OT: Chord Cutting Recommendations
Open question to the board and looking for suggestions.
My wife and I are contemplating cutting the chord and ditching Comcast. With football season on the horizon I get very apprehensive about potentially missing games.
My thought was to keep the internet and go the Playstation Vue route. Does anyone have any experience there or better recommendations?
Chord cutting? Sounds good.
Does that mean no more music lessons? I’m all in.
Aye aye aye... what a Monday mistake. I deserve to take a beating for this.
Well, technically "Beat It" is a riff, but it's definitely based around the G chord...
Hey, idiot.
How are you doing today?
First chord I learned on guitar was C chord.
August 6th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
C chord? That's quite an accomplishment!
August 6th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
My college roommate was in a band and played at the local clubs back in the day. He used to complain about Ted Nugent because he (Ted) could on play using the A chord.
Yes, Ted Nugent is both an idiot and a shite musician.
Like clockwork. In summation:
YouTube TV
Hulu Live
DIRECTV Now
DirectTV Now seems to have the largest channel lineup of anyone. The only problem with them is their lack of a DVR service which both YouTube TV and Hulu Live offer. As soon as DTNow gets a cloud DVR, I'm cutting Comcast immediately. With the other two, there seems to be channels here and there that they don't offer.
I've found that we don't care about channels we no longer get. We just watch less tv. Give YouTube tv a shot. It's free for a week. You may find you're fine with it.
Directv Now just added cloud dvr for all users. 20 hours included with package, 100 hours available for an extra charge.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:28 AM ^
20 hours of DVR is nothing compared to PS Vue. With PS Vue, you can record everything and keep it for a month.
August 6th, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
With you tube you can keep everything forever.
I don't think it is forever.
They now have DVR capabilities .
https://help.directvnow.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005970363-An-enhanced-DIRECTV-NOW-experience
Only thing is if you want BTN you have to upgrade to the next tier (Just Right for $55). Inteestingly, they offer HBO for $5 additional bucks, so I pay 60 even.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
So you pay $60 for TV, then probably $40-50 for internet... That's slightly more than I pay for TV and internet through WOW, and I get every channel besides premiums.
Is anyone getting all the channels needed for football, and saving any significant amount of money vs. cable TV?
August 6th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
You're probably getting a special deal through WOW then. I have WOW internet, $45 a month for 100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up.
I also have DTN. However, I am still getting the promotional price of $35 a month for DTN for the Go Big ($60 a month package) so my total costs are only $80 a month.
I think YouTube TV is only $45 a month but you don't quite get every sports channel for football. Unless you drop your internet down to the lowest possible tier, I'm not sure you could get all football channels AND internet for dirt dirt cheap like that.
But, considering I was paying in the hundreds for Dish Network, PLUS internet on top of that, I can't even begin to complain about what I pay for internet + DTN.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:20 AM ^
What the heck is WOW TV? Never heard of it.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
WOW stands for Wide Open West and they're a cable tv and internet provider, similar to Comcast, Charter Spectrum, or TimeWarner.
They service a lot of the more rural areas in mid-Michigan.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
I'm on year 3 of having WOW. No contact left. I do call once per year and complain when they raise the rate. Threaten to leave, they lower it back to what it was for another year.
A 20 minute phone call once a year is well worth not having to deal with apps, internet connection to my smart TV, etc.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
I'm with you, especially since I'm already getting a streaming service thru Amazon Prime, and have access to Netflix. To me, paying the cheapest amount possible for those sports channels would be the way to go.
I think if you are paying $100 for internet and all your streaming, you will still come out ahead. After those 12-24 month specials cable companies run, those bills spike sky high. WOW! crept all the way up to $170/month for me before I finally cancelled.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
The last time that I was negotiating with the cable companies they had me around $130. With PSVue I am at $45 a month for TV and $50 a month with WOW for internet. So I am at $35 a month in savings and only missing the Viacom channels.
That $45 gets me ESPN, BTN, FS1, FSD, etc.
I'm not sure about your specific market, but you can often get the cable companies down close to $100/mo by just threatening to leave and negotiating. That's what I'm dealing with right now with DirecTV/ATT internet.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
The part that saves you money is you just cancel after football season, where with WOW you're locked into an annual contract + initiation fees if you start and stop.
August 6th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
I'm not locked into a contract anymore, and still pay $100/month. I get that if I cancelled and then restarted my service I would likely have to enter one.
I doubt that many people end up cancelling right after football season. What about basketball? Maybe some single people can get away with it. Good luck telling your wife/kids they can no longer watch their shows because it's not football season.
Also, I'm curious if people that do end up cutting TV all together end up saving money... TV is a relatively cheap form of entertainment (about $1/hr for most people). If you end up going to a bar to watch an NHL or NBA game even once a month because you can't watch it at home, you're probably going to spending any savings there anyways.
I'm married with small kids. I cut streaming cable after March, so roughly 7 months on and 5 months off. I pay $50 bucks a month for internet. I do Netflix to keep the wife happy (probably would even with full time cable) and pay $50 bucks a year for cycling coverage on NBC Gold. Kids are mostly entertained by Youtube and PBS app, both free.
That averages out to about $93 bucks a month for cable and internet, $78 if you don't include Netflix. That's a pretty substantial savings except for the lowest "new customer" deals cable runs. If I was more diligent about calling the cable company to complain about my internet bill, I could probably go even lower.
August 6th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
$50 for internet. $25 for Sling TV. I will use my parents log in information for games on BTN/FS1.
August 6th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
DIRECTVNOW added DVR last month. I subbed early when they were offering $30 or $35/ month for life. It was very buggy but it seems they have them mostly worked out with the software rewrite that added DVR.
I was primarily using FireTV/Firesticks. After buying a TV with built in Roku I think that is a much better OS and now have the more important TV's on Roku.
