Cutting The Cord on Cable/Satellite TV Service?

bradcote

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Jul 27, 2005
3,339
Keepin' it real in Maine
Only problem is Fubo and DirecTV Stream are 20 and 30 bucks more with NESN. And Fubo doesn't have TBS/TNT Sports. Although if you have MAX you can get it there.

Everything is close to the cost of cable these days.
I was frustrated by the YouTube TV increase, so I looked at Fubo. To get Fubo in 4k with the sports stations, they charge $90/month. Then they charge you a $14.95 regional sports fees. With other fees and taxes, it came out to around $115-120/month. I can get cable for a year through Spectrum cheaper than that ($105/month for the first year without being an Internet customer).

I don't like the price hike, but they are still the cheapest game in town.
 

LoweTek

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May 30, 2005
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Only problem is Fubo and DirecTV Stream are 20 and 30 bucks more with NESN. And Fubo doesn't have TBS/TNT Sports. Although if you have MAX you can get it there.

Everything is close to the cost of cable these days.
Tell me about it. I'm getting ready to dump DirecTV Stream for Sling Orange with sports package and save myself over $50/month. My bill for DirecTV Stream was approaching $200 when including Max, Starz and Showtime. I can live without Showtime and got a year of Starz on Hulu (Mrs LT likes Outlander) for .99/month. I'll find a promotional Max sub somewhere and be done with it.
 

Curt S Loew

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I don't like the price hike, but they are still the cheapest game in town.
But without NESN. That's why they're the cheapest game in town. If they had NESN, they would be right with the others.

Tell me about it. I'm getting ready to dump DirecTV Stream for Sling Orange with sports package and save myself over $50/month. My bill for DirecTV Stream was approaching $200 when including Max, Starz and Showtime. I can live without Showtime and got a year of Starz on Hulu (Mrs LT likes Outlander) for .99/month. I'll find a promotional Max sub somewhere and be done with it.
I use Sling in the NBA offseason and it's great. I have never paid full price. I go to cancel and every time they offer a discount. Usually for multiple months. Problem is I need to go back to YTTV for NBA season. I got NESN360 on the annual plan for 150 bucks for the year. Hoping they offer something similar again.
 

Dollar

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May 5, 2006
12,410
If you start the process of cancelling YTTV, and say the reason is "Cost", you'll likely get a $10 per month discount to keep the service. I just locked in the 72.99 price for 6 months starting in January.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
82,504
Gonna bite the bullet and just get YT (no tv) without commercials(they keep upping the time) and just use that for highlights, Hulu for $1 and Netflix for $8 and paramount for $3

gonna use the extra time for exercise

I’m moving away from watching sports (Dec-August)
 

Montana Fan

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I use Sling in the NBA offseason and it's great. I have never paid full price. I go to cancel and every time they offer a discount. Usually for multiple months. Problem is I need to go back to YTTV for NBA season. I got NESN360 on the annual plan for 150 bucks for the year. Hoping they offer something similar again.
Last year I bought the NBA package through Sling Orange and got NBA TV with it.
I like the features of YTTV and the NBATV app much better than Sling and I can record Jeopardy through YTTV but, F them and their ~15% increase. We barely watch live TV. Their $82.99 price is almost what I used to pay for cable. Back to Orange we go.
 

Curt S Loew

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Last year I bought the NBA package through Sling Orange and got NBA TV with it.
I like the features of YTTV and the NBATV app much better than Sling and I can record Jeopardy through YTTV but, F them and their ~15% increase. We barely watch live TV. Their $82.99 price is almost what I used to pay for cable. Back to Orange we go.
I need NBCSN for Celtics. Only reason I have YTTV for NBA Season. It's literally the only channel I watch on it. I could do VPN but haven't got around to making that move.
 

Dollar

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May 5, 2006
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For me it was before that screen. If you click cancel there, it will probably just cancel your subscription.

Did it ask why you are canceling before that page? If so, did you choose "Cost"? That's how I got my discount.
 

canderson

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Jul 16, 2005
42,355
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In your case, did they do that before or after this screen?

