Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

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When YTTV dropped them I thought about switching to Hulu. Oh well. I'm going to see if there are any games I really care about on Fox Regional before worrying about it. So far there haven't been any.
 
Now that MLB is on national TV, this makes sense. NBA, NHL, and MLB are officially in limbo until their next seasons. NFL does not participate in the RSN game.

The question is when will the seasons of the other three start?

When will be the next seasons? Will Sinclair play chicken with Hulu/Alphabet when seasons resume?

We don't know. We'll eventually find out.

As for me, I've consigned myself to the possibility of radio hockey for a while. The early season (currently targeted for start the first week of January) is no big deal. I can get the context via radio. After a month or two, get back to me. I expect a holdout for a month or two before someone caves.

In the meantime, I'm subscribed to Philo. Network locals are via Tablo. I can avoid the poisonous news, and any sports I watch are OTA anyway (MLB, NFL). I plan to switch to YTTV when hockey is available. I need a few months anyway to pay for my gadgets (Tablo, streaming devices, antenna).
 
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There usually are some college basketball games that I want to watch that are on one of the Fox Regional Sports channels. I will have to figure out what to do about those. I am currently on YTTV and don't want to go back to cable.
 
harllee said:
There usually are some college basketball games that I want to watch that are on one of the Fox Regional Sports channels. I will have to figure out what to do about those. I am currently on YTTV and don't want to go back to cable.
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Have you heard when college BB will start?

Under current rules in this BB crazy state, I don't think any crowd size would be allowed.
 
JoeWras said:
Have you heard when college BB will start?

Under current rules in this BB crazy state, I don't think any crowd size would be allowed.
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UNC Chapel Hill will play its first basketball game on Nov 30 against UNLV in the Maui Classic in Asheville NC of all places. The teams could not go to Hawaii for the Maui Classic so somehow the tournament got moved to Asheville. I have UNC season tickets and got an email that said there would be no season tickets sold. Because the Covid numbers are on the rise in NC I am doubtful that fans will be allowed (except maybe parents of players).
 
harllee said:
UNC Chapel Hill will play its first basketball game on Nov 30 against UNLV in the Maui Classic in Asheville NC of all places. The teams could not go to Hawaii for the Maui Classic so somehow the tournament got moved to Asheville. I have UNC season tickets and got an email that said there would be no season tickets sold. Because the Covid numbers are on the rise in NC I am doubtful that fans will be allowed (except maybe parents of players).
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harllee, the thing you got going for you is UNC is a media darling. Since the ACC is associated with ESPN, that should get you most games.
 
JoeWras said:
harllee, the thing you got going for you is UNC is a media darling. Since the ACC is associated with ESPN, that should get you most games.
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That is true for mens basketball but I also love college women's basketball (I was a player many years ago) and most of the women's games will be on ACC Network (which I still get on Youtube TV) or Fox Sports (which I no longer get on YTTV) so I will have to figure out how to get.
 
harllee said:
That is true for mens basketball but I also love college women's basketball (I was a player many years ago) and most of the women's games will be on ACC Network (which I still get on Youtube TV) or Fox Sports (which I no longer get on YTTV) so I will have to figure out how to get.
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I see. I never much watched the RSNs except for Hurricanes NHL hockey.

When I had YTTV, I watched a bit of Big Ten network. Women's volleyball was always good to watch. Also brings back college memories of paying 50 cents to get into the small gym and watch the VB games. And no, I'm not that old. They just followed the supply-demand curve. :) Since then, the Illini women's VB have graduated to a better facility.
 
Amazon is hitting me with ads for their new Firestick, which is "twice as powerful". What does that really mean, and what does it do for me?

I guess the processor in it is twice as fast as the predecessor, but it's not like I can watch video any faster. I guess it can start up and load apps faster, and maybe switch apps faster. A little bit of a benefit. Is that all?

Correction: I just saw the ad again (on facebook) and it says "50% more powerful". The questions still remain.
 
RunningBum said:
Amazon is hitting me with ads for their new Firestick, which is "twice as powerful". What does that really mean, and what does it do for me?

I guess the processor in it is twice as fast as the predecessor, but it's not like I can watch video any faster. I guess it can start up and load apps faster, and maybe switch apps faster. A little bit of a benefit. Is that all?

Correction: I just saw the ad again (on facebook) and it says "50% more powerful". The questions still remain.
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Yeah, I'd say it's a reasonable assumption that they are referring to processor speed/bandwidth when claiming a 50% increase in performance. I have a Firestick 4K that I bought last year, and I have no qualms with its performance or speed, etc. I think this new one that's "50% more powerful" is not the 4K model, so it's probably only worth considering for a non-UHD TV.
 
Sojourner said:
Yeah, I'd say it's a reasonable assumption that they are referring to processor speed/bandwidth when claiming a 50% increase in performance. I have a Firestick 4K that I bought last year, and I have no qualms with its performance or speed, etc. I think this new one that's "50% more powerful" is not the 4K model, so it's probably only worth considering for a non-UHD TV.
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I'm sure it works fine, as does my older one. My question is, What difference would I see if I upgraded to this?
 
