Cord Cutters Thread

[DCLonghorn 244]

Nope. No LHN in ESPN+, or YTTV option. Sling still has it on orange package with sports plus.

Why $53? Mine is 49.99.

And amen to YTTV... I don't miss DTV at all... We'll see if I get the shakes when football season rolls around with no LHN.

Also, that $49.99 is providing "cable" for my fam, my mom in Houston, and my son in college... All on the family share plan.

[Landomatic 3813]

22 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Anyone checking out HBO MAX? Launched today.

 

22 hours ago, chikin23 said:

I've got it, not bad content to start out with. It doesn't have a roku or firestick app though. Having to mirror from my phone or use a ps4 so far.

 

21 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Yeah the lack of Roku and Fire are pretty big misses. I think the content could mature into something bankable.

Wish I'd read this before signing up.  Was pissed to find out there is no app on FireTV.  Not a huge deal as there is a 7 day free trial so I'm not really out anything.  But, I'm assuming that free trial is a one time offer, so now I've used mine up.  Sure would have been nice to use it when I got the full experience (app with all that extra content).  Instead, all I'm getting is 7 different HBO channels added to my guide.  That's not nothing, but the draw for me was the added content.

[markstanco 12631]

10 hours ago, DCLonghorn said:

 

 

Nope. No LHN in ESPN+, or YTTV option. Sling still has it on orange package with sports plus.

Why $53? Mine is 49.99.
 

 

That sucks on the LHN.  I will get my bro in law's login for his cable in the Fall I guess.  Oh, and 53-55 dollars is just a guess after fees and taxes. My base is $49.99 as well.  I have yet to pay attention on my CC statement. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by markstanco

[Skipper 6210]

I wasn't about to jump on the HBO Max bandwagon yet in any event but figured I would eventually.  I just currently still have plenty of unwatched content with services I already have.  But launching without deals with Amazon and Roku seems like a poor decision.  I definitely won't be signing up until they get it worked out with Roku.

[DCLonghorn 244]

PSA: Charter/Spectrum creds work on HBO Max. The HBO Now app has converted to HBO Max.

And a bonus...I hit the jackpot...a buddy's Spectrum creds from NYC activates LHN on ESPN app! I thought only Austin/Texas Spectrum got LHN! Look at Lowell's work-from-home beard!

[DCLonghorn 244]

On 4/19/2020 at 5:25 PM, DCLonghorn said:

PSA: Xfinity Flex streaming box is pretty janky. Some bassakwards non-intuitive shit. Content just so so to start. Autostart annoyances. Lack of clarity when something is VOD or a "live" channel of their content. All with ads. It was free and I get get Peacock Premium free. It's worth about that much. Android TV/NVIDIA Shield waaay better. Not great to have a second streaming box for one app. If Android TV gets the Peacock app later in the year, this Flex box has no purpose.
 

Update: YTTV is adding Paramount Network this summer. So Yellowstone will be on YTTV, taking away any need to ever turn on this awful device again. Everything else we found on Peacock worth watching was available elsewhere. 

[NoName 16410]

7 hours ago, DCLonghorn said:

Update: YTTV is adding Paramount Network this summer. So Yellowstone will be on YTTV, taking away any need to ever turn on this awful device again. Everything else we found on Peacock worth watching was available elsewhere. 

[Landomatic 3813]

Y'all probably already knew this, but apparently when new channels are added to YTTV, they don't necessarily just show up on your feed.  I just went to my account on my desktop because I wanted to organize my new HBO channels into alphabetical order like the rest of my guide (and accessing it from a computer is the only way to do that - at least to my knowledge) and there was a handful of new channels there at the bottom of the guide without checkmarks by them, meaning they were not selected to show up in the guide so I didn't even know I had them.  It was nothing great (like the Oprah channel and PBS and a couple others) but, just a heads up to be on the lookout from time-to-time for that.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

It was nothing great (... PBS and a couple others)

You make Big Bird cry.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Landomatic 3813]

Here's a hack for getting HBO Max on Fire TV.  Wish I'd seen it before my free trial ran out, I'd have given it a shot.  Not sure I want to get another new subscription just to see if this workaround works.  Anyone else already have an HBO Max account and want to try it?