View attachment 93267
Before. On a browser I hit cancel for cost, then it had a recap of what I would miss and a continue button. I hit continue and it offered the discoun

Reddit has details of how to get the offer via live chat https://www.reddit.com/r/youtubetv/comments/1hdkvzi/i_got_the_10discount_for_6mths/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
 

Rod Becks Mullet

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Aug 9, 2001
2,173
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I tried the cancel move on my phone a couple times and didn't have any luck. Stopped before I was actually cancelled. Just tried it on a computer and immediately got the promotional offer.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
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Jul 15, 2005
41,179
Hingham, MA
I just did the cancel due to cost thing, and it went to the "keep us for 6 months at $72.99" screen. Thanks again to this community!!!
 

AlNipper49

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Dope
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Apr 3, 2001
46,035
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I finally gave up and went with a very sketchy IP TV service for like $15/month.

It’s not ethical but I don’t give a shit. I’d love to pay a reasonable price for something that I use. Right now it’s hunting through the 8 streaming apps and live tv to find something. Fuck that. I have IPTV, a ton of shit local on Plex and Netflix. Netflix would be gone except my wife travels a shitload and she prefers it versus plex, which admittedly doesn’t work well on the plane (and it’s local downloads can take a bit)
 

RSN Diaspora

molests goats for comedy
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Jul 29, 2005
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Why wouldn’t it with a new admin?
At the risk of getting into V&N territory, FTC Commissioners operate independently from the White House and there's still a 3-2 Democratic majority on the Commission until May, when Dem commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter's seven-year term ends (unless she resigns sooner). Also, M&A enforcement isn't necessarily partisan--I've had clients suffer unanimous votes to block mergers, and if there's one sector where there is a lot of agreement on the FTC it's big tech (like Hulu, Fubo, etc.).
 

kneemoe

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Dec 19, 2006
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Glens Falls, NY
I finally gave up and went with a very sketchy IP TV service for like $15/month.

It’s not ethical but I don’t give a shit. I’d love to pay a reasonable price for something that I use. Right now it’s hunting through the 8 streaming apps and live tv to find something. Fuck that. I have IPTV, a ton of shit local on Plex and Netflix. Netflix would be gone except my wife travels a shitload and she prefers it versus plex, which admittedly doesn’t work well on the plane (and it’s local downloads can take a bit)
I struggle with this one, are there no non-sketchy IPTV providers out there? Having looked I couldn't really find one and figured I'd have to use a prepaid credit card to even give one of the ones available a try. How's the service been and what software do use to navigate it?
 

CreightonGubanich

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Dec 13, 2006
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north shore, MA
Can you really not record games on NESN360 or access games that have concluded somehow? I have YTTV and have been OK without NESN for awhile, but my son is starting to get really into the Bruins. We'd hardly ever watch live though. I like the YTTV interface and would rather just add NESN360, but if you can't record Sox/Bruins games, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and ditch YTTV for Fubo.
 

Sausage in Section 17

Poker Champ
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Mar 17, 2004
2,317
I finally gave up and went with a very sketchy IP TV service for like $15/month.

It’s not ethical but I don’t give a shit. I’d love to pay a reasonable price for something that I use. Right now it’s hunting through the 8 streaming apps and live tv to find something. Fuck that. I have IPTV, a ton of shit local on Plex and Netflix. Netflix would be gone except my wife travels a shitload and she prefers it versus plex, which admittedly doesn’t work well on the plane (and it’s local downloads can take a bit)
Is it still considered bad form to specifically discuss the unethical methods we use?

I'd share about the streaming app I use, but don't want to break the rules here.
 

Curt S Loew

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Can you really not record games on NESN360 or access games that have concluded somehow? I have YTTV and have been OK without NESN for awhile, but my son is starting to get really into the Bruins. We'd hardly ever watch live though. I like the YTTV interface and would rather just add NESN360, but if you can't record Sox/Bruins games, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and ditch YTTV for Fubo.
You can't record, but they do have full game replays on the app. They're also running the annual deal right now. 180 bucks for a year. That's less than most one month cable bills.

I have that annual plan. I hope they are still running that deal when it expires in April. I have YTTV for Celtics season only.
 

mikeford

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Aug 6, 2006
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I struggle with this one, are there no non-sketchy IPTV providers out there? Having looked I couldn't really find one and figured I'd have to use a prepaid credit card to even give one of the ones available a try. How's the service been and what software do use to navigate it?
Sketchy being a relative term, the answer is basically no. IPTV is subject to whoever your provider is getting shutdown by their local authorities, at which point you're basically just out the money with no recourse. Now for $15/month, that seems like a fair roll of the dice to me but YMMV.

