Cutting the Cord

[matt_m]

We don’t watch sports but we’ve settled on Netflix, Hulu at the ad-free level, and YouTube Premium just to remove the ads, or at least the ads the content providers aren’t building right into their shows.

I bet 75% of what we watch is on YouTube. Subscribed to a bunch of random channels we’ve stumbled on plus a lot of suggested content related to those and music when we want to watch something but not really watch if that makes sense.

We barely use our OTA TiVo anymore. Everything it records is on Hulu.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Maybe give YoutubeTV a look. We've been using it for a while. Very few complaints, and I'm a complainer.

Yeah, but it's $64.99/mo. I'm already getting annoyed by Hulu's price increases. I could be looking at cable for some of these prices.

All I really want is ESPN (and its variant channels), Food Network, and Bravo (gotta have my Top Chef fix). Obviously I really want Big Ten Network, but as mentioned I find a Purdue loss to be upsetting and a Purdue win to be merely a relief, not something that makes me happy, so I might as well not worry about anything that I can't easily get.

Thinking of going back to Sling. I'd have to give up Bravo to stay at $30/mo, but I'd get ESPN and Food Network. Would also have to price their DVR service as I'm not sure it's included in their base cost.

I'm at the point where I've realized that none of this is really all that important, so I'm looking to get away with as little as possible.

 

[kxavier_23]

I’ve been using streaming services for over 3 years now. Some come and go, but Megatronmods is the most stable. $20/month for about 5,000 channels.

Then I use CinemaHD for anything recorded. Free

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I’ve been using streaming services for over 3 years now. Some come and go, but Megatronmods is the most stable. $20/month for about 5,000 channels.

Is that one legal? I've used Pluto which I know is legal, which is primarily older and a limited content portfolio, supported by ads. But I think any of the services that have live streaming content from major channels are likely "too good to be true".

 

[kxavier_23]

Is that one legal? I've used Pluto which I know is legal, which is primarily older and a limited content portfolio, supported by ads. But I think any of the services that have live streaming content from major channels are likely "too good to be true".

I use a VPN service with it to stay safe. Never had any ISP issues.

 

[passedpawn]

Yeah, but it's $64.99/mo. I'm already getting annoyed by Hulu's price increases. I could be looking at cable for some of these prices.

All I really want is ESPN (and its variant channels), Food Network, and Bravo (gotta have my Top Chef fix). Obviously I really want Big Ten Network, but as mentioned I find a Purdue loss to be upsetting and a Purdue win to be merely a relief, not something that makes me happy, so I might as well not worry about anything that I can't easily get.

Thinking of going back to Sling. I'd have to give up Bravo to stay at $30/mo, but I'd get ESPN and Food Network. Would also have to price their DVR service as I'm not sure it's included in their base cost.

I'm at the point where I've realized that none of this is really all that important, so I'm looking to get away with as little as possible.

It's been going up. When I signed up, it was $49/mo.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

It's been going up. When I signed up, it was $49/mo.

Yep. When I first cut the cord I used Sling, which was $20/mo. I ended up moving to Hulu which might have been $39.99/mo at that point, but is now going up to $54.99 w/o the "ad-free" and without their enhanced DVR which does allow you to FF through commercials on recorded content. And Hulu's UI is TERRIBLE.

Thinking I need to change, but might just choose to go down in price and features, not up.

 

[davidabcd]

Sling is annoying because they split up the sports channels. Also, I don't know of one source that's reasonably priced that has them all ($50 is too much, based on principle).
If the powers that be want to make me jump through hoops to watch Football Thursday-Monday, I'm not interested. I don't watch hockey, basketball or baseball anymore because the games tend not to be on over-the-air TV so I couldn't get in a groove with following them. College is leaning that way.
It was especially surprising to find that I don't miss watching hockey or baseball.