Cutting the Cable Guide

[Juicy Box]

No argument from me, just expressing an opinion.

That was kind of my point, so many people have different opinions on what "cutting the cord" actually means.

There were posts from on threads on this forum with people stating that anyone paying for content, regardless of the source, is not really cord-cutting.

No argument from me, just expressing an opinion. My primary beef with cable companies is forcing packages on their customers. Last time, I checked, Sling TV was as close to ala cart pricing as I’ve seen, and when I statated this thread, I included it in a cutting the cable description, but I’ll admit I’m not up to speed with what Direct TV and Dish Network now offer, regarding pricing and packaging, so maybe they apply, and there maybe other ways to mostly avoid or reduce package pricing that I am not aware of.

I personally consider DirecTV and DirecTV Now totally different.

I always grouped the satellite companies with cable companies, but since DirectTV Now is totally online, with no extra equipment needed, I always considered it apart of the alternative tv option.

Several years ago, I looked into Direct TV (as I recall, not Dish Network), and for the first year, prices were substantially lower, than cable, but after that, the prices jumped to a point where they were just slightly lower. And I’ve heard reports from friends about reception issues associated with weather, and beside this particular point, then you maybe stuck with DSL for you internet, which the last time I checked, does not compete with cable speeds.

In many ways, I consider the satellite companies worse than cable, due to how unreliable they were.

I never used any of the satellite dish services, but it seemed like anyone that I knew that had one, had signal issues during rain, snow, and sometimes cloudy and windy days.

 

[Huntn]

That was kind of my point, so many people have different opinions on what "cutting the cord" actually means.

There were posts from on threads on this forum with people stating that anyone paying for content, regardless of the source, is not really cord-cutting.



I personally consider DirecTV and DirecTV Now totally different.

I always grouped the satellite companies with cable companies, but since DirectTV Now is totally online, with no extra equipment needed, I always considered it apart of the alternative tv option.


In many ways, I consider the satellite companies worse than cable, due to how unreliable they were.

I never used any of the satellite dish services, but it seemed like anyone that I knew that had one, had signal issues during rain, snow, and sometimes cloudy and windy days.

I’d ask, what kind of packages Direct TV Now is pushing?

 

[shinji]

DirecTV and DirecTV Now are totally different products. One requires satellite dish installation and opens you up to weather-related reception issues, while the other just runs over your internet connection with no commitment.

The packages for DirecTV Now are pretty similar to a cable company, though: https://www.directvnow.com/tv-packages

We're grandfathered into the 'Go Big' package at a lower rate.

 

[Juicy Box]

I’d ask, what kind of packages Direct TV Now is pushing?

They are similar to the tiered channel packages that traditional cable offers.

But, there are some major difference that I think differentiate itself from traditional cable, putting it in the category of cable-cutter-friendly.

You can sign up and cancel without talking to someone on the phone.

There are no contracts, and you can easily cancel your service at any time.

If you do cancel, other stuff you have subscribed to are not affected like with traditional cable, canceling TV services might increase your internet sub price.

You do not have to use rented, outdated equipment like most traditional cable companies make you do.

You can sign up and cancel without talking to someone on the phone.

I would like to say that DirecTV Now doesn't increase their prices like traditional cable, but they did an increase back in September.

Anyways, they do have a lot more similarities to a traditional cable TV service, especially when compared to Netflix, but I still consider them separate from cable due to the many cord-cutter-friendly benefits of the alternative TV service.
[doublepost=1548449620][/doublepost]

DirecTV and DirecTV Now are totally different products. One requires satellite dish installation and opens you up to weather-related reception issues, while the other just runs over your internet connection with no commitment.

Yeah, I probably should have opened with this, a lot of people still think that DirecTV and DirecTV Now is the same thing, and both use satellites. They should really do some better advertising for DirecTV Now.

We're grandfathered into the 'Go Big' package at a lower rate.

I am currently a subscriber, well kind of. I never actually use the service, but I got it for my parents so they could cut the cord. I am currently the one paying for it though.

I started paying when it was $35, but it went up $40 in September. I think thinking of calling to complain and hoping to get grandfathered into the lower price.

How did you go about it? did you call?

 

[shinji]

[doublepost=1548449620][/doublepost]
Yeah, I probably should have opened with this, a lot of people still think that DirecTV and DirecTV Now is the same thing, and both use satellites. They should really do some better advertising for DirecTV Now.

It's the same thing with Playstation Vue. They should've just called it Sony Vue to avoid confusing consumers.

I am currently a subscriber, well kind of. I never actually use the service, but I got it for my parents so they could cut the cord. I am currently the one paying for it though.

