Satellite, Cable and Internet TV...OH MY!!!
15So this week when I opened my satellite (phone and internet) bill I was SHOCKED to see the bill a few dollars short of double my normal monthly charge. AT&T decided my mediocre services should now cost around $250.00/month, which is completely ridiculous for just one person and the sub-par internet speed. After about an hour of back and forth I “passionately” asked them to cancel everything but internet. I figured this way I could continue to work from home and investigate my options. I could cancel internet next month after making a decision.
Anyway, there seem to be sooooo many choices out there and I do not know anyone with anything other than regular cable/satellite. The more articles I read the more my head hurts.
I was hoping my Meh community might have experience in this matter and can provide some guidance. Pretty please!!
/giphy Help please
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Sounds like the “suck you in” pricing expired? I’m paying almost that for mid-level cable (no extras), business internet and 3 phone lines. The only way I stomach it is that the internet is a business expense and 2 of the phone lines are part of the in-law suite. And we’re seriously considering dropping the tv for antenna service.
@ybmuG you would think but no. I have been outside of my contract for > one year at this point. Last year I negotiated month to month pricing that was about 35% higher than the introductory rate.
Oddly enough, about two months ago I went into the AT&T store and confirmed the discounts I was receiving had not expiration dates attached to them. Tuesday when I inquired as to why they were yanked with no explanation I received no plausible reply.
AT&T sucks. They suck the life out of their customers and then they tell them to go suck eggs.
I, too, will be interested in seeing what other mehtizens have to say about all of this.
Good luck in your quest.
@Barney they truly are horrible. I have had to call them 2x this week to ensure they properly cancel my account - the first time they told me they cancelled cable, but they signed me up for a new package instead.
I am pretty sure I was speaking to the devil himself at one point.
@Barney @tinamarie1974 they do know that customers are how they get paid, right?
@tinamarie1974 I had trouble with them when I transferred my phone service to Google Fi. They will try to screw you over any way they can. And this makes me sad because I come from an AT&T family. My mom worked there for 42 years.
We’re in a weird situation right now but for years we got by quite happily with FiOS or Comcast internet (FiOS was the better experience), a Roku for streaming from Netflix and Prime, and a digital tuner for Over The Air. There’s a surprising amount of OTA still - we can pick up three different PBS channels, plus other former VHF/UHF stations that have subchannels, with ease in our area. There are even OTA shopping channels…
We eventually dropped Netflix, as with Prime you can add cable channels a la carte. We now have Fire TV and a Fire TV Recast. No need for cable at all.
I forgot to mention that when we went that route, thinking I would need SOME kind of home phone service I got an Ooma. But it turned out to be an unnecessary expense as we have cell phones ANYWAY and the Ooma doesn’t work when the power’s out. We didn’t wind up doing this but if I was doing it again (and will be ONE of these days) I’d just get one of those cordless phone setups that will connect to your cell.
So, this is what I have. I have to go cheap, or as cheaply as possible, because I need to support my spending habit.
Google Fi: I don’t think this will work for you, but since I use my phone very little, I only pay around $25 a month, which is good.
My internet is Cox Cable. It keeps going up and up and I call and growl at them, but they know they have me over a barrel because there are few other options.
For TV: Most of my viewing is OTA, because I don’t watch a lot of TV.
However, during college basketball I subscribe to Sling TV Orange where I can get ESPN, ESPN2, etc. I’m also thinking about adding basic Hulu, so that I can go back and watch TV shows that I have missed. I had been watching view.yahoo.com for this, but they have now eliminated this free service, so Hulu it is. So, for around $30 a month (and I’m thinking of keeping Sling full time) I’ll get my TV fix. Until things change again…
Oh, I do have Amazon Prime, so I get a few movies (very few) from them.
Here’s a basic guide to cheap TV.
https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/25/best-streaming-services-cord-cutters-on-a-budget/
My guess is that you will want more than this, but at least it’s somewhere to start.
@Barney We have Cox and pay $238 a month.
1 landline phone (company expense)
Contour service with HD (since our stuff was so old, they upgraded us for free this year), HBO, Showtime, Starz and Epix.
Gigabit internet (company expense)
But we’ve been with them for over thirty years and so far, they’ve given us some pretty decent discounts.
@lisaviolet I dunno, that still seems like an awful lot of money.
Edit: Hey, I’ve missed you. Everything okay?
@Barney It’s is a lot of money, but the internet is $100 of that amount. It’s pretty fast for cable.
Things are okay, we lost a kitty, we have one pretty sick cat right now, there’s another one (18 years old) that was scheduled to have his eye removed yesterday (herpes virus), but amazingly, meds (vet doubled the dosage of his herpes med and started him on antibiotics) have him almost back to normal.
Sammy at the vet a week ago:
Sammy this morning:
To be honest, I was pretty disappointed at the heavy handed and ugly way the mods dealt with the complaints over the new topic button and felt it would be best for me to just walk away for a while.
@lisaviolet That’s quite an improvement for Sammy cat. Your kitties are so lucky to have you.
