Will streaming services take over?

[ShokWaveRider]

That’s false as a blanket statement.

As posted many times before, it depends on how many TVs you have, and whether or not you’d have internet service irrespective of TV. We pay $70/mo for Hulu+Live (just increased) and we have 3 TVs. We would have internet regardless, we pay $50/mo for that and I could drop to a lower cost/bandwidth tier for $35. So we pay $120/mo. Spectrum is the cheapest option for us and that would cost about $135/mo (more after the teaser rates expire) here for HD, DVR on 3 TVs. All other cable/satellite options in my area would cost even more than Spectrum.

It may well not be cost effective to cut the cord if you’re a single TV household, especially if you don’t otherwise want/need internet service.

Not so, we have 3 TVs also and use the X-finity app on 2 of them to get all our channels. We also use Roku Sticks for TouTube (Free) and other Free Streaming Channels. I guess it depends on all of one's individual requirements. MMDV

 

[zinger1457]

Spectrum is the cheapest option for us and that would cost about $135/mo (more after the teaser rates expire) here for HD, DVR on 3 TVs. All other cable/satellite options in my area would cost even more than Spectrum.

Can get a Dish 190 channel package and DVR service for 3 TV's for $85/month.

 

[athena53]

It may well not be cost effective to cut the cord if you’re a single TV household, especially if you don’t otherwise want/need internet service.

Before I dropped Comcast in 2016 I was paying $130/month for Internet plus a TV package. I now pay $70 for Google Fiber internet (that amount, knock wood, has not changed since 2016) plus $15 for Netflix. The $15 (previously $14) is an upgrade to higher-resolution. I am also allowed to legitimately share my account with DS and DDIL- service is limited to two devices at a time but that's not an issue for us. So, it's a nice perk for them that costs me nothing.

Who knows where Comcast charges would be right now, even if I played their silly game of calling up and threatening to quit on a regular basis.

 

[Midpack]

Can get a Dish 190 channel package and DVR service for 3 TV's for $85/month.

My Spectrum $ number included internet and TV. I assume the above is TV only.

 

[Midpack]

Not so, we have 3 TVs also and use the X-finity app on 2 of them to get all our channels. We also use Roku Sticks for TouTube (Free) and other Free Streaming Channels. I guess it depends on all of one's individual requirements. MMDV

Which is what I said in response to your blanket “It is not cost effective to cut the cord anymore.”

 

[disneysteve]

We cut the cord over a year ago and have been totally satisfied.
We have Comcast internet which just went up to $98.95/mo.
We have Netflix, Prime, and Disney+, all of which we already had when we were also paying for Comcast cable service.
We added Sling to replace Comcast. That's $35/mo.

We recently added Hulu when they had their Black Friday $.99/mo. deal. We won't continue it when that deal ends (though I highly recommend Killing Eve).

We're spending about $100/mo. less than we were with cable and have endless viewing options.

 

[JoeWras]

B plus $15 for Netflix. The $15 (previously $14) is an upgrade to higher-resolution. I am also allowed to legitimately share my account with DS and DDIL- service is limited to two devices at a time but that's not an issue for us. So, it's a nice perk for them that costs me nothing.

Great point! That reminds me about a recent change I made.

My TVs are all old with ancient concepts of HD and no thought of 4k. We usually only watch one stream at a time. So I tried basic Netflix and I'm happy. Saves a few bucks ($8.99 plan).

It isn't for everyone, but worth considering if one is in a similar situation.

 

[CatinKS]

My spouse and I have Dish mainly for sports. Can get locals OTA. They just raise the price of the most basic package to $103/month. We are going to "Pause" the service after the college basket season. It only cost $5/month and you keep your equipment (DVR) and recorded shows. Will start back up when football starts next fall. It helps me justify the increase cost by only subscribing 7 months a year.

 

[Hamlet]

Is the T-Mobile internet plan for unlimited data? Can you take the devise with you when you travel and use it from anyplace? That would be a big plus for us.

The T-mobile internet plan is unlimited data.

You cannot take the device to someplace else and use it.

