News I just cut the cord — and this is the service that won

[admin]

Our streaming editor is quitting cable, but neither of the top picks are truly perfect. Here's how he made his choice.

I just cut the cord — and this is the service that won : Read more

 

[Rich 1944]

Sling Blue is also the only service that offers all the channels that I need. It is because of AMC and Hist but I don't know that I need Hist anymore so YouTube TV could be an option but like you the $35 is great and I have an antenna in my attic so I can get OTA Broadcast TV channels from that.

The other thing is that you may not have known about is Spectrum Choice which is your choice of 10 channels from their select lineup for about the same price as Sling Blue but you do have to get Broadcast Channels so that is about $8 more, I think, for the Broadcast Fee.

They also have a set amount of channels with about 25 channels and Broadcast for the same price as the Choice package. These are Streaming Only just like Sling. I think it is about $5 more for a Cloud DVR service.

I actually record from On Demand with an app called PlayOn which you can buy with a one-time, usually on sale, license fee and it records to your disk at no charge or to the cloud for about 10 cents per recording, but your own disk is better.

PlayOn doesn't work Sling because that service is not available on PlayOn but is available on a similar service called Channels but with the problem with what they use called TV Everywhere because a lot of Sling channels are not available on TV Everywhere. The other thing about Playon and also Channels is that with most recordings it gives you the option of skipping the commercials automatically. Spectrum and also YouTube and Hulu work with PlayOn

 

[Pete Zahut]

Henry, the thing you missed in your description of your Sling subscription is that by choosing either the Orange or Blue package you really get both while only paying for one. You're able to switch from Orange to Blue and vice versa at any time and for no charge in your account settings, which makes Sling even more of an attractive option.

 

[flyersfan72]

Nice summary but I think an important aspect of YouTube TV that was left out is the number of profiles per account. For the $65 you can share with up to 5 other people and each profile is completely independent of the others. So all the DVR content is separated, personalized settings, etc. Divided among 6 people the monthly cost is less than $10 per month per person, including tax.

I relate to your Goldilocks' analogy and initially I had a tough time pulling the trigger on YouTube TV - even before the last 2 price hikes. I still think a lot is left to be desired when it cones to the UI but the DCR and multiple independent profiles were the deciding factors for me personally.

 

[gotip58]

Our streaming editor is quitting cable, but neither of the top picks are truly perfect. Here's how he made his choice.

I just cut the cord — and this is the service that won : Read more

If you want to watch local sports, Philadelphia in my case, Sling is terrible. You can't watch 95% of Baseball, Basketball, or Hockey. Most Football games are on local channel which I could use an antennae for. YouTube TV is a big win for me. It has all the games! A DVR recorder for shows and to replay sports events. The sharing of the account gives it a complete win over all other competitors for my money. I love YouTube TV!!

 

[craig2web]

Personally, all of these live services are just a horrible rip off to me, especially when you compare them to both the subscription VOD services (Amazon Prime, regular Hulu, Netflix, etc.) and the numerous free services (IMDB TV, Peacock, Pluto, regular YouTube, etc.). I've had trials of various live services, and to me, the entertainment content wasn't any better than the subscription VOD services or free services. The only thing the live services have a slight edge on is with news, but I'm not about to shell out $35-$70/month just for news. $35/month may not seem like a lot to many, but that amount invested steadily over 40 years at an 8% average return would produce a $100k+ nest egg. If you did a little better and averaged 10%, you'd end up with $200k+.

 

[USAFRet]

hmm....
YouTube - $65
Hulu - $65
Fubo - $65
DirectTV - $70

Add $20 for a DVR
Add whatever for your actual internet connection.

vs $105 for 100/100 internet, FiOS Extreme TV, DVR.

Add on taxes, etc.

I'm not seeing any 'savings' here.

 

[StuckInRetro]

Article mentioned missing Vice after making the switch. Vice TV is available for free in Roku Channel's live section. This is where the free TV apps (Pluto, Xumo, Plex, Roku, etc) are so underrated since they fill the gaps of some missing channels on YTTV/Fubo/Sling etc, and some have those channels outright.

hmm....
YouTube - $65
Hulu - $65
Fubo - $65
DirectTV - $70

Add $20 for a DVR
Add whatever for your actual internet connection.

vs $105 for 100/100 internet, FiOS Extreme TV, DVR.

Add on taxes, etc.

I'm not seeing any 'savings' here.

$105 for TV/Internet sounds amazing. I don't think there would be as many cord cutters if those were the prices available to everybody though. Where I live, TV/Internet/Phone bundle was just costing me $270 per month. This is with the 2nd cheapest TV package and no premium channels. Removing phone would've only shed $30.

As far as DVR, all the TV streaming services come with cloud DVR so there wouldn't be a $20 for that. A couple of them offer more DVR storage for extra $ but that depends on needs. Youtube TV's DVR is unlimited.

 

[USAFRet]

In addition - Ease of use.
All these streaming services need either a PC/laptop, or a compatible smart TV, or a dongle like the Roku.

The Verizon DVR talks to any TV or monitor.