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We've cut the cable (2 Viewers)

Thanks No4.  I am moving in the next month and will be going streaming so this helps.  

I may just go with the ones i can get deals with (prepay 1mo of directvnow and get a free roku stick) then try some free trials to test against.  

 
ATT Announces New Skinny Bundle $15/mo for non - ATT customers

As a result of the approval for the AT&T /Time Warner acquisition, ATT just announced a skinny bundle that is now a core offering for ATT customers and $15/mo for non-ATT customers.  But data service increases $5/mo. Performance may get throttled back after 22 GB/mo. More than 30 live channels and on-demand. Some Viacom channels will be added later, but not Nick. Bloomberg included but not CNBC. No ESPN/sports channels. Need to order higher tier if you want to add movie channels like HBO. No mention of local OTA channels.

 
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I am actually doing the free trial for YouTube TV and DirecTV Now for a week. I tried PSVue when it first came out, and found that it was lacking. I recently got a Vizio 65 in E series "monitor". It does not have a tuner so I cannot simply run coax from an HD antenna to get my local channels, which are spotty due to the distance to the towers. So, local channels are am important part of the equation. 

YouTube TV has all network channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and even CW). The locals are from Green Bay WI, which is about 90 min away, but not a big deal. DirecTV Now does not offer any local options for me at this time. 1 point for YouTube.

The YouTube interface is very intuitive, and follows their YouTube online format closely, so if you like that, you will like YouTube TV. It feels very light and quick. No lags. DirecTV Now has a more complicated look and feel, and is very laggy (moreso on my Roku Streaming Stick+ vs my Fire TV box). Another point for YouTube.

Channel selection. YouTube TV offers one option, and is missing several channels that I may or may not miss over time (HGTV, FOOD Network, etc.). It does have a good selection of channels I actually do watch though, including Fox Sports WI sand the Big Ten channel. DirecTV Now has several channel packages, depending on the channels you need. I like the flexibility of changing packages depending on the channels I want at the time. For instance, I would need to get the $60 package with the NBA channel during that season since my son is a big fan. On the flip side, YouTube has that channel in their lineup already for $40. Hopefully YouTube adds more channels in the future, but for now, a point for DirecTV Now.

DVR capabilities. YouTube TV has unlimited recording, but apparently there is some uproar about the recording actually reverting to the VOD of the show which is a big deal to some people. Not me. I like how easy it is to navigate to the recording in your library. For DirecTV Now, it is a similar experience, but I have not played back many recordings on either to be honest. DirecTV Now does limit your recordings to 20 hours in their beta, which is a deal breaker for my wife. Another point for YouTube TV.

Ease of use. This is a big one, since my experiment with PSVue a while back failed to launch because my wife and kids could not navigate the menu and guide. Fast forward almost two years and we have a YouTube TV interface that looks and feels like YouTube. Everyone in my household is an expert on YouTube so they "get" this right away. Again, it is very fast and the screen is organized so logically. The guide is refreshing, with big icons showing the channel and show. It really makes it easy to use. DirecTV Now has improved from last year, but the whole interface is dark and very busy. I love technology but find myself struggling to figure out how to get back to the guide or find my recordings. Not as intuitive as YouTube TV. And another point for YouTube TV.

Picture quality. Both are better than Dish. Period. I watched the same program, switching from Dish to YouTube TV to DirecTV Now. YouTube TV and DirecTV Now were considerably clearer pictures. And the sound was better too. 

A couple of disclaimers. I am using a new Roku Streaming Stick+ for these trials. Since Google and Amazon cannot get along, I cannot use the two Fire TV boxes that I own to test out YouTube TV. The Roku is 4K ready and is very fast with WiFi, even faster than my Fire TV box that is hard wired. And no buffering at all. I have 60 Mbps with Spectrum, but have had no problem with buffering or blur so far on either YouTube it DirecTV Now. The simple Roku remote is great and controls my TV volume and on and off.

Second disclaimer, I am heavily invested in Google products, including Android phones, Google Home speakers and the Google Assistant. With that said, YouTube TV just seems like a better product.

I am currently with Dish Network, paying about $120 per month for their Top 20 plus HBO, with a few credits expiring in July. As mentioned, there are a lot of channels there that I don't watch. YouTube TV is $40 plus another $15 for HBO Now puts me at $55 per month. DirecTV Now ranges from $40 to $65 including HBO for $5 a month. So half or less than what I'm paying now. Plus no weather outages with streaming, which have been a lot with Dish with the storms we have been having lately. Plus I could get rid of the dish on my roof.

