OT: Cord cutting and regional sports network
Curious to see how MGo cord cutters are handling the on-going saga of regional sports networks being removed from most streaming services. I have YTTV and love it, but now that hockey season is back I'm missing out on almost all Redwings games (yes, I know, not much there to miss). I will probably also be missing a few U of M Hockey games too at some point. I might consider ponying up the $$$ for NHL season pass but being in Michigan, Redwings are blacked out so that would do me no good.
In the limited googling I did I could not find any great options and an agreement to get the RSNs back on streaming services does not appear to be pending anytime soon. Are there any good options other than go back to cable or get "creative" in my streaming???
January 21st, 2021 at 8:07 AM ^
unfortunately, I think the only ways to access them right now are either a) go back to cable or b) get a VPN and utilize NHL Season Pass
its really frustrating because while they are not good, the Wings should at least be entertaining for the next couple years and watching them gel and develop would be fun...
January 21st, 2021 at 8:42 AM ^
I have found a VPN is not always effective for dodging regional blackouts. It seems providers now are able to use the location of your device, rather than the location of the server you connect through. At least, that has been my experience with a mobile device (and turning off location services triggers a warning that it must be on). Not sure if it would be different on a desktop web browser.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:48 AM ^
On Android you can spoof your location by enabling developer options and downloading a GPS spoofing app. See instructions here. If you're in the US I believe the location spoofing alone will work. It has been a while, but I think when out of the country I had to login to a VPN with a US server then turn on location spoofing to get YTTV to work.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:56 AM ^
Interesting, thanks for the tip!
January 21st, 2021 at 5:45 PM ^
It's a good observation -- confirming I can geo-dodge NHL.TV this year only from my Windows 10 desktop, with no GPS functionality. Android based devices could not dodge the blackout. (I have not tried the Developer mode dodge mentioned above me, however)
January 21st, 2021 at 8:59 AM ^
Or find a family member with cable who is willing to share their login information with you.
January 21st, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
VPN and nhl season pass was what I was going to suggest. Someone told me once that Private internet access is a good vpn that is cheap and doesn't keep logs. Apparently, if you don't want people to know you have a VPN, you can pay with many other gift cards, as well. I'm told they have a ton of servers all over the world including many in the US in different regions and that they're mobile app works quite well. So I'm told.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:17 AM ^
ATT TV is a steaming service that still has Fox Sports Detroit but it is only available in their "Choice" package, which runs about $85 a month. You can get a break on the price if you do a 2 year contract but now you are pretty much back to cable prices and contracts so it kinda defeats the purpose.
Also, the Att TV app is not available for Android TVs so you would have to get some other device, IE Roku, to load it on.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:28 AM ^
You are correct, but you forgot a word - ATT TV is a steaming pile service.
FIFY...
January 21st, 2021 at 9:47 AM ^
Typo not intended but yea, it was a steaming pile. I tried the free trial for a week and was disappointed with it. I liked YouTube TV until they got rid of Fox Sports.
January 21st, 2021 at 1:44 PM ^
And upped their monthly fee to cable levels
January 21st, 2021 at 8:17 AM ^
I have strangers on a message board pay me $22 for my extra slots. Then I take that money and buy subscriptions to whatever I'm missing on my youtube tv.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:19 AM ^
$22 for your slot seems super cheap.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
you should hear what his mom charges....
January 21st, 2021 at 8:46 AM ^
$10.8333333 per month is what I’ve heard...
January 21st, 2021 at 8:26 AM ^
This is a problem. Last October Sinclair Communications basically cut off all their regional sports affiliation with YouTube TV, FUBU and the other streamers. Meaning here in Cleveland I cant get Cavs or Indians games on the TV unless I go back to a cable or direct TV - neither of which I want to do.
Allegedly Fox is going to launch their own PPV service you can purchase but yesterday I downloaded FoxGo on Roku only to again to get blocked because I didnt have one of the big boy providers.
