OT: Watching Michigan Football when you pulled the plug on cable

Submitted by JohnnyBlue on

Pulled the plug after last years football season, intended to reup for the season since there was no legit way of watching BTN online, but with BTN2Go it looks like it may be possible to watch all my football without cable combining ESPN 3 and BTN2Go, anyone have any experiance with this? Am I setting myself up for disapointment or will these 2 services be reliable enough to cover me for the season (I can justify a TV upgrade to the other half if thats the case lmao)

Blue in Yarmouth

August 8th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^

I don't know much about this BTN2go thing but is it available in Canada? I can't watch the BTN there website so I am guess it isn't. It is always an adventure trying to get UM games here for shit sake!

Tauro

August 8th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^

As far as I know, Shaw Cable is the only major cable provider in Canada that has BTN.  Shaw bought out our cable company two years ago, so I've been able to get it ever since.

Not sure about BTN2go in Canada though - I'd have to try it.

michfan4borw

August 8th, 2011 at 10:41 AM ^

I moved this past summer and opted to not get cable/internet (the building has a business room with internet; my office has internet) until just before the big ten seasons (football and basketball).  The few hours a day I'm home, I watch netflix and other BRD or dvds. 

I'm wondering if I can get away with watching Michigan sports by going to a friend's place (from undergrad days) and to Michigan bars whenever he's not in town. 

The clock is ticking and I gotta make a decision.  Sorry I don't have any experience you can use to resolve your issues, but I thought you should know you're not alone in opting to forgo cable/internet.

I wish cable would just package channels a la carte.  That way I could pay less for just CNN and all the channels that show Michigan sports.  Rant.  

JohnnyBlue

August 8th, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^

well hoping they handel BTN like they do espn3, espn3 I get with my cable interenet package thru charter, and btn2go is partnerd with charter, so hoping its the same there, if not i'll just validate it using my dads Directtv since he won't use the interenet side anyway lol.

just don't watch tv enough to justify paying 60 a month for TV. between HULU, Netflix and the rest of the Web my Home theater PC more than covers anything I want to watch, sports being live has always been the one hangup and while I messed with espn3 a bit last year I never relied on it for a big game, I'm having a Party at my place for the ND vs Michigan game and damn that would be egg on my face if it failed.

thedayiscoming

August 8th, 2011 at 11:05 AM ^

Recently relocated to Columbus....I know, it blows....but love is a bitch and this is where my fiance lives/works!  We have boycotted cable/direct tv and bottom line is I dont want to buck up for it.  I prefer watching games at UM bars will fellow fans anyways.  Does anyone know of a UM bar in the Columbus area?  Any help/info would be greatly appreciated!

*Would have posted new thread about this, but I dont have enough points.*

blueblueblue

August 8th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^

I am in the same boat. Paying for cable is just not worth it to me - I watch all my tv and movies on my computer. Plus the way cable providers structure their contracts is just too much for me to stomach. In my opinion they egregiously exert their power over the consumer. ESPN3 is great. And BTN2Go would be a great addition, but, like others said, you have to have BTN on cable to get BTN2Go. Its a shame, because I would pay to get it online, but my guess is that BTN's agreements with cable providers eliminate that option. My plan is to use ESPN3 and go to local bars (I live in AA) when I can't get the game there. Plus  it forces you out of your cave, and its fun.

amphibious1

August 8th, 2011 at 11:22 AM ^

I have Time Warner Cable, they require you to have cable TV service to access ESPN3 online! I can only afford internet, not cable. This means I have to watch sports through various other means.

Time Warner Cable = King of Greedy Dick Moves

Raoul

August 8th, 2011 at 11:34 AM ^

Comcast works the same way, but they offer limited basic cable, which when combined with Internet is about the same price as Internet alone. Does Time Warner not offer something similar? I'm almost positive there's a federal requirement that cable providers offer a limited plan that mimics what you can get OTA. Not surprisingly, the cable companies spend little effort to make their customers aware of this option.

blueinwinston

August 9th, 2011 at 11:01 PM ^

I just wanted to say thank you for posting that about the workaround w/ att and ESPN3.  I have time warner road runner for internet and was getting the stiff arm about not having their video service to use ESPN3.  I used your suggestiona and Bingo!  ESPN3 is working.  That was the last piece to the puzzle after cutting off Directv. I was very worried that I was going to miss games that I couldn't get OTA (I live in North Carolina).  I haven't found your suggestion anywhere else, so thanks again.

 

joeyb

August 8th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^

I have never paid for cable myself. I've done ESPN3 a few times but mostly I just got to someone's house, to a bar, or to the game.

If you go the ESPN3 route, make sure you have good badwidth. I have (what should be) more than enough, but the fluctuation between highend speeds and lowend speeds gives you HD half the time and 56k videos the other half of the time.

JohnnyBlue

August 8th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^

anyone remember from last year, did they ever blackout a game on espn3 if it was on say ABC? or was it basically if the game was on ABC or ESPN it was on espn3.  I vaugly remember something about espnU stuff not being on espn though, but hopefully there is enough buzz with the team this year we won't get that treatment

CRex

August 8th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^

Most of the time someone will post up a link to a stream right before the game.  Via some Justin.tv channel or some other source.  If there is a LiveBlog they'll normally list streaming links in the status box at the bottom.

For BigTen2Go, I think you can appear to "have" the network by getting a friend/family with cable to register. My parents for example are BigTen2Go customers and they don't even know it.  

BlueCE

August 8th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^

Thanks for asking this question OP, I am on the same boat. I am now out in California and the place we live in has a cable contract that does not allow us to get the BTN. So I am now stuck and have no idea how to watch the games (I'll prob go to the bar, but I really do not want to go to the bar for the noon games / 9am here).

Can you stream the games via the BTN.com? Are most of the games on ESPN3? Any other options?? HELP!

ixcuincle

August 8th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^

Watching unsanctioned BTN links can be a chore, so good luck. If the game's on ESPN, you can pick it up on ESPN3. 

Don't have cable and haven't had any since I graduated college, not hard to roll without cable. Besides, Denard Robinson doesn't have cable either. :p 

aroberts36

August 9th, 2011 at 10:30 AM ^

You can also get ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU streams online with the same model as BTN2Go (must have those channels as part of your cable package with an approved carrier)

This can help others out there with media PCs or if your tv is taken over and you need an espn fix