Cord Cutting Options

I like Directv Stream. It has locals, PBS, a few 4K channels, and the best user interface of all I've used. As a tennis player, they have the Tennis Channel, too, so I'm happy about that. I don't mind paying a bit more for a service that has everything and an interface I find intuitive.

I tried YouTube TV twice and couldn't take the interface. It wasn't worth the cost savings.
The others that offer live tv miss a few channels I like so Directv Stream.
 
If you are in a metro area you might want to reconsider an antenna. I use these shark tooth shaped indoor antennas on my TV's. I get my local stations plus several stations which are related, each local channel has at least 5 other channels. Pretty good if you like past sitcoms and all the CSI shows you can watch, LOL.

I don't watch much TV, the news and late night shows is about it. My wife is a TV person but she likes the OTA channel with X-Files and some of the B movie Sci-Fi on free Peacock. If the kids have their phone they are fine, I wouldn't even need a TV for them.
 
brad225 said:
Thanks mep. From the services I have looked at Hulu is the main system I was thinking about. Have you tried the commercial free service? it's $12 a month but I hate the number of adds that you need to sit through. If most programing is really add free $3 a week is well worth it to me.
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No, I haven't tried the commercial free service. I either watch live programming which has commercials or I DVR shows and blow through the commercials.
 
mep said:
No, I haven't tried the commercial free service. I either watch live programming which has commercials or I DVR shows and blow through the commercials.
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I can't imagine local programing being add free. It would be the same as streaming from a laptop. There is just a still picture and some weird music playing. That is as annoying as a commercial.
 
mep said:
No, I haven't tried the commercial free service. I either watch live programming which has commercials or I DVR shows and blow through the commercials.
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I quite like recording it and blowing through the commercials. Great way to make a three hour hockey game into 2 hours.
 
The premise for cord cutting is that many folks don't need that many channels and believe that they can do better by subscribing to streamed services piecemeal.
However, If an individual needs to watch every single football, baseball, and basketball game, plus HBO and Showtime, etc etc, that individual may not end up saving much buying those services piecemeal.
The cable companies know that. Since often they are the broadband internet provider, they leverage that to offer bundles Also some cable companies are launching their own streaming platforms. In other words, they are not sitting still.

It was mentioned by a few on this thread but it is worth emphasizing that OTA transmissions are free and can be accessed by many folks with a good antenna. Also, if a person is into international sports, he should check if those sports are being streamed for free. All you need is a VPN for that.
 
We switched to YouTube TV 4 years ago. Works great and you can use it at multiple homes without a problem.


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I remember right after I graduated high school my parents moved us out to the middle of nowhere. We had an antenna and received 2 channels well and 3 when the weather was good. I definitely learned how to live without much TV entertainment, LOL

I had my receiver, turntable and LP's though. My dad let me put up another antenna just for FM.

Note to whoever, never, never, isolate your kids like that, especially teenager just out of school.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I remember right after I graduated high school my parents moved us out to the middle of nowhere. We had an antenna and received 2 channels well and 3 when the weather was good. I definitely learned how to live without much TV entertainment, LOL

I had my receiver, turntable and LP's though. My dad let me put up another antenna just for FM.

Note to whoever, never, never, isolate your kids like that, especially teenager just out of school.
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Agreed Mr P

I would hazard a guess that, in todays world most kids would start a riot in the household.

We clearly had an advantage most kids don't now have. In the 50s, 60 and 70s we could go outside and play anywhere within a couple of miles from home.
There is no way I would feel comfortable in any way letting young kids play very far from my yard in general today.
 
At my house location, the best internet option is cable TV, and it’s a crime to see what I pay. Waiting on fiber to the home to cut the cord.

I already have some streaming accounts, wife has kept Netflix since the DVD era, I have the extra large Apple plan, that I share family wide, and like the Paramount series. My grown children share these, and subscribe to others, which I get to use. Not afraid of cord cutting, when I get decent fiber to the house.

We just sold the beach house, but the multiple residence situation is particularly good for streaming accounts, just pay for one, and use at home and beach.
 
Mr Peabody said:
If you are in a metro area you might want to reconsider an antenna. I use these shark tooth shaped indoor antennas on my TV's. I get my local stations plus several stations which are related, each local channel has at least 5 other channels. Pretty good if you like past sitcoms and all the CSI shows you can watch, LOL.

I don't watch much TV, the news and late night shows is about it. My wife is a TV person but she likes the OTA channel with X-Files and some of the B movie Sci-Fi on free Peacock. If the kids have their phone they are fine, I wouldn't even need a TV for them.
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Mr P, What is the antenna you were referring to. I am going to take a look at antennas because the number of stations you need to purchase streaming to get local is ridiculous. I would prefer an indoor antenna given the choice.
 
The unit says Ostrat. There maybe better but I liked the small foot print and it has a signal booster built in. If you buy from Amazon you can return it if it doesn't work. A lot depends on distance from transmitter and obstacles.


brad225 said:
Mr P, What is the antenna you were referring to. I am going to take a look at antennas because the number of stations you need to purchase streaming to get local is ridiculous. I would prefer an indoor antenna given the choice.
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I have used Directv for about 26 years now and fortunately the days of the occasional "weather" related issue is a thing of the past. Now Directv senses when the picture is not optimum and asks if I want to switch to streaming the signal.

