I canceled cable this afternoon

[like-woahh]

Another thing to consider regarding streaming.... is you really can cancel and sign up anytime.

So... basically I just wait until there are 3-4 shows on HBO Max that I want to watch. Sign up for a month, watch what I want, and then cancel.

You don't need to maintain the monthly subs.

A person does need to be diligent about their subscriptions though... it's not hard to forget what you've signed up for and what you haven't (I'm looking at you BTN+)

Hulu is best value imo since you get Hulu's catalog, ESPN+, and Disney+ bundled in for like 70-75$/month.

Fiber for me is $60/mo.

Biggest pain in the ass is trying to watch the Cubs because Marquee is on Fubo.tv which I hated. So to get around MLB's bullshit blackout rules in Iowa I had a buddy who sent me his t-mobile link for a free MLB.tv sub and I picked up a VPN for like $2/month.

I basically have to pretend I'm in Uruguay to be able to watch the Cubs when I'm 5-6 hours away from Wrigley.

I don't blame that on streaming platforms, I blame that on MLB being completely inept.

 

[JRHawk2003]

I think Amazon will be the first to throw in the towel. My guess is that Prime Video is losing money big time.

 

[NoleATL]

Good call on Prime. I really almost never use the shipping anymore. There are lots of home delivery options now and really I would rather pay the shipping for the few times I do than be sucked in for $130 a year.

We use the heck out of prime (for shopping, not their ancillary services). I think we end up paying more for the products to get the free shipping but it saves me a ton of time. Delivery is consistent. When we order direct from stores their shipping usually sucks.

 

[Tenacious E]

We use the heck out of prime (for shopping, not their ancillary services). I think we end up paying more for the products to get the free shipping but it saves me a ton of time. Delivery is consistent. When we order direct for stores their shipping usually sucks.

I will add that for specific hard-to-find items, I like having a clearing house so I can trust what I’m buying. Obviously most large sellers are trustworthy, but some of the small operations I am wary of.

 

[JRHawk2003]

Interesting. I guess I dont order a whole lot of stuff that way.

I still shop for groceries myself. I dont want some teenager picking my stuff out. Im funny like that.

 

[Nole Lou]

I'm surprised that ESPN+ doesn't really ever have anything of value on. It's mostly smaller college games and 30 for 30's.

If you are a hockey person, ESPN+ owns the hockey equivalent of the NFL Sunday Ticket. I see every game from my hometown team (as I don't live there and am not subject to blackouts), and can choose the home broadcast, and even join halfway in. They also occasionally have boxing on there which I watch.

That said, when hockey season is over, I'm tempted to dump the ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu bundle.

The boxing schedule on ESPN has fallen off hard, and I don't give a shit about their original programming other than the occasional 30 for 30.

I haven't opened Disney+ in months...I don't give a shit about Star Wars and I'm over Marvel. They've just flooded the zone with so much content in those two franchises and especially with Marvel I have zero interest in committing so much effort to watching multiple series, none of which are really self contained and are just pieces of a bigger puzzle I can't possibly keep up with. I think the last thing I watched was Wandavision, which started off super interesting, devolved into just another CGI fest, and ended up as basically all a trailer for a Dr. Strange movie I wasn't even really interested in.

Hulu...they've still got some stuff that interests me from time to time, that would be a little tougher.

Honestly, the amount of programming I'm interested in between Netflix, Prime, and Hulu has fallen by about 80% in the past two years and I'm finding a hard time justifying keeping any of them. Years ago, streaming was the home of interesting, quirky, niche or international shows that would never find a home on traditional networks. Now streaming has kind of devolved into just replicating the same 4-5 products in various increasingly sub-standard iterations over and over...

- True crime "documentaries"/dramatizations
- Big budget sci-fi and fantasy spectacles
- Gay/teen/gay teen rom coms and soaps
- Stupid reality shows/dating shows
- atmospheric thrillers

Thats not to say there aren't really good entries in any of those genres...but the quest to now produce/acquire 6-10 versions a year in the genre instead of 1-2 has created a massive drop off in the quality.

Very very few things hold my interest now, I start something and it ends up being just a faded version of something 100x better. I very rarely start something and find it different and fascinating, which used to happen all the time with streaming services.

 

[Tenacious E]

Interesting. I guess I dont order a whole lot of stuff that way.

I still shop for groceries myself. I dont want some teenager picking my stuff out. Im funny like that.

