Cutting the Cable Guide,
but preserving content.
A work in progress.
UPDATE IN PROGRESS Jan 2022
some info maybe out of date
but preserving content.
A work in progress.
UPDATE IN PROGRESS Jan 2022
some info maybe out of date
If you see something that is glaringly wrong or outdated, please post in a way that get’s my attention, and I’ll be happy to update the info.
Updates:
* 1April24- Added Paramount Plus info
* Jan 2022- Added blurb on Fiber Optics install for internet just below.
* Jul 2021- Added comment on watching the Olympic and updated Roku vs Apple TV section. Added Philo, Hulu, and YouTubeTV to site list. Updated Netflix info under Sites.
* May 2021- Updated HBO.
* July 2019- Added a note in the What is the downside? section: Is your Smart tv equal to having a having a dedicated Roku or Apple TV box?
2022
Dec 2021- With the neighborhood install of fiber optics we dropped basic cable, now pure streaming. If youbare interested in US Football, which I’m really not, you will have to research the best way to watch it.
Fiber Optics for internet- See this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/cutting-the-cable-guide.2009652/post-30816555
2021
How are you watching the Olympics?
I am currently watching it on SlingTV, NBC Sports Network.
Apr 2019 Note: It’s been 3 years since I created this thread. Three months after cutting my cable service, I came back to cable because my wife was insisting on better American Football coverage. I just tried to cancel my cable a second time, but was not completely successful. I kept basic cable because I could get a better price for internet and security monitoring packaged, versus completely cutting cable tv service.
*Jan 2017- cancelled my Sling TV subscription, and reverted back to cable due to a lower cable price being offered and some issues getting U.S. Football. Also some network apps require that you have a cable company subscription before they will let you watch their content. $%*&@!!
*27Oct- Added info on AppleTV vs Roku and information on how to stream ABC Network content. Updated info to reflect that the SlingTV Blue option does not include all of the Orange Option. The Orange option has football content not found on the Blue option. Added Sections: Apple TV vs Roku, about TVs in Your Bedrooms, a section for Football coverage, an What's the Downside?
*1Sept 2016- Info originally posted in this thread, but it's buried in that thread. I've organize the info included in that thread and made updates such as info about the Sling TV Blue vs Orange package and how to stream ABC on demand.
2019- Here are some advantages, of streaming and some observations:
- From what I can tell, the Cable company takes their cut, so you are paying a premium and paying for things you don’t want.
- Sling TV (or maybe Hulu and the like) is cheaper and carries most if not all of the cable channels I’ve watched in the past, like AMC, FX, of SyFy, that are included in the higher tier cable packages. So I can watch these shows live like I did with my cable company.
- Also for a case where you want to watch last year’s episodes, cable companies have the same limited access, most if not all older content will not be available in their on demand, as more networks try to monetize their old shows with plus streaming services.
- ...except I recorded most of them to watch later, many of the streaming services now include DVR which Suddenlink charged $20 a month just for that.
- For original content from other providers like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and soon to be Apple TV, you would be paying for these even with cable.
- We only watch one show on broadcast TV, Modern Family (ABC) which is in it’s last season, and practically everything else we watch is streamed, much of it dumped into the streaming trough in it’s entirety and able to be bing watched from the start.
- And finally with the skimpy seasons we have these days as short a 10 shows and sometimes less, if you don’t care when you watch a show, it’s easy to subscribe for 1 month, watch the season, and then unsubscribe. you’ll come out ahead versus paying the cable company for access all year long whether you are watching something or not.
The Question: What is the Downside?
* Recording Shows- You may be used to DVR/Tivo recording. I've not yet found a way to do this. My impression with this option you may be held hostage to how much On Demand content each network makes available. Streaming hubs like SlingTV offer DVR for a low price.
*On Demand- Seems to be reduced as compared to what can be found through your Cable provider. A good example is ABC shows. However this is offset by either the On Demand which can be found on individual streaming sources (FX on SlingTV includes On Demand for current season) or by using a network streaming app found on Apple TV. See Apple TV vs Roku an the info provided on how to stream ABC shows.
Update- On demand, depending where you get it (without a cable company) can be just as limited either way. Sometimes you can find show that all ready been broadcast/seasons on the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other like Hulu.
