Cable/Satellite Too Expensive. Alternative?

[myghty]

So I have Directv & its expensive after the 1st year of promo is over. I have 6 months left on contract & when it's over I plan to ditch them. I've looked into cable but it's somewhat pricey.

Is there a cheaper alternative to getting TV channels streamed to my TV? I have seen stuff like Fire Stick & Sling but what do other OSers do as an alternative to paying cable/satellite?

[Money99]

Re: Cable/Satellite Too Expensive. Alternative?

So I have Directv & its expensive after the 1st year of promo is over. I have 6 months left on contract & when it's over I plan to ditch them. I've looked into cable but it's somewhat pricey.

Is there a cheaper alternative to getting TV channels streamed to my TV? I have seen stuff like Fire Stick & Sling but what do other OSers do as an alternative to paying cable/satellite?

I've been thinking of cutting the cord for some time.
Our initial idea was to get an antenna and Android box to stream.
We still might do that.

Unless you enjoy an abundance of channels, it's just not worth it.
I currently 'share' a satellite connection where we only pay $40/month. If it wasn't for that, we'd have already cut the cord.
The only stations that get any love on our TV are TSN and Sportsnet (for baseball mostly), HBO and Treehouse (for 3YO).

Live sports is what keeps me on satellite at the moment as I don't think there's a decent alternative to streaming them in Canada.
I'm an HD snob so I can't stomach watching any sports in SD.
And as much as I enjoyed the MLB.tv service, I don't like the blackened commercial breaks. I'm one of the weird ones who actually enjoys the between innings-analysis.

Good luck with your quest. I hope that all cable and satellite providers realize how many people are sick of being fisted on a monthly basis for a bevy of stations that nobody watches.

[moose1619]

Re: Cable/Satellite Too Expensive. Alternative?

Playstation vue is a good alternative. I recently cut the cord and went with internet through time warner for around $55 and the elite slim package through playstation vue for $44.99 a month. My total savings is around $90 a month.


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[Money99]

Re: Cable/Satellite Too Expensive. Alternative?

Playstation vue is a good alternative. I recently cut the cord and went with internet through time warner for around $55 and the elite slim package through playstation vue for $44.99 a month. My total savings is around $90 a month.


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Is that available in Canada too?
And what networks does that come with?

Is the service good? Any stuttering? Jitter? Delay in audio?

[JayBee74]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

Are there any other premium channels you can get on some streaming services other than Showtime ($8.99 a month on Amazon Prime, Hulu Playstation Vue)?

If you went the digital TV route with free channels can you set it up to record on a DVR? I realize it wouldn't be in high def.

[dales]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

Are there any other premium channels you can get on some streaming services other than Showtime ($8.99 a month on Amazon Prime, Hulu Playstation Vue)?

If you went the digital TV route with free channels can you set it up to record on a DVR? I realize it wouldn't be in high def.

You can subscribe to HBO Now without any cable. Just need a device to access it (Apple TV, Fire TV, iPad, etc.).

As for the second part, you can get HD broadcast stations with an antenna and, yes, there are options for DVR. I have recently done the free trial of Playstation Vue and loved it. I subscribed to the Core Slim package for that and got an antenna to receive CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX.

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

Can we still get NFL Sun Tix on PSN? That would be a deal breaker, if that wasn't possible.

[p_rushing]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

Can we still get NFL Sun Tix on PSN? That would be a deal breaker, if that wasn't possible.

Depends on what they offer.


With streaming, you need to consider how many people you have in your house, how many simultaneous streams there will be, do you want DVR functions. Then consider what that will do to your internet speeds and data caps. If you are streaming a few hours everyday, you may end up costing yourself more because of additional internet fees.

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[myghty]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

I'Lloyd have to look into Playstation Vue, I've seen it on my bar but didn't know what it was.

[nate1986]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

It all depends on your viewing habits, if your not a big sports fan it will be much easier cutting the cord

[Cavsfan4life]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

You can subscribe to HBO Now without any cable. Just need a device to access it (Apple TV, Fire TV, iPad, etc.).

As for the second part, you can get HD broadcast stations with an antenna and, yes, there are options for DVR. I have recently done the free trial of Playstation Vue and loved it. I subscribed to the Core Slim package for that and got an antenna to receive CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX.

Did the exact same thing except went with the elite package since I need Velocity channel, also bought a Mohu attena for local channels.

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/#2

You can go to their site and type in your zip code, will show you the packages in your area.

[Redacted01]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

Before you seriously consider Vue, make sure you either don't have a data cap, or you have a high enough one. My service offers a 100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up/1 TB data cap pretty cheap so I went with it and switched from satellite, but if your cap is 300 GB like on Comcast, I'd advise you not to do it. Between MLB.tv and Vue, we easily use 10-15 GB on a weekday and 20-25 GB on a weekend.

Vue isn't perfect. You won't get locals aside from a couple major cities like LA and NY. It has no CBS on demand yet. The Fire TV stick interface is really slow. PS3 is meh sometimes. It's a bit clumsy compared to regular TV when it comes to changing a channel because there aren't channel numbers (which would be nice to have since I have the PS3 remote). But for what you pay, it's pretty darn good. I may still go back to satellite though because I could reduce my internet back down and save $10 a month and the offer they gave me after cancelling, I'd come out just ahead the first year and the second year, I can still afford because I paid it before. And get Sunday Ticket on top of it. Local sports channels are also a bit iffy, but I do like that I get FSN North at least unlike DirecTV where they wanted me to pay, but now I've lost FSN Midwest due to contract problems. I get more out of North than Midwest though.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

If you can get someone to let you hook up a slingbox for sports, it makes cutting the cord easier. Like already mentioned...get an antenna for local channels. I currently have OTA for locals, Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Debating about if the WWE network is worth $10 a month as well.

[redsox4evur]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

If you can get someone to let you hook up a slingbox for sports, it makes cutting the cord easier. Like already mentioned...get an antenna for local channels. I currently have OTA for locals, Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Debating about if the WWE network is worth $10 a month as well.

Ten bucks for the PPVs and NXT seals it for me. And that's not mentioning I get to watch all the old stuff I never saw or want to rewatch.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Cable/Satellite To Expensive. Alternative?

It all depends on your viewing habits, if your not a big sports fan it will be much easier cutting the cord

For me if it wasn't for sports I wouldn't really need to watch TV. Most shows today are crap and like 90% of the time I am watching TV it is sports and I am always recording games. Got like 6 NBA games on DVR right now lol.