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Cable bill raised again. Looking at an alternative for sports, as that's the primary thing I watch tv for. How are people's experiences with Roku? Can you still get ESPNU, CBSSN, regional sports networks???

(09-12-2018 09:54 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]Cable bill raised again. Looking at an alternative for sports, as that's the primary thing I watch tv for. How are people's experiences with Roku? Can you still get ESPNU, CBSSN, regional sports networks???

I have a Roku and pay $40/month for YouTube TV. I cancel this during the off-season as it is no contract and I really don't need outside of football season. Here are the quick points on it.

1. You will be prompted for location information when you setup YouTube TV and that will give your local ABC, CBS, regional Fox Sports stations, etc. based on that location information.

2. It includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNews, BTN, CBSSports, SECNetwork, FS1, FS2 - don't think I missed any. Really the only missing items are the ACC/PAC12 networks but I find I rarely watch those.

3. You can use your YouTube TV Login to access ESPN3 streaming/ESPN streaming wherever if you need that.

4. I do also pay $5/month to have ESPN+ for other MAC/G5 games that are not on the other networks. Kills me a little bit but I want that MAC football.

All in all, I really like the setup for $45/month (YouTube TV and ESPN+) for a few months out of the year. YouTube TV has cloud DVR if you want to record games and you can pause, play, rewind, all that good stuff just as if you had a DVR box.

Hope this helps!

We cut cable and use SlingTV (similar to YouTube TV) plus also have ESPN+ via the Apple App Store. Can watch all the ESPNs, FS1, FS2 on a laptop, Apple devices, SmartTV, Roku, etc. No contract either, turn Sling subscription off in the “off season”. Don’t get local ABC, CBS stations with Sling. That might be an advantage of YouTube TV over Sling. Costs are pretty similar, appears YouTube TV may be a little cheaper too by a few dollars (think I’m at about $45 for Sling and $5 for ESPN+ monthly). We are now RV’ibg full time and currently in Maine and watched a lot of MAC games and others last week in the Unicat (RV). Still need a good internet connection however.... Might try YouTube TV and see how it compares to Sling next. Nice to see traditional cable finally facing some competition.

Pono, looks like there is also a streaming option called Directv Now that seems to offer a ton of sports for $40/mo, no long term subscription. I need to do my homework to see which of the three options is best for us on the road. Still stuck with the separate $4.99/mo for ESPN+.

YouTube TV is incredible. 40 bucks and it has every channel college football will be on beside pac12 net.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-820296.html

There is an entire thread on the college sports and realignment board on this topic that has lots of input.

My hangup are regional sports networks but even that is better. But we need internet and Comcast charges so much for plain internet that cutting the cable plan does not help much

(09-13-2018 08:36 AM)indianasniff Wrote: [ -> ]https://csnbbs.com/thread-820296.html

There is an entire thread on the college sports and realignment board on this topic that has lots of input.

My hangup are regional sports networks but even that is better. But we need internet and Comcast charges so much for plain internet that cutting the cable plan does not help much

Internet is my problem. I live on a road two miles long. And still do not have fiber optic. Every day I would just up lose service after 5:00 in the evening. Neighbors Kids getting home from school and people getting off work would just shut me down. So I went to excede satellite service for internet but it’s so costly out here in Hillsdale County and the more I try to stream anything the more it costs. I haven’t tried ESPN 3 yet but I will sometime soon. If I try YouTube tv on the internet will I be able to drop my direct tv and still watch regular tv programs too

Xfinity is part of my development's maintenance fee and I have Roku. Also I did buy an inexpensive RCA Ultra-thin amplified HD antenna for cable outages during storms. Works great. Clear picture, lots of stations(30+) because I can get West Palm, Ft Lauderdale and Miami stations. Can get local broadcasts of SEC, ACC, AAC, CUSA, and Sun Belt games. The MAC shows up from time to time. I assume it would be great for the Toledo-Detroit area.

(09-13-2018 08:36 AM)indianasniff Wrote: [ -> ]https://csnbbs.com/thread-820296.html

There is an entire thread on the college sports and realignment board on this topic that has lots of input.