Thats to say nothing about how you go about actually paying for it since many of these services only want you to pay in cryptocurrency which is a pain in the ass as far as I'm concerned.
 

AlNipper49

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Dope
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Apr 3, 2001
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It’s sketchy as fuck. You can’t even do recurring payments.

With that said, if this is the most unethical thing that I ever do, it’s how we watch live tv now.
 

Sausage in Section 17

Poker Champ
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Mar 17, 2004
2,317
This is the free Fire Stick 3rd party app I use. I had to upgrade to the faster Firestick, but once I did, it works with I'd say 90% reliability. This may be an overestimate. For example, I'm watching the KC/Hou game right now. I had to hunt around among the 20 or so streams available, but eventually found one that will stream well. Some might say that's a pain, but it's plenty good enough for me, especially since it's free. Sometimes streams aren't too stable and crash/freeze every so often, but I'm not on the highest speed package I could be, and I think if I upgraded, it would work better.

It effectively can give you an equivalent to all the major sports packages, plus movies, news, and other premium channels galore. For the NFL, the Canadian channels (TSN, CTV) end up covering 2-3 games per slot on Sundays, so it's rare when there's a game I can't find, and you can also get RedZone. Nothing to pay for other than the Firestick.

https://www.firesticktricks.com/live-nettv-firestick.html
 
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SumnerH

Malt Liquor Picker
Dope
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Jul 18, 2005
33,594
Asheville, NC
Netflix base tier is going up a dollar (per month, 6.99 to 7.99)
Mid tier going up $2.50 (15.49 to 17.99)
Premium tier going up $2.00 ($22.99 to $24.99)

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/netflix-price-hike-2024-1236280428/
Relatedly,

Streaming Prices Are Out of Control and It's Pushing People Back to Pirating
Video piracy is on the rise again.
"[M]arket demands to make streaming services profitable have caused most of their owners to introduce ad-supported tiers and raise prices. Add to that the difficulty in finding a given title that you want to watch—there are many services but no single directory for identifying which service a title is on. This confluence of events has led many consumers back to the use of piracy sites...Depending on which reports you read, piracy of video content is up anywhere from 12-36 percent from their levels in 2020. Most piracy sites are free, offer a no-frills, alphabetical listing of available titles, and often include the newest, most recent programming in high definition. They are easy to use, and most content is available without commercial interruptions.”​
 

Bigdogx

New Member
Jul 21, 2020
328
Relatedly,

Streaming Prices Are Out of Control and It's Pushing People Back to Pirating
Video piracy is on the rise again.
"[M]arket demands to make streaming services profitable have caused most of their owners to introduce ad-supported tiers and raise prices. Add to that the difficulty in finding a given title that you want to watch—there are many services but no single directory for identifying which service a title is on. This confluence of events has led many consumers back to the use of piracy sites...Depending on which reports you read, piracy of video content is up anywhere from 12-36 percent from their levels in 2020. Most piracy sites are free, offer a no-frills, alphabetical listing of available titles, and often include the newest, most recent programming in high definition. They are easy to use, and most content is available without commercial interruptions.”​
It is well deserved imo, my cable bill right now is almost 300 a month and i only have the sports package and mid tier internet, it is freaking insanity that i need to change. I am not far from canceling everything but internet and finding not so legal methods for tv viewing.
 

jmm57

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Jul 15, 2005
1,516
I’m cancelling YouTube TV after the Super Bowl. It’s gone from $40 to $83 in the time I’ve had it. We easily pay way more than we ever did for cable at this point.
 

YTF

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I’m cancelling YouTube TV after the Super Bowl. It’s gone from $40 to $83 in the time I’ve had it. We easily pay way more than we ever did for cable at this point.
May I ask who your cable provider was, if they were/are also your internet provider and what additional streaming services you subscribe to? The things that keep me hanging on to my cable service is comfort/convenience and the concern that the cost of replacement services that many here have been experiencing recently leads to the idea that cord cutting's not realizing the savings that many here once enjoyed. Planning on heading back to my cable company this week or next to once again discuss options available through them. They do offer a basic 20 plus 15 where you can choose 15 channels to add to the locals and networks. I believe NSEN is on the list that you can choose from so that's a huge plus for me. I think the cost on that is around $80 per month which I think is pretty reasonable considering we can likely cull most of the other channels we frequently watch from the list of add ons that we can choose from the limited menu. However I don't know if that option can be bundled with the internet and phone and the problem with that is once you break from the bundle you've not really saved much if anything.