Like others here I am considering other options to reduce my expenditures for TV/Streaming. I am paying for Directv, Netflix, Prime Video, Apple +, Parmpount +, Hulu, PBS and Britbox. Any option must allow me to get local TV (digital antennae doesn't work here) and all of the sport channels.

I will keep looking.
 
Mr Peabody said:
The unit says Ostrat. There maybe better but I liked the small foot print and it has a signal booster built in. If you buy from Amazon you can return it if it doesn't work. A lot depends on distance from transmitter and obstacles.
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Our biggest issue is the antenna would be pointing at the woods. No clear line of site.

I will check that one out anyway.

Thanks
 
nicoff said:
The premise for cord cutting is that many folks don't need that many channels and believe that they can do better by subscribing to streamed services piecemeal.
However, If an individual needs to watch every single football, baseball, and basketball game, plus HBO and Showtime, etc etc, that individual may not end up saving much buying those services piecemeal.
The cable companies know that. Since often they are the broadband internet provider, they leverage that to offer bundles Also some cable companies are launching their own streaming platforms. In other words, they are not sitting still.

It was mentioned by a few on this thread but it is worth emphasizing that OTA transmissions are free and can be accessed by many folks with a good antenna. Also, if a person is into international sports, he should check if those sports are being streamed for free. All you need is a VPN for that.
Click to expand...

That is exactly correct which is why if at all possible you need to dump your cable provider totally. I had Comcast and they were my internet provider and my cable company and the monthly bill was crazy. I was fortunate that my subdivision was wired with fiber optic cable and all I had to do was call my utility company and have it hooked up to my house. For $70 per month I get 1GB of speed and that includes the server they installed. It was a happy day to ship all of the Comcast gear back to Comcast and cut them off from my wallet.
 
We dropped everything from Frontier except their 500mbs internet service.
Hulu is what we are trying out through Roku on our TV's. It is taking a bit of time to figure out the show guides. It isn't as user friendly as Frontier.
Another thing is the Roku remotes don't have volume control unless you have Roku TV's. You end up with 2 remotes. Not life and death but annoying needing to have 2 remotes laying around.
It is less than half the price than it was with Frontier thou there are a couple of channels we still need to add.

I ran PVC from the ONT to where the equipment is inside the house. It took some access holes in storage areas to awkward places to access.
This 70 year old body has been revolting with screaming muscles for a few days now.

I was able to run CAT 8 cables from the ONT to the new Router we purchased. Then CAT 8 to a couple of locations where TV's are.
2 other TV's are using WIFI signal to ROKU for the service. I don't think it will be necessary but time will tell.
We were able to eliminate all of the Coaxial cable that I had previously run when I built the house. I will say all of the tv pictures are much clearer.

I'm sure something will still rear its ugly head and need to be deal with though.
 
brad225 said:
We dropped everything from Frontier except their 500mbs internet service.
Hulu is what we are trying out through Roku on our TV's. It is taking a bit of time to figure out the show guides. It isn't as user friendly as Frontier.
Another thing is the Roku remotes don't have volume control unless you have Roku TV's. You end up with 2 remotes. Not life and death but annoying needing to have 2 remotes laying around.
It is less than half the price than it was with Frontier thou there are a couple of channels we still need to add.

I ran PVC from the ONT to where the equipment is inside the house. It took some access holes in storage areas to awkward places to access.
This 70 year old body has been revolting with screaming muscles for a few days now.

I was able to run CAT 8 cables from the ONT to the new Router we purchased. Then CAT 8 to a couple of locations where TV's are.
2 other TV's are using WIFI signal to ROKU for the service. I don't think it will be necessary but time will tell.
We were able to eliminate all of the Coaxial cable that I had previously run when I built the house. I will say all of the tv pictures are much clearer.

I'm sure something will still rear its ugly head and need to be deal with though.
Click to expand...

Another thing is the Roku remotes don't have volume control ". Not actually true Brad, the Roku Ultra has volume controls and a headphone jack and I have Sony OLED TV's ( we use 2 Ultra's ) .
"
 
You are correct CPP the newer Ultra does have a volume control.
Unfortunately it doesn't work with either of our Sony or either of our Samsung.

I was told, right or wrong the volume control only works with ROKU TVs and the headphones.
It's not life and death to have a second remote for volume just more clutter.
 
CPP last night Ultra would turn on, off and control the volume on both Samsung and Sony. This morning same with the Sony not the Samsung.
Go figure, might be operator error at this point.
 
brad225 said:
CPP last night Ultra would turn on, off and control the volume on both Samsung and Sony. This morning same with the Sony not the Samsung.
Go figure, might be operator error at this point.
Click to expand...

I've been using our Ultra's now with our Sony's for a while and we ordered back in 2022 the Pro remote, since the wife loves the remote with the connected ear phones and the new Pro allows USB charging instead of throwing batteries at it. How is your TV connected to "the Roku and any other device like a REceiver
 
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