* You might have to watch commercials again- that is if you are used to recording your shows and the some network shows won't let you fast forward through their streaming content.
* TVs in your bedrooms- maybe yes maybe no. Smart TVs have the ability to connect to your internet via wireless. Many now have Netflix, but they don't have Roku or Apple TV. One of those may have to be purchased for each bedroom TV and it's been reported that you can only use one such device at a time. There is a Roku Stick, but I'm not sure if that works completely independently of a regular Roku box or works in conjunction it.
Apple TV or Roku or Both? (Updated Jul21)
June 2021- The answer is you don’t need both for content the other does not have. There was a time when Apple had HBO Now, but Roku did not. Roku had Amazon Prime Video, but Apple TV did not. Now, both of those networks are available on both and Roku includes the Apple TV channel.
Is Your Smart TV the equivalent of having a Roku or Apple TV box?
2019- Smart TVs have the ability to install network apps on them, but it depends on the TV how robust they are as a streaming hub. Our new Visio 4k TV does not have access to all the network channel apps that dedicated Roku or Apple TV boxes have.
Sites:
* Cutcabletoday: http://www.cutcabletoday.com/
* Feeln- https://www.feeln.com/supported-devices.
* Hulu- https://www.hulu.com/welcome plans from $6-65.
* Netflix- https://www.netflix.com/ $9-$18 a month. https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24926
* Philo.com- https://www.philo.com/ 60+channels $25 a month.
* Sling TV: https://www.sling.com 40+ for $25 per month. AMC, CNN, Hist, NBC, FX, SyFy, NatGeo, MSNBC. Roku and Apple TV. Note: Sling TV requires a 4th gen Apple TV.
- Sling TV Options
- How to access On Demand on Sling TV.
https://whatson.sling.com/announcem...-to-access-sling-tvs-video-on-demand-library/
- Orange Package- $20
- Blue Package- $25 (includes all of Orange)
- MSNBC: Has been added to Sling Blue.
- Turner Classic Movies: Hollywood Package: $5.
*YouTube TV- https://tv.youtube.com/
Specific Channels:
AMC- http://www.cutcabletoday.com/amc-live-stream/
How to Watch AMC Online without Cable
1. See which streaming services offer an AMC live stream — Sling TV and PlayStation Vue.
2. Compare their offerings to see which streaming service is a better fit for you.
3. Sign up for a free trial to test out the streaming service.
4. Download the app on your streaming device (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox, iOS or Android phone/tablet, computer, etc.)
5. Open the streaming app and watch AMC online.
ABC- get the latest version of Apple TV (4th generation) with App support to find current season episodes for streaming. A case where AppleTV > Roku. ABC on Roku has zero On Demand, just live streaming. There appears to be a limit on ATV in that you can't view an episode until it is a week old.
HBO- It looks like HBO Go has been replace with HBO Max. If I understand it correctly, HBO requires a cable provider.
How To Get HBO | HBO & Max Subscription Options | HBO Official Site
Get HBO your way, including Max! Learn how to stream all of HBO and enjoy the biggest shows, movies, specials, and documentaries, plus lots of kids’ titles.
Hallmark- https://www.feeln.com/supported-devices.Apple TV, Roku.
MSNBC- Sling TV: http://www.cutcabletoday.com/msnbc-live-stream/
Paramount+ Essential $5.99 a month, $59 per year includes commercials bummer. https://www.paramountplus.com/
Paramount ++Showtime $11.99 a month. $120 per year. This eliminates commercials on streamed shows, and if you buy it by the year, you are paying $4 per month for Showtime. A good deal if you are into showtime programming.
PBS- http://www.cutcabletoday.com/watch-pbs-online/ found on Roku.
* Added 11Aug17- Grantchester Seasons 1&2 are available on Amazon Prime. Season 2&3, maybe 1 are available on Apple TV , the PBS App. I'm not sure if local cable service is required to access PBS content on this app.
*12Aug17- I'm irritated at PBS because the third season of Grantchester ended in May, but the Local Station did not carry it. Now maybe I could have watched it for free back then on the PBS app, but now on Apple TV there is a message that I must subscribe to PBS passport, a one year subscriotion for $60. I give PBS money during their fund raising drives, but don't subscribe, and have them listed as my charity in Amazon Smile. So for now, I'm watching Season 2 on Amazon prime and will think about Season 3 later. Maybe eventually it will end up on Prine.
