Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[REWahoo]

Could we "watch tv" at both homes at the same time as long as there were not more than 3 simultaneous streams logged in under the account?

Don't know about YTTV or the other "live" streaming services but the above is a no go with Hulu+Live:

A Hulu + Live TV subscription is intended for single-household use only. Because these subscriptions can’t be shared, Hulu cannot be accessed on most living room devices (like your smart TV) outside of your chosen Home network. Please send our regards to your old college roommate, your ex-boyfriend, and your Mom.

On the flipside, when you’re out and about you can stream from your phone — on up to two screens at a time, with the ability to add more with the Unlimited Screens Add-on — while located anywhere in the US.

 

[Calico]

Are you still using the email address you used to register your Roku all those years ago? I did get the email but it went to an email address I haven't actively used for quite a while and only occasionally get anything addressed to it.

Another possibility: the message went to your spam folder.

That's a good point; thanks. I've only ever had one email address for personal use, but I did just check my spam folder - no email. Now, it is possible I deleted it when it arrived, thinking it was just pushing me to upgrade, so it could be "user error" in this case. It wouldn't be the first (or last) time.

 

[meierlde]

Don't know about YTTV or the other "live" streaming services but the above is a no go with Hulu+Live:

There is an easy workaround with a chromecast if on android, as noted you can stream to a phone anywhere, and from that cast the screen to the tv. The main issue would be which local channels you get, but that might not be a major problem as most tv stations do stream their local news on their website. So you could stream the local stations, at the primary location echoing the screen of the phone to the TV with chromecast, and at the alternative location get the stream the local news from the stations web site. It is the requirement to get the local stations where you are that is the major issue. For network shows the issue becomes what is the time zone difference between the two locations, (not at issue eastern and Central, 3 hours off Pacific and Eastern and various offsets in the Mountain time zone).
Another alternative would be a vpn from the secondary location back to the primary location and stream the local stations.



Actually the chromecast idea also means no need to hunt for a lost remote since the phone is the remote, and if the phone is on one can always call it to find it.

 

[Midpack]

Just wanted to confirm my understanding of streaming. We have two homes and spend about 1/2 year at each. If I dropped Dish at main home and Xfinity at second home and just had a single streaming package with locals and, say, 3 simultaneous streams:

Could we "watch tv" at both homes at the same time as long as there were not more than 3 simultaneous streams logged in under the account?

I assume that the locals that I would get would be the locals applicable to the area that I am watching from... right?

And I would have just one "tv bill"?

Hulu Live requires a home network, so you’d have to set one location as home and could only watch on a mobile device at the other location. As you probably know you can “move” so you can switch your Hulu home network when you go north or south. It’s easy to do online. Double check with them but this is their published policy.

Moving? No problem.
It happens, and we totally get that. You’ll be able to manually update your Home location — using the steps outlined above — up to four times during any given 12-month period. If you move around more frequently than that or are otherwise having trouble correctly setting your Home network, please contact us for help.

Not sure but I assume your locals will be those associated with the home network you set, not automatically where you might be.

 

[REWahoo]

Hi All,

Last year I got the $0.99 a month deal on Hulu (with commercials). Got that value out of it for sure, but don’t think I can rationalize $7 a month. So, I terminated it before the rate increase at the one year point.

Anyone heard of any deals to come this year in Hulu or any of the content providers?

Hulu out with a $1.99/mo offer for new and [-]existing[/-] eligible returning subscribers. Expires on Monday.

Edit: Not available to existing subscribers, only for new and "eligible returning subscribers" (those who haven’t been a subscriber in the last year).

 

[Dawg52]

Hulu out with a $1.99/mo offer for new and existing subscribers. Expires on Monday.

Thanks. $1 more than last year but still not a bad deal if you can live with ads.

 

[pb4uski]

Don't know about YTTV or the other "live" streaming services but the above is a no go with Hulu+Live:

A Hulu + Live TV subscription is intended for single-household use only. Because these subscriptions can’t be shared, Hulu cannot be accessed on most living room devices (like your smart TV) outside of your chosen Home network. Please send our regards to your old college roommate, your ex-boyfriend, and your Mom. ...

