Just found out that YouTube TV is jacking up prices from $73 to $83 next month and I’m out. Started using it a few years ago when it was like $50 a month but now they’re just getting greedy.

What are you all doing these days? I’ll look at the YTTV alternatives like Sling and Fubo but will also be looking at Comcast/Xfinity again.

Maybe it’s time to rig an antenna!

I have no TV service, cable/satellite/internet or otherwise. I have no desire to sit through commercials, or have to watch only what some programming manager decides that I should watch at any specific time.

Instead, I have a few streaming video service subscriptions year-round, including Amazon Prime and Netflix. Then I may subscribe to another like Max, Apple, Hulu, Starz, or Paramount for a month at a time when there's something specific that I want to watch there (like an entire new season of certain shows), then cancel until next time.

It ends up being about $40/month or less, especially months where I don't have a temporary third service.

And I still have more video content available than I could ever watch, especially supplementing it with YouTube with a quality ad blocker.

I was paying $110+ per month for cable in 2017. A lot of the monthly fees came from the mandatory box rental.

I bought Roku boxes and switched to Hulu+ for $35 per month. Roku boxes paid for themselves in 5 months. However, Hulu+ has gone up every year, but has really gone up since Disney bought them (it's now $82 per month). Part of the increase is they made Disney+ a mandatory part of package which I've never watched and likely never will.

If I didn't like live sports, I could save a lot of money. However, I like watching football and baseball. I'm a Big Ten football fan so Big Ten network is one of my must haves.

Considering Sling Blue + Orange + Sports Extra and would run me $70 once the short-term trial ends. It'd save me $12 per month but for how long and how much of a PITA?

FuboTV Pro would cost me $80 per month once the short-term trial ends.

My son set up a Roku stick, that’s plenty for me. I do get Netflix with my cell plan(T-Mobile). My sister comes by & signs me into her Amazon account.

There’s the assortment of free levels with Tubu, Hulu, Utube, etc..

I have an antenna on the roof, adds 25 or so channels.

Often I don’t turn the TV on for days.

The real cure is to get versed in a ‘Plex’ server. Once up & running, virtually any show is available, for free.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
The real cure is to get versed in a ‘Plex’ server. Once up & running, virtually any show is available, for free.

Free, but not legal. Those "virtually any shows" you're finding for free on others' Plex servers are pirated content.

I'm a grown adult with a paying job. I can afford to pay a few bucks a month to watch the stuff I want to watch, legally.

If you must have broadcast/legacy media channels, then you'd be wise to rig an antenna for that.

I have internet only streaming (provided by Comcast/Xfinity), but I'd change to another provider in a heartbeat as soon either Fiber is available at my address, or adequate bandwidth via 5G cellular becomes a reality at my home. Until then, I'm stuck w/ Comcast/Xfinity!

We have Roku Streaming Sticks on multiple TVs, plus a Google Chromecast Streaming Stick on my son's TV. We only 'pay' for the services/content we watch, and nothing we don't, so it's Netflix (discounted by T-Mobile - I pay $8.50/mo. for Nettlix Std w/ NO Commercials), Apple TV+ (provided free by T-Mobile), Prime Video (included w/ Amazon Prime, and my son pays for Crunchy Roll.

YMMV

I don’t have Plex now, so no worries.

We have an antenna to watch a few local channels and PBS.

We have Netflix and Amazon Prime but also watch Crackle, Tubi, Pluto, etc..

The only time it really sucks is when the "other" schools have their championship games such as ND State, Montana, Wisconsin White Water etc..

quote:

Originally posted by mrapteam666:
The only time it really sucks is when the "other" schools have their championship games such as ND State, Montana, Wisconsin White Water etc..

Most all of them (if not all) are on ESPN+ now. $10ish bucks a month and cancel anytime. Although, why anyone would want to watch the Bison is beyond me.

Heard about the YTTV increase this morning. Glad we dropped them after the last increase

29 channels of broadcast tv.
Monthly bill: $0.00

I used to subscribe to both Amazon Prime and Netflix. I dropped Netflix a few years ago because I just wasn't watching it all that much. Then I dropped Amazon earlier this year when they started charging more for the commercial-free content that I was already getting. In retrospect that may have been a hasty decision; I don't order a ton of stuff from Amazon but the shipping I pay for now does add up to probably more than the extra fee would have been. I'll probably wind up re-subscribing to either Prime or Netflix.

As for OTA, it depends. I have the same antenna that I used back in Portland. It worked great back there, but my house was 15 miles from the antenna farm. Here I'm more like 45 miles from the antennas, and it doesn't work nearly as well. To get good OTA reception I'll have to put up an outdoor antenna on a mast, which will cost me some $$$, but that's a one-time expense. I keep looking at pay services like Sling or Youtube TV or Hulu+ or whatever to get the OTA channels, but they're just asking too much.

I have prime for the shipping. Max is free with my fiber line. Netflix and Hulu/Disney are paid for. I’ve been told anything else is easily found on off shore streaming sites.

A few of us predicted this would happen. It’s easy to see if you’re that frog that notices a 1 degree temp change in the frying pot. Oh look it $50 a month, then $60, $70, $80, etc. Crooks.

I’d look up sat coverage again via DirecTV/Dish and figure out how much it costs once the promotion (first 12 months) is done. All the streaming services are out for their pound of flesh as well. Rogue said it best. Pick 2 streaming services that you’ll want year round. Rest of them, rotate them in for 30-60 days, legally watch the content you want, cancel. Rinse/repeat with the others. It’s a major PITA to me but he is right. I hate digging for treasure, opening this up, searching, indexing, whatever, nothing, close, open another. I want my Satellite service back with all the movie channels but not until I can move to my rural land where there will be no mortgage. At that point I don’t care what satellite costs anymore. Tired of streaming bullshit.

Xfinity + Sling + Prime Video + Apple TV works for me--that's in the house we rent in the Sacramento area to be near grandkids.
When we leave our San Diego house we'll dump Spectrum which is almost $300 a month.

I've been doing the "skip from one to another each month" thing and loving it. Binge on everything you want from one channel one month, then skip to the next.

quote:

Originally posted by Jester814:
I've been doing the "skip from one to another each month" thing and loving it. Binge on everything you want from one channel one month, then skip to the next.

This is starting to make sense to me. There is nothing I want to watch on HBO or NF. I may drop NF and pick up Apple or Prime. Then maybe go back to NF in a few months. And so on.

I did watch some classics on HBO recently. Including Gone w/ the wind. I've seen bits before but never the whole movie. I didn't really care for it. I didn't like any of the characters. Especially Scarlett. But enjoyed Casablanca again.

Watching grass grow and leaves fall. Still $0.00

I’ve been using YouTubeTV and got the email about the price increase. I called and bitched and they emailed me a coupon code for $10 off monthly for six months. Will revisit then.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
29 channels of broadcast tv.
Monthly bill: $0.00

Ha...gotcha beat by 2. 31 channels (no bill). I do miss the 24-hour yule log this time of year though.