My hangup are regional sports networks but even that is better. But we need internet and Comcast charges so much for plain internet that cutting the cable plan does not help much

YouTube TV has FSO and FSD

thank you SylRocket, Ranger and friends. This is all helpful. This Spectrum cable bill is outrageous

I pay like 70 for ATT internet and basic cable so that my internet is unlimited. Then 40 a month for youtube so 110 all said and done for pretty good internet and cable.

I use a Roku box + Sling with the sports pack for $25/mo. I won't say it has all the sports anyone could ask for, but it gets me the ESPN(2/U/3) anywhere I want. I don't really worry about any teams other than the Rockets. Sling streams over t-mobile 4g lte phone connection and through my wireless 2.4ghz (11MB) wifi connection just fine. I have no complaints. I use over the air DTV for local channels NBC/ABC/CBS/PBS(OTA DTV image if you can get it is better than cable anyhow) it's free.

For comprehensive sports and entertainment...Roku + Youtube TV FTW!

Streaming Live TV services
Youtube TV > Playstation Vue > Sling TV

I've used all 3 of these...switched to Youtube TV a couple months ago after PS Vue raised their rates, again. With Youtube TV I pay less and also get local channels so I don't have to fight with my HD OTA antenna using another source on my remote. PS Vue was better than Sling when I switched as it had more sports channels for the mid-level yet affordable popular packages. Sling is OK if you want the cheapest solution, but it is lacking in channels.

Streaming devices
Roku > Apple TV($$$) > Firestick\FireTV

On Roku, you can watch Youtube TV (with local channels), Amazon Prime, Netflix, ESPN3/ESPN+, Hulu (and many more) on the same device (without switching the source to a second device for anything). Simple is good!

FireTV doesn't let you watch Youtube TV...so if you want Youtube TV, you have to go with Roku or Apple TV($$$). Loved my FireTV and Firestick devices when I used them for Sling and PS Vue, but I moved on to Roku and haven't looked back.

(09-12-2018 09:54 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]Cable bill raised again. Looking at an alternative for sports, as that's the primary thing I watch tv for. How are people's experiences with Roku? Can you still get ESPNU, CBSSN, regional sports networks???

i have a roku, with a subscription to U-Tube TV. $40/month and all the major sports channels

(09-12-2018 09:54 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]Cable bill raised again. Looking at an alternative for sports, as that's the primary thing I watch tv for. How are people's experiences with Roku? Can you still get ESPNU, CBSSN, regional sports networks???

my bill went up too. whos your cable company?


im hesitant to do the streaming hubs because i need dvr capabilities.

spectrum bought out the local cable company. the prices are outrageous and even if you cancel the cable then they raise your internet charge or downgrade you to a slow speed.

Pono, if you go to all streaming, you will definitely want a good reliable internet connection with a higher data cap, depending on how much you watch. You’ll hit a 250 GB data cap easy or maybe even a 500 GB data cap per month if you watch TV a lot.

(09-14-2018 06:33 PM)crusher38 Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-12-2018 09:54 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]Cable bill raised again. Looking at an alternative for sports, as that's the primary thing I watch tv for. How are people's experiences with Roku? Can you still get ESPNU, CBSSN, regional sports networks???

my bill went up too. whos your cable company?


im hesitant to do the streaming hubs because i need dvr capabilities.

YouTube TV and PS Vue have cloud DVR capability...check it out. Sling does too. Make sure you compare their rentention policies and ad skipping capabilities . YouTube TV has unlimited DVR, but ads can’t be skipped like PS Vue.

(09-15-2018 04:58 AM)ToledoMike Wrote: [ -> ]Pono, if you go to all streaming, you will definitely want a good reliable internet connection with a higher data cap, depending on how much you watch. You’ll hit a 250 GB data cap easy or maybe even a 500 GB data cap per month if you watch TV a lot.

Concur, we've already used 297 GB this month on our grandfathered Verizon unlimited data plan (which does not get throttled).