Cord Cutting Advice - Not the newborn type

[Rhom]

I recall that we had a bit of a discussion here a while back, but when I found it via Google search it was archived (and over in General, where I tend to stay away from... lots of vitriol there and I don't want to go the way of poor Manhole somehow.  )

So anyways, I'm like many others... getting sick of my cable bill every month.  Long story short, we pay close to $300/month.  Honestly, its embarrassing.  Its a bundled plan through Comcast and it was the most affordable way to get their best internet which my wife needed when working from home and also have the channels we want.

A local provider recently added our neighborhood to their expanding Fiberoptic internet coverage.  You can get a full gig for $100/month.  I called about the cable package as well, and just to be quite frank... I wound up killing the whole deal.  Just the equipment cost alone was going to be $226/month!!!!   I almost hung up on her after I told her that we would hook up five TVs and then she asked "Will any of those be in HD?"  What is this... 2008????  HD???  Why are you even offering standard definition?!!?   As a small local provider, they just can't offer the services when it comes to cable.

So anyways, that's where I stand.  The internet with them would be ridiculously faster and also provide a good savings off what I had been paying.

But I'm kinda new to all this and am looking for advice on how to best make this happen.  Here's what we "need:"

Local channels.  (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox)

Don't miss any University of Kentucky games (So basically ESPN/ESPN2, ESPNU, and SEC Network.  Having CBS Sports Network would be a bonus)

HGTV and Hallmark Channel (Because my wife can't get enough of Lacey Chabert at Christmas time.)

I do have a subscription to Amazon Prime through my office that I have not used for anything other than free shipping on purchases yet.  So I do have access to some on demand programming.  I have been looking at YouTube TV.  $40/month.  50ish channels including local offerings.  But they do not seem to have HGTV or Hallmark.  Maybe not a deal killer, but I would hate to take away the only things my wife ever really watches.  I have also considered DirecTV Now.  Bit more pricey, has several more channels.  For some reason, no CBS family of networks.  (I could get CBS All Access... but now we are really adding onto the price.)  Could also theoretically add NFL Sunday Ticket to watch my out of area 49er games (again, price is soaring at this point though). 

I have done some research into other services, but not drastically.  I have looked a little at PS Vue, Hulu, and Sling.  They all have drawbacks of some sort, and bonuses of other sorts.

So that's my question.  What kind of experience have you had with Cutting the Cord?  What have you used?  How are you accessing it?  

 

[Vin]

I have fiber optic with a local provider , and every streaming service under the sun . It has served me well .

[Rhom]

15 minutes ago, Vin said:

I have fiber optic with a local provider , and every streaming service under the sun . It has served me well .

Got one you prefer?

[Iskaral Pust]

I wish I could just have unbundled internet and then a la carte streaming choices.  But Comcast is the only provider to my condo building and their internet-only costs almost as much as the bundle. 

Even with our cable bundle still intact, we use a Roku and nearly all of our TV viewing is on Netflix or Prime.

My recommendation would be to just use Prime, Netflix and Hulu (my least favorite of the three FWIW) for a couple of months and see if you really miss the cable channels that much.  I never even check what’s being broadcast now.  If live sports is a deal-breaker, then try a direct subscription. 

There’s no ideal solution and the more must-haves on your list, the closer you get to keeping your cable bundle. 

[Vin]

31 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Got one you prefer?

Netflix is your go to one but I have amazon prime , hulu, hbo  ,vue and all the rest . FuboTV is good for sports . sling TV is pretty great . Game pass is great for the NFL if it's most of your sport intake .

[dbunting]

This is the same problem I have, although I don't pay nearly as much as you do. After GOT finishes next year I may change my system as well. Currently have Directv and internet bundle, Netflix, and we have Hulu because my daughter gets it free with her Spotify account. I have Verizon, not AT&T because their service sucks in my area or maybe I'd bundle it all together. IDK it seems like the more the media groups get into streaming the worse it's going to be for us consumers. 

My neighbor just added a large HD antenna to her roof, I haven't had a chance to see what channels she gets but she said she had like 40! 