Yeah, that topic button and the way it was handled pissed me off, too, but I do hope that you come back and be with us a little more.
@Barney Thanks, I probably will be by more often.
@lisaviolet Great!
I’m really confused by your original post. Early on, it sounds like you are on satellite-only for TV, phone, and internet. Then you talk about having options.
There are not a lot of satellite-based ISPs out there, so you don’t have a lot of options if that is the case. HughesNet and AT&T are the only two I can name off the top of my head…
@Limewater Until last month, my mom was with Hughesnet for years. It was seriously awful and awfully expensive. Very slow when it did work, but it didn’t work so often it was ridiculous. And minuscule data allowances for big money. Based on her experience I wouldn’t recommend Hughesnet for anyone.
@ruouttaurmind I’m pretty sure nobody gets satellite internet service unless they really have no other options.
@Limewater @ruouttaurmind Surprisingly, not. We had satellite for 20 some odd yrs because there was no other option. But, I do know some people that have satellite that live right in the middle of cable and now google fiber country. Dunno why.
I just recently discontinued my overpriced Dish satellite service and renegotiated with CenturyLink (regional telecom operator) for my Internet service.
What I’m doing now: OTA and streaming (via Roku devices). Shared Netflix and Amz Prime Video account. Tons of “free with commercials” movies and series on Roku (Vudu, IMDb via Amazon-Prime not required, Sony Crackle, Roku Channel, Pluto, tubi, etc; no paid subscription required for any of these). I also signed up with RedBox to receive special offers via text; frequently get free or rent-one/get-one disks at the RedBox kiosk.
OTA is free, obvs, but I did have to invest in some infrastructure. My TV doesn’t have a OTA tuner, so I bought a cheap one on Amz. $20 and it will even act as a DVR, setting up timers to record OTA programming to a USB flash drive. I also added a rooftop antenna and good quality RG6 cable from the antenna to the tuner box. I receive around 90 OTA channels.
The Rokus were also not free. If you have a TV with “smart” capability, you’re set for many free streaming options. But even if you buy a Roku, the basic models are as little as $20 on sale and gets you free access to the excellent Roku Channel.
For phone service, I’ve been with no-contract MVNO providers for many years. I’m currently with Mint Mobile on a Unlimited/3GB data service plan. $15/mo all in. They also offer a 8GB plan for $20, and 12GB for $25.
I wound up saving a total of about $150/mo after all considerations. This savings paid for the stuff I had to buy to cut the cord in the first month.
Of course streaming TV is dependent on reliable ISP service at a reasonable cost. In my case I negotiated with CenturyLink for a 10mbps/3mbps service at $35/mo. locked in for as long as I’m at this address. YMWV since ISP costs vary wildly from market to market.
Was it all worth it? I have totally lost momentum on all my favorite HBO and AMC shows.
I sorely miss my Dish program guide and the “store it forever” DVR capably. Until recently I hadn’t had to sit through a commercial in over a decade. Now commercial interruptions are a fact of life. And on broadcast TV, some of those commercial breaks are excruciatingly long! So… WAS it worth it? For now I guess. Maybe soon I’ll stop wanting to catch up with Better Call Saul or see the final season of GoT. But for now I’m really missing “the good old days”.
@ruouttaurmind I’m thinking about giving Mint a try. Did you have much trouble getting a phone that was compatible with them?
I currently use pageplus. I’m generally happy with the service, but haven’t had any luck porting unlocked phones that weren’t purchased directly from them.
@Limewater I have an iPhone and no trouble activating it. I also tried the Mint SIM in my iPad, an old Galaxy S3 and a LG something or other. All worked without any problems. My former flatmate uses the Amz Prime edition Moto G6 without any issues.
@Limewater PS: if I was gonna leave Mint I’d be looking at the annual plans offered by Redpocket on eBay (Redpocket as the seller). Choice of any of the big 4 carriers at prices competitive with Mint (choosing Vzw is slightly higher).
Just be aware if you cancel phone without first having a service lined up to transfer the number to, you will likely be unable to use your old phone number.
@medz that is ok, it is just a home phone on a private number and I don’t really need it. I already have two cell phones (one work) where I can be reached.
I currently use the Cable Co (Charter Spectrum) for Internet service and then use YouTube TV for television service, this works very well for my house. YouTube TV has all of my locals plus the majority of the channels we watch.
YouTube TV was a super deal when it was $35/month but it was recently raised to $50/month, it’s still a better price than what I’d get from Charter, plus there are no hidden fees (broadcast fee, sports fee, etc), added taxes, and no equipment fees.
YouTube TV works very similar to traditional cable if you use it with a Roku/Apple TV or other similar device. A nice thing is they have an unlimited DVR included, record whatever you want and it’ll keep it for 9 months. One down side is that some networks (CBS and CW) force VOD (if there’s a VOD version available) shows with un-skippable commercials even on shows you recorded.
Most of the streaming services offer a free trial, I’d say give a few of them a try and see if the they have the channels and functionality you are looking for.