I started paying when it was $35, but it went up $40 in September. I think thinking of calling to complain and hoping to get grandfathered into the lower price.

How did you go about it? did you call?

We're paying ~$55 for Go Big with HBO and Showtime. I just meant we're not paying their current $65 rate for Go Big.

 

[Juicy Box]

It's the same thing with Playstation Vue. They should've just called it Sony Vue to avoid confusing consumers.

I agree, I actually think the Playstation Vue is worse then DirecTV Now when it comes to confusion.

We're paying ~$55 for Go Big with HBO and Showtime. I just meant we're not paying their current $65 rate for Go Big.

I have read about people being grandfathered into really low rates with DirecTV Now when they called the customer service line to complain.

I would do this about the price increase, but I hate to threaten to cancel my services without being able to follow through with it. If I cancelled, it could potentially be a pain to set up a new account in my parents name. There is no way I would be able to do it without going to their house and doing it for them, and they do not live close.

A side note, I really wished Apple would enable a remote screen sharing for the tvOS. Trying to diagnose simple problems with my mother on the phone can sometimes take hours.

 

[ericgtr12]

Wondering how many others have made the move away from cable or satellite. I just compared the cost of YouTubeTV and Philo (for all my Discovery, Food Network, etc channels) to Comcast and the savings is around $50 a month.

The only real drawback I see is having to switch between apps but it’s really not that big of a deal on the Roku. There are also no more contracts, to me this seems like the smart move, just wondering what other’s experiences are.

Also, my bad for starting a new topic instead of searching out a three year old thread and bumping it, won’t let it happen again.

 

[shinji]

Wondering how many others have made the move away from cable or satellite. I just compared the cost of YouTubeTV and Philo (for all my Discovery, Food Network, etc channels) to Comcast and the savings is around $50 a month.

The only real drawback I see is having to switch between apps but it’s really not that big of a deal on the Roku. There are also no more contracts, to me this seems like the smart move, just wondering what other’s experiences are.

Also, my bad for starting a new topic instead of searching out a three year old thread and bumping it, won’t let it happen again.

We cut the cord almost three years ago, first with Vue and now with DTVN. I would imagine we've saved nearly $2k at this point, got access to all the channels we watch, and like you said, no more contracts.

As for switching between apps... check and see if Sling has all the channels you watch. They do have Discovery, Food Network, etc.

 

[Huntn]

Wondering how many others have made the move away from cable or satellite. I just compared the cost of YouTubeTV and Philo (for all my Discovery, Food Network, etc channels) to Comcast and the savings is around $50 a month.

The only real drawback I see is having to switch between apps but it’s really not that big of a deal on the Roku. There are also no more contracts, to me this seems like the smart move, just wondering what other’s experiences are.

Also, my bad for starting a new topic instead of searching out a three year old thread and bumping it, won’t let it happen again.

I made the move away from cable as outlined at the beginning of this thread, with the agreement of my spouse a couple of years ago, but her insistence on getting American football reliably on apps, ended up killing the deal. We are back with our cable provider. Maybe we’ll try again in the furture. She seems to be less interested in football these days.

 

[maflynn]

Wondering how many others have made the move away from cable or satellite.

I did and I'm back

The issue as I see it, is the bundling that traditional cable companies provide, i.e., internet and tv, or internet, tv and phones, etc. You still need to purchase internet and for me adding on tv was cheaper then internet from comcast and streaming from another source.

Some headaches I found along the way
I found I needed to subscribe to a handful of streaming services to get what I could with cable, that adds up. After the introductory period, the price wasn't that much lower then what I could get with a bundled deal with comcast.

DVR functionality, perhaps its familiarity, perhaps its just plane easier but using the traditional dvr box, was a lot easier then what I used for streaming. Likewise, finding what to watch is easier knowing the channel numbers, streaming has no channel numbers and it can complicated by the fact that one streaming service may not have the shows you want, so you'll need multiple services and some may or may not offer DVR.

Overall for my family watching needs, it added a higher level of complexity without really saving that much money, it simply wasn't worth the effort.

Consider the fact that DirectTV Now dropped 267,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, ending 2018. Source Clearly my experience is not unusual and given the lack of price elasticity, people are not willing to pay a lot for a streaming service.

 

[Huntn]

I did and I'm back

The issue as I see it, is the bundling that traditional cable companies provide, i.e., internet and tv, or internet, tv and phones, etc. You still need to purchase internet and for me adding on tv was cheaper then internet from comcast and streaming from another source.