I have heard from the firestick forum that this is a suped up version of the older non-4k stick and still not as good as the 4k. I suppose it is to maintain a price point.
 
RunningBum said:
I'm sure it works fine, as does my older one. My question is, What difference would I see if I upgraded to this?
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How responsive are your apps as you navigate the UI.

That is where you might see a difference.

Nvidia Shield Pro costs $150-200 and it touts AI upscaling which is suppose to produce a better upscaled 4K picture from cable signals.

Apple TV is also in that price range, known for faster processor than in the $50 streaming devices. Or the smart TVs with built in apps.

Users say best these more pricey devices have the best picture. But are they worth $100 more?

YMMV.
 
explanade said:
How responsive are your apps as you navigate the UI.

That is where you might see a difference.
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That's what I suspected. I guess it's better if you're channel surfing, and since I watch a lot of football, I am switching around between games. Probably not worth upgrading, but I'll keep that in mind.
 
harllee said:
That is true for mens basketball but I also love college women's basketball (I was a player many years ago) and most of the women's games will be on ACC Network (which I still get on Youtube TV) or Fox Sports (which I no longer get on YTTV) so I will have to figure out how to get.
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Maybe take a look at Sling. I just resubscribed to watch some football. Waiting for Pac 12 to get going. There was a couple of Fox channels on my package (Orange & Blue)
 
T-Mobile has entered the game.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/27...sion-live-internet-tv-streaming-service-price

https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-tvision-streams-live-tv-channels-starting-at-10-per-month/
“ The cheapest package, TVision Vibe, costs just $10 per month. It's entertainment-focused, with 30 channels including AMC, BET, Comedy Central, Food Network, MTV and Nickelodeon, but no sports, news or local channels. To get those you'll have to subscribe to one of the TVision Live step-up packages. The most affordable costs $40 per month and has over 30 channels, including local broadcasters ABC, NBC and Fox in certain markets, as well as cable mainstays CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ESPN, FS1, TBS, TNT and USA.*”
Only for TMobile customers until 2021. However, Might compete with the existing streaming options.
 
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At one time, Blockbuster was the only nationwide video rental store around. Locally, we had Erols and they were our first ISP for video and internet. Channels were very limited - their idea of a multi info channel was a tv camera focused on a round piece of wood that rotated and had a thermometer, hygrometer and a clock on it. I still remember the excitement of going from my original 300 baud modem to a 1200 baud one. Now, if it ain’t over 100 mbps, it ain’t worth it :).
 
beowulf said:
I still remember the excitement of going from my original 300 baud modem to a 1200 baud one. Now, if it ain’t over 100 mbps, it ain’t worth it :).
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I can remember going from a 110 baud to a 300 baud modem!

And back when I was an active ham, my RTTY modem was 45.45 baud.
 
Rustic23 said:
T-Mobile has entered the game.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/27...sion-live-internet-tv-streaming-service-price

https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-tvision-streams-live-tv-channels-starting-at-10-per-month/
“ The cheapest package, TVision Vibe, costs just $10 per month. It's entertainment-focused, with 30 channels including AMC, BET, Comedy Central, Food Network, MTV and Nickelodeon, but no sports, news or local channels. To get those you'll have to subscribe to one of the TVision Live step-up packages. The most affordable costs $40 per month and has over 30 channels, including local broadcasters ABC, NBC and Fox in certain markets, as well as cable mainstays CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ESPN, FS1, TBS, TNT and USA.*”
Only for TMobile customers until 2021. However, Might compete with the existing streaming options.
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The Vibe is kind of cool. BUT, no Science channel. That stinks.
 
I have an update on my Chromecast with Google TV.

Last night, my remote became bricked. Out of the blue. Less than one month ownership.

I had to go through a lot of hoops to get it working again, which I won't get into detail here unless someone wants those details.

So, I'm now not recommending this device at this time. They need to get some kinks worked out. I think it will be awesome, but there are clearly some start up issues with it. Unless you like that kind of pain, give it some time before buying.
 
Rustic23 said:
T-Mobile has entered the game.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/27...sion-live-internet-tv-streaming-service-price

https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-tvision-streams-live-tv-channels-starting-at-10-per-month/
“ The cheapest package, TVision Vibe, costs just $10 per month. It's entertainment-focused, with 30 channels including AMC, BET, Comedy Central, Food Network, MTV and Nickelodeon, but no sports, news or local channels. To get those you'll have to subscribe to one of the TVision Live step-up packages. The most affordable costs $40 per month and has over 30 channels, including local broadcasters ABC, NBC and Fox in certain markets, as well as cable mainstays CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ESPN, FS1, TBS, TNT and USA.*”
Only for TMobile customers until 2021. However, Might compete with the existing streaming options.
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There's also talk of a triple-play bundle, home, TV and mobile.

But for home Internet, it would only make sense if you get reception on one of their midband 5G spectrum, which would deliver speeds comparable to cable Internet.

They own a lot of midband spectrum, probably a strategic advantage for now. But it would take years for them to build out that network.
 
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