Streaming has come a long way in the past two years. These two options are very good, but I am finding YouTube TV to be the better product so far. I can afford to pay the higher cost of Dish, but why should I?

I hope this post helps anyone who has questions about making the move to streaming.
Since posting this last week, I have put my Dish account on pause for 3 months. I started a trial of Hulu Live TV alongside my YouTube TV. At first I hated it on Roku due to no channel guide. Tried it today on my Fire TV box, which has a guide on their platform, and I really like it. Adds HGTV and Food channels, plus 3 of 4 locals for us. No AMC or NBC though which could be a deal breaker. I think I can stream Sunday Night Football on NBCSC though? Can anyone confirm?

I like both options at the moment and will have a tough decision in a week in which to keep.

 
ATT Announces New Skinny Bundle $15/mo for non - ATT customers

As a result of the approval for the AT&T /Time Warner acquisition, ATT just announced a skinny bundle that is now a core offering for ATT customers and $15/mo for non-ATT customers.  But data service increases $5/mo. Performance may get throttled back after 22 GB/mo. More than 30 live channels and on-demand. Some Viacom channels will be added later, but not Nick. Bloomberg included but not CNBC. No ESPN/sports channels. Need to order higher tier if you want to add movie channels like HBO. No mention of local OTA channels.
I think of this commercial every time I see AT&T now

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/w0WE/spectrum-bad-deal

 
have an android box and had a service i was using that got raided....

struggling to find live tv now...

any suggestions for a kodi addon that is working well with live stuff.....

tia

 
ydoc said:
have an android box and had a service i was using that got raided....

struggling to find live tv now...

any suggestions for a kodi addon that is working well with live stuff.....

tia
It's outside of Kodi, but Mobdro for live TV and Terrarium for a show/movie library.

 
Tick said:
It's outside of Kodi, but Mobdro for live TV and Terrarium for a show/movie library.
Yep. Kodi sucks. Terrarium is where it’s at. Been using it for a year or so now and only fire up DirecTV for live sports. 

 
I'm sorry to ask this question in a 143 page thread, cause I am sure the answer is in here somewhere...Hoping one of you smarties can give me some easy answers.

We currently have Comcast internet, basic cable (29 channels), netflix and amazon. Questions:

1. We only use cable tv for watching the Seahawks. Basic cable does not even allow us to watch the Mariners. Last time I looked around, maybe a year ago, there did not seem to be an easy way to watch local sports. We are in blackout area (90 miles from Seattle) and our area is a dead zone for antennas.

2. If we dump cable, what are good options for internet?

3. Any opinions on netflix vs amazon? I use prime shipping often, so I guess the real question is do we need netflix? Not many series that we really pay attention to.

 
Since posting this last week, I have put my Dish account on pause for 3 months. I started a trial of Hulu Live TV alongside my YouTube TV. At first I hated it on Roku due to no channel guide. Tried it today on my Fire TV box, which has a guide on their platform, and I really like it. Adds HGTV and Food channels, plus 3 of 4 locals for us. No AMC or NBC though which could be a deal breaker. I think I can stream Sunday Night Football on NBCSC though? Can anyone confirm?

I like both options at the moment and will have a tough decision in a week in which to keep.
Thanks for taking the time and writing up your comparisons. Was very helpful

 
Just getting in to researching streaming. I've had it with the games Spectrum plays with raising your price because your promotional rate expired and making the annual phone call.This thread is very helpful.

Looking in to Hulu, Sling and Youtube. Got an antenna for the TV for the local stations. Leaning towards Hulu.

Haven't read the whole thread yet but are there any streaming services that allows you to share your costs with someone outside the household and split the costs? This would be a huge plus. (Brother would be interested in doing this). From what I have found most put restrictions on this other than maybe Netflix.

 
Thanks for taking the time and writing up your comparisons. Was very helpful
You are welcome. I have had the chance to compare Hulu and YouTube TV quite a bit over the past week. Just last night I was comparing the Brewer game on both formats. YouTube TV is much clearer for sports on Fox Sports Wisconsin. I have not watched any other sporting events on Hulu though. This is due to the fact that only certain channels on Hulu are at 60fps. Most of the streaming platforms have 30fps and 60fps channels. Hulu does not have 60fps for Fox Sports Wisconsin on the Roku platforms. They do have it on the Fire TV platform though.

Based on that I believe I will stay with YouTube TV after my Hulu trial expires this week. but the beauty of streaming TV is that you can switch platforms anytime you want. I most likely will switch over time to several different options.

