OT: What is your preferred option for t.v providers?

Submitted by Big_H on

Good Afternoon MgoBoard,

 

I have recently moved into a new home and I'm trying to tackle what my best option is for my television provider. I figured coming to you guys would be a lot easier than seaching the internet for hours to get opinions.

 

So what do you recommend? Comcast, Dish Network, Direct T.V, some sort of streaming to watch t.v and sports? Please share with me what you have found to be most cost effective and reliable.

 

Some things I need to watch football in the Fall: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, NFL Network, Big Ten Network (I live in Michigan, so I'm in the BIG Network footprint), Fox Sports Network 1. These usually get me all the games I need to see and would like to be able to always watch them.

 

If anyone has any experience with some of the online streaming I would love to hear about that. I don't have any experience at all with a lot of the online stuff, except for netflix. I know there are options out there though.

 

I have always had Dish Network and pay over $100 for a 4 bedroom hook-up, I will probably go this route unless someone here can show me something better to go with.

 

So, please help me out fellow bloggers. All input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and Go Blue!!

MGoBoard
Recruiting

Michigan Eaglet

July 13th, 2015 at 5:11 PM ^

If you had to choose between Brighthouse for cable and AT&T for internet or Brighthouse for both, what would you choose? I'm looking at that situation because AT&T is really weird with their coverage and I can't get Uverse TV but can get their internet. I feel like bundling with Brighthouse is better but I'm open to suggestions/input. If I had AT&T possible I'd probably go with them for both.

Joined: 02/20/2013

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Frito Bandito

July 13th, 2015 at 9:02 PM ^

It's awful where I'm at. It constantly cuts out. The premium networks I pay for (btn) work half the time. It's very upsetting on game day. I actually unplug my main box the night before gameday just to make sure I get to see it. I've had it replaced 3 times too. Their boxes are junk.

Joined: 03/01/2012

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vablue

July 13th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^

I recently went through the same thing. I decided on Verizon Fios, I get all the sports channels but not not much else besides the networks and AMC. This, along with 75/75 internet costs me just under $100 a month. About half what I was paying on directv and Internet before, though I was getting far more channels.

I have augmented this with HBO NOW and Netflix.

Joined: 11/28/2011

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OhioBornMauiBlue

July 13th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^

I LOVE my DirecTV, but it's expensive. I pay right around $180 for 4 rooms and all the movie channels except Cinemax. I originally went to them when my cable stopped carrying NBA season, but live the NFL package on Direct also. Not sure if they'll offer it this year, but last year you got one year of the NFL package for free as a new subscriber. Might want to check into that. Direct also has fabulous customer service, at least here in Hawaii.

Joined: 04/26/2015

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bluebyyou

July 13th, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^

DirecTV...In addition to my unsatiable college sports adiction, I like the NFL on Sundays and with the NFL Sunday package available only on DirecTV I get to see my Patriots play every week.  I have a couple of large (65") TV's and picture quality makes a difference.  DirecTV quality is pretty good.

FIOS is very good, but unless things have changed this fall, they don't carry the NFL Sunday package.

Joined: 09/07/2009

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Brian Griese

July 13th, 2015 at 10:48 PM ^

You can get Sunday Ticket if you'd like (in my first year they gave it to me for free).  Plus, they don't seem to engage in drawn out channel negotiations.  The last year I had Dish Network, I missed out on the last month of the Tigers' season while they argued with Fox. 

Joined: 10/25/2014

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Boner Stabone

July 13th, 2015 at 4:41 PM ^

I have DirecTV but like all other providers they jack up my bill every so often.  Although that seems to be the trend throughout the entire industry.

When I call to complain of how I have been a customer for many years, I have to talk to some guy named Rahji who I cannot understand and go through a bunch of other operators until I get to someone's boss and complain about price hikes.  In the end, I still end up paying more; however one time I told them I was going to pull the plug and sign back up in three months as a new customer to get the new customer discount and they kept me at the same rate.

 

Joined: 01/06/2015

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MGoBat

July 13th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^

Since a good number of Michigan games are available on network TV, I  vote antenna and a sports bar for the games that are not free.  $1200+ spent over the year can but a lot of beer and wings.  Similar with NFL if you root for the local team.  Otherwise it is still only 16 regular season games.

