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BBT · 07-15-2013, 08:07 AM

Longtime lurker, infrequent poster; I'm from Houston, love all Houston sports, but currently live in San Antonio with my wife and three kids. Here's my setup after cutting the cord in May (very pro-Apple).

Hardware:
Internet: Time Warner Turbo Package ($80/mth)
Antenna: RCA- Outdoor HDTV Antenna ($80 - Best Buy)
TVs: 2 Standard HDTVs, 4 smaller TVs 10 years old or less
Media Player: Playstation 3, Samsung Blu-Ray with Internet Access, 2 Apple TVs ($99)

Notes: We used to subscribe with Time Warner and had a 2 year locked in contract for $129 a month for cable/internet/DVR. That was about to expire and the bill was going to raise to $200. We asked for a discount and that would have been around $160 which was still too much for so little and I made the choice to cut the cord. Time Warner jacked up the internet portion since I had no bundling and I'd love to go with someone else, but my only other option is AT&T DSL right now and I just can't do that with as much as we stream. I could step down a level for Time Warner, but the Turbo Package serves me well and I've had no issues.

I did some online research and went with the RCA Antenna for over the air channels. I want to mount it in the attic and split it off to all my TVs via the cable hook ups in the house, but we're in limbo with a potential move so I've got it sitting behind my Living room TV currently. I pull about 20-25 over the air channels (including NBC/ABC/CBS/FOX/PBS) and they are HD quality. In fact, my NBC channel is probably clearer than when I had Time Warner. I do have to adjust it from time to time, but considering that its just leaning against my wall behind my TV, I can't complain too much.

Was deciding between PS3, RokuTV, and AppleTV for additional streaming. PS3 is very limited and Roku had 250+channels. All of them offer Netflix and Hulu Plus, however, I was sold on the AppleTVs ability to allow streaming from your Iphone/IPad devices. This opened a ton of options for us as we have Iphones and IPads and can basically stream any app to our TVs. This basically allowed us to not need a DVR as we can stream the NBC/CBS/ABC/cable channels apps as well as most sports services apps. For example, I signed up for MLS.TV on my Iphone and can stream the Dynamo games to the TV. It's not HD quality, but it works. Lastly, all our ITunes purchases are available to us instantly and I can access my computer's file share to stream video content from my computer.

Software:
-Netflix: ($8/mth)
-Hulu Plus: ($8/mth) - must for Fox shows
-Crackle: Free
-NBC/CBS/ABC/PBS/other cable channels apps: Free

Sports: Hardest part, but doable
MLB: Astros fan in San Antonio so I don't get live games anyway. Purchased the Radio package for the MLB app ($20/yr) and I sometimes stream the radio broadcast and the Gameday updates through the TV.
MLS: Purchased MLS Live package ($60/yr) and stream the games. I don't get games on NBC Sports, but I get about 80% of the games.
NBA: I'll get league pass once the season starts to watch the Rockets and other games. I don't get ESPN games. TNT games, however, are available on their website via their multi-camera option. You don't get graphics so you have to pay attention for the score and it can get a little disorienting as you don't have the normal half court camera, but it worked for the Eastern Conference Finals. Playoff games on ESPN are my big worry.
NFL: All games are free on over the air channels except for Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football (I have the NFL app though). I purchased the Radio package for the NFL app for $20 last year since I was deployed to Qatar.
College: Definitely the hardest thing. No more College Gameday on ESPN, no more flipping between multiple games except for what's on CBS/NBC/ABC. However, I'm a University of Houston fan so I'll either go to the games, or I downloaded the UH app where for $20/yr I can stream video/audio of all sporting events. If that doesn't work, I can go on the UH website and order their Premium package for around $80/yr and stream audio/video that way. The app worked for baseball which normally is never on TV so I'm hopeful.

What I lost:
-HBO: No option of getting it and they don't offer shows on Netflix or Hulu. Basically, if we want to watch HBO, we're buying DVDs or purchasing shows through ITunes.
-ESPN: Time Warner doesn't let me stream ESPN3 because they suck so I have no ESPN. I only cared about the sporting events, but that's a large inventory I lost.
-DVR: We never watched any shows live (except for sports) so this was a big change. However, the AppleTV and streaming made this easy for us so we don't miss it.

Honestly, we love it and financially, we're much better off. Doing the math, even with the sports packages, we pay less than what we used to with the 2 year locked in contract. We're hoping both HBO and ESPN relent and start offering their channels on a pay per month basis to Internet only customers, but otherwise, we haven't regretted the change yet and the kids love being able to pick what they want to watch instead of watching whatever is on at the time.