@Ignorant so I have been looking at YouTube TV, but am wondering about my ability to watch hockey. Do they offer NHL channel or CBS Sports?
@tinamarie1974 no NHL Network yet but they do have CBS Sports Network. I had no issues watching hockey last season but my team plays on Fox Sports.
You can go here https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/ click “See All Channels” and type in your zip code and it’ll list all the channels for your area.
If you ever travel and watch it the locals will change to the area you’re in but all the cable networks including the regional sports networks will all stay as your home area.
@Ignorant Thanks!
No home phone
Centurylink locked in with price for life @ $75 I think for price for life 1Gbps internet.
DirecTV I pay around $30 for, single box. Only use it because they constantly match my promo when it expires, which is at least $50 a month. I rarely watch it (I have my own media server and OTA antenna), so I could care less if it goes.
My monthly bill with taxes and fees is around $112. I used to pay for than that just for internet, at a lower speed.
I’m also doing research on phone carriers. So far for what I want. Tmobile is my choice to go.
Been with att for 10 years and no discounts or anything. Never had a problem with coverage, but the $$… is insane! I’m paying $206/m 4 lines, unlimited (limited) everything. After a certain gig over they throttle speeds to 125k!! That’s slower than slow. And the one thing I wanted to get unlimited is blocked! The plan blocks mobile hotspot/tethering unless you pay extra $10/m for the higher plan.
We did have all 3 phone, cable, and cell with att. With no issues besides the greedy $$. Very expensive. Now we get DirecTV and just att for our smartphones. DirecTV and att have a whopping deal of $10 off your tv bill! DOES NOT apply to phone bill.
Our internet is through spectrum.
So I’ve been looking and comparing sprint,tmobile,att,Verizon. And the best one for what I want (20gb hotspot, unlimited everything else with 2g throttle when over 20gb) is t-mobile for $85/m. For 1 line.
I also will keep an eye on this thread to compare with others.
Hope my rant helps!
@lilsrm123 FWIW, Mint Mobile doesn’t block hotspot/tethering. They don’t really care how you use your data allowance. The largest plan they offer is Unlimited phone stuff and 12GB data for $25/mo. Additional data is $10 for 1 GB or $20 for 3GB. Mint uses the Tmo networks.
@lilsrm123
T-mobile also gets you free or discounted Netflix thrown in. (Postpaid plans)
@lilsrm123 Just an fyi (it happened when I had tmobile also but that was a long time ago) my daughter just came for a visit and she just started with a new company and they gave her a new phone on the tmobile network. She griped a lot about it. She travels a lot and she said she hits more dead spots with it than with any of the others that she’s had. I know we had a couple of dropped calls when she was driving here (about a 4 hr drive).
@lilsrm123 @lseeber Every network has good and bad coverage areas. Without knowing where I am in relation to your daughter’s experience with poor TMO coverage, anecdotes aren’t really helpful. Everyone has a story about carrier X and areas of no signal/data and dropped calls.
I think there is a crowdsourced website for detailed, local coverage maps, but I do not recall the link.
I go with the MVNO affiliated with the parent carrier with the best local coverage in areas I’m going to be in. If I’m driving, 9-1-1 works on any carrier if there is a problem or I can pull over when there is coverage.
@lilsrm123 @lseeber @mike808
I think T-Mobile’s coverage map is much improved.
I don’t follow this subject; but I suss the best coverage map is still going to be from Vzn, prob followed by ATT.
This likely matters most to those who spend lots of time in very rural or mountainous areas.
@f00l @lilsrm123 @mike808 Yeah… she was driving from Atlanta to Huntsville… no straight route but not really out in the boonies tho. They probably just really care if it works in the Atlanta/Peachtree area tho.
@f00l @lilsrm123 @mike808 And she called me yesterday from Atlanta. I’m in Huntsville, AL the call dropped and we ended it. Couldn’t hear a word she was saying. Just a lot of dead space.
Everyone please subscribe to PS Vue so Sony doesn’t kill it. (You don’t need a PS console.) Thanks.
@walarney
Uh … why? What is it?
@f00l Competitor to Sling, DirectvNow, etc. At least for the channels I want, cheaper, allows more screens, DVR, works everywhere I tried it (US, Canada, and Germany so far). But Sony doesn’t seem interested in promoting it.
@tinamarie1974 I’m in STL.
Charter and CenturyLink can’t get bare Internet (no bundle BS) for cheaper than AT&T in STL, afaik.
@mike808 thanks
@tinamarie1974 This building is wired for comcast only so it is that or an antenna. Only the south side of the building can you use an antenna and get anything (not permitted to put an antenna on the roof). They just sent junk mail today about up to 5 phone lines sharing data where you’d share 1 gig for $12, unlimited 40 something or other dollars (threw it out) and no other cell fees (well other than all the junk tacked on I presume). Their cable is expensive - roughly on par with AT&T. You can get basic cable and 10 mbps internet for something like nearly $60/mo counting fees as their teaser rate. Apparently it goes up significantly after that.
