Cutting The Cord Getting To Be More Expensive Than Cable TV

December 14, 2024, 11:41 AM

flesheatingvirus

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
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

This is the way.

December 14, 2024, 12:57 PM

SigSentry

Never had cable TV. Got rid of Netflix a few years ago. I believe Amazon paid for itself this year. Don't subscribe to any Paramount+ or anything of that nature. Give it a little time and everything ends up on YT, Tubi, Freevee etc. Lost internet for a few days and had to fire up the OTA digital antenna for entertainment. Felt like living in 1990s again. Worst case I'll just put in a DVD or CD. My PS2 is also at the ready.

December 14, 2024, 12:58 PM

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

I now get 101 OTA channels since my attic antenna is in direct line with Washington TV hill, Baltimore, and Annapolis.

December 14, 2024, 02:29 PM

Rey HRH

$10 increase is pretty steep. I would ditch YouTube but it's the closest thing to cable for us. I have Amazon prime but that's just because I have Amazon prime.

And I'm in between sign-ups where i sign up for a month or two and I binge watch what I can then I lay low for a while.

I also do Fandango at home but infrequently.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

December 14, 2024, 09:49 PM

cas

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

You just have to be willing to watch 175 commercials per hour. 12 commercial per break. How's Joe Namath these days?

December 15, 2024, 01:53 PM

4MUL8R

I was angered by YT increase. I tried Sling for a day, as it is $40. No bueno. Really bad user interface. No local channels. I decided to drop my Apple package subscription of $38 to only the 2 TB storage, to keep my overall subscription costs down and maintain the superior YTTV.

December 15, 2024, 03:28 PM

bendable

"You just have to be willing to watch 175 commercials per hour. 12 commercial per break. How's Joe Namath these days?[/QUOTE]"

At 67 y.o.
Being retired,
The president has stopped calling,
E-mails from fans are non existent,
Military leaders can't be bothered to return correspondence.

A third of the friends and family are dead,
No kids or grand kids,

My schedule seems to be on the open end, these days.

Waiting to croak doesn't require top tier entertainment.

December 16, 2024, 09:53 AM

Glynn863

Until late 2022, I was paying around $210 per month for internet and cable TV. Then I "cut the cord" and went internet only and OTA. I do have Netflix, and piggyback off my son's Amazon. We can get almost anything we want to watch OTA or streaming now, or online for some sites. My only complaint now is that internet services also are increasing; I pay around $88 just for non-fiber internet.

December 16, 2024, 10:03 AM

cas

quote:
Originally posted by Glynn863:
I pay around $88 just for non-fiber internet.

I'm at $95 and I'm sure it will be going up any minute. That's why the whole "cutting the cord" thing never made sense to me, adding a bunch of streaming services seems crazy to me (money wise, I can't afford channels now, so there's nothing to cut out). The industry is so fractured now, with so many options / streaming services they're shooting themselves in the foot IMO. (especially now with people's value depleted dollar stretched so far.)

December 16, 2024, 10:05 AM

PASig

So far it looks like these are my only real close alternatives and the first two are already at or more than the price that YTTV is going to and Sling seems to be very limited with channels and few or no local channels?

Hulu + Live TV
DirecTV Stream
Sling

Anyone here use these?

quote:
Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
I was angered by YT increase. I tried Sling for a day, as it is $40. No bueno. Really bad user interface. No local channels. I decided to drop my Apple package subscription of $38 to only the 2 TB storage, to keep my overall subscription costs down and maintain the superior YTTV.

That's what we are now looking at. Seems like YTTV is still the best one and they know it. We may drop another streaming service or two to compensate for the increase.

December 16, 2024, 12:42 PM

1967Goat

We've had Hulu + local channels through a Roku for a few years now. It also keeps going up in price. Our last monthly bill was $95.25. My biggest issue is I live in the mountains and I can't get local channels OTA. I think Hulu is much cheaper if you don't need local channels.

