Getting Rid of Cable

[Kraken]

Kraken, at this point I would say you are overthinking this. You aren't making a monumental long term decision. That's what you do when you sign up for cable or sattelite. Just pick one and try it. At worst you pay for one month and then you can switch to something else.

You also need to stop worrying about specific channels. My experience is many channels you "can't live without" you don't end up missing. There's probably not an easy way to subscribe to one or two specific channels you want - but if you have patience, there may well be a way to get to the content you want on that channel in the future.

In the long run you will enjoy how much less you are paying for TV which will greatly outweigh the pain of missing the one or two must have shows on the network you were sure you couldn't live without.

When I start telling Wife "No, we can't get that show anymore" she is going to start agitating for cable again.

If I go with Youtube, the only things I know I'll miss are Rick & Morty and Archer (Cartoon Network). Whereas if I go with Hulu, I lose AMC, which has far more shows that we follow, and BBC America (Dr Who). So I'll lose less by choosing Youtube. What I'm wondering is if there's a way to subscribe to just Cartoon Network without buying a huge expensive package like Hulu.

But yeah, you're right: I want to make these decisions once and never have to think about it again.

I have a two trial if you are interested.

The only thing I don't like about Youtubetv and maybe it's me... I can't figure out how to delete a show on the DVR or tell it to only record one episode.

IDK what "a two trial" is.

Limited control over the DVR would be irritating; we keep track of where we left off by deleting episodes after they're seen.

[Smoove_B]

My buddy has Youtube TV and he said he has full access to Rick and Morty and Archer, FWIW.

[Kraken]

Good to know; I'm probably not looking at the most recent channel lineup. Pretty sure I'll go with Youtube, at least initially.

[naednek]

Kraken, at this point I would say you are overthinking this. You aren't making a monumental long term decision. That's what you do when you sign up for cable or sattelite. Just pick one and try it. At worst you pay for one month and then you can switch to something else.

You also need to stop worrying about specific channels. My experience is many channels you "can't live without" you don't end up missing. There's probably not an easy way to subscribe to one or two specific channels you want - but if you have patience, there may well be a way to get to the content you want on that channel in the future.

In the long run you will enjoy how much less you are paying for TV which will greatly outweigh the pain of missing the one or two must have shows on the network you were sure you couldn't live without.

When I start telling Wife "No, we can't get that show anymore" she is going to start agitating for cable again.

If I go with Youtube, the only things I know I'll miss are Rick & Morty and Archer (Cartoon Network). Whereas if I go with Hulu, I lose AMC, which has far more shows that we follow, and BBC America (Dr Who). So I'll lose less by choosing Youtube. What I'm wondering is if there's a way to subscribe to just Cartoon Network without buying a huge expensive package like Hulu.

But yeah, you're right: I want to make these decisions once and never have to think about it again.

I have a two trial if you are interested.

The only thing I don't like about Youtubetv and maybe it's me... I can't figure out how to delete a show on the DVR or tell it to only record one episode.

IDK what "a two trial" is.

Limited control over the DVR would be irritating; we keep track of where we left off by deleting episodes after they're seen.

Sorry meant two week trial

[JCC]

Good to know; I'm probably not looking at the most recent channel lineup. Pretty sure I'll go with Youtube, at least initially.

Cartoon Network is on YouTube TV.

[JCC]

When I start telling Wife "No, we can't get that show anymore" she is going to start agitating for cable again.

This is my point. You may not be able to watch the show as soon as it airs live but you will have ways of renting/buying it via streaming in the future. Remember you are saving money every month by cord cutting. You can't easily have everything you are getting now and slash your monthly bill. If you aren't willing to sacrifice some things then you aren't going to be happy cord cutting.

Limited control over the DVR would be irritating; we keep track of where we left off by deleting episodes after they're seen.

You definitely don't have that level of control with YTTV. You just add a show and then you get all the episodes that air afterwards (new and repeats) until they expire. There is no deleting of episodes because you aren't actually using any space since you aren't really recording them to a DVR.

[Jeff V]

Good to know; I'm probably not looking at the most recent channel lineup. Pretty sure I'll go with Youtube, at least initially.

Cartoon Network is on YouTube TV.

The last lineup I looked at indicated Comedy Central was not. Is that still the case?