 

[MichealKnight]

I hope not, I know I'm a dinosaur

I know it's silly. I like turning on the TV. I like searching a bit. And yes there's a program guide so it's not all random.

I love DVDs....the packaging. Holding it. Looking at the picture. I don't want to hear 'the internet connection went out' or 'internet is slow' and I don't want to see a delay between dialogue and someone's lips moving. I have two such services:

Netflix: Wife and Daughter use it.

YouTubePremium: I watch oodles of YouTube a day so no commercials is nice.

Blacklist and CobraKai are the sole streaming things I watch.

I dunno. I'm not one of these "Bill Gates is watching me" nut jobs. But...heck, if I wanna pop in a movie, I don't want to technically broadcast it to the legion of geeks in Silicon Valley. Just rubs be wrong way.

 

[JoeWras]

Best way to avoid tracking is buying DVDs at yard sales for cash. Or watch OTA without any connected DVR. Everything else is tracked one way or another, unfortunately.

 

[explanade]

Do I really care if they know what I watched?

So they can offer suggestions of other things to watch based on my previous choices.

Or maybe I will get ads somewhere for a type of shampoo based on what kind of movies I liked?

That said, you can minimize tracking by avoiding using the built-in TV ads or the cheaper streaming devices like Roku and Amazon Fire.

They sell those things at low margins, including TVs and they aim to get it back with personalized ads.

Also, I don't think they would know which DVDs you buy if you use cash or a mobile wallet credit card (Apple Pay or Google Wallet). Stores want to know your credit cards because they can tie those transactions to a card number and a name. Especially if you scan a loyalty card.

Or say scan your Amazon Prime QR Code at a Whole Foods Market store, though they don't have DVDs.

 

[kgtest]

I've read about firewalls for streaming boxes. It's not worth losing the quality or streaming speed for me to use one, but they do exist.

 

[GTFan]

Not so, we have 3 TVs also and use the X-finity app on 2 of them to get all our channels. We also use Roku Sticks for TouTube (Free) and other Free Streaming Channels. I guess it depends on all of one's individual requirements. MMDV

It's totally dependent on area, my Dad in Crestview FL has Cox with no other HSI choice and gets totally hosed on cable+HSI (over $200/mo, and he's tried to get it cheaper), but he won't switch to streaming even if I pointed out a way to get YTTV or Hulu instead. RSNs are one reason, he watches a lot of baseball. He's also used to their crappy DVR and doesn't want to learn something else.

There's plenty of areas where cable is all you have for HSI and they're usually non-competitive with HSI+streaming, i.e. they don't discount their cable much and hose you on extra TVs.

 

[tmm99]

Another thing I like about streaming is that I can drop the subscription any time I want. I often subscribe for a channel, or Apple+ or whatever for one month, watch the heck out of that channel and then drop it. Didn't have that kind of flexibility with cable.

 

[Chuckanut]

Free DVDs via the public library are my way of getting a lot of content. I just finished the 3rd season of Star Trek Discovery that way.

Antenna, Netflix, Prime Video, public library DVDs - the best and cheapest combo I could find.

 

[disneysteve]

Free DVDs via the public library are my way of getting a lot of content. I just finished the 3rd season of Star Trek Discovery that way.

Antenna, Netflix, Prime Video, public library DVDs - the best and cheapest combo I could find.

I haven’t checked lately but our library always charged for dvd rentals.

 

[swakyaby]

I haven’t checked lately but our library always charged for dvd rentals.

That’s unfortunate for a public library. My local library shares books, DVDs, CDs, audio books, etc, with 9 other libraries in the region. The DVD selections can be requested online, and they will be transferred to the requested local library free of charge. I receive an email notification when the DVD has arrived, and I have 7 days to pick it up before it goes back into circulation. No rental fee. It’s a nice public service.

 

[Chuckanut]

I haven’t checked lately but our library always charged for dvd rentals.

Mine charges for everything. It's called property taxes.

But, I pay whether I use it or not, and I do think my community is far better off with a good library system than without one. So my 'free' DVDs would probably be better described as 'no additional charge'.