@Kidsandliz I don’t know anything about your building layout, but height matters a lot for antenna placement, both indoors and out. You might try seeing if you can place an antenna in the highest spot in your apartment you can manage.
Figuring out where the transmitters are and getting a directional antenna can make a big difference.
@Limewater Thanks. I’m on the 4th floor, facing north in a cement and metal building. All the stations are south of here Using my antenna across the hall and it works. Using it here and it doesn’t. Using it where I used to live 9 miles north of here down a hill in trees and it worked (but I could put it in a south facing window).
@Kidsandliz How many floors are there in the building? If you’re on the top floor, you might still be able to manage something by placing the antenna high. If not, it probably won’t make a lot of difference.
I had thought you might be in a lower building with a shingle roof. That would put you in better position.
I actually can’t get much OTA, either. There is a small mountain between my house and all of the local transmitters.
@Limewater I am on floor 4 out of 5. Roof is flat covered some with tar like substance. No idea what is under the tar although in our apartments the floor and ceiling are both cement so I’d suspect the roof is cement too. I had asked about running it to the roof and was told no way.
I had to figure out the same thing when I moved to town. Too many choices and not real sure what to do.
I ended up with Comcast/Xfinity. I have the basic, lowest or 2nd to lowest cable pkg they have which is fine for me (it includes Starz). I have my cable, internet and cell phone with them. The Xfinity mobile phone service (home is cheaper than cell) is run off of Verizon so, that’s pretty good (unlimited data- cheaper if I just wanted a couple gigs). I have a firebox and Prime and stream most anything. I also have a roku tv and only watch the free stuff that’s on Roku. I don’t watch a ton of various tv for a while now but I have more than I need. The bill for my cable/internet with all taxes and fees is $61 and some change per month. My cell phone (which gets billed separately but is part of the pkg) is $60 and some odd change after all taxes and fees are added ($44 before those fees). My understanding is the home phone service is cheaper than the mobile but I can’t swear to it because I don’t have it.
There are other companies that I may try eventually but Comcast/Xfinity is the only one local to me that bundles all 3 services where I am. And I wanted easy.
Try living in WV - sheesh. My “choices” for internet are 1) Frontier DSL “up to 1Mbps” which is actually closer to 200k, too slow to even watch Youtube videos without buffering; or 2) Comcast/Xfinity. And the second, only because I live closer to MD & VA in a newer area that got wired before it was built out. The folks up in the mountains don’t have a choice, it’s basically Frontier or nothing. Some schools & hospitals built/run their own satellite systems, but those aren’t available to the public. Comcast is expensive, but very reliable.
@cbl_wv Holy fuck John Denver looks so young.
@carl669
@cbl_wv I visited WV once. Flew into Pittsburg and drove down to Shinnston. It was fall and absolutely beautiful!
@cbl_wv @tinamarie1974 Plus, in some areas you get free natural gas as part of your property.
@cbl_wv @chienfou Really, I had no idea?!? As I recall it was the first time I saw an Alpaca farm. I recall stopping the car in the middle of a not so busy road to just stare!
@cbl_wv @tinamarie1974 there is a fair amount of natural gas under the state and if you retain the mineral right you can often get supplied with natural gas as part of the payout for having a pump on your property.
@cbl_wv That’s how it is at my other house that I recently moved out of (but still currently own). It’s in a Nat’l forest and the ONLY thing to use was Hughes/Directv. That was it. No cable, no dsl, no decent cell signal, etc. It cost us a fortune to do most of what we wanted between internet and tv. It sucked.
@cbl_wv @tinamarie1974 West VA is a beautiful state. I have to go there often.
@cbl_wv @lseeber Lucky!
@cbl_wv @lseeber @tinamarie1974
Data access is still horrid in many rural areas.
I have met more than one household recently, who live 5 or so miles outside the city limits of a county seat, but can only get Hughes satellite (pretty horrible), or cell data.
I don’t know what their phone cos offer them, but don’t think it’s even DSL. They said it’s wasn’t worth it, whatever it was.
@cbl_wv @f00l @tinamarie1974 Yeah… and since there were so many trees (forest) had to have it re-aimed every so often and a good storm would cause us to lose the signal. The other option was like a …dang… I forgot the name of it… a little card from a cell company that plugged into the computer and cost about a buck a minute and was absolutely no better than dial up where we were. Hubby was addicted to the web (re-porn) so, whatever it took, he paid. Eventually we did get whatever it was that sucked off the nearest cell tower and all the bells and whistles that made it work in the house on 3 computers and our phones. About $300 a month just to connect. Bandwidth was at a premium and we could stream nothing. I told him we’d save a fortune if we moved to a better area for those type of services.
@chienfou you get free natural gas and heat from underground coal fires in parts of the centralish PA mountains too.
I have fios internet and stream Hulu Live and Amazon Prime on Roku devices. If you have fast internet you’re set.