[hentzau]

Ok, huge problem. Comcast has gone and moved TCM (my most watched cable channel by far) to a separate package called “Sports and Entertainment”. I do NOT watch sports, and from what I can see I can’t subscribe to a streaming service for TCM. This is enough to have me seriously considering dropping Comcast cable. Seriously pissed off right now.

[Kraken]

Ok, huge problem. Comcast has gone and moved TCM (my most watched cable channel by far) to a separate package called “Sports and Entertainment”. I do NOT watch sports, and from what I can see I can’t subscribe to a streaming service for TCM. This is enough to have me seriously considering dropping Comcast cable. Seriously pissed off right now.

TCM is our #1 channel by far. Losing it would be a deal-breaker. Fortunately, both Youtube and Hulu offer it (with recording capability, which is also key). But they're both pretty expensive, if that's the only channel you want.

[naednek]

Kraken, do you want the two trial of youtube tv?

[coopasonic]

Ok, huge problem. Comcast has gone and moved TCM (my most watched cable channel by far) to a separate package called “Sports and Entertainment”. I do NOT watch sports, and from what I can see I can’t subscribe to a streaming service for TCM. This is enough to have me seriously considering dropping Comcast cable. Seriously pissed off right now.

Almost every streaming service has TCM as an option.

https://flixed.io/watch-tcm-without-cable/

You can watch TCM live without cable with one of these streaming services: fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV Now, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV or AT&T WatchTV.

It looks like sling is the cheapest if TCM is your priority. $25 (sling blue) + $5 (hollywood extra) (plus all the taxes and fees and whatever they tell themselves you will suffer through)

https://www.sling.com/service

[Kraken]

Kraken, do you want the two trial of youtube tv?

Not now; gotta buy the TV first. Probably end of Nov., if the offer still stands then.

[JCC]

The last lineup I looked at indicated Comedy Central was not. Is that still the case?

Not on YTTV. It is on other streaming services (AT&T Now, Philo, Hulu, etc.)

The Viacom content (like Comedy Central) is also available free in some places. I don't mean a live stream, I mean some content. Pluto TV for example has 2 Comedy Central "channels". CC.com also has some content for free.

This is a point I keep trying to make. Even if a channel you want isn't on live streaming service X, some of the content may be available elsewhere.

I only really subscribe to YTTV for college football. I will unsubscribe sometime after the super bowl, and may pick it up again for the NCAA Tournament in March and then probably drop it until next Fall.

I don't really care about watching non-event programming "live" so much anymore. I just want CONTENT. A lot of content shows up later on Netflix, Prime, etc. I prefer being able to watch a season (or entire series) in one go over keeping up with watching the latest episode when it airs "live". I like to watch things on my schedule, not some arbitrary schedule some network comes up with. Right now Acorn TV is airing the latest series of Doc Martin, but I am not going to re-sub with Acorn until it is done and I can watch the whole thing when I want to and only pay for one month (unless I see other stuff I want to watch). Even my favorite TV show ever (Doctor Who) that I *do* want to watch "live" (or close to it) doesn't cause me to subscribe to YTTV. I just buy the season in advance on Amazon and watch the episodes the day after they air - commercial free. I want to own all those episodes anyway, so I don't mind paying for a show directly in this case.

My only constantly active accounts are Netflix (because they have tons of stuff I want to watch) and Prime (because I get it for the free shipping moreso than the live streaming which is a great bonus). Everything else is subbed and unsubbed based on what I want to watch. I have changed the way I think about watching TV over the years since I said "goodbye" to Cable. I like to watch things on MY schedule - with a few rare exceptions. And, I like to do it for far less money than I used to pay for traditional Pay TV.

That's why I keep repeating don't worry about channels, worry about content.

[Jeff V]

YTTV is already twice the price of the service I am replacing. Of course I could subscribe to a shit ton of services and in the end have nearly half of what a full-blown cable sub offers for the same price. Obviously, that is not the goal here.

Is there any other service that offers all of the broadcast channels plus the Fox and NBC sports channels?

[JCC]

AT&T TV Now, Hulu Live, and Vue have the Fox and NBC Sports channels. As far as locals go, it depends on market. You need to do that leg work yourself.

[JCC]

And if YTTV is twice the price of your current service, why do you even want to switch?

