[Dad was my hero]

And please, if you don't have TV because you've gotten rid of that, please move on, don't need to hear from you. I spend a lot of my time at home taking care of my wife who has Alzheimer's and so apart from the internet and little jobs around the house I don't have much else I can do except watch TV.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

In general, most all streaming services, Hulu for example, allow you to do exactly what you want. I don't know all the specifics of you situation obviously. The only hard part is wading through the menus to find the options.

[sevlex]

I dropped cable for Youtubetv. Having a dvr was the deciding factor.

YTTV allows you to record an unlimited number of shows but they drop off after 9 months. For most of my needs that is not a problem, but you won’t be able to “archive” anything offline in perpetuity.

[teevolt]

I use the spectrum app on roku. May want to look into that.

[frogjerk]

Plot your course carefully with all of these streaming services because before you know it you will be spending more than you did for cable.

Amy TV you want a stream on will need a stick or some sort of streaming device to control it if it is not smart. I don't like Amazon as a company I think their stick is the best.

Recording won't matter as you can usually stream whatever you want whenever.

[waredbird]

Have you tried to see if you can stream Spectrum TV over your wireless connection? I use spectrum internet service, 200mb, and use their standard TV package without their DVR box. I use ROKU with the Spectrum app loaded. It’s not as convenient as the DVR box. You can also put the spectrum app on your phone and other wireless devices. No boxes, no hard wire except for your router.

[facedown]

bttt

[Leaning Right]

This answer is probably not what you’re looking for, but I did the math. By cutting cable (and not replacing it but with anything) I was able to buy DVDs of all the old shows I want to watch - no commercials, and they’re ready whenever I want.

I did get a good over-the-air antenna from Amazon ($60) that gives me all my local channels for free. I pretty much use that only for the local news.

[rstrahan]

The pixilation is more often due to the uplink-downlink transmission, not your box,just a FWIW. Good luck with streaming.

[libertylover]

I think you need a Roku device for every TV. I have a Roku desktop, about 4x4x1, and a Roku stick which plugs directly into the TV. The desktop Roku is better.

You’ll need a fairly high speed internet connection for good Roku service, say 20Mbps. Even so, there is at times some splotches that come and goes. Usually this is when you’re watching a football game or something and there are 10 zillion others watching.

Some of the streaming channels allow you to record live shows and watch them later. Usually, these are not cheap though.

[SMARTY]

Spectrum has ghastly service and they don’t care either

[alloysteel]

Go to the Internet only, which usually provides much better service as far as downloads go, and is less subject to the occasional (?) cutouts and poor video.

Then select a broad-range app (this probably requires a “Smart” TV or something like Roku or Amazon Fire) which receives wireless signal directly from your internet connection. Pluto, AT&T-tv, Sling or any of a number of other apps then provide a full range and variety of entertainment, news, opinion and educational programming, which is in many instances much more comprehensive (and possibly less expensive) than bundling the TV with your Internet and maybe phone-over-internet service, which can be both dicey and pricey.

[cdcdawg]

We went with Youtubetv about a year ago. Unlimited DVR. I think having very good internet helps, and older TVs will need their own Roku. I watch Pluto in the mornings, stream podcasts after that, and we generally watch series at night on another streaming service. We could probably do without Youtubetv now that sportsball teams and leagues don’t respect this country.

[real saxophonist]

I don't remember how long ago I got rid of cable. Got an amplified indoor antenna, and that's pretty much all I've needed.

Watching the Denver channels talking about the big snowstorm that's coming. Not here yet.

Other than that, I can usually find a show or movie I want to watch somewhere online. I had Hulu for a while, but there wasn't much there that held my interest, so I got rid of that.

Guess it depends on what you want to pay.

[BrexitBen]

Cable TV is right up there with escalating college tuitions as the worst investment in the marketplace.

[Vermont Lt]

One of the things you need to remember is that ALL of your Spectrum channels are transmitted over the internet system. So...the pixilation you are experiencing comes from dropped data. My guess is you have a bad amp in your neighborhood. This might corrupt the data coming to your home.

Keeping Spectrum data and moving to Rocky or any of the other streaming services is going to have the same issues—because the problem is your data, not the “cable programming.”

I used to build CATV systems. What you describe is not a “home issue” it is a “last mile” issue.

I recommend talking to a tech supervisor and explain that this is happening all over the neighborhood. Not a customer service rep—but someone responsible for the “lines.” They are usually different departments.

Just a thought.

[TwelveOfTwenty]

I don’t know what reception is like where you are, but free TV is still out there. You may be able to get all you need with an antenna.

[newmomster]

we got rid of the cable bundle about 10 years ago. We bought a smart TV and use Service electric as our internet provider. No stations included....and the bill is about 68.00/month for unlimited internet service.

We subscribe to Hulu 12.70, Netflix 19.07, CBS All Access 6.35, Klowd TV 2.50.

The trick is to have a good internet provider. We finally dropped Verizon - they kept promising FIOS. 10 years later, we were still waiting. Service Electric has been amazingly good in our area - NE PA.

[SheepWhisperer]

“TRYING TO CUT THE CABLE”

trying?
Try to touch your nose...trying

Do
Or do not
There is no try

[CodeToad]

No need to record shows. They are not played live in 99.99% of cases. You select when to watch a show.

There is no correlation between live channels on cable and what is available outside cable. You don't channel surf.

There is probably 1,000 times more outside cable than on cable.

Here is Amazon's FireTV home page. Notice the boxes are providers that have menus and more content to show. At the top are Movies. Click that and a bunch of movies are shown from all kinds of providers. Click TV Shows, same thing, lots of shows from all kinds of providers. So, you can browse by provider or by movies or TV shows, etc.

[CA_soon_gone]

I dropped Dish two years ago. Some answers to your questions. You need a Roku for every tv. It might be built into a smart tv or an external device for a dumb tv. Whatever services you subscribe to will work on all your Rokus, only one subscription.

I started with YoutubeTV but the price soared so I switched to Sling. You need to change your mindset about DVRs. Sling has a DVR function, so did YoutubeTV. With streaming you have access to a large library of shows that you can watch on demand so the DVR is of far less value than before. When the only way material was available was a linear broadcast at a time not of your choosing then DVRs made sense. You still need a subscription to enable access to the on demand library. I found Sling was the best deal.

These days we spend 90% of viewing on plain Youtube. Get the Premium package to cut out all commercials. Our Sling usage barely justifies the price but it is still useful.