Currently I am running
Spectrum internet (only game in town) at the 100mbps level (just did a speedtest and I am getting about 80-90 down and 12 up). Cost:$66/month
Phone (home) Ooma that I bought from woot! years ago and have kept because that’s the number (ported from my old telecom co) some of my older friends have associated with me and with a base unit and 3 portables it’s super convenient in the house (I don’t carry a phone around with me all the time) Cost: $7/month
Phone (Cell) TMO that is piggybacked on my son’s account who is currently a civilian contractor the military.
Cost: $40/month for 2 lines (me and Mrs Chienfou) unlimited calling, unlimited data.
TV Since neither my wife nor I are huge TV or sports fans we don’t have TV service per se. We are a bit too far from the OTA stations locally, so that’s not an option. Found that I rarely miss having regular TV and when I do watch it the commercials drive be batshit carzy! Cost: $0
Netflix I get a free account thru TMO which only costs me < $4/month to upgrade to their premium tier level. This includes 4k streaming (not that I have a 4K set…), but more importantly, I can have 4 profiles set up which allows me to share it with my son and they can all be watching at the same time…Since I was paying about $13/month this is a net $9 gain for me and a bonus for my son who gets me such a great rate on TMO.
Amazon Prime We keep an AP account since we use them frequently. Currently we get that account at a discount while my wife pursues a masters in classical ed.
Cost: $59/year ($5/month)
So, grand total: about $120/month.
TL:DR There are a lot of options out there to wade thru, but you should be able to cobble together a ‘personal’ plan that you can live with for less $$.
@chienfou oh yeah. I have a Roku I use for streaming, my DVD player has some built in support for amazon prime etc as well.
(Oh, another great thing about TMO is the TMO Tuesday offer of ‘free’ or discounted stuff like free Redbox rentals, $2 free Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins credit offers, Free wings with a pizza from Pizza Hut, Free Taco Bell products, $25 live nation tix --so tempted to go see the Who in East Troy or Cuyahoga Falls… etc.)
@chienfou Amazon Prime We keep an AP account since we use them frequently. Currently we get that account at a discount while my wife pursues a masters in classical ed.
@amekidelli ??
With the media and tv stuff you have choices, if you are willing to do something a little less user friendly with roku-type devices and streaming services etc.
The limitations are regarding internet service. There, less choice.
You have your phone co(s). Your cable co(s). Your cell co(s).
These are all, as companies, pretty much total stinking lying assholes. Esp the ones who own the rights to the cable and phone lines.
They are the worst. Fucking monopolists.
The cellcos vary but can be nicer. I have not hated my interactions with t-mobile.
I have kinda hated my interactions w sprint.
Haven’t tried mnvos but might v soon.
Note: the cell companies usually limit data or limit hotspotting to computers/TVs/etc. or charge the big bucks for it. So check around.
Also if you use a cell signal for your internet, is that signal adequate every where you need data access?
Since you are into sports
Figure out which channels you need.
Does some streaming service have those channels?
The cordcuttersnews site will have that info.
Are you into speciality team-specific or sports-specific channels? Some of those will be cable or cable/fios/satellite only.
So you badly do you want those channels, if they matter to you? If you really value them, then you might have to opt for cable/satellite and a contract with some truly evil company.
I’m personally all in favor of cutting these companies out of one’s life as much as possible.
@carl669
Unfortunately, the sports streaming blackouts get tied to your billing address, so MLB will blackout all home Cards games. Dont think NHL cares, so they might stream with no blackouts.
I started to add up the $$$ for Internet (I have fiber), Cable (Spectrum), a land line through Frontier, and my cell iPhone and iPad (one sim per each, with AT&T). The iPad came with the cell when I bought it, and it comes in handy when I want it, now and then.
One of the things about Cable that annoys me (and this has been true with every company I’ve ever dealt with), is that for a full package, sports is included. It annoys me to know that I’m paying for something that I never, ever use.
Sometimes someone at the cable company will tell me that if I switched to Cable, I could have a higher download speed. Sure, but I need it to be fast in both directions, and upload on Cable is pathetic, at best. There’s also the issue of shared bandwidth. I’m not good at sharing.
Internet: $300/month
Cable: $150/month
Landline: $65-$70/month
Cell: $117/month (but that includes paying for the cell, a little bit at a time)
Huh. It seems like a lot, doesn’t it? Then again, I have few expenses otherwise.
@Shrdlu
My family mostly does similar, altho the younger ones never got landlines. If it’s what someone wants, user friendly. reasonable quality, decent c/s, etc, within someone’s budget, then why not? Enjoy.
Re sports packages:
One of the biggest reasons many users pay for cable/fios/dish tv is sports. It allows a griphold over a huge proportion of the subscriber base.
So … that gives ESPN (especially) and other sports networks a huge power advantage in negotiations with cable/fios/dish companies, and the sports networks have used that negotiating advantage to the full.
Basically the sports networks get a big fat vig for every subscriber except the users who are getting only “improved transmission ota-sourced shows”.
ESPN gets approaching $10 per subscriber per month, or close to that level. The other sports networks also get the per-subscriber big bucks.
And … the contracts force the tv providers to put sports into every package.