Well for one, Hulu's snarkiness is a bit off-putting to begin with.... almost enough to make me not want to do business with them.

They obviously are not smart enough to understand that some single households spend time at more than one home and that I might be sharing with my account with my wife or kids who are at the other house.

That said, swapping where home is as we move and using Chromecast as a workaround while we are at the second home temporarily or when we are apart might be an ok workaround.

 

[walkinwood]

The Roku Ultra 2019 is available on Amazon for $48. Usually goes for $99. Best Buy will have this price later today on their Black Friday special.

 

[wmc1000]

Hulu out with a $1.99/mo offer for new and [-]existing[/-] eligible returning subscribers. Expires on Monday.

Edit: Not available to existing subscribers, only for new and "eligible returning subscribers" (those who haven’t been a subscriber in the last year).

Just signed up. I had the .99 deal and watched it enough to be worthwhile. Just had to use a different email address to get this years deal. I just canceled my previous account too.

 

[W2R]

As you know, I cut the cable years ago and just use a homemade wood and wire indoor antenna for TV reception. I don't pay for any streaming services or devices.

Anyway, apparently the FCC is requiring five popular local channels to change their frequency, to make room for 5G or something like that I guess. Therefore we antenna users are told to re-scan for our channels occasionally between now and January 17th to make sure we still have all our channels (which will still appear at the same channel number if the TV has scanned for them and found them again).

Frank is a ham radio [-]nut[/-] hobbyist so he designed and built my antenna for me years ago, for $5. Also he knows about all of the FCC's plans regarding frequency of these stations, and told me it is time to start scanning occasionally. So, I did that last night, and found out that with my homemade antenna I receive 52 channels! Wow. I am so impressed and feel incredibly lucky. Frank says our great TV reception is because we are in an unusually good location, very close to many of the broadcast transmitters. I thought it was due to his antenna making skills.

I just had to brag about that! As you know, I don't watch much TV unless a hurricane is threatening, but it's nice to know that I have so many choices if my habits ever change.

 

[REWahoo]

Just signed up. I had the .99 deal and watched it enough to be worthwhile. Just had to use a different email address to get this years deal.

Good to know there is an easy workaround.

 

[REWahoo]

... with my homemade antenna I receive 52 channels! Wow. I am so impressed and feel incredibly lucky. Frank says our great TV reception is because we are in an unusually good location, very close to many of the broadcast transmitters. I thought it was due to his antenna making skills.

I think Frank may have made the 30+ year old antenna I have in the attic.

Even though I am more than 40 miles from the "antenna farm" where most local broadcast stations send out their signal, I receive 58 OTA channels. I, too am in an unusually good location on a hill several hundred feet above the transmitters and with direct line of sight.

Similar to the saying about real estate, the three most important things in OTA TV reception are location, location, and antenna.

 

[target2019]

Last night my Roku 3 home screen was zoomed in, with huge icons. Fixed that with a system restart. Reboot fixes a lot of problems...

 

[W2R]

I think Frank may have made the 30+ year old antenna I have in the attic.

Even though I am more than 40 miles from the "antenna farm" where most local broadcast stations send out their signal, I receive 58 OTA channels. I, too am in an unusually good location on a hill several hundred feet above the transmitters and with direct line of sight.

Similar to the saying about real estate, the three most important things in OTA TV reception are location, location, and antenna.

Wow, that is great!

I thought I was only receiving about 35 stations or so OTA, but didn't know the exact number. When I re-scanned for the stations, the TV software let me know how many it found. So, when it said 52 I thought that was a lot. But 58? You are the champ!

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Well for one, Hulu's snarkiness is a bit off-putting to begin with.... almost enough to make me not want to do business with them.

They obviously are not smart enough to understand that some single households spend time at more than one home and that I might be sharing with my account with my wife or kids who are at the other house.

