I was doing some research for my parents on finding a cheaper TV package and checking out all the OTT platforms now available since I received a notice that Direct TV Now is on Roku now.
I thought I would share my research in case it may help any of you looking to switch to a OTT platform. I spent time looking at Direct TV Now, Sling, PSVue, Hulu and You Tube.

I've focused mainly on the Sports Channels for this board, but since I did the research, I'll throw in the family stuff too since if you are like me, my wife and kid have a say.
I also focused on the lowest and second lowest tiers.

Courtesy of TerpsNPhoenix: http://cordcuttersnews.com/sling-tv-vs-d...-tv-break/
Links show list of devices that will work or each product as well as channel comparison by each OTT platform.

Courtesy of Solohawks: He has a slimmed down Excel sheet of the channels by platform you can PM Solohawks to get his version.

Let me add that all platforms have HGTV & Food Network on the lowest tier except You Tube TV.

DirectTV Now: https://www.directvnow.com/thegoodstuff#the-full-lineup
Pro's:
4 tiers: $35/$50/$60/$70
$35 tier has ESPN/2, FS1, NBCSN
$50 tier adds ESPN U/News, BTN, SECN, Tennis & MLB
$60 tier adds CBSSN, FS2, NBC Golf, NBA, NHL,

Family for $35 tier: Disney/jr./XD, Cartoon Network, Nick/jr/Teen/TV Land, TBS/TNT/USA.
Other for $35 tier: Turner Classic Movies and wifey bonus of Hallmark/Hallmark Movies
Access to 10k+ on demand movies and shows.

DVR capability now on iOS and Chromecast and Roku. Can save 20 hrs of recordings and will expire after 30 days.

Cons:
Only can stream 2 TV's at a time.
Now added: for $5 more can have 3 streams at once.

Sling TV https://www.sling.com/service
Two packages: Orange and Blue.
Orange Pro's:
$20/month
ESPN/2/3, TNT.
Can add $5 sports package for NBA, SECN/SECN+, Pac12, ESPN U/News, NHL, BeIN sports, Stadium (formerly Campus Insiders).

Family: Disney, Cartoon Network.
Can add $5 package for Disney Jr/XD, Nick Jr/Teen/Toons, Boomerang.

Orange Cons:
Only can stream 1 TV at a time.
No USA
No Fox sports or CBS SN.
No main Nick channel

Blue Pros:
$25/month.
FS1/FS2/RSN's, NBC SN/RSN's.
Can add $5 sport package containing: Redzone, NBA, NHL, BeIN Sports, Pac 12, NBC Golf, Stadium.

Family: Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, USA.
Can add $5 package for Nicktoons, Teen Nick, Boomerang.
Can add $5 package for Hallmark channels, Cooking, DIY.

Can stream 3 TV's at a time.

Blue Cons:
No ESPN channels or CBSSN
No Disney channels

You can purchase Orange and Blue together for a $5 discount. HOWEVER, even though you'll have 4 TV's you can stream at the same time (With combined packages), you are still are only allow 1 stream at a time with the Orange channels).

Here is a summary of the two packages. Those not highlighted have the channels on both packages. The highlighted show the channels on that package only.


  Sling TV Blue vs Orange.pdf (Size: 176.56 KB / Downloads: 8)


PSVUE: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/channels/
Pros:
4 Tiers: $40/$45/$55/$75
$40 tier has: ESPN/2, FS1/2, NBCSN
$45 tier adds: ESPN U/News, CBSSN, SECN, BTN, Longhorn(Texas region I guess), Fox RSN, NBA, NFL, MLB.
$55 tier adds: All Fox RSNs, ESPN Deportes, Fox Deportes.

Family: $40 tier - Disney/jr./XD, Cartoon Network, TBS/USA/TNT
$45 tier adds TCM.

Can stream 5 TVs at a time.

Cons:
No Nick Channels.

Hulu TV: https://www.hulu.com/live-tv

Pros:
$40/month
ESPN/2/U/News, FS1/2, NBCSN, NBC Golf, SECN, BTN, CBSSN, Fox RSN

Family: Disney/jr./XD, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TCM, TBS/TNT/USA.
Access to Hulu Library of shows.

Cons:
No Pro league channels (i.e. NBA, NFL...etc)
No Nick Channels
Can only stream 2 TV's at a time.