[Inigima]

We cancelled Comcast a while ago. We had cancelled TV and phone (we only had the phone service because it was cheaper than not having it), and when we did our Internet service became unreliable. Seems insane that they'd do that on purpose, and I'm not saying they did, but... We went to Fios. Installer was good and service has been rock-solid since then. We specifically decided not to do video service, even though it was the same price as just Internet, because we are sick of dealing with bundles and having to play the cancellation game every two years. We bought an over the air antenna for $20 to get local channels (you can get ones with better range for more, but this one works for us) and we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. Honestly, we don't miss cable most of the time. You can always buy the occasional show that you really want to see on Amazon if it's not part of the included streaming video packages.

Sports are the big problem because most of the sports streaming services have blackouts -- if you're looking at a dedicated subscription service for a specific sports league, make sure you can actually watch your team. If you just want the national sports channels you mentioned, Hulu TV or YouTube TV probably have you covered.

I would agree that no Internet TV service really has all bases covered, it's a bummer. But you might consider just not having it at all and see how much you care. In a vacuum, all else being equal, having it would probably be nicer than not having it. But I don't think it's nice enough to justify the cost.

[Corvinus85]

I am also looking into YouTube TV, but when you go to their page, it says available in select U.S. cities. I'm definitely not going to attempt any cord cutting until after the World Cup is done, though.

[Rhom]

5 minutes ago, Corvinus of Teranga said:

I am also looking into YouTube TV, but when you go to their page, it says available in select U.S. cities. I'm definitely not going to attempt any cord cutting until after the World Cup is done, though.

Yeah, I've got a friend with it that is very happy with it here in our area.

It really does seem like it covers all the bases I want, with the exception of my wife's preference.  Seems an odd omission.  I was stunned that it had local channels.

I don't know that moving quick is what you want to do, but YouTube TV does have the Fox Sports networks which carry the World Cup games.

While confirming that, I found this CNET article that does a good comparison of Sling/YouTube/DirecTV/Hulu/PS Vue

Has a nice side by side comparison of channels.

[Myrddin]

We were paying $150 or so for internet and cable (+$15 for HBO during GoT months) from Spectrum (formerly TWC and Charter).  I got tired of my bill bumping up every year so I killed cable last Fall.

Now I pay $70 for high speed internet from Spectrum plus $11 a month for Hulu (no commercials) and $10 a month for Netflix (which we had before too). This gives me most channels including local. Luckily I stopped watching Walking Dead, because AMC which is not included. Hulu also gave us HBO for $5 a month (for two years).

Now, Hulu also has a live service for $44 a month (no/limited commercials) which includes sports. We have that right now for World Cup. When that's over we'll drop it back to just normal services. We even did a "7 day trial" of the live service to get the Superbowl last year and then cancelled it. When I signed back up for Live last week, it still gave me the 7 day trial. 

The funny thing is, after I cancelled, I get a call from Spectrum about once a week (including emails and mail flyers) to sign back up for $21 a month for local channels and 10 channels I can choose (from normal cable channels). If they had offered me this last Fall, I would probably have kept cable.

The thing is, we don't miss cable. The kids don't miss cable. We all watch Netflix or Hulu.

[Corvinus85]

36 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Yeah, I've got a friend with it that is very happy with it here in our area.

It really does seem like it covers all the bases I want, with the exception of my wife's preference.  Seems an odd omission.  I was stunned that it had local channels.

I don't know that moving quick is what you want to do, but YouTube TV does have the Fox Sports networks which carry the World Cup games.

While confirming that, I found this CNET article that does a good comparison of Sling/YouTube/DirecTV/Hulu/PS Vue

Has a nice side by side comparison of channels.

It also some cloud DVR, so one could stream stuff later, and not have to watch live. But, again, that available in select U.S. cities line worries me, since I live a small city.

6 minutes ago, Eriksen's New Mascot said:

We were paying $150 or so for internet and cable (+$15 for HBO during GoT months) from Spectrum (formerly TWC and Charter).  I got tired of my bill bumping up every year so I killed cable last Fall.

Now I pay $70 for high speed internet from Spectrum plus $11 a month for Hulu (no commercials) and $10 a month for Netflix (which we had before too). This gives me most channels including local. Luckily I stopped watching Walking Dead, because AMC which is not included. Hulu also gave us HBO for $5 a month (for two years).

Now, Hulu also has a live service for $44 a month (no/limited commercials) which includes sports. We have that right now for World Cup. When that's over we'll drop it back to just normal services. We even did a "7 day trial" of the live service to get the Superbowl last year and then cancelled it. When I signed back up for Live last week, it still gave me the 7 day trial. 