Edited to ask if anyone can offer personal comparisons between cable internet providers and FIOS. FIOS has recently become an option in my area, so that's something I might look into
 

GreyisGone

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Jul 15, 2005
2,385
Honestly, I think if you want a cable-like experience (a whole bunch of channels) the ROI isn’t great. What I’ve found is my wife and I don’t need that and can replace nearly everything easily. We already had Netflix and Max that we paid for and watched the most. Disney + comes with our phone plan. Amazon we had for Prime anyways. Basically just had to upgrade Peacock to no ads (came with ads for 2 years free with our Xfinity internet) and bought NESN 360 for $180 for the year.

Since we already paid for so many things we dropped cable (saving $160 a month after box costs, fees, etc ) and increased our streaming costs by $21 a month (Peacock no ads upgraded and NESN 360). So we’re netting about $140 a month?
 

Curt S Loew

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They do offer a basic 20 plus 15 where you can choose 15 channels to add to the locals and networks. I believe NSEN is on the list that you can choose from so that's a huge plus for me. I think the cost on that is around $80 per month which I think is pretty reasonable considering we can likely cull most of the other channels we frequently watch from the list of add ons that we can choose from the limited menu. However I don't know if that option can be bundled with the internet and phone and the problem with that is once you break from the bundle you've not really saved much if anything.
If you're getting a cable channel package that includes NESN for 80 bucks, there's no reason to switch. All the streamers are more than that. Maybe that 80 bucks doesn't include the RSN fee. That's the only way I could seeing it being that price. Always click through to the end. Lol.

I watch no cable television aside from sports, so an antenna and NESN360 works for me. I do get YTTV for Celtics regular season.

Also, there is tons of free content out there now. Even the Super Bowl is on Tubi this year. It's a free app.
 

YTF

Member
SoSH Member
Honestly, I think if you want a cable-like experience (a whole bunch of channels) the ROI isn’t great. What I’ve found is my wife and I don’t need that and can replace nearly everything easily. We already had Netflix and Max that we paid for and watched the most. Disney + comes with our phone plan. Amazon we had for Prime anyways. Basically just had to upgrade Peacock to no ads (came with ads for 2 years free with our Xfinity internet) and bought NESN 360 for $180 for the year.

Since we already paid for so many things we dropped cable (saving $160 a month after box costs, fees, etc ) and increased our streaming costs by $21 a month (Peacock no ads upgraded and NESN 360). So we’re netting about $140 a month?
Thanks for the input. How is the NESN 360 experience? There seemed to be a lot of complaints on that early on. $30 per month but no long term commitment, correct?
 

jmm57

Member
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Jul 15, 2005
1,516
May I ask who your cable provider was, if they were/are also your internet provider and what additional streaming services you subscribe to? The things that keep me hanging on to my cable service is comfort/convenience and the concern that the cost of replacement services that many here have been experiencing recently leads to the idea that cord cutting's not realizing the savings that many here once enjoyed. Planning on heading back to my cable company this week or next to once again discuss options available through them. They do offer a basic 20 plus 15 where you can choose 15 channels to add to the locals and networks. I believe NSEN is on the list that you can choose from so that's a huge plus for me. I think the cost on that is around $80 per month which I think is pretty reasonable considering we can likely cull most of the other channels we frequently watch from the list of add ons that we can choose from the limited menu. However I don't know if that option can be bundled with the internet and phone and the problem with that is once you break from the bundle you've not really saved much if anything.

Edited to ask if anyone can offer personal comparisons between cable internet providers and FIOS. FIOS has recently become an option in my area, so that's something I might look into
We had DirectTV and then Spectrum- but probably switched to streaming services only in 2018/2019ish.
The only thing I “need” live TV for at this point is sports- I don’t think there are any shows that we watch on YouTube TV. Maybe one or two Food Network shows a year.

At $45 it was nice to have, but just seems excessive now, in addition to Prime/Netflix/Disney bundle/MAX (on and off depending what show is current).
 