YouTube TV: https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/?utm_sour...e&ve=34273

Pros:
$40/month
6 accounts per household, but can stream 3 TV's at a time.
Stream Live TV of Major Networks...not On Demand as others.
ESPN/2/U/News, FS1/FS2/RSN'S, BTN, SECN, CBSSN, NBCSN, NBC Golf, NBA TV and MLB.

Family: Disney/jr./XD, USA

Cons:
Need a different account to stream on other TV's?
No Food Network, HGTV, Nick Channels.

FUBO TV: https://www.fubo.tv/welcome/channels

Pros:
$45/month ($19.99 for first month). Fubo TV Extra $50/month ($19.99 for first month)

Roku available
FS1/2/RSN's, NBCSN, BTN, CBSSN, BeIN Sports (10 channels), Fox Soccer+, NBA, NBC Golf, NFL Network, NFL Redzone, PAC12 Networks, Misc sports channels (Eleven Sports, FUBO TV Net, Football (soccer) Rpt TV).
Stadium 1, Stadium 2, Stadium 3 added to Extra package

Regular channels: History, USA, Bravo, FX, Hallmark, Hallmark Movies, SyFy and now HGTV.

Cons:
Only allows 2 TV's at a time. You can add a 3rd stream for $5.99/month extra.
No Kids channels (Disney, Nick, Cartoon...)
No common family: Food Network, TBS, TNT.

Focus more on soccer and sports (futbol or football depend what country).


For those who just want cable without sports, it is now available via Philo.
Philo https://try.philo.com/

Pros:
$16 gets you 37 of the more popular cable channels. $20 gets you 47 channels.
DVR
Stream 3 TV's at a time
On Roku, iOS and Android devices.

Cons:
No sports channels. But if just having an antenna is enough for you for sports then this is a cheap option to not paying for sports channels on Sling, PS VUE, DirecTV now...etc.

Hard to sum up since everyone had different needs/wants. For the lowest tiers.
If you have a family and need to stream 3 or more TV's then PS VUE offers the best packages for the whole family.
If you're just a couple or small family and don't use 3 TV's or more at a time then Direct TV Now offers the most bang for the buck for the family if you are satisfied with ESPN/2 and FS1 for sports channels.

I refuse to ever again spend over $20 per month on TV.

Or, Kodi for everything and stream reddit cfbstreams from your PC or phone/tablet to TV via airplay. Free-fifty.

One thing people need to be aware of with PS Vue...if you don't get local channels in your area you are classified as a slim package and pay $10 less. If/when local channels are added in the future I would expect to see a $10 increase and upgrade from the slim pack to include your noe available local channels. To some people it's worth the increase. To others it might not be

Using Sling right now...looking to switch to Hulu or Youtube for Football Season. I have Roku devices so hopefully they release content on Roku by late August.

Doesn't OTT mean over the top? As in, stuff you can't get through cable tv like netflix original programming.

This stuff just sounds like alternative streaming options for content you can already get through cable tv.

Good write up! Thanks for doing this. Had PS Vue last year. Plan on doing it again for football season.

(06-17-2017 03:53 PM)goofus Wrote:  Doesn't OTT mean over the top? As in, stuff you can't get through cable tv like netflix original programming.

This stuff just sounds like alternative streaming options for content you can already get through cable tv.

This is an alternative to cable TV. For cheaper, excluding the needed broadband internet connection.

I just completed a free trial of PS-Vue. I am on cable and currently off bundle pricing, paying $175 for cable + 60mbps internet. I wanted to evaluate my options before rebundling.

I like PS-Vue. I had trouble with on-demand streaming with one channel, but the channel selection is actually better than my cable bundle (for channels I want). I am streaming it thru Apple TV, which is a brilliantly simple device. I am going to do a free trial of Sling next, and then probably pick one or the other after I get back from some summer travels.

I used sling for awhile and didn't care for it as the only way you could get decent sports was to take both Blue and Orange. When you do that the only channels not on Blue are ESPN, 2 and Disney. It is rigged so you need both. Cost for both $45


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One thing you need to note about any of these. You need a very good internet connection, and you need to be aware of the data limitations of your internet account. My ISP is my cable company, 60mbps, and a 1000 gb data limit. I will probably downgrade to 40mbps with the same 1000gb limit. I've done some estimates, and it appears if I leave the streaming running all the time I will exceed my limit.

So, I must change my habits. I can no longer simply turn off my TV when I am done viewing. I must remember to exit the PS-Vue app to stop the data flow. And I must click on the PS-Vue app to start viewing. That sounds minor, but to some people it could be a big deal.