I'm guess this will get resolved at some point given the overall move to cord cutting but as of now it sucks as there appears to be no way around this for all of us.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:37 AM ^
The providers and networks have forced people into a corner due to their greed.
Get yourself a good ISP, a cheap android tv box or firestick, research how to use Kodi and the associated addons and you can watch just about any game you're interested in (I haven't found a good workaround for BTN+ other than the generosity of board members linking a twitch feed).
January 21st, 2021 at 9:17 AM ^
You mean companies are interested in self preservation and not giving their products away at a loss to cord cutters? I hate paying as much as I do for directv, but honestly, having everything in one place versus doing 5 different streaming services is enough for me to continue to pay the price.
January 21st, 2021 at 10:17 AM ^
Yeah, I'm a grumpy old cable subscriber but I don't understand the argument that every service needs to have parity except in terms of price. Cord-cutting is designed to save you money and that's good, but if someone else has the rights to a product you want and they won't share that's part of the trade-off. Like, I used to go to movies pre-pandemic far less often once I had kids, and it sucked that I had to wait for months in order to see new movies at home. But I also don't really like the WB-HBO model this year, releasing movies to streaming at the same time as they hit theaters. There's value in having different experiences for different users.
January 21st, 2021 at 3:35 PM ^
Living in Toronto, I can get nearly all Michigan games on cable. The problem is that I have to buy a bunch of different cable packages in order to do so, and I watch very little TV outside of football. Rogers makes it a pain in the ass to add and drop packages, so I was always paying a ton for cable to watch a handful of games every year.
My wife watched Netflix anyway. Combine that with the fact that I was paying all that money and I'd still be unable to see 1-2 games a year because they were on some network that didn't have a deal with Rogers, and it just wasn't worth it. So I dropped TV completely.
My new Internet provider is offering TV; I may look and see how flexible they are for next season.
January 21st, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
Cord cutting is no longer a "5 different streaming services" situation and that is why I got YouTube TV. You basically get all the same channels as a cable subscription and/or satellite service. There have been some minor channel changes (additions and subtractions) but nothing that I ever noticed until they took away Fox Sports Detroit.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:54 AM ^
I hear this quite a bit. I have Xfinity and have every channel I would ever need. Why all the cord cutting to get streaming channels without all the coverage you need? Is it just to save $50 a month? I guess I don’t get it. People pay $7 every day for Starbucks or $15 everyday for lunch, then cut cable for a streaming service to save a few bucks. I can’t see myself ever losing access to Detroit or Michigan sports to save a few bucks.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
I get your point, but I doubt the people buying coffee daily and spending $15 for lunch routinely are the same people ditching cable to cut costs.
January 21st, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
Exactly. I’m cheap on tv because I’m cheap on everything.
January 21st, 2021 at 10:24 AM ^
I honestly don't know the type of person who cuts the cord anymore. Like, when you factor in the cost of a halfway-decent ISP and the streaming packages it's about a wash in terms of cost at this point. Like, when YTTV was $45 I got it, but last I checked it was north of $80, which is about the same price as my XFinity monthly subscription but with fewer channels. It feels like there isn't much savings out there unless you actually go the route of Kodi or some other streaming tool that allows you to stream content without paying for it.
January 21st, 2021 at 11:31 AM ^
I spend 50/mo on Internet and split YTTV with my Mom back home in Michigan. She's on a fixed income and spends about the same on Internet. YTTV is $65/mo.
$83 (theoretically) is pretty cheap to get cable. There are other benefits to having her as the home location for YTTV as a sports fan as well.
If you can't split expenses with someone, or aren't willing to cut off the expense in the offseason like I used to before I started sharing with my mother, you are right, the economics of cord cutting aren't nearly as good as what they once were.
January 21st, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Yeah, I get splitting the cost with someone else making it economical. I get a couple of movie channels via my cable package so that's why I thought YTTV was more expensive.
