(01-21-2020 02:17 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: (12-07-2019 09:58 AM)Usajags Wrote: I’m seriously looking at finally getting rid of the satellite. What do you guys use for all the standard channels???
I’m looking at YoutubeTV, it seems to have all the channels as well as local channels. This is the first time I’ve seriously looked at it so I’m gathering info.
It's been awhile, but the landscape has changed since OP. For example, PS Vue is no more and they were one of the better options.
If sports is most important .... YouTubeTV. YouTubeTV comes with 3 simultaneous streams. This may be inadequate for a single household though if you have a "Catholic attitude" towards kids. If however you're more of a "we're watching one thing in the den or one thing in the bedroom" kinda household, you can share the account with family in the area and split the costs 50/50. This is where the real attractive price point is for me, but that's in part because Charter sent the cost of unbundled internet skyrocketing to $70/mo because they know you're getting TV from streaming. (I don't know how this hasn't been sued into oblivion yet for anti-competitive reasons.) Expect similar price hikes from your ISP if they're in the TV business and you're not giving it to them.
If sports is most important AND you're only interested in teams owned by Fuhrer Mickey Mouse ... whenever Disney finally offers a Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu LIVE bundle that will be the best option. They don't offer that bundle right now, they instead sneakily offer one with regular Hulu (you can't skip the ads, there aren't as many channels, etc).
You might also consider FuboTV (no ESPN channels) or SlingTV (few locals, less sports).
Don't forget OTA if you're near a major metro. This isn't your grandfather's OTA ... the quality is high and the channel numbers are going up up up. I'm in a Top 50 media market and receive over 45 channels, admittedly about 12 of which are variations of PBS.
Another option for local channels may be with
Locast.org, a non-profit organization which retransmits local channels over the internet. It is "free". For free, there is a nag message about every 15 minutes. The nag message is disabled if you make a $5.00 donation plus $.50 service fee donation every month. It is great if you live in one of the 16 markets, especially if there is something between you and the tower that messes up the signal. They are currently growing. 12 markets were served when I first starting using Locast a few months ago. They added 4 more markets since then and are looking to add more. Depending on how lawsuits conclude, Locast may or not be short lived. The major networks are currently sueing Locast. Locast has countersued the major networks.
I use Sling TV with Sling Blue + Sling Orange + Total TV Deal for $59.98. The Total TV Deal gives me a discounted price for 50 hours of DVR plus the Sports Extra package plus a ton of other extras packages to keep the wife happy. About the only sports I miss are BTN (used to have that), CBSSports, and FoxSports. I also don't get the Fox regional channels. Except for ESPN+, I get all the ESPN channels including ESPN3, SECNetwork, SEC+, and the Longhorn Network. In addition, I get FS1, FS2, PAC12 Network, ACCN, ACCNX, NFL, NFL Redzone, MLB, NHL, Stadium, BEIN, Golf Channel, Tennis Channel, and a bunch I am probably forgetting. I subscribe to ESPN+ separately.
For about 1/3 of the cost, the selection gets me close to what I had with an AT&T UVerse U450 package I had before moving. I know I probably have a lot more channels than the typical cord cutter. The nice thing is that I can use the packages to drop channels I only watch part of the year with no extra fees to drop. I can then add the packages back when I want to with no extra fees.
I'm happy with Sling because of the flexibility. I'm primarily a football and basketball fan. I drop a lot of stuff I am carrying now during the slack parts of the year keeping only Sling Blue. That gets me down to $25.00 per month.
