Cutting The Cord on Cable/Satellite TV Service?

CantKeepmedown

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
2,527
Portland, ME
I've been without cable for quite awhile now and rarely, if ever, find myself missing it. I'll sign up for Sling or Fubo when the playoffs come around for Sox/Bruins/C's but even when I have those, I only use it to watch games. I never find myself just scrolling and looking for something to watch. And if I do, it never seems like there is anything on to watch. Just the same old stuff that I never had interest in watching before.

I have an HD antenna for locals and I have found that's more than enough for me to go along with Netflix, Prime, Peacock, and AppleTV. I never could have imagine saying something like that 10-15 years ago. But here we are.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
38,562
Harrisburg, Pa.
ESPN direct to consumer service coming within the next year or two. I've read they think it'll be $35-40/month. I'm guessing this would cease ESPN channels to be carried on YTTV, Fubu, etc?

View: https://twitter.com/sherman4949/status/1722363020792193267?s=20


@sherman4949
Disney CEO Bob Iger also confirms that ESPN has targeted 2025 as the date to launch a direct to consumer streaming service and it won’t be any later than 2025. So , 2026 is out.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
68,324
Man that sucks. I liked getting subsidized by non-sports viewers. Weren't cable companies only paying like $8 to carry ESPN (still by far the largest compared to other cable channels)

May have it for October and November (college football mostly) but that's steep
 

McBride11

Member
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Jul 15, 2005
21,651
Durham, NC
ESPN direct to consumer service coming within the next year or two. I've read they think it'll be $35-40/month. I'm guessing this would cease ESPN channels to be carried on YTTV, Fubu, etc?

View: https://twitter.com/sherman4949/status/1722363020792193267?s=20


@sherman4949
Disney CEO Bob Iger also confirms that ESPN has targeted 2025 as the date to launch a direct to consumer streaming service and it won’t be any later than 2025. So , 2026 is out.
isnt this espn+?

a battle between disney and google will be epic
 

Dan Murfman

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Aug 21, 2001
4,097
Pawcatuck
No that isn’t ESPN+. You need a cable subscription to get games that are on ESPN and the deuce. With this service you will get those games.
 

Curt S Loew

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Apr 12, 2001
5,772
Shantytown
Beginning to miss having traditional cable just a little bit.
Curious what you're missing about it. Sports programming?

That's the ONLY thing I miss about it. Streaming services and cable are getting to be just about the same price.

Sucks the only OTA local sports I get are the Patriots. That's not a very fair deal at all!
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
SoSH Member
Mar 14, 2006
9,066
Kernersville, NC
Curious what you're missing about it. Sports programming?

That's the ONLY thing I miss about it. Streaming services and cable are getting to be just about the same price.

Sucks the only OTA local sports I get are the Patriots. That's not a very fair deal at all!
The ease of just navigating all the channels and premiums in one spot. The cost of streaming is pretty much where cable was when I cut the cord, so I’m kind of tired of having to switch apps every time I want to watch something else. I know, this problem isn’t solved by going back to cable since everything is fractured now.
 

gtmtnbiker

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Jul 15, 2005
1,493
The ease of just navigating all the channels and premiums in one spot. The cost of streaming is pretty much where cable was when I cut the cord, so I’m kind of tired of having to switch apps every time I want to watch something else. I know, this problem isn’t solved by going back to cable since everything is fractured now.
I have not taken advantage of it but I think you can do this with Amazon and YouTubeTV. That is, get addons under one service
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
SoSH Member
Mar 14, 2006
9,066
Kernersville, NC
I have not taken advantage of it but I think you can do this with Amazon and YouTubeTV. That is, get addons under one service
You definitely can. It’s just that so many things are exclusive to Max, Hulu, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, etc. There’s no real solution for this, I realize. It’s just that what was originally worth the effort for the cost savings is now more of a hassle for basically the same money.
 

gtmtnbiker

Member
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Jul 15, 2005
1,493
You definitely can. It’s just that so many things are exclusive to Max, Hulu, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, etc. There’s no real solution for this, I realize. It’s just that what was originally worth the effort for the cost savings is now more of a hassle for basically the same money.
I think you can still save money. You have to be willing to subscribe/unsubscribe as needed. Amazon will make this easier I think.

I don’t have Hulu but will sign up again for a few months at some point.

i do share my YTTV subscription with two others so it’s only $28/month for that. I get prime and Apple TV. The latter as part of a bundle. Currently watching HBO for a few months before I cancel and get something else.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Dec 30, 2003
60,297
New York City
I have not taken advantage of it but I think you can do this with Amazon and YouTubeTV. That is, get addons under one service
Amazon Channels are the best, in my opinion. I get Paramount Plus, Britbox, PBS, and Starz/MGM through Amazon Channels and everything is in one spot, same settings too, so closed captions are consistent and navigating is the same.

It would be nice if all the Apps actually kept things uniform. Like, if you want to see how much time is left in something, you push down on Amazon and Netflix but you have to push up on Hulu and Apple. And the way Amazon does closed captioning fucking BLOWS every other app out of the water. Going forward and back 10 seconds is also easier.