[Jeff V]

And if YTTV is twice the price of your current service, why do you even want to switch?

Sling dropped Fox/Fox Sports, so no football.

[Kraken]

That's why I keep repeating don't worry about channels, worry about content.

That all sounded exhausting to me. I don't want to have to hunt down my TV shows and juggle a dozen different content providers. I want my TV shows to come to me, ideally all from one place. I wish my cable company hadn't cut my cord.

Also: get off my lawn.

[Jeff V]

That's why I keep repeating don't worry about channels, worry about content.

That all sounded exhausting to me. I don't want to have to hunt down my TV shows and juggle a dozen different content providers. I want my TV shows to come to me, ideally all from one place. I wish my cable company hadn't cut my cord.

Also: get off my lawn.

I don't disagree...content is specific shows that are sourced on specific channels. Now, with what I have there's more than enough "stuff" to watch, even if it's not always the stuff I'd prefer to watch. There's a lot of shows discussed on OO that I don't have access to and wonder sometimes what I'm missing.

[Kraken]

That's why I keep repeating don't worry about channels, worry about content.

That all sounded exhausting to me. I don't want to have to hunt down my TV shows and juggle a dozen different content providers. I want my TV shows to come to me, ideally all from one place. I wish my cable company hadn't cut my cord.

Also: get off my lawn.

I don't disagree...content is specific shows that are sourced on specific channels. Now, with what I have there's more than enough "stuff" to watch, even if it's not always the stuff I'd prefer to watch. There's a lot of shows discussed on OO that I don't have access to and wonder sometimes what I'm missing.

I'm going to be starting with a clean slate. Our cable/internet bill is about to drop by $125 before I add any content. The Youtube TV will cost me $50-ish; that leaves me $75 to spend on...I don't know what. Maybe that Star Trek channel, for one. Maybe Netflix. Maybe HBO. If I were to add everything that interests me, the $75 would be gone pretty quickly, and I'd probably end up spending more than I did on cable (which is where JCC's constant juggling starts to make sense).

This whole streaming business needs a dominant player like Steam or Microsoft that owns everything. I'm sure one will emerge, but it might take 10 years. I expect to be safely dead by then.

[Jeff V]

I refuse to pay for just a single show, so fuck you CBS. It's not that I can't afford it, it's a matter of principle...add it to a package and it might be worth consideration, but by itself, no way. I just don't want that business model to succeed or I'll be paying for subs for ever show I care to watch.

[Kraken]

I refuse to pay for just a single show, so fuck you CBS. It's not that I can't afford it, it's a matter of principle...add it to a package and it might be worth consideration, but by itself, no way. I just don't want that business model to succeed or I'll be paying for subs for ever show I care to watch.

I would be OK with that if the whole thing became a al carte, and individual channels only cost a few bucks each. I'm about to buy Youtube tv to get five or six channels I care about and 20 or 30 that I'll never watch. That's just a lamer version of cable.

[Jeff V]

I don't necessarily have a problem with ala carte channel pricing, I do have a problem if the price can get you many channels elsewhere. i want CBS to fail, not because the mode is invalid but because they are charging too much for their single channel of content.

[JCC]

This whole streaming business needs a dominant player like Steam or Microsoft that owns everything. I'm sure one will emerge, but it might take 10 years. I expect to be safely dead by then.

That basically WAS Netflix. I don't see it happening any time soon or ever really. There are only going to be more streaming services going forward. I am sure some will fail and fold, but the big titans (Netflix, Amazon, Disney, AT&T) all have enough content they will probably survive. And that's just the on demand services.

I think it's generally good since you don't get locked down under long term contracts. Also, we now have choices - even for live TV. Whereas for a long time there was only cable or satellite which often locked you up for a couple years and was far more expensive than any of the live streaming services which you can get and drop at any time.

For years we have whined (with reason) that we wanted to pick and choose the channels we want and not pay for the ones we don't watch. Streaming has disrupted the monopolies and duopolies we were stuck with. While we still don't have true ala carte TV, we are much closer to it now than we were a decade ago. Change is good. Embrace it.

[JCC]

And if YTTV is twice the price of your current service, why do you even want to switch?

Sling dropped Fox/Fox Sports, so no football.

Ah yes. Fox has waged an advertising war with Dish/Sling over their disagreement.