 
You are welcome. I have had the chance to compare Hulu and YouTube TV quite a bit over the past week. Just last night I was comparing the Brewer game on both formats. YouTube TV is much clearer for sports on Fox Sports Wisconsin. I have not watched any other sporting events on Hulu though. This is due to the fact that only certain channels on Hulu are at 60fps. Most of the streaming platforms have 30fps and 60fps channels. Hulu does not have 60fps for Fox Sports Wisconsin on the Roku platforms. They do have it on the Fire TV platform though.

Based on that I believe I will stay with YouTube TV after my Hulu trial expires this week. but the beauty of streaming TV is that you can switch platforms anytime you want. I most likely will switch over time to several different options.
Thanks again. What market are you in? I'm in the Milwaukee area and Brewer games are a big factor.

 
Thanks again. What market are you in? I'm in the Milwaukee area and Brewer games are a big factor.
North Central Wisconsin. Wausau is our main market, but YouTube TV gives us Green Bay for now. Fox Sports Wisconsin is included so you will get all the Brewer games. Plus you should get all the local Milwaukee stations.

 
Looks like Directv now has some offers for signing up:

Prepay for 3 months and get it for $10/mo for those 3 months

Prepay 1 month get a Roku player

Prepay 3 months and get Apple TV player

Ok, I already have firetv, a fire stick and a chromecast player and only 2 tvs.  Any reason to get a Roku or Apple tv player?  I do have an iPhone and iPad so maybe ATV?  although saving $25/mo for 3 months would be nice too.  Thoughts?

 
Apple TV can stream stuff in 4k, those boxes retail for $150 so it's not a bad deal. If you have a 4k TV that is what I would do. If not then there is no reason for another streaming device imo, I'd take the discount.  

 
For guys that mount TVs on the wall, do these type of devices (Roku, Fire, Apple) all fit behind it well?  Hard to tell from pictures online

 
For guys that mount TVs on the wall, do these type of devices (Roku, Fire, Apple) all fit behind it well?  Hard to tell from pictures online
I mount my TV’s and I originally had a fire stick. It fit behind the TV without a problem. I’ve since upgraded to the fire TV box (fire stick was too slow IMO) and it isn’t designed to hang behind the TV like the stick. I have it on the component shelf next to the TV. 

 
Thanks again. What market are you in? I'm in the Milwaukee area and Brewer games are a big factor.
I'm in Milwaukee and have basically been running Hulu Live and YoutubeTV concurrently for the past 6 months or so. Long story but Youtube kept giving me free months because they couldn't figure out how to get their LGTV app working. At any rate that's been fixed, but I preferred Youtube, my wife preferred Hulu. :shrug:

I put the Hulu on hold for now. I found that when there were buffering issues with Hulu you could miss a minute or so as the stream would stop and then jump back to "live". With Youtube I feel like the signal degrades seamlessly to alleviate that buffer.  The picture isn't the greatest (think down to 480p or even 240p) but I still at least see/hear what's going on, a big deal with sports. Not to mention those kind of interruptions seemed to happen far less frequently on Youtube.  I'm sure YMMV because I could barely get Sling to stream clear at all.

Overall I'd echo much of what No 4 stated above.

 
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So I finally convinced the wife to cut the cord (not sure why it took so long, I am the only one that watches TV anymore. Wife and kids are always on their tablets watching Netflix, hulu or youtube).  Biggest issue for me is going to be sporting events.  We are 40 miles from the closest local channels and 60 miles from another one so I am going to need a decent antenna to pick up NFL games this fall.  I would rather not put up an antenna outside if possible.  Any recommendations or experience with a good antenna to pick up local channels? Will probably do sling or Directv now because Youtube TV is not available in my area and Hulu does not have the sports channels I want. (have to have fox sports north to watch my Twins)

 
So I finally convinced the wife to cut the cord (not sure why it took so long, I am the only one that watches TV anymore. Wife and kids are always on their tablets watching Netflix, hulu or youtube).  Biggest issue for me is going to be sporting events.  We are 40 miles from the closest local channels and 60 miles from another one so I am going to need a decent antenna to pick up NFL games this fall.  I would rather not put up an antenna outside if possible.  Any recommendations or experience with a good antenna to pick up local channels? Will probably do sling or Directv now because Youtube TV is not available in my area and Hulu does not have the sports channels I want. (have to have fox sports north to watch my Twins)
I'm 40+ and have the top of the line Winegard mounted on my roof ~$120. Depending on obstructions not sure you'll get it with an indoor antenna. Try and just return it if it doesn't work. 