This is starting to backfire, as cord cutters grow aggressive and streaming companies offer less expensive options and also offer live sports. ESPN has lost enough $ thru dropped subscriptions that they’ve had rounds of layoffs and are scrambling for a viable “streaming strategy”.
And they need to be scrambling for a strategy to deal with a potential customer base that doesn’t see sports programming as being very attractive, let alone essential. ESPN and the others aren’t close to being there yet.
Anyone who gets their TV from dish/fios/cable is still paying the legacy sports costs marked up in contracts that were common 15 years ago. It will take a long time for all those agreements to expire, and for the legacy tv-source companies to be willing to negotiate with ESPN as tho they could afford to walk away from the table.
@f00l @Shrdlu As a Disney shareholder, I love those ESPN-driven dividends. Thank you, sports
suckerssubscribers!(Disney owns ESPN)
@mike808 @Shrdlu
The cost of cable/FiOS/satellite (sports being a significant portion of that) is notable in driving the consumer streaming/cordcutting momentum.
When subscribers do pay the per-subscriber big bucks (even if the subscriber never watches sports), that income goes to ESPN and the other sports networks. It doesn’t subsidize the rest of Disney, or barely does so. More likely to go vice versa at the moment.
ESPN seriously overpaid for sports broadcasting rights (NFL etc) in very long term contracts and is locked in.
Right now ESPN (and some other sports programming networks) are overextended, are losing subscribers, desperately need the money, and are planning more layoffs.
The NFL and some of the other big sports leagues are facing the same probs. It turns out America and the world are less addicted to the content than was forecast.
The shareholders do benefit tho. ESPN is a long term good biz prop.
ESPN just needs to survive the current major league contracts and get a better handle on what future consumers might be willing to pay for sports content.
@f00l Just a general FYI, while I’m thinking about it. I wanted to mention that the $300 for internet includes a /28 of IP addresses (non-trivial, if you are in the current marketplace for Class 4 IP addresses). This is 13 usable, for the math-challenged (although I think I currently only use perhaps 8 nowadays).
@Shrdlu
And that is cool.
/giphy cool!
I had static ip’s once. I think it was back during the bonded ISDN and early DSL days.
Now I don’t run servers, and no need. I didn’t run much of a server then either.
I can’t now remember why I wanted the ip’s. Hmmm. I can’t remember what the server did.
Damn.
Oh yeah. A super infinitely convoluted (or so it seemed) qmail arrangement I think. A good friend needed it. I provided the ip addresses and stuff. He did the setup and maintenance. I must have piggybacked some static IP usage along the way but I can’t remember what I used them for personally.
Oh well.
Might help some people here looking to save on TV/Internet/Phone bills if there aren’t any better options (i.e. carrying a balance from discounted prepaid cards or when “in category”):
You can get AMEX Rewards when you setup default auto-payment with your Amex card with these vendors:
Online Streaming Subscriptions:
Hulu, Netflix, Spotify, Sirius/XM, SlingTV
Cell Phone Service:
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, Comcast, TimeWarner/Charter/Spectrum,
Echostar/Dish, DirecTV, Cablevision/Optimum, Verizon Fios, Cox Communications
Rental, Car, and Home Insurance:
State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Geico, Allstate, USAA, Chubb, Nationwide, Amica
Source: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/rewards/membership-rewards/redeem/recur-bill/
@mike808
Thx.
This might be with a mention in the deals topic.
I recently cancelled AT&T service. Saved over 50% on internet. Got rid of cable, now using streaming service. AT&T sent me a gift card for a credit.
I had from an over payment. I am trying to decide how to spend my .07.
/giphy gift card
So I decided I wanted to try YouTube TV, seems like it would be the cheapest option. I turned on my Vizio (~3 yrs old) and kept checking the App Store. I could not find YouTube TV or any option to update my Apps.
Just hung up with Vizio, apparently my particular model does not allow an option to update Apps, what I have is all I get. In other words, if I want YouTube TV, I have to install a Roku Stick on my not so smart TV. SMH
/giphy Not Happy
@tinamarie1974
I think “smart TVs” are prob really insecure and hackable, and they make me nervous.
Rokus are prob somewhat insecure. But prob way better than a smart TV that way. So, in your shoes (in your fancy high boots), I’d prefer the Roku anyway.
/giphy high boots
@f00l You know, I do worry that my TV is listening to me…is that weird?!? It is the reason I do not have an Alexa or Google Home either! For someone who loves electronics, my house is fairly low tech
And I don’t have a Catwoman costume to go with my fancy boots (yet)!
@f00l @tinamarie1974
/giphy I’m insecure
@Barney @f00l awwww, I
you @Barney!!
@f00l @tinamarie1974
You say that now – but
@Barney @f00l
@f00l @tinamarie1974
@Barney @tinamarie1974
I’m insecure about being insecure.
/giphy double insecurity
@Barney @f00l aaawww sending you
too!
@f00l @tinamarie1974 How come she gets TWO purple hearts and I only got one red heart. You love her more than you do me.
That’s okay, @f00l hates me too.