Some headaches I found along the way
I found I needed to subscribe to a handful of streaming services to get what I could with cable, that adds up. After the introductory period, the price wasn't that much lower then what I could get with a bundled deal with comcast.

DVR functionality, perhaps its familiarity, perhaps its just plane easier but using the traditional dvr box, was a lot easier then what I used for streaming. Likewise, finding what to watch is easier knowing the channel numbers, streaming has no channel numbers and it can complicated by the fact that one streaming service may not have the shows you want, so you'll need multiple services and some may or may not offer DVR.

Overall for my family watching needs, it added a higher level of complexity without really saving that much money, it simply wasn't worth the effort.

Consider the fact that DirectTV Now dropped 267,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, ending 2018. Source Clearly my experience is not unusual and given the lack of price elasticity, people are not willing to pay a lot for a streaming service.

It really pissed me off that some channels insisted on you proving you had a cable provider before they would release their content to you. Evil, evil cable!

 

[maflynn]

It really pissed me off that some channels insisted on you proving you had a cable provider before they would release their content to you. Evil, evil cable!

Yeah, that was a royal pain, to be sure. Sometimes the easiest and simplest solution is the best, and given the small difference in pricing, it wasn't worth the aggravation for me.

 

[ericgtr12]

I made the move away from cable as outlined at the beginning of this thread, with the agreement of my spouse a couple of years ago, but her insistence on getting American football reliably on apps, ended up killing the deal. We are back with our cable provider. Maybe we’ll try again in the furture. She seems to be less interested in football these days.

I've heard this is an issue for a lot of people, we're fortunate that we really don't follow it too much. Some NFL games but I'll have to look and see if those are covered.

I did and I'm back

The issue as I see it, is the bundling that traditional cable companies provide, i.e., internet and tv, or internet, tv and phones, etc. You still need to purchase internet and for me adding on tv was cheaper then internet from comcast and streaming from another source.

Some headaches I found along the way
I found I needed to subscribe to a handful of streaming services to get what I could with cable, that adds up. After the introductory period, the price wasn't that much lower then what I could get with a bundled deal with comcast.

DVR functionality, perhaps its familiarity, perhaps its just plane easier but using the traditional dvr box, was a lot easier then what I used for streaming. Likewise, finding what to watch is easier knowing the channel numbers, streaming has no channel numbers and it can complicated by the fact that one streaming service may not have the shows you want, so you'll need multiple services and some may or may not offer DVR.

Overall for my family watching needs, it added a higher level of complexity without really saving that much money, it simply wasn't worth the effort.

Consider the fact that DirectTV Now dropped 267,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, ending 2018. Source Clearly my experience is not unusual and given the lack of price elasticity, people are not willing to pay a lot for a streaming service.

Okay, well this give me something to think about. I did quite a bit of research and YouTube TV and Philo do have about every channel I wanted. In fact, prior to learning about Philo I was going to ditch the idea because YouTube TV lacked all of my Science Channel, Food Network, TLC (for my wife) and some of the others. We also have a Roku box in each room so the experience is roughly the same throughout.

I also don't have a whole family to think about, I can see why that would impact your decision here. In the end I suppose a savings of $30 or $40 isn't that big but I've just had it with the Comcast cable hikes, many of which are added without your knowing or approval. I always have to "talk them down" each year to save $50 a month and it feels like they know they're the biggest player in the game so they have you cornered. When I look at my bill it is riddled with all these taxes and fees, it's really just ridiculous.

Considering I can get the same lineup with more freedom I think I'll try it out for a while and see how it goes now that I'm out of contract with Comcast. I appreciate you guys giving your feedback, having been through it and all.

 

[Huntn]

Regarding post one, I added this:
Apr 2108 Note: It’s been 3 years since I created this thread. My cable is no longer cut. 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 in post 1.

I've heard this is an issue for a lot of people, we're fortunate that we really don't follow it too much. Some NFL games but I'll have to look and see if those are covered.


Okay, well this give me something to think about. I did quite a bit of research and YouTube TV and Philo do have about every channel I wanted. In fact, prior to learning about Philo I was going to ditch the idea because YouTube TV lacked all of my Science Channel, Food Network, TLC (for my wife) and some of the others. We also have a Roku box in each room so the experience is roughly the same throughout.

I also don't have a whole family to think about, I can see why that would impact your decision here. In the end I suppose a savings of $30 or $40 isn't that big but I've just had it with the Comcast cable hikes, many of which are added without your knowing or approval. I always have to "talk them down" each year to save $50 a month and it feels like they know they're the biggest player in the game so they have you cornered. When I look at my bill it is riddled with all these taxes and fees, it's really just ridiculous.