TCM: http://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/. This site says it’s available on Sling TV? http://www.rokuguide.com/articles/sling-tv-adds-turner-classic-movies-ae-history-and-more
What about TVs in Your Bedrooms?
One of drawbacks of cutting the cable are those TVs in your and guest bedrooms. Our bedroom tv has wireless built-in Netflix but no Roku or Apple TV. I'm wondering if a Roku Streaming Stick would solve the issue?
Anyone using multiple Roku devices in one house with a single Roku account? I'd like to hear about it.
MC6800 (Sept 2016)- I've had no problem using the Netflix app on more than one device, except that it will only let you view on one device at a time. That's for a normal account-- don't know about others.
American Football On SlingTV:
The SlingTV Blue package includes Fox Sports. NBC (Blue Package) which should cover Sunday Night football, but is in the process of being released in major markets for streaming, and Houston does not yet have it (Dallas Ft Worth, L.A. and some other cities have it.) The NFL Network (Blue Package) is supposed to carry Thursday Night Football. But unfortunately for Monday Night Football, ESPN is required, and that requires another $15 for the combined Blue+Orange package. As the Super Bowl in 2017 is being covered by Fox, I'll cancel the Orange package in Jan after the playoffs.
Sling TV Support
Sept 2016- After using SlingTV for a week, I'll report it works great, but it's customer service leaves much to be desired, not that they don't help, but the inefficient means they offer customer support about your questions. After you locate the place to send them a help request, you'll discover there is no troubleshooting web portal customer service ticket system and there is no way to talk to them on the phone. Guess that saves money.
When you submit a question, you'll see a message that says "watch your in basket", no not any basket in their website, but your email in-basket. About 6-12 hrs later you'll get a response. The first one of these I got I was irritated because while they told me they were working diligently to answer my question, they did not bother to answer the question I had sent them, such as how to edit your MyTV list? The answer btw is to scroll the list to the far far far right and you'll see an edit button.
PS, if you plan on paying up front 3 months for either a Roku or an Apple TV (discounted price), do that before you sign up for the one week trial. However, even during or after the trial, you can still take advantage of the offer, by emailing them and offering to pay for 3 months in advance, and they will make it happen.
z06GAL (Oct2016)- Hi Huntn. I wanted to offer my experience with Sling support. If you have a Twitter account and follow @slinganswers, you can tweet them via direct message and they have been absolutely great for me. The first time I asked them to follow me back and direct message me which they did in about 15 minutes. I had an account question that they fixed for me. I have the Blue package plus TCM and my experience has been great. The UI could be better but I have had virtually no real streaming problems on the Atv4. I started with Sling when it was in beta and it was definitely raw but it has come a really long way since.
How I did it Sept 2016:
Update Sept 2016: Canceled Feel'n. The Hallmark shows my wife watches (like Frazier reruns) can be found on Netflix. Added the SlingTV Orange Option for the football season, will cancel that in February.
Turned off cable, upped my internet to the top speed (no data limits $75), and subscribed to SlingTV. I already had a Roku and and an older AppleTV, but I had to upgrade the Apple TV to 4th generation, with App support (which I got through a discount via my Sling subscription $85).
My June 2016 Suddenlink bill was $196.87.
- That bill included- TV, Tivo, Internet, Home security.
* Upped my internet from 50Mbps (250GB data per month) to 200Mbps, (unlimited data).
* Kept monitored security system.
New Price: $95.27
That's a saving of approx $100 that will be offset by Sling TV 40+ channels per month for $25.00 an Feel'n (Hallmark Network) $36 for a year.
I've also got TCM on SlingTV (I think), and PBS is free on Roku. As far as I can tell all the tv shows are available on demand. Just checked The Strain in FX (SlingTV) and the episode that aired last Sunday is there for viewing.
Total projected savings per month: $67+ plus I'm really liking how SlingTV presents shows for watching, a SLEW of movies, which I had to dig for on Suddenlink, and my internet just got a big kick in the pants.
Misc Info- My bedroom has a Roku- Internet Wifi capable Blue Ray player hooked to the TV. I'm set I think.
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