[Exodor]

Our Comcast bill is up to $220 a month for internet (275/?), TV and phone. We have never used the phone service and with CBSAllAccess and Hulu anything on broadcast TV we want to watch is also available to stream. We spend 99% of our TV watching time using Netflix, Hulu or HBOGo.

Time to cut the cord.

Comcast seems very resistant to selling internet-only plans so I'm thinking of switching to Frontier. They're offering 500/500 for $39.99 for two years but I have questions:

-Any current Frontier customers willing to share what they're paying after the two year intro rate wears off?

-How much is the monthly modem rental fee? Looks like they charge it whether you use their equipment or not so might as well use it

-Any particularly good or bad experiences with Frontier? At work we had a client with Frontier lose internet connectivity and Frontier wanted them to wait two weeks to get a tech on-site.

[stessier]

I use Charter, but I read ArsTechnica daily. The only company that seems to have worse press there than Comcast is Frontier.

[Jeff V]

-Any particularly good or bad experiences with Frontier? At work we had a client with Frontier lose internet connectivity and Frontier wanted them to wait two weeks to get a tech on-site.

An article I read earlier today rated Frontier as one of the 30 worst companies to work for, the only telecom company on that list. That can't be good for the customer experience.

I had no problem shifting to internet only with Comcrap. For starters, I went to one of their locations with all of the cable boxes and unnecessary cables. They did not even try to talk me off the ledge. They did offer a deal on their own basic streaming package, which is good since i can't get network TV OTA. While the price ticked up from $75 to $100 over the past 4 years, it's on par with the Metronet (which lacks the streaming package) and is more reliable than AT&T/Direct TV (although I still have one of their dishes cluttering my roof, a relic from the previous owner).

[hitbyambulance]

-How much is the monthly modem rental fee? Looks like they charge it whether you use their equipment or not so might as well use it

is that for real? with Comcrap, i bought my own modem (even had VoIP capability) and returned their modem - monthly rental charge goes away.

[naednek]

Our Comcast bill is up to $220 a month for internet (275/?), TV and phone. We have never used the phone service and with CBSAllAccess and Hulu anything on broadcast TV we want to watch is also available to stream. We spend 99% of our TV watching time using Netflix, Hulu or HBOGo.

Time to cut the cord.

Comcast seems very resistant to selling internet-only plans so I'm thinking of switching to Frontier. They're offering 500/500 for $39.99 for two years but I have questions:

-Any current Frontier customers willing to share what they're paying after the two year intro rate wears off?

-How much is the monthly modem rental fee? Looks like they charge it whether you use their equipment or not so might as well use it

-Any particularly good or bad experiences with Frontier? At work we had a client with Frontier lose internet connectivity and Frontier wanted them to wait two weeks to get a tech on-site.

I don't have frontier but it's offered in our area, and I've heard nothing but bad bad things about them.

[stessier]

-How much is the monthly modem rental fee? Looks like they charge it whether you use their equipment or not so might as well use it

is that for real? with Comcrap, i bought my own modem (even had VoIP capability) and returned their modem - monthly rental charge goes away.

Frontier customer bought his own router—but has to pay $10 rental fee anyway

Son filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission; Frontier responded to the complaint but stuck to its position that he has to pay the fee. A voicemail that Frontier left with Son and his wife said the company informed the FCC that "the router monthly charge is an applicable fee, and it will continue to be billed."

Another voicemail from Frontier told them they can avoid the monthly rental fees if they purchase a Frontier router.

"We can reimburse you if you purchase a Frontier router. We cannot reimburse you if you have a Verizon router—we are not Verizon," the voicemail said. "You can choose to use your own router, however you will be still charged the monthly fee... the difference is we do not service the router that you choose to use."

[Skinypupy]

-How much is the monthly modem rental fee? Looks like they charge it whether you use their equipment or not so might as well use it

is that for real? with Comcrap, i bought my own modem (even had VoIP capability) and returned their modem - monthly rental charge goes away.

When I did this, they upped my bill by $10/month. Said that I was getting a "discount" for using their modem, and that went away when I returned it. Sadly, no other options in my area right now.

I'd love to cut the cord for cable, but I haven't found a streaming alternative for any cheaper that gets me the same college sports access. Plus, I've tried a couple different streaming services, and they all seem to have a slight lag between audio and sound.