I get wanting to cut the cord out of convenience or because of service issues, but it definitely has become less economically advantageous on its own.
January 21st, 2021 at 4:10 PM ^
As someone who's really only interested in having live TV for sports, and who's not particularly interesting in local (Los Angeles) teams, YTTV is still a lot more economical than competing cable packages. The whole situation strikes me as really short-sighted, though, for the NBA, MLB, etc. Given League Pass local blackouts, I watch less of the Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers than basically any other franchises, which seems like a poor way to build a fanbase...
January 21st, 2021 at 3:14 PM ^
Once YTTV upped their price, the basic price difference was negligible. I preferred YTTV to Comcast for a couple reasons. 1. I have multiple TVs and don't have to pay an additional fee for each TV. 2. I like to move one of my TVs outside in the summer and the only thing I need is an outlet and WIFI connection. 3. I can log in wherever, when I'm travelling and whatever I want. This was not the case with Comcast.
That being said, YTTV not having the local fox sports channels really sucks. Reading through this thread to come up with a better solution....not really seeing one.
January 21st, 2021 at 5:57 PM ^
Xfinity has a streaming app that pretty good. We only pay for one box and the rest of the TVs use the app.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:09 AM ^
I agree. And the Xfinity interface is exponentially better than those of the streaming services.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:43 AM ^
I hate Comcast with the power of 1000 suns. They would have to pay me to re-up for their service. I have DISH shared across two homes for $80.
I could cut the cord but would not save much and my internet service at my cottage is not rock solid. I too would like to watch the Red Wings and Tigers when they are decent but getting cable is just not worth it.
I hope Sinclair circles the toilet.
January 21st, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
For what its worth, here are specifics on my situation. I used to have Dish at $130 a month and Charter Internet at $65. A Charter bundle could have saved me, but instead I went with YTTV, originally at $50 and now $65 a month. So I basically saved $65 to make the switch (i.e. cut the cord) and when I did YTTV still had FSD and basically the same channel lineups as my old Dish package. So for now, I can probably get a Charter bundle (or AT&T Xfinity) to get FSD back and be looking at similar total cost. My only hesitancy is (1) I'd prefer not to keep switching (2) How do I know that the RSNs won't be dropped from Charter in the future?
January 21st, 2021 at 2:49 PM ^
Going from $235 to $65 is a little more than 50 a month. I was paying $7 just for a box X 6.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:17 AM ^
I don't think it's getting solved anytime soon. Twitter is flushed with ads from Fox Sports Regionals telling everyone to switch from YTTV, Hulu Live, Fubo, etc. to AT&T. That's driven by Sinclair who has been trying to push people to AT&T. They are laying all the blame on the streaming services saying they "took away your team", which is complete BS. Sinclair is the problem.
Like someone else mentioned, AT&T's service is trash. I think you actually have to buy the most expensive option ($115/mo) to get the Fox Sports Regionals as well. So their streaming service is way more expensive than every other option on top of it sucking balls.
January 21st, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
Fuck AT&T with something rough and sandpapery.
