Cord Cutters: What is your recommended streaming service?

Self - Vanity ^ | 2/1/2018 | Washi

[Washi]

Hopefully, I can get some productive answers before the self-righteous "got rid of TV years ago" crowd shows up:

I got rid of satellite TV service a couple of years ago. Since then, I've used "Sling" streaming TV service and "Hulu TV" streaming TV service.

I'm done with Hulu TV's ridiculous user interface, constant "streaming" screens, lack of 5.1 audio, etc. I switched to Hulu TV from Sling because Hulu had Fox News and CBS sports, neither of which I've spent much time watching. It's just not worth Hulu TV's glaring negatives.

I may switch back to Sling, but I know there are many more services out there.

I have the Roku streaming stick, so I can work with most streaming services.

What are your recommendations?

[Lopeover]

We have a roku.
Get hulu, HBO NOW (Game of Thrones fans)
On you tube you can watch loads of full length old movies

[i_robot73]

What? Nobody w/ the techy\geek side of the equation?

Mix of Sonar\torrents\newsgroups and Plex\Kodi?
Supplemented w/ Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime/etc.

Personally, I can’t handle watching ANY stream\download that still has commercials.

But if you NEED/want local/OTA, hook up an external/network tuner box and use Plex\etc. to DVR.

[KevinB]

Ping for later.

[Captain Peter Blood]

I just cut the cord about three weeks ago. I tried HULU live but found I did not really use it that much, so I am canceling it.

I have the Digital antenna and I get a lot channels over it including the ION channel. So I find I am using the antenna more.

I am going to hold off on using any more of the services like HULU, Sling or Youtube until I see where they are going service and channel wise. My guess is that in the next few months to a year there will be a lot more Ala Carte offerings.

Right now I have HULU regular, Netflix,Amazon and One America News. So I think I will wait awhile.

I do not miss the $156 a month Direct TV bill at all.

[ralph rotten]

Back round
1. I have Amazon Prime
2. I use a fire stick (amazon
3. I use www.DIRECTTVNOW.COM-—ALMOST ALL CHANNELS
4. I BROUGHT A ROKU TV AFTER IINSTALLED DIRECTVNOW AND IT WOULD NOT WORK WITH DIRECTVNOW
5. I LIKE SUB TITLES ON TV PROGRAMS

[ralph rotten]

Back round
1. I have Amazon Prime
2. I use a fire stick (amazon
3. I use www.DIRECTTVNOW.COM-—ALMOST ALL CHANNELS
4. I BROUGHT A ROKU TV AFTER IINSTALLED DIRECTVNOW AND IT WOULD NOT WORK WITH DIRECTVNOW
5. I LIKE SUB TITLES ON TV PROGRAMS

[Moe-Patrick]

Bmrk

[CurlyDave]

Directv Now

+1

Mostly watch Fox but others are there.

May not be popular here, but Amazon Prime has a lot of stuff and it is just one more reason to have Prime. Fast delivery was the main reason we got it.

[ralph rotten]

TO THE TOP

[Ikemeister]

Directv Now. It’s the only one that has One America News Network.

[OrangeHoof]

If you’re a sports junkie, Playstation Vue Core package with Sports Extra costs $55/mo and gives you almost everything you can ask for. I run it through my Roku but you can obviously also run it through a Sony Playstation.

Sling TV is also a great option. $25-$45/mo.

(for those who must know, yes, you’re getting subscriptions of Turner/CNN, ABC/Disney/ESPN and Fox with these packages. Deal with it.)

[PittsburghAfterDark]

I have a relative that refuses to give up cable. I have a Roku and piggyback every cable channel off their account.

That’s one big grey area IMHO but hey, it works.

If I were a movie fan I’d go with HBO Go and the Cinemax combo and Amazon. Amazon, from what I’ve seen, has the most appealing original programming to me. Man in the High Castle, Red Oaks, Mrs. Maisel, Sneaky Pete are all quality programs. They also get the majority of off HBO series 3+ years old. The exceptions being Game of Thrones and Westworld.

Netflix is the single most overrated programming service out there. If you have kids, it is indispensable. If you do not, it’s entirely forgettable. I find myself looking for a half hour at a time at Netflix and can find nothing on it.

Hulu, a new one for me thanks to a free Sprint promotion, is surprisingly underrated. On TV shows you have to watch 1 or 2 commercials in a break which is not bad. However they do not cut up movies with commercials but show 1-3 before the movie starts. To me that’s a more than fair deal at a $5.99 a month rate.

Hulu also has every South Park and Family Guy so again, a bargain for me.

The cable apps I find myself to be indispensable from a viewing standpoint are NBC Sports and FXX Now. Hockey, Premiere League and every Simpsons ever.

You can get NBA, NHL and MLB apps for every game. You cannot get an NCAA football or NFL app that does the same thing.

Football is the hardest thing to replicate programming without cable... period.

Every other show, program and sport can be had without a cable bill.

[dangerdoc]

I use sling and Livestream Fox News on YouTube. I like sling because no Disney ESPN extortion. Now if I could quit paying for CNN I would be content.

[UnwashedPeasant]

I recommend this $45 rooftop antenna if you are within about 40 miles of broadcast towers in the same general direction: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024R4B5C/

Check your location here to see what channels you can get:
https://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

If you like oldies, there are a lot of channels for that.

[Captain Peter Blood]

I noticed that buffering issue also. I kept HULU basic and gave up the live TV. I did not like the way they had the live TV setup. A little too cumbersome.

[Sergio]

tech bkmk

[Captain Peter Blood]

I looked at Youtube’s offerings and they lacked channels I wanted. No TCM, Fox Business and some others.

[Randy Larsen]

I watch a lot of youtube and glean more info than all the networks combined. I watch tv for nature and history channels only on occasion.

[mlo]

"Directv Now"

Tried it. Had lots of buffering even though nothing else does and I have super fast internet.

[usconservative]

Hopefully, I can get some productive answers before the self-righteous "got rid of TV years ago" crowd shows up

I got rid of cable TV then Satellite TV years ago, saved a ton of money. I'm not self righteous about it and am happy to share what I've learned with you.

First, if you plan on streaming, you will need some type of high-speed internet and having said that, you don't need the fastest package or the one with the highest bandwidth. Of course that depends on the number of people in your house that plan on streaming at the same time and if you have anyone who's into online gaming (especially if they're hardcore about it.) When both my sons lived with me and were into online gaming, I had the 75mb package from Comcast and we all got along just fine. They could game online and I could stream Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, pretty much anything without getting stuttering, buffering or other issues.

Now that I'm an empty nester, I have a pretty basic 25mb package from Comcast and can watch whatever I want in HD streaming just fine. No buffering, stuttering, etc..

I use a Roku 4 and have Netflix and Amazon Prime. My oldest son in College can share his Hulu account with me so I use Hulu also.

I personally swear by my Roku 4. I had a Roku 3 and that was good as well, the Roku 4 just really shines from a performance perspective.

I tried Sling for awhile, liked it, decided to discontinue it primarily because I watch very little TV and the TV I do watch is typically one of the Netflix Original Series shows (Disjointed, The Ranch, etc.. are hysterical!) or on Amazon Prime for Bosch, The Grand Tour or something else.

Hulu I rarely use, mostly for shows like Shark Tank.

I honestly don't miss cable TV or cable TV news (FOX.)

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.