If it was up to me I'd cancel Hulu, but my wife wouldn't stand for that.

January 06, 2025, 11:52 AM

tatortodd

One less option in the near future...

quote:
Disney's Hulu Live + TV and Fubo to combine

Disney and FuboTV on Monday announced a planned merging of Hulu Live + TV and Fubo.

The two businesses will form a combined virtual multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) company that "will operate under the Fubo publicly traded company name," the companies said.

Disney will have a 70% ownership stake in Fubo.

The combination "will facilitate an enhanced choice of programming packages and address a variety of consumer preferences at attractive price points," according to Disney and Fubo.

It will be run by Fubo CEO David Gandler and his management team.

He described the planned merging of Fubo and Hulu Live + TV as a "win for consumers, our shareholders, and the entire streaming industry."

Disney and Fubo said the latter will set up a "new Sports & Broadcast service" that will air ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS and ESPN+ via a carriage agreement between the two.

The vMVPD company "will negotiate carriage agreements with content providers for both Hulu + Live TV and Fubo services independently from Disney," according to the companies.

When they complete the deal, consumers will still have the option to get Fubo and Hulu + Live TV as "separate offerings," they also said.

Fubo has been available since 2015.

Meanwhile, Hulu first introduced Hulu + Live TV in 2017. Disney includes the service in bundles with Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+.

Fubo and Hulu + Live TV boast over 6.2 million North American subscribers combined, according to Disney and Fubo.

At the same time the two companies announced the planned merging of Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, they also said a settlement had been reached for the legal action Fubo had taken last year over ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery’s joint Venu Sports streaming platform.

The combination of Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will be "subject to regulatory approvals, Fubo shareholder approval, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions," Disney and Fubo said.

The new vMVPD company is "projected to be well-capitalized and cash-flow positive immediately after the closing of the Transaction," they said.

Fubo shares surged Monday on the news.

January 06, 2025, 01:53 PM

phil in indy

Where we live there is no OTA available for us. My wife likes utube, amazon and other stuff. Me, I like my Directv. I know where all the channels are and the news programs are real time unlike the news my wife watches which is usually at least several hours old.

January 06, 2025, 02:01 PM

bronicabill

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
<<snip>>
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.

That's what I do also. My only issue is... How do I add a decent "ad blocker" to YouTube when it's on my FireStick streaming? I have ads blocked on YT on my computer, and it works great, but even if I "cast" it to the TV, I still get ads there.

I don't want to derail the thread, but how do you block YT ads on your TV??? Thanks in advance!

January 06, 2025, 02:24 PM

xantom

I don't pay for YT premium but we watch lots of youtube. I have computers on both our living room TV's. I run YT through chrome with the ublock origin extension. We have no ads/commericals. I have tried YT on our "smart" TV in the bedroom and it's an abortion, slow AF and full of ads. I'll buy a $120 mini PC and use that to stream before I ever use the TV's build in apps again.

January 07, 2025, 08:04 AM

Orive 8

I cut the cord about 5 years ago. Paid $39.99 for an ota. Have not paid for anything else since then. Only watch free streaming services, to include You Tube without joining. Have a large collection of DVDs too.

So far, it's worked for us.

January 07, 2025, 09:17 AM

RogueJSK

quote:
Originally posted by bronicabill:
That's what I do also. My only issue is... How do I add a decent "ad blocker" to YouTube when it's on my FireStick streaming? I have ads blocked on YT on my computer, and it works great, but even if I "cast" it to the TV, I still get ads there.

I don't want to derail the thread, but how do you block YT ads on your TV??? Thanks in advance!

I don't know of any ad blockers for the YT app on stuff like Rokus or Fires, and would be surprised if it existed, but then I haven't really looked. I watch YouTube exclusively on my computer.

Connecting a PC to your TV via HDMI and using it basically like a large monitor would be the simplest solution.