Considering I can get the same lineup with more freedom I think I'll try it out for a while and see how it goes now that I'm out of contract with Comcast. I appreciate you guys giving your feedback, having been through it and all.

Last time I checked (see post 1, under Sling TV) they were covered in writing, but in actuality, when you went to watch a game, there were occurrences where the game was not available for viewing.

 

[S.B.G]

At the moment, the only thing I am subscribed to is Netflix. I've used DirecTV Now, and YouTube TV, as well as HBO Now. As far as DTVN, YTTV and those like it, I always end up at the same conclusion, that I hate TV commercials and I hate paying for a service that shows me advertisements. That's why I've never canceled Netflix in all the years I've had it - no commercials.

For my desires in TV viewing, Netflix has more than I can ever watch and with that and my iTunes TV/Movie library, I have plenty to keep me entertained. I also watch a couple of streamers on Twitch as well.

I'll re-subscribe to HBO later this year to finish watching GoT and VEEP. I may keep it, I may not. I do like Last Week tonight and Silicon Valley as well.

But as it is right now, I have no plans to subscribe to any streaming TV service or cable/satellite again. That can always change in the future, but right now, I don't see it happening for me.

 

[ericgtr12]

At the moment, the only thing I am subscribed to is Netflix. I've used DirecTV Now, and YouTube TV, as well as HBO Now. As far as DTVN, YTTV and those like it, I always end up at the same conclusion, that I hate TV commercials and I hate paying for a service that shows me advertisements. That's why I've never canceled Netflix in all the years I've had it - no commercials.

For my desires in TV viewing, Netflix has more than I can ever watch and with that and my iTunes TV/Movie library, I have plenty to keep me entertained. I also watch a couple of streamers on Twitch as well.

I'll re-subscribe to HBO later this year to finish watching GoT and VEEP. I may keep it, I may not. I do like Last Week tonight and Silicon Valley as well.

But as it is right now, I have no plans to subscribe to any streaming TV service or cable/satellite again. That can always change in the future, but right now, I don't see it happening for me.

How about local channels, over the air for those or not interested?

I also hate commercials with a passion and have enjoyed the 30 sec (or 5 minute) skip from Comcast when the show is buffered or DVR'd. However, with both YouTube TV and Philo I have noticed that when you pause and use the FF button slowly it will preview in a box in realtime. To me this is far more advanced than Comcast and I've been blasting through Commercials with military precision since, very cool feature.

 

[S.B.G]

How about local channels, over the air for those or not interested?

I have no interest in locals or OTA.

With that said, if I did want locals OTA, I would not complain about commercials in that arrangement since I wouldn't be paying anything to receive them. With the Internet and local news channels, I can get local information from their websites, and I do so I have that covered.
[doublepost=1554562312][/doublepost]I should also add that I spend a fair amount of time either reading or listening to my music which means I don't spend all of my free time watching TV. So that means that the little bit I do watch the TV, I don't want my time wasted with commercials.

 

[Huntn]

How about local channels, over the air for those or not interested?

I also hate commercials with a passion and have enjoyed the 30 sec (or 5 minute) skip from Comcast when the show is buffered or DVR'd. However, with both YouTube TV and Philo I have noticed that when you pause and use the FF button slowly it will preview in a box in realtime. To me this is far more advanced than Comcast and I've been blasting through Commercials with military precision since, very cool feature.

Most of my watched show have been prerecorded and for commercials, my cable Tivo box, I have a button that fast forwards 30 sec a click, so when I hit a commercial it’s click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, as fast as you can read that, and it’s back to the show.

 

[Plutonius]

her insistence on getting American football

I get most of my American football from an over the air antenna.

Wasn't she able to watch games that way ?
[doublepost=1554566551][/doublepost]

Most of my watched show have been prerecorded and for commercials, my cable Tivo box, I have a button that fast forwards 30 sec a click, so when I hit a commercial it’s click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, as fast as you can read that, and it’s back to the show.

I actually don't mind the commercial breaks. It gives me an excuse to get up and walk around during the break .

 

[Huntn]

I get most of my American football from an over the air antenna.

Wasn't she able to watch games that way ?
[doublepost=1554566551][/doublepost]

I actually don't mind the commercial breaks. It gives me an excuse to get up and walk around during the break .

We live 30+ miles from the the transmitting stations and although I thought about one of those new hi tech antennas, when we cut our cable, I never found anything I thought would work mounted in our 1 story attic and I diid not want to put up a pole.

As far as clicking through commercials, we save 15 minutes in an hour, and it completely changes the watching experience. The flow is not continually interrupted, at least not as much.