[stessier]

Plus, I've tried a couple different streaming services, and they all seem to have a slight lag between audio and sound.

My Roku has a setting that allows me to adjust for that as does my TV and tuner. Something to look into if you give it another shot.

[hitbyambulance]

Son filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission; Frontier responded to the complaint but stuck to its position that he has to pay the fee. A voicemail that Frontier left with Son and his wife said the company informed the FCC that "the router monthly charge is an applicable fee, and it will continue to be billed."

Another voicemail from Frontier told them they can avoid the monthly rental fees if they purchase a Frontier router.

"We can reimburse you if you purchase a Frontier router. We cannot reimburse you if you have a Verizon router—we are not Verizon," the voicemail said. "You can choose to use your own router, however you will be still charged the monthly fee... the difference is we do not service the router that you choose to use."

read the arstechnica article. what utter BS. face punchin' time!

[malchior]

Youtube TV price increase

Good job Youtube TV, you're the new cable tv. We'll see how pushing 8 channels with limited appeal on the subscribers for a Netflix size price increase in the middle of a pandemic goes for you. This was a little baffling to me. You don't get Youtube Premium with Youtube TV so you're still watching ads everywhere. Throw that in and maybe it is palatable. That said, I'm out. I've marked the calendar to dump it a day before the price increase goes in effect for me.

Subscribers of YouTube TV, YouTube's premium live service, will be paying a lot more starting next month.

YouTube announced in a blog post on Tuesday that the monthly price for a subscription will go up to $65 from $50. The new price reflects the "rising cost of content," the company wrote, as well as what it views as the intrinsic value of the service.

"YouTube TV is the only streaming service that includes a DVR with unlimited storage space, plus 6 accounts per household each with its own unique recommendations, and 3 concurrent streams," wrote Christian Oestlien, VP of Product Management at YouTube TV.

A base subscription to YouTube TV includes 85 channels, with other premium channels such as HBO Max or Cinemax sold as an add-on to the base subscription. YouTube also said on Tuesday that it's added several Viacom-owned channels -- BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1 -- to the baseline offering.

[Daehawk]

We had an outside antennae until 2011 when the tornado smashed it with a giant tree along with the house. We had not used it since getting cable around 1995 though. I can recall sitting in the mall's Sears store watching a giant 50" rear projection tv from a recliner around 1990 and hearing them talk about going all digital by 2012 and antennae being useless then. Seemed so far away then but I was excited about it stupid tech nut I was.

[Jeff V]

Subscribers of YouTube TV, YouTube's premium live service, will be paying a lot more starting next month.

YouTube announced in a blog post on Tuesday that the monthly price for a subscription will go up to $65 from $50. The new price reflects the "rising cost of content," the company wrote, as well as what it views as the intrinsic value of the service.

Never made the switch to them, as my defining prerequisite is "can I watch all of the Bears games?" It was under consideration...the need has been reduced to nil now. None of the services they seem warrant premium prices are of any value to me.

[hentzau]

yeah, this is going to make me bail on them. Actually, one of the main reasons I was using them was to get to Turner Classic Movies, but I've been blown away by the Curated TCM on HBOMax.

[Kraken]

yeah, this is going to make me bail on them. Actually, one of the main reasons I was using them was to get to Turner Classic Movies, but I've been blown away by the Curated TCM on HBOMax.

Well, crap. I chose YTTV as my cable replacement and have spent the past 5 months customizing it and populating my DVR. I can get almost everything I want and I'm comfortably settled in. And I, too, chose YTTV in large part for TCM. But $15 is a helluva price hike for a handful of new channels I don't care about. I was pissed when that box popped up tonight.

If I want a streaming service with "live"' local and network channels and robust DVR functionality, where do I go now? Hulu? And what is this Curated TCM of which you speak? For the new price of YTTV I can probably get Hulu and HBOMax.

[McNutt]

I spent this weekend setting up my in laws with Youtubr TV. They were excited after seeing it at my place. Now this.
Those channels certainly don't justify the price increase. My FIL was at least happy that they now include Paramount and he can watch Yellowstone.

For those of you switching, what will you use? I looked at Hulu + Live, but it doesn't seem any better for the price.

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