Cord Cutters

[dreamcastrocks]

I'd probably go with Sling TV in your case.

 

[Dback Jon]

Disney is pulling all their movies from netflix, setting up own streaming channels for Sports and for Movies.

 

[gmabel830]

I'd probably go with Sling TV in your case.

Yeah, was just looking at Sling and Blue+Orange+Sports Extra+Kids Extra for $50 seems like a better deal than the $45 Vue package.

 

[BigRedRage]

Ok - so I think I have the wife fully onboard to cut the cord when we move (which won't be for several months probably).

What's the latest and greatest out there right now (very open-ended question, I know)? Sports and kids shows are most important to us (I have a 4 and 2 year old - so Disney and Nick crap is a must). I'm very much a novice, but have time to learn... was looking at a potential Fire stick/PS Vue combo a little bit ago. We don't have any Netflix/Hulu stuff, and not sure if we'd really use them all that much given our current viewing habits (might need to talk the wife into that).

My kids watch netflix and hulu along with amazon prime. Also, if you are local, PBS kids is on OTA channel 8.4 and Qubo is on 51.2 or 51.3

Sports, I get cardinals games. Thats pretty much it. Sling TV helps with that, PS VUE might too. IMO, thats all just cable though. Cable offers basic cable for cheap too, it just depends what services you are wanting.

 

[BigRedRage]

Disney is pulling all their movies from netflix, setting up own streaming channels for Sports and for Movies.

Didnt Disney sign a long term contract with Netflix?

 

[BigRedRage]

Yeah, was just looking at Sling and Blue+Orange+Sports Extra+Kids Extra for $50 seems like a better deal than the $45 Vue package.

So you are simply rearranging your cord

 

[gmabel830]

So you are simply rearranging your cord

I suppose -- and probably getting more stuff we'd actually watch than we do with DirectTV for nearly 1/3 the cost.

 

[BigRedRage]

I suppose -- and probably getting more stuff we'd actually watch than we do with DirectTV for nearly 1/3 the cost.

I just thought that was funny

sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what to do. The firestick would handle pretty much everything except stuff you want to watch live. The only problem with firestick is it takes multiple steps to get where you need to be to search your shows and movies so it is harder for the kids of the not so tech savvy.

 

[gmabel830]

I just thought that was funny

sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what to do. The firestick would handle pretty much everything except stuff you want to watch live. The only problem with firestick is it takes multiple steps to get where you need to be to search your shows and movies so it is harder for the kids of the not so tech savvy.

Is the Roku better? Sling has a deal with Roku.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Didnt Disney sign a long term contract with Netflix?

I think that contract ends in late 2018/early 2019.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Is the Roku better? Sling has a deal with Roku.

IMO, Roku can be even more challenging, but has access to a much wider library if you are willing to research how to get it.

 

[gmabel830]

IMO, Roku can be even more challenging, but has access to a much wider library if you are willing to research how to get it.

Ok - looks like I might target Fire TV/Stick + Sling then as my primary options then. Not sure we'd get enough value out of Netflix or Hulu given our viewing habits (even though I'm sure most people have them).

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Ok - looks like I might target Fire TV/Stick + Sling then as my primary options then. Not sure we'd get enough value out of Netflix or Hulu given our viewing habits (even though I'm sure most people have them).

I'm absolutely shocked when I hear people that can't get value out of Netflix at $7.99. There is so much content there, it is crazy. Yes studios are wanting to keep their content in house, but Netflix originals alone are worth the $7.99 a month.

 

[cardncubfan]

I have a Roku on all 4 of my tv's. Love them. I use SlingTv Blue so the wife can get her channels,(She likes all of the Real Housewives shows)with Netflix & Hulu. We have of the movies you could possibly want. With Sling you can add any of the premium channels such as HBO, Showtime, etc. They just had HBO & Showtime for free. I'm paying just under $100 per month for everything. I also went & bought HDTV antennas for them which gives me all of the local channels. Much cheaper than the $150 for Directtv & another $50 for internet.

 

[BigRedRage]

Is the Roku better? Sling has a deal with Roku.

roku is just an app player.

The firestick is useful because it can be hacked to use KODI and stream anything you want for free. That is the tech savvy part. Outside of that, it is just an app player too. most TVs already have apps built in (netflix, hulu, etc) which make the roku useless.

 

[BigRedRage]

I have a Roku on all 4 of my tv's. Love them. I use SlingTv Blue so the wife can get her channels,(She likes all of the Real Housewives shows)with Netflix & Hulu. We have of the movies you could possibly want. With Sling you can add any of the premium channels such as HBO, Showtime, etc. They just had HBO & Showtime for free. I'm paying just under $100 per month for everything. I also went & bought HDTV antennas for them which gives me all of the local channels. Much cheaper than the $150 for Directtv & another $50 for internet.

is she watching the housewife shows on hulu or sling? Mine is watching them on hulu, we dont have sling.

 

[gmabel830]

I'm absolutely shocked when I hear people that can't get value out of Netflix at $7.99. There is so much content there, it is crazy. Yes studios are wanting to keep their content in house, but Netflix originals alone are worth the $7.99 a month.

Don't get me wrong, I know there's a ton of value there. The wife and I just don't watch many weekly episodic shows or movies. So, while there's a lot of other things we blow more than $8/month on, I'm just not sure how much we'll use it. I'll probably convince her to at least give it a shot given how much we will be saving w/ dropping DTV.