 

[Plutonius]

We live 30+ miles from the the transmitting stations and although I thought about one of those new hi tech antennas, when we cut our cable, I never found anything I thought would work mounted in our 1 story attic and I diid not want to put up a pole.

As far as clicking through commercials, we save 15 minutes in an hour, and it completely changes the watching experience. The flow is not continually interrupted, at least not as much.

I found that most people do not install the over the air antennas correctly.

In my case, I also live 30+ miles from the broadcasting antennas in Boston. I use a cheap indoor amplified antenna on the wrong side of an apartment building and I managed to get 30+ channels (including American football) after about 6 hours of setup.

Most OTA (over the air) antennas are directional so it's best if you go online to one of the many OTA sites and make note of the compass direction from your residence to the broadcasting towers. Since the antenna is directional, you need to decide which stations you want to receive. In my case, I decided on the Boston stations which means that I'm unable to receive NH stations even though they are much closer (different direction).

I found out at least in the case of indoor antennas that they need to be in the vicinity of a glass window even if it's not in the direction of the broadcast antenna. A glass sliding door works best. I'm not sure about an attic mount.

Height also matters so I mounted the antenna on the end of a large wooden drying rack. With the rack mount, I'm able to change the direction and position of the antenna.

Now for the time consuming work . I had to keep moving the antenna position / direction, scanning for channels on my TV, and recording which channels I got. It took awhile but it was worth it.

Changing my antenna direction by more than a few degrees or changing my antenna position by more then 4-6 inches means losing many of my channels.

If it's not something you could do or would want to do, consider hiring a professional to do the installation. I probably wouldn't even consider cutting the cord unless I got some OTA channels.

Note - I found out that holding the antenna or being in the vicinity of it hurt reception. For me, it was important not to hold the antenna while figuring placement for the best reception (which is why the wooden drying rack mount worked well).

Note 2: My Roku was also interfering with the antenna (most likely signal leakage). My advice when setting up the antenna is to disconnect the power on any electronics (other than the TV and antenna) near the TV / antenna. The object in setting up the antenna is to get the most number of channels that includes the channel you are looking for. Once you finish optimizing the antenna, power on the devices one by one to see if any of them are a problem.

In my case, I found that I had to leave the power disconnected to my Roku while watching OTA to get many of the channels. I ended up getting a new Roku (Roku Premier) and put it far away from my antenna. I can now leave it on while watching OTA TV.

My positioning / setup went fairly quickly after powering down the Roku.

 

[MasterControlOp]

I wonder that in a few years if people
Will go back to cable. After more and more streaming services start, each will have less content and people think it’s just easier and more economical to have old fashioned cable channels then a dozen different streams.

 

[ericgtr12]

I have made the jump and am still adjusting. Comcast offered every deal under the sun but I still politely turned them down and the representative I was speaking with got almost angry about it. The biggest issue for me is that you have to talk them down every year combined with the fact they just hike your bill without any notice many times, I can't believe that some of that is even legal.

The biggest inconvenience is having to switch between apps but it's not that big of a deal. My only concern now is exceeding my monthly bandwidth limit with Comcast internet, I really don't stream much 4K content so I don't think it will be an issue but I am aware of it.

I'll play this out for a while and see how it works, it could very well be that I will also switch back at some point but for now I like the freedom of it.

 

[Huntn]

I have made the jump and am still adjusting. Comcast offered every deal under the sun but I still politely turned them down and the representative I was speaking with got almost angry about it. The biggest issue for me is that you have to talk them down every year combined with the fact they just hike your bill without any notice many times, I can't believe that some of that is even legal.

The biggest inconvenience is having to switch between apps but it's not that big of a deal. My only concern now is exceeding my monthly bandwidth limit with Comcast internet, I really don't stream much 4K content so I don't think it will be an issue but I am aware of it.

I'll play this out for a while and see how it works, it could very well be that I will also switch back at some point but for now I like the freedom of it.

Do they have price tiers? I think with Suddenlink, $80 get’s unlimited data, which I realize may cut into the advantage of cable cutting.

 

[ericgtr12]

Do they have price tiers? I think with Suddenlink, $80 get’s unlimited data, which I realize may cut into the advantage of cable cutting.

I'll look around and see what's available in my area, if nothing else because I want to compare to Comcast. It sounds like typical streaming won't cause me to exceed the monthly Terabyte of data so I'll probably see how that goes. Also, I don't view internet as strictly a TV streaming medium, I also use it for work and internet all the time so it's a justified expense on many levels for me.