Who’s talking about groceries?

 

[JRHawk2003]

ESPN+ is a good value for soccer fans. You get the Bundesliga, La Liga, Eredivisie, US Open Cup, FA Cup.

HBO Max is good for its classic movie collection in very good quality. I watched Magnum Force on it last night.

 

[JRHawk2003]

Who’s talking about groceries?

What are you ordering so much of from Amazon then?

 

[JRHawk2003]

If you are a hockey person, ESPN+ owns the hockey equivalent of the NFL Sunday Ticket. I see every game from my hometown team (as I don't live there and am not subject to blackouts), and can choose the home broadcast, and even join halfway in. They also occasionally have boxing on there which I watch.

That said, when hockey season is over, I'm tempted to dump the ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu bundle.

The boxing schedule on ESPN has fallen off hard, and I don't give a shit about their original programming other than the occasional 30 for 30.

I haven't opened Disney+ in months...I don't give a shit about Star Wars and I'm over Marvel. They've just flooded the zone with so much content in those two franchises and especially with Marvel I have zero interest in committing so much effort to watching multiple series, none of which are really self contained and are just pieces of a bigger puzzle I can't possibly keep up with. I think the last thing I watched was Wandavision, which started off super interesting, devolved into just another CGI fest, and ended up as basically all a trailer for a Dr. Strange movie I wasn't even really interested in.

Hulu...they've still got some stuff that interests me from time to time, that would be a little tougher.

Honestly, the amount of programming I'm interested in between Netflix, Prime, and Hulu has fallen by about 80% in the past two years and I'm finding a hard time justifying keeping any of them. Years ago, streaming was the home of interesting, quirky, niche or international shows that would never find a home on traditional networks. Now streaming has kind of devolved into just replicating the same 4-5 products in various increasingly sub-standard iterations over and over...

- True crime "documentaries"/dramatizations
- Big budget sci-fi and fantasy spectacles
- Gay/teen/gay teen rom coms and soaps
- Stupid reality shows/dating shows
- atmospheric thrillers

Thats not to say there aren't really good entries in any of those genres...but the quest to now produce/acquire 6-10 versions a year in the genre instead of 1-2 has created a massive drop off in the quality.

Very very few things hold my interest now, I start something and it ends up being just a faded version of something 100x better. I very rarely start something and find it different and fascinating, which used to happen all the time with streaming services.

Good Analysis

 

[Tenacious E]

What are you ordering so much of from Amazon then?

Fungible things I don’t want to waste time driving an hour for round trip (not including time parking and visiting the store), and things that are very hard to find.

 

[JRHawk2003]

Fungible things I don’t want to waste time driving an hour for round trip (not including time parking and visiting the store), and things that are very hard to find.

Hmmm ok.

 

[Nole-4-Life]

Xfinity.

Just got to be too much. Fairly standard channel package - no premium channels - plus internet got up to $208/ month.

I expected a lot of push back and counter offers to stonewall me into taking a new "deal", but there was none of that. It was a pretty straightforward process.

Only weird thing is that I'm used to channel surfing until I get to "Oh, that's on!". Now everything will be streamed, so I'll go out and pick it. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Tl:dr: NDallasRuss steps into the 21st century.

Did this a few months ago. There is a learning curve with streaming, but it's working good for us.

 

[Nole-4-Life]

It is not saving a couple of dollars, at least not for us. Our DTV bill was around 230 with all of the charges for DVRs and such. I’ve probably saved $5k since changing over. And, the product is better too. Win win.

That was us. DTV was $230. We save probably 100 a month streaming and get pretty much everything we were getting and the picture is better.

 

[Tenacious E]

That was us. DTV was $230. We save probably 100 a month streaming and get pretty much everything we were getting and the picture is better.

Assuming you also already had Netflix, high speed internet, and such, I bet you save more than that.

 

[Nole-4-Life]

Assuming you also already had Netflix, high speed internet, and such, I bet you save more than that.

Probably so...just a ballpark guess.

 

[SoDakHawk]

ESPN+ is great.

You can get every NHL game on it unless the game is on TNT or the Wild on Bally North for me (blacked out on ESPN+, I think).

You get all the PGA tournament coverage until it moves over to Golf Channel/NBC/CBS when they pick up coverage.

It's great for picking up random MLB games.

I bet I log into ESPN+ daily. I actually watch it far more than the main ESPN channel on cable.