That said, swapping where home is as we move and using Chromecast as a workaround while we are at the second home temporarily or when we are apart might be an ok workaround.

I don't use Hulu+ Live, so I'm not sure how it works, but some of these services are trying to limit you to one location at a time, so they may allow you to change the home network in your account settings rather easily, since there are quite a few snowbirds. Technically it shouldn't be difficult for them to implement.

 

[Midpack]

I don't use Hulu+ Live, so I'm not sure how it works, but some of these services are trying to limit you to one location at a time, so they may allow you to change the home network in your account settings rather easily, since there are quite a few snowbirds. Technically it shouldn't be difficult for them to implement.

It is easy, but you can only do it 4 times a year - which should easily accommodate snowbirds. If you want more than 4 times/year you have call and inquire. It's sad most of the subscription services had to clamp down when some folks decided to share well outside their family-household as intended with in-laws or neighbors. I am NOT suggesting anyone here.

 

[explanade]

Most of the stuff on OTA are uninteresting other than live sports. That's why most of the country subscribe to cable.

But some companies have seized on an opportunity to create diginets, which use sub channels of OTA stations to broadcast content which are in lower demand. Most of these are old shows, which were made before the digital age, so it might be something like Cagney & Lacey, which was popular back in its day but apparently some of the nostalgia TV channels haven't licensed them.

Makes sense, price-sensitive consumers who get OTA tend to be older so they may be fine with watching old shows not available elsewhere.

 

[W2R]

Most of the stuff on OTA , cable, or streaming video are uninteresting [-]other than live sports[/-]. But hope springs eternal. That's why most of the country subscribe to cable.

There, FIFY (additions in blue). I used to have the biggest possible cable package, and there was nothing interesting (to me) on it so I cut the cable.

Now, instead of spending hundreds each month on cable TV, I love having a monthly TV budget of $0.00. I can spend the extra on things that I actually like to do, such as playing video games.

 

[Midpack]

Fair to say we're all willing to pay whatever TV is worth to each of us from zero to nearly $300/mo. What someone else chooses isn't important to most of us, to each his/her own.

 

[zinger1457]

Well for one, Hulu's snarkiness is a bit off-putting to begin with.... almost enough to make me not want to do business with them.

Not with the same snarkiness but Netflix recently announced that they will be making an extra effort to stop account sharing. They estimate that it's costing them ~$135M/month.

 

[explanade]

There, FIFY (additions in blue). I used to have the biggest possible cable package, and there was nothing interesting (to me) on it so I cut the cable.

Now, instead of spending hundreds each month on cable TV, I love having a monthly TV budget of $0.00. I can spend the extra on things that I actually like to do, such as playing video games.

A lot more people pay for cable or streaming than OTA.

The broadcast networks still have among the largest audiences but mainly because of NFL and other live sports.

We are supposedly in peak TV. But there were more TV viewers say in the '70s and '80s than now, though most people would say the level of quality is higher in general now.

YMMV.

 

[beowulf]

Us ham radio ops are more OCD about the hobby than being nuts. Could be worse - we could be bikers with the Sons of Anarchy . I do find my electronics knowledge from being a ham very useful with TVs and radios.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

 

[pb4uski]

Not with the same snarkiness but Netflix recently announced that they will be making an extra effort to stop account sharing. They estimate that it's costing them ~$135M/month.

And I don't have any issues with that... but my household is two physical locations and occasional travel... I could even without the travel as we don't stream much while we travel but I can see that some people would need that capability. Perhaps what they should do is to require that certain devices register and the x streams can only be to registered devices.

 

[aja8888]

Not with the same snarkiness but Netflix recently announced that they will be making an extra effort to stop account sharing. They estimate that it's costing them ~$135M/month.

You mean they are going to take away access to the 4 people on my account that I pay $14.99/month (in total) for?

 

[beowulf]

Same here - we are allowed 4 accounts under the main one. I’m not sure why they have to be in the same physical location. I sign in on my iPad from hotel rooms all over the US. What’s the issue with doing that?