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GreyisGone

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Jul 15, 2005
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Thanks for the input. How is the NESN 360 experience? There seemed to be a lot of complaints on that early on. $30 per month but no long term commitment, correct?
So far (last two months) have been totally fine. And yea normally $30 but they have (had?) a promotion if you buy 12 months.
 

YTF

Member
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If you're getting a cable channel package that includes NESN for 80 bucks, there's no reason to switch. All the streamers are more than that. Maybe that 80 bucks doesn't include the RSN fee. That's the only way I could seeing it being that price. Always click through to the end. Lol.

I watch no cable television aside from sports, so an antenna and NESN360 works for me. I do get YTTV for Celtics regular season.

Also, there is tons of free content out there now. Even the Super Bowl is on Tubi this year. It's a free app.
I inquired about a year ago. The offer is/was 20ish basic channels (perhaps less) including the four networks, locals, PBS and a couple others. Then you get to pick 15 from most of the popular channels that most cable systems offer. When you consider that some of these offerings that I might be interested in are already available via other streaming services that I have that 15 channels would probably go a long way. I think I can pretty much watch most if not all of the channels that we currently enjoy while pretty much culling all of the "filler" that doesn't interest us. The main question is if I can include that package as part of my bundle. If not the break away cost of that plus internet separately might not make it that cost effective. The C's and the programming on NBC Sports Boston are of little interest to me, so I guess that's a plus?
 

YTF

Member
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We had DirectTV and then Spectrum- but probably switched to streaming services only in 2018/2019ish.
The only thing I “need” live TV for at this point is sports- I don’t think there are any shows that we watch on YouTube TV. Maybe one or two Food Network shows a year.

At $45 it was nice to have, but just seems excessive now, in addition to Prime/Netflix/Disney bundle/MAX (on and off depending what show is current).
Yeah, we have Prime, Netflix on my daughters account which we can't always access these days and Apple TV via my daughter that we basically "borrow" for the few Sox games that they have exclusive rights to. Disney, Paramount Plus and MAX are now "free" with our spectrum subscription. In reality "free: just means included and will likely just cause rates to eventually rise. I'm sure after sitting down and assessing what our view habits really demand we can find services that overlap and some that aren't worth keeping.
 

Curt S Loew

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I inquired about a year ago. The offer is/was 20ish basic channels (perhaps less) including the four networks, locals, PBS and a couple others. Then you get to pick 15 from most of the popular channels that most cable systems offer. When you consider that some of these offerings that I might be interested in are already available via other streaming services that I have that 15 channels would probably go a long way. I think I can pretty much watch most if not all of the channels that we currently enjoy while pretty much culling all of the "filler" that doesn't interest us. The main question is if I can include that package as part of my bundle. If not the break away cost of that plus internet separately might not make it that cost effective. The C's and the programming on NBC Sports Boston are of little interest to me, so I guess that's a plus?
I see. Yeah, I can almost guarantee you're not getting to choose NESN on that package. If you do, you're certainly going to have to pay an additional RSN fee.
 

Curt S Loew

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Last year I specifically asked about NESN and was told it was on the list. Pretty much any channel offered in the 60ish channel package is available. I've no idea if that holds true now.
Then you'll definitely have to pay the RSN fee. It's unavoidable.
 

Curt S Loew

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I'm not sure how that works. I'm guessing it's built into the cable bill and if that's the case it would already be built into whatever I pay for my current package?
Right. That was my original point. If you're getting a package with NESN for 80 bucks that includes the RSN fee I would be very surprised and you should definitely take it.
 

Max Venerable

done galavanting around Lebanon
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Feb 27, 2002
1,196
Brooklyn, NY
Anyone have advice on alternatives to Roku?

I’d love a device with parental controls that can support the standard streaming services, and a way to watch the Red Sox without cable.

Are there these things?
 

OfTheCarmen

Cow Humper
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Jul 18, 2007
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Anyone have advice on alternatives to Roku?

I’d love a device with parental controls that can support the standard streaming services, and a way to watch the Red Sox without cable.

Are there these things?
Regarding the bolded, I think you're basically looking at NESN360, Fubo, and DirecTV.
 

Curt S Loew

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Anyone have advice on alternatives to Roku?

I’d love a device with parental controls that can support the standard streaming services, and a way to watch the Red Sox without cable.

Are there these things?
I mentioned up thread, but NESN 360 still has the offer for 180 bucks for the year. I use a fire stick.