https://www.techhive.com/article/3546238/how-cord-cutters-can-get-hbo-max-on-fire-tv.html

[Js1 85620]

1 hour ago, Landomatic said:

Here's a hack for getting HBO Max on Fire TV.  Wish I'd seen it before my free trial ran out, I'd have given it a shot.  Not sure I want to get another new subscription just to see if this workaround works.  Anyone else already have an HBO Max account and want to try it?

https://www.techhive.com/article/3546238/how-cord-cutters-can-get-hbo-max-on-fire-tv.html

There's not really anything on there (yet) that I'm dying to do all this work for.  

[DCLonghorn 244]

There's not really anything on there (yet) that I'm dying to do all this work for.  

Agree. I've got it and really haven't watched anything that isn't on HBO.

Peacock has a bit more interesting stuff, but not that much there either.

In order of time spent by family:
YouTube (the kids are on YT all day and all night...it's their version of an MP3 player)
YTTV (main TV driver)
Disney+
Netflix
ESPN+/NBCSports Gold when sports are full throttle
Amazon Prime Video
Hulu
Peacock (will drop further when Paramount hits YTTV this summer)
HBO Max (much higher when a signature show is midseason...GoT, Westworld, ect.)
Pluto TV

[BBQ2Bayou 807]

On 5/30/2020 at 7:40 AM, Landomatic said:

Y'all probably already knew this, but apparently when new channels are added to YTTV, they don't necessarily just show up on your feed.  I just went to my account on my desktop because I wanted to organize my new HBO channels into alphabetical order like the rest of my guide (and accessing it from a computer is the only way to do that - at least to my knowledge) and there was a handful of new channels there at the bottom of the guide without checkmarks by them, meaning they were not selected to show up in the guide so I didn't even know I had them.  It was nothing great (like the Oprah channel and PBS and a couple others) but, just a heads up to be on the lookout from time-to-time for that.

Sumbitch. That's very good to know. I've only had it a month but the guide order has pissed me off from day one. 

Also, the Oprah channel runs a shit load of Dateline reruns. Marathons. If you like that show. Everything else on there is crap though. Maybe some 20/20's too mow that I think about it. 

[DCLonghorn 244]

Y'all probably already knew this, but apparently when new channels are added to YTTV...(and accessing it from a computer is the only way to do that - at least to my knowledge)...

That used to be the case...computer only. But you can reorder the channels on mobile now too. I can't on the TV yet, but can on any other device now.

[Landomatic 3813]

10 hours ago, BBQ2Bayou said:

Sumbitch. That's very good to know. I've only had it a month but the guide order has pissed me off from day one.

Yeah, I put mine into alphabetical order, which makes a lot more sense to me.  Would be nice if that was just an option, but oh well.

[Landomatic 3813]

10 hours ago, DCLonghorn said:

That used to be the case...computer only. But you can reorder the channels on mobile now too. I can't on the TV yet, but can on any other device now.

 

Yeah, I guess I should have said non-TV.  I tend to classify things like that into 2 categories...TVs and Computers.  And computers include phones and tablets.

[SimonBolivar 10961]

I'm loving the new psuedotv for Plex addon that's also available (and more stable) for Kodi. With a bit of work it turns your Plex Server into a crude IPTV with an EPG. I currently have it set up with 10 channels (Seinfeld on random, Twilight Zone on Random, 100s of classic movies on random, etc..) running 24x7 but will add more. You can even add commercials if you are so inclined. Obviously this isn't a game changer as part of the reason to move to cutting the cord is to watch what you want when you want it, but I like having the option of having my media on channels that I can turn on at random times to see what's on.

 

 

Here is a sample of what it looks like in action and everything is customizable including the logos for whatever channel you want to create. 