@tinamarie1974 Vizio about 3 years ago was using apps from the Yahoo App store. That was before they all went to Android. Yahoo went the way of … Yahoo. I know, I have one of that vintage too. You can go with a “stick/box” device - FireTV, Roku, Android Stick/box, etc.
Many Blu-Ray players have “smart” apps too, but they suffer from the same fate - no updates after and definitely not security patches.
Roku, FireTV, TiVo, AppleTV, etc are all devices designed for updates. My TiVo has a YouTube app, but I don’t know if a different app is needed for YouTubeTV. TiVo has a Prime app, so that adds some subscription content (CBS, Showtime, HBO). The Hulu, Netflix, and Pluto apps and more give me access to more.
I’d recommend hunting Amazon for a deal on a Roamio OTA and solve a lot of the challenges in one device - it’s the only one that does DVR. Compared to cable, it pays for itself in a couple of months not paying a cable bill.
@tinamarie1974 Oh, and you’ll want to factory reset that Vizio and just don’t hook it up to your internet or wifi. There won’t be any Yahoo apps. That folded up long, long ago.
@mike808 You are correct about the Yahoo functionality! Thanks for the advice, I will check it out!
@Barney @f00l um, because I did yours on my laptop, but now I am in bed watching tv and have my phone. The purple hearts are on my phone
Here you go
@Barney @tinamarie1974
/image large purple heart
@Barney @tinamarie1974
A current mashable article on avoiding smart TV features in favor of using a Roku device or similar:
https://apple.news/AJcw2-6_0QIOpaktOMUlExA
They don’t discuss hackability and security. But they do point out tgatthese devices are fast whereas smart TVs are v slow.
And:
@Barney @f00l @mike808 so i pulled the trigger on YouTube TV. I dug an old Roku stick out of a drawer, updated the software and no YouTube TV app. Did some research and found out the stick was too old!!!
Ran to Target at lunch and purchased a shiny new Roku ultra. Came back and did the set up and finally signed up for my free trial. For some reason last week it was 30 days, today it was FIVE! Oh well. Lets see how it goes…
@Barney @mike808 @tinamarie1974
YouTube tv ought to work well enough that at least you have time to research alternatives if you don’t like it.
Re privacy: ok you’re giving info to google.
But we’re all giving info to someone. And Google already knows almost everything anyway. So maybe not worse that alternatives?
@tinamarie1974 hope it works out for you, let me know if you have any YouTube TV questions.
Some tips:
@Ignorant ooohhhhhh thank you very much! I have been listening while I work and trying to figure it out. This helps a lot!
/giphy you are awesome
POPSOCKETS! COURT DOCKETS! FOLK ROCK HITS! AWESOME!
@tinamarie1974 another thing, you can’t adjust the start/end times of recordings but if a sporting event goes into overtime YouTube TV will automatically extend the recording until the end of the event.
@Ignorant oh nice
@Ignorant @tinamarie1974
TiVo does this automatically based on your ratings (1-3 thumbs up/down) of shows, and learns what you watch and what you delete. They show up in the “suggested viewing” section of the DVR.
The TiVo search function also searches your subscribed apps - globally searching for shows/movies/titles/actors across everything you have access to (and more importantly, perhaps, not searching streaming services you don’t).
It also extends recordings for live events. Unfortunately, many guides do not properly indicate their show is live. The real problem is that recording shows that come after the live show are invariably screwed because they are not marked live. There is no way for the device to know this, or what your local station decided to cut to make up for it. For example, recording 60 Minutes gets hosed every week because the NFL game preceding it invariably goes long. And local stations can choose to skip a show entirely or replace it with ads or a local paid ad show if it fits. They do this because ads make them money, not the show you’re trying to watch. You might get lucky and they will show it unscheduled at 2am three days later or some similar BS. But then you still won’t record the damned show.
This affects all the devices, not just TiVo or Roku or AmazonTV (DVR device, I forget the name. FireCube?), Tablos and even Apple TV. Live TV just sucks for recording.
@Ignorant I do have a question. Is there a way to set up my library to only record new episodes of a series? I have not been able to figure it out, looks like it is just recording everything.
Thank you very much
@tinamarie1974 nope since it’s unlimited it records everything. In your library it’ll be arranged by season > episode, and only new episodes will show up in the “New in your library” section.
I didn’t like this at first since I was so used to traditional DVRs but now I like it because now I have all these shows that I can watch, also every time it re-records an episode that extends the 9 months that it’s saved for. There is also a drop down on each recording that lets you chose the recording to watch if it was recorded multiple times from different channels.
And anything in your library that says “Release X days ago” is a VOD with unskippable commercials, anything that says “Recorded X days ago” is a DVR recording.
@Ignorant @tinamarie1974
The VOD/unskippable commercials thing is why I won’t consider YouTube TV.
The thing is, if I have to watch commercials, I won’t watch TV at all.
So the VOD alternative makes everything useless to me. The “whatever show” might as well not be produced in the first place.
I didn’t mind the way some of the other streaming services handled this with a trad dvr-like option. That was ok.