You can get the full NFL ticket if you VPN your IP address outside of N America from nfl.com for ~$150. 

 
Looks like Directv now has some offers for signing up:

Prepay for 3 months and get it for $10/mo for those 3 months

Prepay 1 month get a Roku player

Prepay 3 months and get Apple TV player

Ok, I already have firetv, a fire stick and a chromecast player and only 2 tvs.  Any reason to get a Roku or Apple tv player?  I do have an iPhone and iPad so maybe ATV?  although saving $25/mo for 3 months would be nice too.  Thoughts?
No need. Wouldn't recommend anything Apple so get it and then sell it, imo.

 
So I finally convinced the wife to cut the cord (not sure why it took so long, I am the only one that watches TV anymore. Wife and kids are always on their tablets watching Netflix, hulu or youtube).  Biggest issue for me is going to be sporting events.  We are 40 miles from the closest local channels and 60 miles from another one so I am going to need a decent antenna to pick up NFL games this fall.  I would rather not put up an antenna outside if possible.  Any recommendations or experience with a good antenna to pick up local channels? Will probably do sling or Directv now because Youtube TV is not available in my area and Hulu does not have the sports channels I want. (have to have fox sports north to watch my Twins)
I have this one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

i  pull in stations 40+ miles away. It is  made for roof mount but have it in my attic 

 
tonydead said:
I'm 40+ and have the top of the line Winegard mounted on my roof ~$120. Depending on obstructions not sure you'll get it with an indoor antenna. Try and just return it if it doesn't work. 

You can get the full NFL ticket if you VPN your IP address outside of N America from nfl.com for ~$150. 
Or know anyone with a .edu e-mail address.

 
In The Zone said:
How many TVs use the antenna? I may go with something like this. My only concern is my metal roof.
Yeah, metal roof will kill it if putting antenna in attic.  I'm ~50 miles away, asphalt shingle roof and I get nothing - and I mean nothing with the largest winegard antenna in my attic.  It needs to be outside. 

Antennaweb.org is a great resource to see exactly what you need at your address, and where radio towers are (and in what direction). TV Fool is possibly better.

 
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Is this $150 also for the .edu
I think it was $100 last year, and the year before.  Not sure the details for this year have come out yet, or if they are changing.  It's worked for me the last few years - and made a great annual gift to my sister for a few years, and now my cousin.  I just don't understand why they won't come watch the games with me?

 
I think it was $100 last year, and the year before.  Not sure the details for this year have come out yet, or if they are changing.  It's worked for me the last few years - and made a great annual gift to my sister for a few years, and now my cousin.  I just don't understand why they won't come watch the games with me?
I just used this today using my nieces email. Using promo code BACKTOSCHOOL it's only 80 right now

 
I'm wondering about this as well. I'm just using it indoors nothing crazy. Is there a consensus on one everyone likes
All depends on where you live as to what will work.  I live so far away from the towers, I'd need one like this, mounted on the roof (not attic), and likely elevated a few feet above the roof-line, and even then wouldn't get all the channels I'd want perfectly. 

 
Is there a check for current enrolment?
I originally used my wife's e-mail address (she works at a university so has a .edu address) and date of birth.  They then wanted a copy of enrollment or ID card (there were a couple other options but don't remember).  I then tried the daughter's college e-mail address and date of birth prepared to give them a copy of her enrollment, but they approved it right away.  I am guessing the DOB was the biggest thing.

 
I originally used my wife's e-mail address (she works at a university so has a .edu address) and date of birth.  They then wanted a copy of enrollment or ID card (there were a couple other options but don't remember).  I then tried the daughter's college e-mail address and date of birth prepared to give them a copy of her enrollment, but they approved it right away.  I am guessing the DOB was the biggest thing.
Same. Once I gave email and DOB it was good

 
I have a .edu but get hung up at providing anything remotely close to any current enrollment data.  But screw them anyway, that deal is still through Directv and the idea that I have to be a student or a non-student living somewhere I can't install a dish to stream the NFL is absurd.  You can't get the Ticket through DirectvNow even if you are willing to pay full price.  That is beyond stupid.

I noticed Brazil has a follow your team option for only $89.  I'm not going to do anything, see how good the reddit streams are this year and if I find myself frustrated not being able to watch a game that isn't broadcast nationally I will think about that option.  If it's far enough into the season it might be half that price.  And it will be going to nfl.com, not Directv.

 
I am sure this has been discussed, but does this whole net neutrality thing eventually going to lead to jacking up internet fees which eventually hurts the cord cutters?

 

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