Here's a pic of mine running on the Plex Mobile App

 

Here is the link if you want to play around with it

https://github.com/DEFENDORe/pseudotv (Plex TV)

 

https://github.com/PseudoTV (Kodi)

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by SimonBolivar

[DCLonghorn 244]

This may be old news, but I discovered last night that Pluto TV now has some on-demand movies and TV shows. Some of them mirror what they have available on their always playing TV stations. For example, there is an Andromeda station that plays episodes non-stop with ads, but you can also watch Andromeda episodes on demand and can pause them or go to whatever episode you want. Also with ads. And some fairly decent movies compared to what the other ad supported free streamers offer.

[SimonBolivar 10961]

10 minutes ago, DCLonghorn said:

This may be old news, but I discovered last night that Pluto TV now has some on-demand movies and TV shows. Some of them mirror what they have available on their always playing TV stations. For example, there is an Andromeda station that plays episodes non-stop with ads, but you can also watch Andromeda episodes on demand and can pause them or go to whatever episode you want. Also with ads. And some fairly decent movies compared to what the other ad supported free streamers offer.

About half the time we leave on the PlutoTV Antiques Roadshow station for our dog when we go to work. He's got to be the best damn appraiser in the dog universe.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

On 6/9/2020 at 11:27 AM, DCLonghorn said:

Agree. I've got it and really haven't watched anything that isn't on HBO.

Peacock has a bit more interesting stuff, but not that much there either.

In order of time spent by family:
YouTube (the kids are on YT all day and all night...it's their version of an MP3 player)
YTTV (main TV driver)
Disney+
Netflix
ESPN+/NBCSports Gold when sports are full throttle
Amazon Prime Video
Hulu
Peacock (will drop further when Paramount hits YTTV this summer)
HBO Max (much higher when a signature show is midseason...GoT, Westworld, ect.)
Pluto TV

That's a fair amount of options. I thought I had a lot with Netflix, Prime and Hulu along with broadcast channels.  I view YT as well.

[DCLonghorn 244]

That's a fair amount of options. I thought I had a lot with Netflix, Prime and Hulu along with broadcast channels.  I view YT as well.

We only pay for 4 of those options, and one had an insane deal to sign up pre-launch (Disney+). The rest are free offers (Hulu via Sprint, Peacock via Comcast broadband), just plain free (Pluto TV), or other folks sharing/trading logins.

 

The only one I would bite the bullet and pay for that we currently don't is Netflix...Thanks Mom! The rest are great to have, but not worth the added cost if we lose them.

 

We pay for YTTV and share that with family not in our house...You're welcome Mom! By far the most expensive of my streaming options, but way, way cheaper than the DirecTV it replaced.

 

Edit: I guess I pay for Prime, but I'd pay for that for the shipping alone so consider Prime Video "free," even though it's not....so we pay for 5 of them.

 

[DCLonghorn 244]

No idea if this is is long term or short term/ promotional, but it looks like some sports that were until recently only on NBC Sports Gold (extra subscription) are now being shown for free on Peacock.

I hope it's long term... One more thing I can cancel.

[Deej 76974]

NFL RedZone leaving Dish and Sling. 

[ChickenSandwich 9856]

That’s going to leave a mark

[BBQ2Bayou 807]

So I'm gonna upgrade my internet and am wondering what speed and data amount for YTTV. The company has lifted data limits until the end of August, so I figure I can just get the cheaper one for now and upgrade to more data when they cap it again. 

The lowest plan is 60 Mbps down. Is that going to be ok until I need to upgrade the data amount? The higher data limits come with higher speeds as well, so the 60 Mbps would be for a couple months just to take advantage of the unlimited data for a couple months. 

When I do upgrade, my options will be 400, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000 GB per month. 

I was thinking 2000 or 4000? I live alone and just stream TV and browse the web. Am I going down the right path here? 

[LTtxfan 49378]

On 6/10/2020 at 11:45 AM, DCLonghorn said:

This may be old news, but I discovered last night that Pluto TV now has some on-demand movies and TV shows. Some of them mirror what they have available on their always playing TV stations. For example, there is an Andromeda station that plays episodes non-stop with ads, but you can also watch Andromeda episodes on demand and can pause them or go to whatever episode you want. Also with ads. And some fairly decent movies compared to what the other ad supported free streamers offer.

PlutoTV allows you to set up a WatchList for the OnDemand stuff too... it's great!!