 

[foxcreek9]

One of the things I noticed and wondered about is how many people are paying for way more speed than they need. We have Comcast, at the moment, paying $20/mo for 60 mbs and can stream to at least 2 TVs and surf the web at the same time, no issues. When we last hooked up, the installer made the comment, this was the first installation under a Gig that he had done in a while. I realize that if you are working and have kids, all at home on zoom, you need faster internet. But if not, just a thought.

 

[Cobra9777]

We dropped traditional cable in 2013. We've been through lots of changes over the years as the industry continues to evolve. But today, our "baseline" TV set-up consists of YouTube TV and Netflix. Then there is a continually changing array of streaming services that come and go every month depending on what DW and DMIL are binge-watching... HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, Brit Box, etc.

Often, we don't pay for these. We either do the free trial then cancel; or one of the kids logs-in while over here at our house. So we keep watching until they cancel, which is always just a month or two. These services only seem to care about the number of simultaneous streams, not the number of locations you're streaming from.

In any case, that's what our TV set-up has evolved into. I mainly watch free YouTube. I follow 86 channels on all manner of geekdom. So all of the above is just for DW and DMIL. But they really seem to enjoy keeping up with all the latest and greatest shows, many of which require these standalone streaming services.

 

[zinger1457]

One of the things I noticed and wondered about is how many people are paying for way more speed than they need. We have Comcast, at the moment, paying $20/mo for 60 mbs and can stream to at least 2 TVs and surf the web at the same time, no issues.

Agree that 60M would be adequate for most needs but doubt many can get it for $20/mo, certainly not in my area.

 

[GTFan]

Sounds like the income-limited Essentials HSI program to me, or a time-limited promo.

 

[Retch The Grate]

I've literally never subscribed to "cable", though my internet service these days is through Comcast, so coming over their coax. We subscribe to a bunch of streaming services because we get value out of them:
Prime - Subscribed for the free delivery, which we do make more use of than the streaming service, but it has some great shows I love so...
Disney+ - backlog of stuff I want to watch, plus new stuff of interest coming out frequently
Apple TV+ - actively watching several shows on here
Netflix - Haven't been watching it much in months, maybe could cut this for a while
HBOMax - John Oliver and movies mostly now.
Hulu - we watch a ton of cooking competition shows here
Youtube - it is SO good with no ads
Curiosity Stream - to get Nebula, but I've enjoyed some of the documentaries
Nebula - to support a bunch of YouTube creators I like
Corridor Crew - creators who run their own website that I subscribe to support them further even though I mostly watch their videos on YouTube.

my ridiculous new TV came with Sony's BraviaCore streaming service which I've watched one movie on now (the new Venom), and on my gigabit internet connection it is on par with my 4k Blu-ray player for quality. The TV came with a bunch of movie credits which I will use on here, and if the service succeeds, it seems like not a bad place to see super high quality streams from their library. We will see when the credits expire or if a monthly fee happens at some point if I feel it is worth it, but the library of movies looked good so...

Does that count a streaming taking over? I'm buying physical media for my 4k Blu-Ray, but I won't be surprised when streaming down higher quality than Blu-Ray is a mainstream thing. I've looked at Kaleidescape and that is not currently looking like a sufficient quality boost to go to, especially with the expense of their hardware (it isn't technically a streaming service as you download the movies to their custom NAS and player hardware), but BraviaCore was good enough that for movies I don't need a physical copy of, I'd be very willing to watch them on there (and even though they are much more compressed, for most viewing any of the streaming services give a perfectly good experience).

 

[jcretire77]

I think that I started this under pet peeves and then deleted it. Streaming is not for everyone. My 87 year old mother with memory problems is now faced with learning how to stream her tv channels as the cable provider (Sparklight in Boise) is going to a new model. Enter the Firestick and an app called Sparklight TV. If anyone is familiar with the very small remote and no numbers and how Firestick starts up and how to choose and start an app this is a disaster and I have been to her house every day to help. PLEASE bring back cable