The funny thing is, after I cancelled, I get a call from Spectrum about once a week (including emails and mail flyers) to sign back up for $21 a month for local channels and 10 channels I can choose (from normal cable channels). If they had offered me this last Fall, I would probably have kept cable.

The thing is, we don't miss cable. The kids don't miss cable. We all watch Netflix or Hulu.

I have Spectrum, too. About 3 years ago, my bill had gone over $200 on a package that had high speed internet + silver TV package (so HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, additional sports channels). I cut back to basic cable package, and that reduced it to $157. It has, since, crept up to $168.

SyFy's decision to cancel The Expanse, and its subsequent rescue by Amazon, has brought me one significant step closer to cutting the cord. I, too, have decided to give up on The Walking Dead, and several other shows I was watching on TV. I already have Amazon Prime and Netflix subscriptions, so I am already close to $200 for everything, again.

[sperry]

I've heard great things about YouTube TV, especially the Cloud thing. It's unlimited space, and if you set your DVR for popular network shows, you can end up with the full library of shows that heir somewhat frequently on reruns, i.e. The Office, Friends, Seinfeld, the Simpsons, etc. Plus you get access to sports, which is obviously important for Rhom.

[lady narcissa]

I don't have any personal experience with this as I live in a high rise condominium building and the whole building gets cable and the only way I could cut the cord is by unplugging my tv and not watching it.  But I understand all too well the lure of Hallmark Channel Christmas movies and HGTV so I'm totally with your wife on those channels.  In any case you might have come across this information about both channels, but if not:

https://www.groundedreason.com/watch-hallmark-channel-without-cable/

https://www.cutcabletoday.com/watch-hgtv-online/

[Starkess]

No streaming service is going to have 100% of everything. I went through a very extensive comparison when I cut the cord last year, a spreadsheet of all the shows I watch and what services offered them and what the cost was. Eventually I wound up with getting a small antenna for like $15 for OTA channels (I live in a dense metro area and in the top floor of my building so no reception issues) and I also paid something ~$400-500 for a Tivo Roamio OTA which has a lifetime TV guide and DVR service (no subscription or additional costs after the initial purchase). I also got Netflix. I have Amazon Prime for shopping purposes and every once in a while use it for streaming or renting. I have Hulu because it comes with my Spotify student but I almost never use it because it's mostly redundant with my OTA channels. Right now I don't have HBO, but I had it before to watch some shows until they ended. I'll probably get it again in a couple months and catch up on stuff I missed (e.g. Westworld) and then cancel again. There is a lot of flexibility in streaming services!

My total cost now is about $50 a month. There are trade-offs. There are shows I don't have access to that I have to wait to come to streaming services (ie The Expanse, Doctor Who or else pay to purchase a season pass. There are some stupid reality TV shows that I used to watch in the background that just aren't really available. But I think it's totally worth it. I don't miss those things as much as I thought, and I have enough other stuff to watch. Also Hulu has older seasons of a lot of HGTV shows and I found that helped plug that gap too.

Good luck! 

[Rhom]

9 hours ago, lady narcissa said:

I don't have any personal experience with this as I live in a high rise condominium building and the whole building gets cable and the only way I could cut the cord is by unplugging my tv and not watching it.  But I understand all too well the lure of Hallmark Channel Christmas movies and HGTV so I'm totally with your wife on those channels.  In any case you might have come across this information about both channels, but if not:

https://www.groundedreason.com/watch-hallmark-channel-without-cable/

https://www.cutcabletoday.com/watch-hgtv-online/

 

8 hours ago, Starkess said:

No streaming service is going to have 100% of everything. I went through a very extensive comparison when I cut the cord last year, a spreadsheet of all the shows I watch and what services offered them and what the cost was. Eventually I wound up with getting a small antenna for like $15 for OTA channels (I live in a dense metro area and in the top floor of my building so no reception issues) and I also paid something ~$400-500 for a Tivo Roamio OTA which has a lifetime TV guide and DVR service (no subscription or additional costs after the initial purchase). I also got Netflix. I have Amazon Prime for shopping purposes and every once in a while use it for streaming or renting. I have Hulu because it comes with my Spotify student but I almost never use it because it's mostly redundant with my OTA channels. Right now I don't have HBO, but I had it before to watch some shows until they ended. I'll probably get it again in a couple months and catch up on stuff I missed (e.g. Westworld) and then cancel again. There is a lot of flexibility in streaming services!