[DCLonghorn 244]

So I'm gonna upgrade my internet and am wondering what speed and data amount for YTTV. The company has lifted data limits until the end of August, so I figure I can just get the cheaper one for now and upgrade to more data when they cap it again. 
The lowest plan is 60 Mbps down. Is that going to be ok until I need to upgrade the data amount? The higher data limits come with higher speeds as well, so the 60 Mbps would be for a couple months just to take advantage of the unlimited data for a couple months. 
When I do upgrade, my options will be 400, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000 GB per month. 
I was thinking 2000 or 4000? I live alone and just stream TV and browse the web. Am I going down the right path here? 

I have 8 people in my house all on devices and using the wifi for streaming. There are often 4 or 5 streaming video at the same time, plus second devices on games. All TVs use wifi...not wired. I have the lowest tier data offered by Comcast, 100 Mbps. No issues so far.

[Lurch 5932]

So I'm gonna upgrade my internet and am wondering what speed and data amount for YTTV. The company has lifted data limits until the end of August, so I figure I can just get the cheaper one for now and upgrade to more data when they cap it again. 
The lowest plan is 60 Mbps down. Is that going to be ok until I need to upgrade the data amount? The higher data limits come with higher speeds as well, so the 60 Mbps would be for a couple months just to take advantage of the unlimited data for a couple months. 
When I do upgrade, my options will be 400, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000 GB per month. 
I was thinking 2000 or 4000? I live alone and just stream TV and browse the web. Am I going down the right path here? 

You’ll never need even 60 Mbps, so def get that plan

You can probably comfortably get away w 1000 GB. I’ve got two teens who stream every waking moment and we’re good for less than 1000GB as long as I limit their phones bandwidth to 3 Mbps

[dcbc 14540]

5 hours ago, Lurch said:

 

You’ll never need even 60 Mbps, so def get that plan

You can probably comfortably get away w 1000 GB. I’ve got two teens who stream every waking moment and we’re good for less than 1000GB as long as I limit their phones bandwidth to 3 Mbps

We opted for more speed just to get unlimited at that level.  200 down, which is overkill.  We routinely bust through 1000GB during the summer.  All streaming on four TVs.  Two adults and two kids, both of whom are gaming and on Skype with friends at the same time.  One adult would be highly unlikely to get above that.

[Lurch 5932]

We opted for more speed just to get unlimited at that level.  200 down, which is overkill.  We routinely bust through 1000GB during the summer.  All streaming on four TVs.  Two adults and two kids, both of whom are gaming and on Skype with friends at the same time.  One adult would be highly unlikely to get above that.

Trick for us was to put limiters on their phones from the router. Stupid phones pull down 10 Mbps though you can’t see any difference in image quality at 3 Mbps

[bschoolprof 6273]

Youtube tv going up 15 per month from 50 to 65. 
 

Link

[NoName 16410]

31 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Youtube tv going up 15 per month from 50 to 65. 
 

Link

unlike the last hikes, this shit is almost certainly not worth an additional $15 per month (BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, and VH1)

edit: evidently this wasn't just to add the new channels but also was to keep the current CBS channels they have as well?

from a comment on reddit:
 

Quote

 

The problem is now that CBS-Viacom merged last year, that 'all or nothing' deal includes CBS local stations in major markets. YTTV's strongest selling point has always been its wide coverage of local channels in all markets across the country, and as far as I know there have not been any locals pulled or temporarily blacked out due to carriage negotiations as happens fairly frequently with other providers (RSNs are different, I'm talking about locals like CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX).

So after the CBS-Viacom merger, YTTV had to decide either to drop local CBS in 20 of the largest cities across the country, or agree to carry the full Viacom package of channels, and they chose the latter. I agree it sucks, but they were stuck between a rock and a hard place where either decision would make customers unhappy.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by NoName

[NoName 16410]

oh yeah, and YTTV still doesn't have Hallmark.

lol

[Okie State 3848]

Lol. Gonna be back at $100 soon. Fuck em all.

[hundredTT 578]

Fuck YouTube tv for doing this during a horrible recession. Canceling this shit, not worth it with all the issues that it comes with. 