07-15-2013, 08:07 AM	#17
BBT H.S. Freshman Team Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Katy, TX	Longtime lurker, infrequent poster; I'm from Houston, love all Houston sports, but currently live in San Antonio with my wife and three kids. Here's my setup after cutting the cord in May (very pro-Apple). Hardware: Internet: Time Warner Turbo Package ($80/mth) Antenna: RCA- Outdoor HDTV Antenna ($80 - Best Buy) TVs: 2 Standard HDTVs, 4 smaller TVs 10 years old or less Media Player: Playstation 3, Samsung Blu-Ray with Internet Access, 2 Apple TVs ($99) Notes: We used to subscribe with Time Warner and had a 2 year locked in contract for $129 a month for cable/internet/DVR. That was about to expire and the bill was going to raise to $200. We asked for a discount and that would have been around $160 which was still too much for so little and I made the choice to cut the cord. Time Warner jacked up the internet portion since I had no bundling and I'd love to go with someone else, but my only other option is AT&T DSL right now and I just can't do that with as much as we stream. I could step down a level for Time Warner, but the Turbo Package serves me well and I've had no issues. I did some online research and went with the RCA Antenna for over the air channels. I want to mount it in the attic and split it off to all my TVs via the cable hook ups in the house, but we're in limbo with a potential move so I've got it sitting behind my Living room TV currently. I pull about 20-25 over the air channels (including NBC/ABC/CBS/FOX/PBS) and they are HD quality. In fact, my NBC channel is probably clearer than when I had Time Warner. I do have to adjust it from time to time, but considering that its just leaning against my wall behind my TV, I can't complain too much. Was deciding between PS3, RokuTV, and AppleTV for additional streaming. PS3 is very limited and Roku had 250+channels. All of them offer Netflix and Hulu Plus, however, I was sold on the AppleTVs ability to allow streaming from your Iphone/IPad devices. This opened a ton of options for us as we have Iphones and IPads and can basically stream any app to our TVs. This basically allowed us to not need a DVR as we can stream the NBC/CBS/ABC/cable channels apps as well as most sports services apps. For example, I signed up for MLS.TV on my Iphone and can stream the Dynamo games to the TV. It's not HD quality, but it works. Lastly, all our ITunes purchases are available to us instantly and I can access my computer's file share to stream video content from my computer. Software: -Netflix: ($8/mth) -Hulu Plus: ($8/mth) - must for Fox shows -Crackle: Free -NBC/CBS/ABC/PBS/other cable channels apps: Free Sports: Hardest part, but doable MLB: Astros fan in San Antonio so I don't get live games anyway. Purchased the Radio package for the MLB app ($20/yr) and I sometimes stream the radio broadcast and the Gameday updates through the TV. MLS: Purchased MLS Live package ($60/yr) and stream the games. I don't get games on NBC Sports, but I get about 80% of the games. NBA: I'll get league pass once the season starts to watch the Rockets and other games. I don't get ESPN games. TNT games, however, are available on their website via their multi-camera option. You don't get graphics so you have to pay attention for the score and it can get a little disorienting as you don't have the normal half court camera, but it worked for the Eastern Conference Finals. Playoff games on ESPN are my big worry. NFL: All games are free on over the air channels except for Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football (I have the NFL app though). I purchased the Radio package for the NFL app for $20 last year since I was deployed to Qatar. College: Definitely the hardest thing. No more College Gameday on ESPN, no more flipping between multiple games except for what's on CBS/NBC/ABC. However, I'm a University of Houston fan so I'll either go to the games, or I downloaded the UH app where for $20/yr I can stream video/audio of all sporting events. If that doesn't work, I can go on the UH website and order their Premium package for around $80/yr and stream audio/video that way. The app worked for baseball which normally is never on TV so I'm hopeful. What I lost: -HBO: No option of getting it and they don't offer shows on Netflix or Hulu. Basically, if we want to watch HBO, we're buying DVDs or purchasing shows through ITunes. -ESPN: Time Warner doesn't let me stream ESPN3 because they suck so I have no ESPN. I only cared about the sporting events, but that's a large inventory I lost. -DVR: We never watched any shows live (except for sports) so this was a big change. However, the AppleTV and streaming made this easy for us so we don't miss it. Honestly, we love it and financially, we're much better off. Doing the math, even with the sports packages, we pay less than what we used to with the 2 year locked in contract. We're hoping both HBO and ESPN relent and start offering their channels on a pay per month basis to Internet only customers, but otherwise, we haven't regretted the change yet and the kids love being able to pick what they want to watch instead of watching whatever is on at the time.