I have: TV then HDMI1, HDMI2, HDMI3
ROKU is on one of the HDMI ports. Now use the ROKU remote to select the PLEX icon and you will see your content.

If you are not by your pc and want to share data you can share your files online in a setting in PLEX (using the pc setup) It will be password protected. You can view them on any pc or phone or tablet any where.

You may already have PLEX as an app on your cell phone and tablet. Otherwise download from the appstore / Playstore for free.

 

[Midpack]

Yep, we’re watching both greed and fear in action, live!

It’s just normal business, no greed or fear. Some providers have lost customers in droves, streamers are gaining subs. But streamers priced low to attract customers, and now they’re increasing prices, driven by content providers who’ve lost cable/satellite subs and want a piece of the streaming revenue source. Content providers are also jockeying for position and consolidating. If you’re an employee or a stockholder you want your business to thrive. It’s interesting how people are quick to accuse businesses of greed when they’re doing well, but they’re quiet when businesses are in a corner. No business doesn’t face profitability feast and famine if they last long enough…