[BBQ2Bayou 807]

Haha. Motherfucker. I just got that shit a month ago and don't even think they sent me an email saying the price was increasing. 

Still worth it to me for a while, but it's the only streaming live tv service I've used. 

I do pay for the 12$ Hulu service that I rarely use. Isn't all that stuff included with Hulu Live for 55? So I'd be cutting back 22$ per month switch to Hulu Live, correct? Still have never even seen that platform though. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by BBQ2Bayou

[Okie State 3848]

We had paused our account around the end of last year to try going without. Didn't miss it at all. Got hit with a random $50 charge last month and a 'Welcome Back!' email from YTTV. I completely forgot that it auto renews after six months of being paused. I ended up cancelling and can't see us going back with the constant price increases.

[bschoolprof 6273]

I was hoping that online tv providers like YouTube, sling, vue etc would usher in the era of a la carte pricing, the absence of which has been the biggest inefficiency in the tv market in the last 30 years. But alas, we are still fucked. 

[Okie State 3848]

Same as it ever was.

 

 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10362]

Part of me is pissed at YTTV for the major hike, other part of me is like... well now opens the door for a bunch more options to come along.  Getting closer to being able to pick only the stations I want..  (although... that list is also getting smaller and smaller)

[DCLonghorn 244]

Well this is a fucking shitburger. I'll have to think on this one.

A bright spot to this crap ass news is the Viacom channels are already available in the guide and the second episode of Yellowstone is already in my YTTV DVR.

[DCLonghorn 244]

I'd much rather they figure out how to monitize the local ad breaks and the stupid Zen breaks instead of jacking up the prices. This is the company that gives us free shit for all our data... Come on YTTV... This sucks.

[Chips O'Toole 1327]

Immediately cancelled YTTV after getting the email today about the 30% sub increase.

Completely insane, I'll watch shit a year later on hulu or wherever.  The $50 was pissing me off each month as well.

[Updawg 2286]

Just switched yesterday to yttv and am switching internet to google fiber. Pissed could have just stayed with uverse for about the same

[Vic Mackey 47181]

Good job Google. Increasing the price by $15/month during these times? And to add shitty channels no one even watches anymore? Those channels would have been popular if this was a few decades ago. Definitely am going to cancel. I really only got YTTV to be able to stream live sports. Well that is fucked for the indefinite future so YTTV is completely useless to me now days.

This service was $35/month relatively not that long ago. Went up to 50 and now up to 65 in short time. I remember hearing that Google is so powerful and deep that they did not have to charge an arm and a leg for their service. Yeah, well that was a crock. Suckered people in at a low cost and jacked up the price damn near 100% shortly after.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Vic Mackey

[Vito Andolini 9134]

$15 a month is a pretty big fucking jump. But it’s still better than the $200 I was dropping on DTV every month back in the day, and the interface doesn’t make me rage like HuluLive does. I can also watch it in every room in the house due to smart sticks. I guess I’ll stick with it until I get pissed or find a better option.

[Vic Mackey 47181]

5 minutes ago, Vito Andolini said:

$15 a month is a pretty big fucking jump. But it’s still better than the $200 I was dropping on DTV every month back in the day, and the interface doesn’t make me rage like HuluLive does. I can also watch it in every room in the house due to smart sticks. I guess I’ll stick with it until I get pissed or find a better option.

Just curious, which packages did you have with DTV to pay $200 every month?

[Lurch 5932]

Pretty sure I was close to that with 5 receivers and the various hardware rentals, fees and taxes

[Vito Andolini 9134]

A lot of it was stupidly having a Genie and several “clients” that never worked (the boxes that allowed the alternate rooms to have service without full DVRs). Throw in HBO and a higher tier with all the sports, and it added up. Never again, and I’m sure that company is mostly dead, and not even Miracle Max could save it. 

[MoJames 8256]

Since PSVue went goodbye, I've been rolling with Hulu ($12), Netflix ($13), Disney+($7) and ESPN+ ($13)

No complaints from the wife or 2 kids. So from a year plus ago paying almost $200 just for Dish (had netflix as well) to $45 a month.