January 21st, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
The continued drive for everyone to have their own streaming service is terrible. Peacock being the most recent. It's going to drive everyone in 1 of 2 directions. 1) Back to an all-in one package i.e. cable or 2) Piracy
January 21st, 2021 at 8:31 AM ^
Careful searching on reddit will find you some streaming links that are pretty good but sadly not the gold standard quality of NHLStreams' workaround for NHL season pass via VLC up until a few years ago unfortunately.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:31 AM ^
I don’t watch enough Wings or Pistons to fret yet. Tigers are terrible so I could live this way for the foreseeable future. If the Tigers were an 80 win team I would be mad...and probably not do anything.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:02 AM ^
Yep that's pretty much where I am. If any of the teams weren't a steaming pile, it might make me think about AT&T.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:14 AM ^
This is an interesting point. I also feel as if I could do without live sports most of the time but didn't attribute it to all my teams being terrible. I just figured that I was losing interest. I wonder if the sports providers consider the effect that this "cable or bust" gambit for live sports might have on the overall interest in the product. I used to love hockey, but moving to a non-hockey state and not having cable has basically reduced my knowledge about the sport and interest in watching it to zero.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:40 AM ^
Just like the days of cable are over, the days of the alternative cord cutting sites are ending. I think everything will end up as PPV in the next several years.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
Also have YouTube TV and I also love it. Was pretty annoyed when FSD didn't renew the contract this spring. I have to imagine at some point that will break down and those negotiations will get somewhere; too many people are switching to streaming services. There really isn't another option other than signing up for cable again and I don't think the MLB and NHL realize how much most people hate cable companies.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:44 AM ^
We’re getting ready to move and thinking about getting rid of our Dish Network service...Never really done much with the streaming sites other than having Netflix in the past and I think we now have the Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu deal for $6/mo...What are y’all’s thoughts on the streaming services and best options for live TV?
January 21st, 2021 at 9:02 AM ^
I complain about the cost (you're just not going to save that much money by cutting the cord anymore) but Youtube TV is awesome. It is essentially all on demand because with unlimited DVR you can record everything you have an interest in. We never watch TV live anymore (even sports on tape delay to skip commercials). It is easy to shut on and off month to month when you don't use it if you aren't sharing with other people, and easy to add and remove RedZone/HBO/whatever depending on the time of year.
However, their on channel guide and interface is still pretty garbage, and I really like Hulu's at my in laws place, but haven't used it enough to know if the DVR and programming is on par with Youtube TV.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:54 AM ^
I'll second rlwagens' YTTV opinion. We had DirecTV for over 20 years, but left during the pandemic when we realized that we only really watched sports. It just wasn't worth our $150 per month outlay to hang on to DirecTV. We already had Amazon Prime and Netflix, so those platforms served as our go-to sources for binge watching non-sports content over the last few months. We signed up for YTTV once the B1G football season commenced and haven't been disappointed. Their DVR functionality is fantastic. One of my main concerns was leaving DirecTV's DVR service, but YTTV has proven its equal IMO. As others have mentioned, YTTV doesn't provide regional pro sports coverage. I'm a Detroit sports fan, but live in Wisconsin, so that feature isn't missed in my household. YTTV has been a refreshing change, despite its recent price hike.
We'll probably suspend our YTTV service after hoops season ends, then rejoin next fall. We're saving over $80 per month vs. DirecTV and the ability to effortlessly cancel and resubscribe is a very nice feature.
January 21st, 2021 at 8:48 AM ^
I have YTTV and love it, I also happen to be a huge wings fan and am still pretty butthurt about no FSD. I refuse to pay ATT TV so I went with NHL Center Ice and a VPN. Not the cheapest option but I catch every game.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
I went back to cable after 2 years of cord cutting. I just don't have the time or energy to sit here and deal with Kodi or finding streams or feed. I maybe have an hour or two to enjoy downtime and watch TV in the evenings between work and the kids. I don't want to spend it trying to figure things out if I want to catch a Wings or Pistons game. It was a pain for me.
January 21st, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
I have YouTubeTV and have loved it for the most part. Losing FSD stings but hopefully I can find a way to watch the Tigers this year. I access the app through my Samsung TV so no outside streaming devices. For the past few months I've noticed an increased lag or buffering and real low picture quality. Basically defeating every purpose of having a nice TV. Does anyone else experience this issue?
My internet is 1000mbps and all other phones, computers, xbox, ect work just fine. Even the netflix and amazon app work perfectly. Just YoutubeTV has the poor quality. Would getting an external device (roku) help?
January 21st, 2021 at 9:57 AM ^
We stream YTTV through a Roku and PS4 without any degradation issues on our 10+ year old Panasonic plasma TVs. I'm not sure if that answers your question, but we haven't had any YTTV picture quality issues.