(06-17-2017 03:53 PM)goofus Wrote:  Doesn't OTT mean over the top? As in, stuff you can't get through cable tv like netflix original programming.

This stuff just sounds like alternative streaming options for content you can already get through cable tv.

It's not an official FCC term. So people use it to mean different things.

I think streaming makes sense if you are on a tight budget and just want to be able to have it for football season or something.

I have been tracking the price of data, phones ect obviously for a while. A couple of years ago they dropped the prices down to the point where you might be able to get away with a 14GB plan through a wireless provider and run all of your devices off of that.

Prices though have stabilized but one of the big changes in the last year to offset cord cutting cable companies have been dropping the prices on the higher end packages, packages that very few consumers could justify paying for when $100 or $125 just for cable.

I have one of those packages for like $59.99 (including fees) and I have all channels plus HBO, Showtime and Starz included plus I get a $20 dollar discount off my internet service so my true cost is $39.99.

You can get a crap internet TV package for $30 dollars that is a hassle when the internet connectivity cuts out with limited channels or pay a few dollars more to have a nice package.

What we did after we dropped Dish and didn't like Sling was got a mid range cable package for sports and some other shows along with a DVR. Then we added Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. Everyone is very satisfied.


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(06-17-2017 12:53 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Hey MWC. Check out fubo.tv and add them to your summary

Thanks. Summary added and post is updated.

(06-17-2017 04:46 PM)teamvsn Wrote:  One thing you need to note about any of these. You need a very good internet connection, and you need to be aware of the data limitations of your internet account. My ISP is my cable company, 60mbps, and a 1000 gb data limit. I will probably downgrade to 40mbps with the same 1000gb limit. I've done some estimates, and it appears if I leave the streaming running all the time I will exceed my limit.

So, I must change my habits. I can no longer simply turn off my TV when I am done viewing. I must remember to exit the PS-Vue app to stop the data flow. And I must click on the PS-Vue app to start viewing. That sounds minor, but to some people it could be a big deal.

Maybe depending where you are or the number in household, but with 3 of us in the household, we have had little issues streaming 2 TV's and web surfing on phones/tablets with the 12 mbs service with AT&T.

(06-17-2017 06:43 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(06-17-2017 04:46 PM)teamvsn Wrote:  One thing you need to note about any of these. You need a very good internet connection, and you need to be aware of the data limitations of your internet account. My ISP is my cable company, 60mbps, and a 1000 gb data limit. I will probably downgrade to 40mbps with the same 1000gb limit. I've done some estimates, and it appears if I leave the streaming running all the time I will exceed my limit.

So, I must change my habits. I can no longer simply turn off my TV when I am done viewing. I must remember to exit the PS-Vue app to stop the data flow. And I must click on the PS-Vue app to start viewing. That sounds minor, but to some people it could be a big deal.

Maybe depending where you are or the number in household, but with 3 of us in the household, we have had little issues streaming 2 TV's and web surfing on phones/tablets with the 12 mbs service with AT&T.

Yes, I have read that the minimum speed for streaming should be 10mbps. However I am an IT guy and need fast internet for other reasons. 40 mbps should be adequate for me overall.

(06-17-2017 04:43 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  I used sling for awhile and didn't care for it as the only way you could get decent sports was to take both Blue and Orange. When you do that the only channels not on Blue are ESPN, 2 and Disney. It is rigged so you need both. Cost for both $45


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Actually if you are a hard core ACC or SEC Fan Sling Orange is great. The SEC fanboys would need to get CBS OTA.

I'm thinking about grabbing the FS1/2/CBS College Sports for FB season on Hulu or Youtube but frankly I can live without it...only $10 more a month for 3 months might make it worth it.

(06-17-2017 07:37 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(06-17-2017 04:43 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  I used sling for awhile and didn't care for it as the only way you could get decent sports was to take both Blue and Orange. When you do that the only channels not on Blue are ESPN, 2 and Disney. It is rigged so you need both. Cost for both $45


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Actually if you are a hard core ACC or SEC Fan Sling Orange is great. The SEC fanboys would need to get CBS OTA.

I'm thinking about grabbing the FS1/2/CBS College Sports for FB season on Hulu or Youtube but frankly I can live without it...only $10 more a month for 3 months might make it worth it.

Be sure you try it first. I just signed up for me free trial and it's already buffered twice on the first show I am watching live. 55mbps connection tested right now on speedtest.net while I am streaming. So it's not my connection that's the problem.