DTVNow does have a cloud DVR now. Its in beta stage but it exists and offers recording for a lot of channels. Been out a few months now, and would imagine it'll get a more robust update in a few months.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
We have Hulu TV, and we love it. I get my sports channels, including BTN. My wife has all the on-demand shows that Hulu offers, plus HGTV, Food Network, etc. Plus DVR.
Plus, I travel a lot for work, but I always know I’ll have access to Michigan games through Hulu.
All-in, it’s still significantly cheaper than we were paying for the bundle through Spectrum.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
Had YTTV last year. It was ok, but I hated the interface. I watch most games on DVR and it was annoying that they didn't have an "extend recording" feature or an easy way to see what was after each game (no channel guide).
How's Hulu Live?
PSVue is worth mentioning as well. $50 gets you all the channels you need for CFB, plus you can get nfl red zone if you are into fantasy...
edit: nfl red zone does cost another $10/mo or so
I rented a video from You Tube the other night and the quality was flawless. They seem to have their CDN optimized as my wife watches UM games on YouTube from Japan a few days after they're played and the quality is really good.
I thought this thread was going to be about which music people wanted to cut out of their lives
Im currently using directv now. The streaming quality is great i spend about 65 total and get all the channels i need including all the sports.
Is that $65 for just the steaming service? Or is that internet and streaming?
Just streaming. I get my internet for 45 a month
Sorry its 55 a month for my streaming with directv now
E minor preferrably.
always go with the "G string"
Chord or cord?
Can't speak to the Vue, but I've been happy with Hulu with Live TV since switching over in June. Its interface with Amazon Fire Stick is pretty simple and reliable.
I picked that option because of the channel lineup ... BTN and ESPN for me, reasonable amount of kids programming for our little ones, home/cooking/lifestyle channels for my wife, and Fox News for my in-laws (we spend a good bit of the summer with them).
Every one of the competing services has holes in its lineup ... you just have to pick your poison. If you go for a truly "no holes" approach, you will end up not saving money compared with cable.
Yeah, that is what I found. Then I decided I was going to all Comcast and actually spend like an hour discussing packages, why I needed and didn't need, what actual "basic" cable provided etc. My bill ended up being like $120 per month after fees for four TVs with all sports channels I need and HBO through HBO Now for $10 additional dollars. With You Tube and Netflix running through the box, essentially unlimited DVR, voice remote, versatile interface, etc. $130 for that content is more money than optimal, but it is also not completely outrageous. If I can keep it at that price going forward I really don't need to cut the cord. I found it really helpful to call and talk through it. You can negotiate them down and get extras but you have to set aside a good chunk of time for the phone call and really give them the vibe that you are ready to bail if necessary.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^
I'm curious to know what channels you watch that you don't get with the Live a Little or go big packages. I've had DirecTV for 3 years.. paid way too much, but I have to give them credit... This cord cutting option is very good. Anything north of $100 for cable is too much. Also, with Directv Now for an additional $5, you can get HBO & HBO Go. Also, no contract.
The only thing that would be different is having the remote + cable box. For a while these guys were giving out a free firetv (directv), or free Chromecast (youtubetv).
One last strategy (I also spent a lot of time on the horn with my internet and cable providers), just start off the conversation "I'm calling to cancel my subscription.…" Believe me, they won't simply flip the switch. They will come down before you even begin negotiating.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
Honestly, part of the issue is that I don't even know what half of the things in your post are, or really mean for that matter. I don't particularly have the time to completely gut my house of cable right now and re-learn everything I know about TV watching right now to save $30 per month. I know that doesn't sound particularly frugile, but seriously, I need the entertainment I do consume to be straightforward and convenient. Life is logistically difficult with young kids, and I don't want the one thing that is supposed to kind of simplify life in a lot of respects to be difficult as well. I simply don't have the time or mental space available to deal with four or five different services with different remotes, passwords, etc. that accumulate to bring me almost what I used to get for a fairly fractional savings (and probably still keeping Comcast for internet anyway). I don't blame people for cutting the cord, it is a preference, but most who have done it seem to actually get really defensive when I say that I just don't want to do it right now for a few different reasons.
August 6th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
I'm with you 100% and feel your pain. But my issue was, I realized that DirecTV and DirecTV Now are essentially the same service. Just one involves me using my internet and one was using a satellite dish, which required me to rent a cable box i really shouldn't need.
I understand the maintaining multiple logins and such too. But all you really need is to log in one time, and you can always write the login credentials on a notepad or paper + tape to the remote.
Rather than paying for a monthly rental of their equipment, you can make a one-time purchase for something like an Apple TV or FireTV. With the FireTV, you just plug that bad boy (HDMI cable) into your TV, connect it to the internet, and download the app. (It comes with a remote)
At the very minimum, i'd recommend you buy one if you have more than 1 TV needing cable service. You'll save money by not renting a second cable box, and you'd get to see what the experience is like not using the standard cable box + remote.
By the way, I'm not judging- i was paying $140 a month for directv, and i lived by myself, and was probably home <20 days a month. I just got so sick of it, had little to lose, a lot to gain and experimented (after football season) I'm very happy with my decision.
I also know cable companies really well, if you ever want to get annoyed just look at a breakdown of your bill. They bank on you fearing switching costs.
August 6th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^
I am going to consider all of this. Thanks. I know that it is something I should have done by now. I am going to get a 4K TV this fall and will look at Apple TVs or Fire TVs and see if this is the time to start to make the move.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
It all depends on the deals you're able to score. I signed up for DirectvNow the day it first launched almost two years ago and so I got the Go Big channel lineup for only $35 a month (normally $65). This, coupled with my WOW internet at $45 a month puts me at $80 a month for both, plus a free AppleTV to boot.