I Tried Legal Cord Cutting: Which Services Are Worth It

[Alex Cranz]

I stepped over from the dark side to see which premium streaming services are worth the monthly cost.

I Tried Legal Cord Cutting: Which Services Are Worth It : Read more

 

[Melissa_9]

Awesome article! I'm also a legal cord cutter. I like Netflix and Hulu plus the most. Recently, I discovered Tubi TV which is a 100% free movie streaming app. They have a HUGE library. Between Netflix, Hulu, and Tubi TV, I always have something to watch. There's some ads here and there but overall the streaming quality and experience is great.

 

[bloodroses]

Another good legal movie site on top of TubiTV is Crackle. The selection isn't the newest of course though.

For cartoons, and some anime, there is Kisscartoon.me; which I believe is legal.

If you are huge into anime, is crunchyroll; but is a monthly pay service..

 

[alvinblair]

Nice post...

 

[Oliver Sedgwick]

Informative post. However, the HBO add-on for Sling does actually have on demand. When you are watching HBO, simply press up on the channel icon, and you will see the exact same on demand content as HBO now, or just search for a show, eg Game of Thrones, using the sling search function, and all the episodes will be available. Also, some channels have 3 day replay, where you can scroll back over 3 days and watch past episodes.

 

[Alex Cranz]

Informative post. However, the HBO add-on for Sling does actually have on demand. When you are watching HBO, simply press up on the channel icon, and you will see the exact same on demand content as HBO now, or just search for a show, eg Game of Thrones, using the sling search function, and all the episodes will be available. Also, some channels have 3 day replay, where you can scroll back over 3 days and watch past episodes.

This was brought to my attention on Twitter last night! I don't know how I used the program for so long without hitting up. Wasn't a crazy fan of what all was available and it doesn't really change my impression of SlingTV. Largely because the networks are controlling what is and isn't available for replay. There's also a complete lack of queueing.

Call me crazy but I'd rather pay the extra money for Hulu+ without commercials and live without HBO. I mean, Game of Thrones wasn't THAT good this year....

 

[Newktrane]

Not exactly helpful info for those seeking such. As one who streams Sling Tv(with Hbo add on), & Showtime app -all on my roku, I'm very happy with the services & more importantly saving money as well. The fact that these streaming apps can be added & cancelled at any time - without additional fees- provides the perfect solution for those viewers who want to throughout the year cut & paste their tv watching around favorite premium cable tv shows (Hbo, Showtime) or sports & basic cable tv shows (Sling Tv).

 

[heyradar]

I currently use Amazon Prime and Hulu+ primarily. Once the fall shows start (this month), I regrettably have to get CBS All Access. I also watch Crackle (free), Pluto.TV (free), and B/W TV for background noise (free), Occasionally we'll get Netflex and do some binge watching, and then cancel. As for other shows, I'm going to have to pay for Doctor Who episodes ($23/season), but that's cheaper than getting cable that has BBC America.

Overall, this is not the perfect solution. I don't have access to CNN or FoxNews, etc., You don't have a central "DVR queue" that everything you want to watch is in. You also don't always know when new episodes are available, nor where to watch them at. So I've been tempted to get a Tablo or Simple.TV device, which would negate the need for Hulu+ and CBS All Access. Other benefits would be multiple users can stream at the same time, and I can DVR any show I see on the guide (sports, news, award shows, etc.)


Hulu+ needs to allow multi-user streaming, and get CBS content. That would be more important than Epix and AMC. Another win for Hulu+ would be an add-on charge that let you watch USA, etc., without a cable subscription.

CBS AA burns me up, that they want $6/mth when Hulu+ is $8 and includes ABC, Fox, and NBC, and its one location. I never could get CBS on demand on my cable DVR either.

SlingTV would be a better valued service if you could use it to login to the AMC, Cartoon Network, FoxNow, etc. Roku apps as you had stated. I'd love to be open to open the Disney XD app on my Roku and use a SlingTV account to authenticate. That would help with SlingTV only allowing a single stream.


Article notes: You didn't mention that Epix was coming to Hulu soon, and HBO Now is currently available on the AppleTV and FireTV (soon for Roku.)