My total cost now is about $50 a month. There are trade-offs. There are shows I don't have access to that I have to wait to come to streaming services (ie The Expanse, Doctor Who or else pay to purchase a season pass. There are some stupid reality TV shows that I used to watch in the background that just aren't really available. But I think it's totally worth it. I don't miss those things as much as I thought, and I have enough other stuff to watch. Also Hulu has older seasons of a lot of HGTV shows and I found that helped plug that gap too.

Good luck! 

Thanks for the advice!  Between you two and a post on Reddit, I see that I am not alone in my YouTube TV dilemma over Hallmark/HGTV.

Someone there suggested Philo and it does seem to be a good supplement to YouTube TV at $16/month.  It picks up HGTV but no Hallmark though.  

So much pressure!!!!

[kairparavel]

We're preparing for cord-cutting ourselves and I have a question or two about Roku.

We set up the Roku Ultra today on our wireless network to try it out before we ditch our cable box. Our television is a 46" Samsung 1080p that's roughly 7 years old, give or take. I know the Ultra is more than we need for such a tv but we're set up for something newer if we decide to go that way and we liked the remote with headphone jack. Anyways...

I set up the HDMI connection with the same settings we use on the cable box and the PS4. We watched Netflix for a bit and World Cup through Fubo and while the picture isn't terrible it often looks like you're watching the internet, which of course we are. The image doesn't seem to be as crisp as through our Comcast box. It's hardly the worst thing but are there settings we can play with or is that life? It feels nitpicky but I don't know if it's the age of the television, the HDMI cable which is pretty cheap, the wifi (vs direct hookup between the gateway and the Roku which we don't have), or just the reality of cord cutting with a streaming device. 

[Rhom]

2 hours ago, kairparavel said:

We're preparing for cord-cutting ourselves and I have a question or two about Roku.

We set up the Roku Ultra today on our wireless network to try it out before we ditch our cable box. Our television is a 46" Samsung 1080p that's roughly 7 years old, give or take. I know the Ultra is more than we need for such a tv but we're set up for something newer if we decide to go that way and we liked the remote with headphone jack. Anyways...

I set up the HDMI connection with the same settings we use on the cable box and the PS4. We watched Netflix for a bit and World Cup through Fubo and while the picture isn't terrible it often looks like you're watching the internet, which of course we are. The image doesn't seem to be as crisp as through our Comcast box. It's hardly the worst thing but are there settings we can play with or is that life? It feels nitpicky but I don't know if it's the age of the television, the HDMI cable which is pretty cheap, the wifi (vs direct hookup between the gateway and the Roku which we don't have), or just the reality of cord cutting with a streaming device. 

Great question!  I have worried about the same.

I have a Chromecast on my TV at my office and will occasionally stream from my phone to the TV and I feel the same.  It’s okay... but it’s not the same quality as cable.

Is that the sort of sacrifice I just have to accept?

[kairparavel]

Also, I've noticed the Fubo feed is a good minute to a minute and a half behind cable. I wonder if other live tv apps or services like Hulu are the same. 

Again a somewhat nitpick: if you're watching a live sporting event or GoT or whatever, you need to be on complete lockdown from the outside world. Unless it's just me whose friends text during shows and events? *L* I've learned to stay off social media and turn off app alerts so I expect this won't be that big a difference. Just change is hard, I guess. 

[john]

That is definitely one thing that’s irritating about streaming live sports.  I’ll often hear that there’s been a goal/something major has happened from noise from the street or the neighbours at least 30 seconds before it appears on screen.  Also different screens in different parts of the house will have more or less lag.

[Rhom]

1 hour ago, john said:

That is definitely one thing that’s irritating about streaming live sports.  I’ll often hear that there’s been a goal/something major has happened from noise from the street or the neighbours at least 30 seconds before it appears on screen.  Also different screens in different parts of the house will have more or less lag.

Same. Will be watching a football game and ESPN app will pop up that my team has scored.

The screen delay in house was always comical.  My wife would be in the exercise room on a standard def TV while I was in the main basement area on HD feed.  I would see a shot leave a player’s hand and from the other room I would already hear her cursing and I would know that it would miss.