Anyway, the cost of all this shit is certainly higher than it was 10 years ago for me because I have the streaming services, cable, and YouTubeTV. But, obviously, there is so much more content available today and everything is easier to navigate, in my opinion.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
68,324
Many deals going on right now for streamers for Black Friday:

Hulu 99c/month for 12 months (time for AX to watch The Bear)
Starz 99c/month for 6 months as an add-on to Hulu
Paramount+ $1.99 per month/3 months

American Express Offers (possible depending on card and user)
$11 off $11+ for Paramount+ for 3 months
$5.99 off $5.99+ for Peacock for 3 months

Also saw one with ESPN+ somewhere with some credit card but can't find it.
 
Jul 15, 2005
4,114
Chicago
Many deals going on right now for streamers for Black Friday:

Hulu 99c/month for 12 months (time for AX to watch The Bear)
Starz 99c/month for 6 months as an add-on to Hulu
Paramount+ $1.99 per month/3 months

American Express Offers (possible depending on card and user)
$11 off $11+ for Paramount+ for 3 months
$5.99 off $5.99+ for Peacock for 3 months

Also saw one with ESPN+ somewhere with some credit card but can't find it.
Came here to look for this.
There is a Hulu and Disney+ combo for $2.99 per month for 12 months
Gone are the days of free trials on Black Friday!
 

wilked

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
3,867
Many deals going on right now for streamers for Black Friday:

Hulu 99c/month for 12 months (time for AX to watch The Bear)
Starz 99c/month for 6 months as an add-on to Hulu
Paramount+ $1.99 per month/3 months

American Express Offers (possible depending on card and user)
$11 off $11+ for Paramount+ for 3 months
$5.99 off $5.99+ for Peacock for 3 months

Also saw one with ESPN+ somewhere with some credit card but can't find it.
Most (all?) of these are the ad-based versions, yes?

Maybe I'm just old and set in my ways, but I'm not willing to pay for these ad-based versions. I'll spend the $10 a month more to not have the flow broken up (and in the case of the Hulu ad-based, broken up early and often)
 

wilked

Member
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Jul 17, 2005
3,867
So....I'm missing the Bruins and want to do something about it.

I have been with YTTV for the last 3-4 years and generally love it, with the exception of missing NESN. I've thought about FUBO but for various reasons am not very excited about them.

If I have it right then my other option would be NESN 360. I'm not excited about the price ($30) but wonder if I could split it with someone. How many simultaneous streams do they allow? OK for different households to stream at same time? How is the user experience?
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
35,172
Hingham, MA
So....I'm missing the Bruins and want to do something about it.

I have been with YTTV for the last 3-4 years and generally love it, with the exception of missing NESN. I've thought about FUBO but for various reasons am not very excited about them.

If I have it right then my other option would be NESN 360. I'm not excited about the price ($30) but wonder if I could split it with someone. How many simultaneous streams do they allow? OK for different households to stream at same time? How is the user experience?
Slightly cheaper (edit: much cheaper?) option would be the Disney Plus bundle with Hulu and ESPN+. It costs $15 per month. So, you’d only need to subscribe for half the year, $90 total or so. Nearly every game is on there. The only catch is you need to run it through a VPN if you are in market. I’ve been doing this this year and it has worked out well.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
68,324
Most (all?) of these are the ad-based versions, yes?

Maybe I'm just old and set in my ways, but I'm not willing to pay for these ad-based versions. I'll spend the $10 a month more to not have the flow broken up (and in the case of the Hulu ad-based, broken up early and often)
Fair point
I usually eat or wash hands or clean up/throw away stuff and other things that don’t take much time but fair point
So....I'm missing the Bruins and want to do something about it.

I have been with YTTV for the last 3-4 years and generally love it, with the exception of missing NESN. I've thought about FUBO but for various reasons am not very excited about them.

If I have it right then my other option would be NESN 360. I'm not excited about the price ($30) but wonder if I could split it with someone. How many simultaneous streams do they allow? OK for different households to stream at same time? How is the user experience?
i just got a NESN360 for a $1 for a month offer for Cyber Monday

I did a similar thing in August but user experience was horrendous
Even worse than Hbomax
 

EddieYost

has a special friend in GHoff
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
10,486
NH
Just canceled XFinity after trying out YouTube TV. Dropped their internet service too in favor of Fidium. Buh-bye
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
68,324

johnmd20

mad dog
Lifetime Member
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Dec 30, 2003
60,297
New York City
Paramount in discussions with Apple to possibly bundle streaming services. Not sure if smoke or fire
Fire.

Someone is going to buy Paramount. One thing Paramount knows how to do is monetize TV. The problem is that TV hasn't been monetized in half a decade. But now that ads are coming back hard and fast, Paramount is a valuable asset just on its own, but their know how is invaluable.

Apple could buy Paramount for pocket change.
 
Jul 15, 2005
4,114
Chicago
I know there are a lot of complaints about each of these streamers, especially when we are watching live sports, but having gone through the UI of many of these, they now all look and navigate similarly, with similar drawbacks.

I also don't understand how Disney+ can survive as a standalone - their content library is not that deep. Kids could probably go through the content easily.

My only question about a potential Paramount+ sale is what happens to the streaming rights. Let's say Paramount and Peacock merge. Will it be CBS Sports productions for extra college football, and NBC Sports production for PL, etc? They end up with another streaming conglomerate as opposed to Amazon Prime distributing and producing their own live sports?

If in the past decade they all agreed to make Hulu work as a combined streamer for everyone, all these billions would not have been wasted.

anyhow, rant over