 

[BigRedRage]

Don't get me wrong, I know there's a ton of value there. The wife and I just don't watch many weekly episodic shows or movies. So, while there's a lot of other things we blow more than $8/month on, I'm just not sure how much we'll use it. I'll probably convince her to at least give it a shot given how much we will be saving w/ dropping DTV.

House of cards alone is worth it, if anything I think Netflix will give you a free one month trial. Unless you are getting sling TV for live sports, I would do a month without it and only having amazon and hulu for free trials and see if you need more TV than that.

Any easy way to figure this out, what do you actually want to watch on your television? If you are not watching TV or movies, what are you watching?

 

[gmabel830]

House of cards alone is worth it, if anything I think Netflix will give you a free one month trial. Unless you are getting sling TV for live sports, I would do a month without it and only having amazon and hulu for free trials and see if you need more TV than that.

Any easy way to figure this out, what do you actually want to watch on your television? If you are not watching TV or movies, what are you watching?

Live sports and kids shows.

In all honesty, probably 95% of our viewing is sports, kids shows and news. Just a couple of weekly series we watch regularly.

 

[BigRedRage]

Live sports and kids shows.

In all honesty, probably 95% of our viewing is sports, kids shows and news. Just a couple of weekly series we watch regularly.

What kids shows? For kids shows there is a TON of kids content on netflix, hulu, amazon prime (if you already have prime, the TV streaming is free) and youtube. You will also have PBS kids and Qubo over rabbit ears. IMO, there is absolutely no need to get anything outside of those services for watching childrens programming. My 3 kids all have all the kids TV they want.

What news? Hulu has several nightly news broadcasts I watch. Then I have HBO and I watch Vice news tonight on there. You can get HBO as a standalone for like $14 a month. It also has john oliver, vice, vice news, last week tonight and more along with game of thrones, silicon valley and all kinds of other stuff. If you are looking for 24/7 cable news, The only solution I know of is cable, I dont watch those channels so i dont know how to get them as a cord cutter.

What weekly series? Many of the series you watch might be on regular TV without cable needed or they could be on Hulu. It depends on what you are looking for.

Youll be surprised the weekly series on netflix and hulu that you never knew about but are amazing shows.

Live sports is tricky. The NFL is on TV already but baseball, basketball, hockey and etc are all on cable. You either have to get live feeds through kodi for free on a firestick or pay for some sort of cable, sling, vue, etc to get TNT, fox sports and etc.

 

[Covert Rain]

Now that I have cut the chord I will never go back. I do have PSVue though as well which gives me all the live shows I want. I have FireTV, Netflix, Hulu, Vue and HBO and still saving a ton over DirectTV.

I do have OTA but I hardly use. My wife does for a few shows that don't show up until next day on Hulu. She is impatient.

 

[gmabel830]

What kids shows? For kids shows there is a TON of kids content on netflix, hulu, amazon prime (if you already have prime, the TV streaming is free) and youtube. You will also have PBS kids and Qubo over rabbit ears. IMO, there is absolutely no need to get anything outside of those services for watching childrens programming. My 3 kids all have all the kids TV they want. Mostly Disney/Nick Jr shows through cable -- I'm sure we could get them switched over to other kids shows, but would take some effort.

What news? Hulu has several nightly news broadcasts I watch. Then I have HBO and I watch Vice news tonight on there. You can get HBO as a standalone for like $14 a month. It also has john oliver, vice, vice news, last week tonight and more along with game of thrones, silicon valley and all kinds of other stuff. If you are looking for 24/7 cable news, The only solution I know of is cable, I dont watch those channels so i dont know how to get them as a cord cutter. Mostly local news and some cable news.

What weekly series? Many of the series you watch might be on regular TV without cable needed or they could be on Hulu. It depends on what you are looking for. Only a couple of series on USA/A&E beyond network TV.

Youll be surprised the weekly series on netflix and hulu that you never knew about but are amazing shows. I'm quite sure you are correct.

Live sports is tricky. The NFL is on TV already but baseball, basketball, hockey and etc are all on cable. You either have to get live feeds through kodi for free on a firestick or pay for some sort of cable, sling, vue, etc to get TNT, fox sports and etc. Yeah, that's the big deal breaker for me and why I'm thinking I'll need a "cable alternative" -- I can imagine ending up with something very similar to what CovertRain said and having a lot more than we currently have with DirecTV at a much cheaper price.

 

[cardncubfan]

is she watching the housewife shows on hulu or sling? Mine is watching them on hulu, we dont have sling.

Sling.

 

[BigRedRage]

Mostly Disney/Nick Jr shows through cable -- I'm sure we could get them switched over to other kids shows, but would take some effort.

Mostly local news and some cable news.

Only a couple of series on USA/A&E beyond network TV.

Yeah, that's the big deal breaker for me and why I'm thinking I'll need a "cable alternative" -- I can imagine ending up with something very similar to what CovertRain said and having a lot more than we currently have with DirecTV at a much cheaper price.

check out the TV lineup on hulu, they have a lot of disney and nick JR and then your OTA will have PBS kids. Hulu might already have everything they watch on it.

Local news will be available for free on your OTA antenna feed. Cable news I do not have information on how to watch without having cable.

You'll have to check the hulu/netflix/amazon lineups if they have A&E shows or USA shows, I am not sure.

If basketball and baseball are important, sling might be the way to go. I am not sure if it has fox sports or fox sports AZ but it does have espn, tnt and etc.

 

[BigRedRage]

Sling.

If you use sling for a lot of stuff it makes sense, if it is mostly for housewife shows, those are already on hulu anyway.