I just didn’t watch enough TV to justify having any service. Maybe I’ll get some streaming service again for the Olympics or the election or …
Or maybe not.
/giphy maybe not
@f00l
It’s no different than any other provider that offers VOD, YouTube TV just adds all of the VOD to your library of any show you have set to record so it’s all in one place. If you record a show then you can fast forward the commercials (except for CBS and CW those 2 networks force VOD if it’s available on YouTube TV)
@Ignorant thank you again!
@Ignorant
I did Sling for a while and had no probs ff thru commercials on anything I recorded. I don’t remember ever having to watch commercials.
If having YouTube TV means minimal commercials, then it might be ok for me if I ever start watching again.
Thx for info
@f00l yeah the forced VOD on CBS and CW is a YouTube TV thing only as far as I know.
It’s just those 2 networks and only for shows that have a VOD equivalent so mostly prime time shows for a few weeks from the original air date, then once the VOD is gone the regular DVR version is available again.
@Ignorant
Someone I met who delves into all this explained somewhat thusly (hope I’m doing those explanations justice):
If you use any streaming services except Youtube, the service keeps a separate DVR copy of everything you set to record. Just for you.
So if I recorded RandomShow#1 and my neighbor also recorded RandomShow#1, Sling and simular services are keeping two separate copies. One for myself. One for my neighbor. These don’t get replaced with VOD versions if those are available. So if you watch what you recorded, you can still skip commercials.
The fact that Sling and similar services keep a separate copy just for you is why they have to limit the number of saved “DVR recorded hours” per customer. Unlike YouTubeTV.
The separate copies per user help protect the various streaming services from copyright infringement problems with the networks and show owners.
YouTubeTV did a deal with the networks that allows the networks to substitute VOD copies for recorded copies, and thus force the customer to endure commercials.
In exchange, the networks allow YouTubeTV to keep just one master copy of every show and to serve up that one master copy to every customer who recorded it.
If the show is not available VOD then the customer can skip the commercials.
If the show is available VOD then the costumer must watch only that copy w commercials.
Since youtubetv just keeps one master copy per show that serves every customer who recorded the show, they don’t run into video storage space problems. So they can offer unlimited recording.
I don’t know that this person is correct about all this.
Anyway, tradeoffs.
@Ignorant @tinamarie1974
TiVo can do this with its “OnePass” - you can even tell it to record starting with a particular season for reruns.
@f00l
If you have a tuner and DVR, I can hook you up with the paid/pro version of MCEBuddy to remove commercials from your OTA recordings. I’ll whisper the codes.
@mike808
I currently only watch TV on my phone. And that v rarely.
There is a lot of truly great stuff on TV, not to mention film streaming services.
But I don’t currently care about taking the time. Or about a decent sound system or about HD or about a 55" or larger screen.
3" is just fine for the moment. It suits my purposes.
Most of my media input (+99.99% , prob) comes from podcasts, audiobooks, books in text format, news stories, magazine articles. Sometimes, from textbooks, if I wander into Half Price Books or similar and find something wonderful. (All my old and beloved textbooks died in a storage fire).
Sometimes I make lists of stuff I’ll watch on TV “someday”.
That’s for another, future, portion of my life.
But thx. Your offer of assistance is v generous; and if I watched … If my TVs weren’t still boxed or loaned to others … It would be great.
@f00l I watch commercial-free DVR’d shows via Plex app on my phone. Like buttah. Transcodes huge 2GB HDTV recordings to 500MB ad-free H.265 (better than mp4 for streaming) with much, much better compression into MKV files.
For live TV, I watch using the HDHomeRun app. Just got the lifetime Plex, so I’ll check out its live TV features niw.
@mike808
And I would like doing that (watching videos on phone from Plex) if I had or wanted a “video setup”. But right now I don’t.
I want words weirds words words weirds words words words. I want words that were written in paragraphs.
And sometimes I want math notation. Or math text. Which is often not written in paragraphs, but is still text.
Not so much speech. Not so much video.
It’s prob just a “second teenagehood” phase for me, or something.
Still thx. I much enjoyed my original “TiVo” days.
@f00l Kindle Fire?
@mike808
I have some old Kindle fires somewhere. They’re either in storage or on loan.
Decent for what they are: Amazon consumption machines.
Have a nice iPod air somewhere. It’s a gorgeous device. But I never use it.
Kindle Oasis and Kindle Paperwhite:
those get used.
And since they do text-to-speech and don’t suck at it, I can even “read” books that have never been recorded and have no audiobook equiv, while driving.
For that, I completely love them.
/image Kindle Oasis
/giphy words words words
@mike808
Basically, this is all just completely, utterly, demographically normal. I’m certain of it.
/giphy no way
BTW I will watch selected video/film media when with company. The other persons usually provides the vid setup then.
(I seem to wind up watching a mix of football and the National Lampoon Xmas movie every Xmas for instance. Something about “tradition” means that I don’t mind if it’s a bit stale.
Goes with being overfed, and softly inebriated on decent wine, and being with people I adore.)
I do admire your setup.