The best streaming service out there for content is HBOMax because of the TCM library they have.

I am very tempted to add Paramount+. I keep seeing ads for shows I think I would really like on it. Problem is all I watch is sports. I don't really have time to watch TV shows.

 

[JRHawk2003]

So I have been abandoning my old sports because its ridiculous for a 56 year old to get wrapped up in what a 20 yo hoops player does.

Anyway, I discovered Rugby on Peacock. I am loving that. Violent action and I have no rooting interest. No emotional attachment.

The zen of a sports fan: Being a fan causes suffering because of attachment. I had to let go of the Hawkeyes after the 2021 BTCG.

 

[Tenacious E]

So I have been abandoning my old sports because its ridiculous for a 56 year old to get wrapped up in what a 20 yo hoops player does.

Anyway, I discovered Rugby on Peacock. I am loving that. Violent action and I have no rooting interest. No emotional attachment.

The zen of a sports fan: Being a fan causes suffering because of attachment. I had to let go of the Hawkeyes after the 2021 BTCG.

That is bizarre. You must have loved the shit out of the UConn SDSU game last night. Personally, I have a very hard time watching a game if I do not have a rooting interest, unless there is an amazing team/player. Even then, I can usually tie it back to the hawks somehow.

 

[JRHawk2003]

That is bizarre. You must have loved the shit out of the UConn SDSU game last night. Personally, I have a very hard time watching a game if I do not have a rooting interest, unless there is an amazing team/player. Even then, I can usually tie it back to the hawks somehow.

I didnt see any of it.

I was enjoying watching Magnum Force on HBO Max

 

[JRHawk2003]

That is bizarre. You must have loved the shit out of the UConn SDSU game last night. Personally, I have a very hard time watching a game if I do not have a rooting interest, unless there is an amazing team/player. Even then, I can usually tie it back to the hawks somehow.

Also, when the players are the age of your own kids...it makes you view them a bit differently. Getting wrapped up in Hawkeye Football is like losing it an an AYSO match.

 

[Tenacious E]

Also, when the players are the age of your own kids...it makes you view them a bit differently. Getting wrapped up in Hawkeye Football is like losing it an an AYSO match.

How about when your kids are the same age as the soccer players you watch? Time to move on to watching pickle ball?

 

[JRHawk2003]

How about when your kids are the same age as the soccer players you watch? Time to move on to watching pickle ball?

They are pros. Of course, we pretend our college kids are amateurs so maybe you have a point.

 

[Gimmered]

Fungible things I don’t want to waste time driving an hour for round trip (not including time parking and visiting the store), and things that are very hard to find.

I needed a USB network adapter, $16 on Amazon or Walmart.com. Kinda needed it that day so I ran down to a local computer store that just changed hands. He had them in stock, no problem. Cost me $50 plus tax. Nice couple, but that's the last time they see me in there. Amazon Prime looks pretty cheap after a couple deals like that.

 

[Tenacious E]

I needed a USB network adapter, $16 on Amazon or Walmart.com. Kinda needed it that day so I ran down to a local computer store that just changed hands. He had them in stock, no problem. Cost me $50 plus tax. Nice couple, but that's the last time they see me in there. Amazon Prime looks pretty cheap after a couple deals like that.

For electronics I always give Best Buy the first look because I appreciate that they maintain a brick and mortar presence where I live. If it is within spitting distance I will pay a little more there as a reward. But no way in hell I'm paying them triple for what I can get it for Amazon!

 

[bhawk24bob]

I did the research, everything arrived/tested, and I canceled youtube tv. Total cost to replace it was $140 in hardware (digital antenna, external network tuner to put the antenna over wifi and to smart tv's, 1 tb hard drive for DVR). The only channel lost that got some occasional viewing was ESPN

 

[Jimmy McGill]

I want to cut the cord, but it is just so damn easy to use.

 

[hawkifann]

Xfinity.

Just got to be too much. Fairly standard channel package - no premium channels - plus internet got up to $208/ month.

I expected a lot of push back and counter offers to stonewall me into taking a new "deal", but there was none of that. It was a pretty straightforward process.

Only weird thing is that I'm used to channel surfing until I get to "Oh, that's on!". Now everything will be streamed, so I'll go out and pick it. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Tl:dr: NDallasRuss steps into the 21st century.

