News I’m finally cutting the cord — and this is my choice to replace cable

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How I'm cutting the cord: Which live TV service I'm using to replace cable

I’m finally cutting the cord — and this is my choice to replace cable : Read more

 

[ShroudyStranger]

I may be off-topic with this response, however I simply do not understand the compelling reason to be so loyal to live television. To me, live television should be taken as a minimum resource where it really matters such as sports and news. The rest is much better on-demand. My $0.02.

 

[Rubenct]

There is prefence and 100 ways to skin a cat:

• Cut the cord 2 yrs ago from DirectV
• Prefer live sports and local news
• Used the cable connections for an in attic antenna $40 one time hit for 40+ over the air channels all HDTV

-For overall sports, FuboTv with ESPN+ is a must!
-youTube TV a close 2nd, only if price increase stop!

My 2cents

 

[GregoP]

To really get an idea of what cutting the cord is all about, you can't just go from cable to an over the top cable service. When sports stopped in 2020 we got rid of spectrum. We already had Netflix, Disney and Prime. We found deals on Peacock and Paramount and tried them for short terms. They were ok, but have obnoxious interfaces. We had a trial of youtube tv in January but really just got it for sports. We didn't continue, it's too expensive and too much like cable. We no longer sit down and watch shows. We had a TiVo and recorded most things we wanted.

This month we got sling for the Euro championships, Orange for ESPN. I really dislike sling, especially the single stream for Orange. Their Roku app sucks and continually crashes.

We ended up with long term deals for Peacock and Paramount. Peacock is much better for sports. I got a mac in December so we have Apple TV too.

The good thing about the OTT services is that you can start and stop them when ever you want. We don't watch much over the summer anyway unless there's a big soccer tournament or event like TDF.

Youtube highlights are a great way to catch up on the sports you no longer have. And your local sports bar is open now!

I forgot to add that I have a Plex server with OTA tuners for local content. That works pretty well. Also the free stuff you can get from Pluto and other free cable like systems can be enough for some people.

 

[kep55]

You mention using AirTV to get broadcast channels. We have an outdoor YAGI on a thirty foot tower. Even though we live 50 miles from two major cities and 85 from a third, we get all the OTA channels from the two nearby cities and a couple from the farther away one. You do NOT need a special HD antenna for OTA channels as the radio waves don't care. I'm sure we'd pick up more channels if we put a new antenna up that isn't missing half its directors.

 

[TBD Cobra]

OK...But what is your total cost when you include what you pay for internet access?

 

[mjrtom]

Tom's used to be a tech site, but i guess its mainstream-ish.
I would rate this review as a 2 out of 5.
I would never do any of these.
Cordcutter for over 10y. Never looking back.

 

[dharr18]

Good luck with this.

Personal experience I did not like the AirTV. The interface was not very intuitive. The remote regularly disconnected and I could not get it to reconnect without a hard reset. Sling was not bad, but I live in a house with 5 bedrooms and tvs in use in most. Sling was too limited in the number of concurrent connections even when using over the air.

The worst problem of the over the air was when storms were in the area, reception was poor or non-existent. When severe weather is a possibility you will really appreciate the streaming capabilities of local channels. Having streaming capabilities over laptop, PC, phone, etc when power is out is another advantage to have local streaming stations.

While sling is available on other streaming devices, you do not have the local channels unless your tv is connected to a antennae.

Also we are more into sports, so that was another deciding factor.

 

[pcumming]

Not sure how you come up with cost saving. Perhaps I am dense. Will not be the first time.

You stated " — and if this Sling combo turns out to be a true cable replacement. At the least, I would save $1,520 over the next year if this works out. "

How can this be? How can you save $1520 over the next year? This might be the case if one of the services cost $1520 for a year and you paid nothing or you paid $1520 and the services from someone else cost $3040.

Thanks for an update.
Peter

 

[ldjessup]

I've been a youtube.tv customer for a long time, but it's getting to be too expensive. I've changed to Sling. I was concerned about the local channels, but they have added Locast.org so I still get all the locals without an antenna. Takes a while to get over the change, but we're getting there. I actually like Hulu and have settled on watching without their live TV. They are VERY serious about your location. If they think you have moved out of your tv market they will cut you off immediately. Since I have Tmobile and they tend to change the antennas they use I was constantly being cut off. I finally gave up on their live tv and went to Sling. So far so good. Tmobile internet has been great!

 

[ldjessup]

You mention using AirTV to get broadcast channels. We have an outdoor YAGI on a thirty foot tower. Even though we live 50 miles from two major cities and 85 from a third, we get all the OTA channels from the two nearby cities and a couple from the farther away one. You do NOT need a special HD antenna for OTA channels as the radio waves don't care. I'm sure we'd pick up more channels if we put a new antenna up that isn't missing half its directors.

Try locast.org