I recently moved and decided to move away from DIRECTV to DIRECTV Streaming (I want to keep as many RSNs as possible, cloud DVR, etc.). I called DTV and they processed the cancel and got me set up on streaming. All good. Sort of cut the cord, but not really….since that time, I’ve gotten 7 calls from DTV asking why I’m leaving and what they cna do to keep me. Um…I‘m still a customer.

Similarly, I had AT&T fiber at my last house, but they don’t offer that at my new place (just a few blocks away), so I cancelled that and went with Spectrum high speed Internet. I’ve gotten 5 calls from AT&T since despite me asking on every call to put a note on my account that I’d have stayed if it was available at my new location. “Why did you decide to give up the service?”…”Um, it’s not available at my new location.”….”That’s not true, let me confirm…oh, it is true.”

 

[JRHawk2003]

I did the research, everything arrived/tested, and I canceled youtube tv. Total cost to replace it was $140 in hardware (digital antenna, external network tuner to put the antenna over wifi and to smart tv's, 1 tb hard drive for DVR). The only channel lost that got some occasional viewing was ESPN

Yeah, at some point I am going to cut down. I only keep YTTV because I let my college aged kids use it. I am dropping Amazon Prime when its up. I almost never watch it and I rarely use it to buy anything anymore.

 

[hawkifann]

I don't understand the argument that going to streaming is so much "trouble" that it's not worth it. It's a little different than watching satellite or cable but mostly in a very good way. The only real downside I see is it takes a couple moments to change from one channel to another on YTTV. For the quality, availability, ease of use, portability and cost it's well worth it in my mind.

I can't imagine having to deal with a cable company or DirecTv on issues, pricing, outages, etc. I would pay more for streaming just to stay away from those things.

The one thing that held me back for a while was the ability to have reliable DVR, but that’s not really an issue any longer. I mostly DVR live sports (busy kids and I live out of market for most of my teams).

 

[hawkfan0319]

Xfinity is supposedly considering going to an 'a la carte' type of programming by the end of the year. I have no idea what the charge will be for this.

 

[kzoohawk80]

What took you so long? Lol..

I did this like 10 years ago. The only reason I keep Direct TV so long was only for Sunday ticket. But cable/dish have been a rip off for a long time now.

 

[NDallasRuss]

I recently moved and decided to move away from DIRECTV to DIRECTV Streaming (I want to keep as many RSNs as possible, cloud DVR, etc.). I called DTV and they processed the cancel and got me set up on streaming. All good. Sort of cut the cord, but not really….since that time, I’ve gotten 7 calls from DTV asking why I’m leaving and what they cna do to keep me. Um…I‘m still a customer.

Similarly, I had AT&T fiber at my last house, but they don’t offer that at my new place (just a few blocks away), so I cancelled that and went with Spectrum high speed Internet. I’ve gotten 5 calls from AT&T since despite me asking on every call to put a note on my account that I’d have stayed if it was available at my new location. “Why did you decide to give up the service?”…”Um, it’s not available at my new location.”….”That’s not true, let me confirm…oh, it is true.”

Surprisingly, I haven't gotten any calls, emails, or letters from Comcast since I canceled video. And I'm enjoying YTTV so far.

 

[bagdropper]

If it wasn't for the NFL and college football, I'd have zero TV subscriptions. I share my YTTV sub with my brother, so (now) $40 month I can handle...but if I was footing the bill by myself I could see shutting it down until football season returns.

Covid (seriously, the Covid shutdown era early on) cured me of my traditional subscription TV habit. I found better things to do with my time.

So now I watch, in a traditional TV setting so to speak, more Youtube than anything else nowadays.

 

[Twoooooooo]

ESPN+ is great for European football and also for the NHL, 2 of my favorite sports to watch. Would rather have that than traditional ESPN

 

[alaskanseminole]

I've got to figure things out to see what the right mix is. I currently have:
Netflix
Prime
Disney+
Hulu
ESPN+
Peacock

I don't have local channels, which is only really a problem for football.

Paramount, Apple TV, HBO, YTTV? Got some thinking to do.

For me it's:

YTTV - Local channels
Prime - Because I'm paying for the shipping crap anyway
Paramount+ - Free with my Noles247 subscription that replaced Whorechant
ESPN/Hulu/Disney - Bundled
HBOMax - Free with my AT&T Wireless
AppleTV - Still on a free 3 month plan
Peacock - Paid $60 for a year.

☝️ If I added it all up, it's probably the same as cable.