Joined: 09/30/2014

MGoPoints: 2307

JamieH

July 13th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^

However we have been innundated with heavy rainfall this year and the signal has suffered during the storms.  I've had them since 1997 and this is the first year I've really had trouble.  When I lived out in Seattle and LA they were perfect as it never rained hard enough to matter. 


Outside of the rain issue and occasional glitches with the hard drives in my DVRs they are pretty much trouble free TV.

Joined: 09/05/2009

MGoPoints: 28331

julesh

July 13th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^

In Miami the power would go out before DirecTV during a hurricane. But there have been a few rain related outages here in SE Michigan. But I'd mostly recommend, especially if you can get a really cheap Internet only deal from somewhere like WOW.

Joined: 11/28/2011

MGoPoints: 21974

sum1valiant

July 13th, 2015 at 7:39 PM ^

I live in central florida where we experience daily torrential downpours. When you lose signal switch to the standard Def channel of what you're watching. The standard Def channel almost always is still coming through when I lose the HD signal. 1999 TV is way better than no tv.

Joined: 09/01/2009

MGoPoints: 13025

wigeon

July 13th, 2015 at 4:57 PM ^

but I have Charter cable/phone/internet, and love it.  I think the bundle is around $150/month, but it's stable, the internet is sick fast, and in the trade I'm in I deal with some huge file sizes, and have never not received a file. 

Their cable service is fine, never a glitch, never a service interruption.  I hate utility monopolies, but in this case, without another alternative, we are very happy.  

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 7081

Dave98

July 13th, 2015 at 5:01 PM ^

I have Comcast and pay $120 a month for the TV/Internet bundle (includes HBO and the sports package). My biggest complaint is the fact that they don't carry beIN sport in HD. 

Joined: 06/29/2015

MGoPoints: 1386

SagNasty

July 13th, 2015 at 5:01 PM ^

I just can't pay $100+ for tv. I have dish and pay right around $70 for two room Dvr and hd. I will have to figure something out for the first game as of right now I don't get fox sports 1



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sadeto

July 13th, 2015 at 5:07 PM ^

I work from home most of the time and handle lots of data transfers so I need high speed internet and a stable connection. FIOS is it for me, light years beyond cable. I pay $155 here in NY for 150/150 plus their second highest TV package, and they give me HBO with that. 

Joined: 01/17/2014

MGoPoints: 10469

ak47

July 13th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^

If you can get it do FIOS build your own package and do the sports packages, that is what I do.  If not anything but comcast is the way to go.

Joined: 05/05/2011

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julesh

July 13th, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^

I'm moving to Ann Arbor soon, where WOW will no longer be an option, so my choices for Internet will be comcast or uverse. I will do all I can to avoid comcast, so I will be switching from my current setup (DirecTV and WOW) to straight up uverse. While I'd prefer to avoid att, I will say that uverse has the best TV software apart from Tivo.

Joined: 11/28/2011

MGoPoints: 21974

julesh

July 13th, 2015 at 5:42 PM ^

Just to expound upon my own comment, TV software is very important to me. Comcast's software (which seems to be the same software Brighthouse and Mediacom use in my experience, possibly others, too) is the worst of the bunch. Very unresponsive, unintuitive, and obtrusive. WOW is better in the responsiveness column, but even less intuitive. DirecTV is very good, but not perfect. But definitely good enough. Of all the MSOs I've experienced, uverse is so much better. But I still miss having Tivo to handle all of it. I really wish DirecTV hadn't ended their partnership.

Joined: 11/28/2011

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Go Blue 1984

July 13th, 2015 at 5:29 PM ^

of time with this last August when I finally broke down and got actual tv. Directv is by far the best choice it is not even close. They are way cheaper than everyone and they will deal with you like you wouldn't believe. You can basically name your price.

Joined: 06/27/2015

MGoPoints: 521

MgoBlueprint

July 13th, 2015 at 6:06 PM ^

I've lived in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, and Philly. I've had comcast, att u-verse, and verizon fios. U-verse was probably the best followed closely by fios. U-verse was a great deal compared to comcast. I paid maybe half of what I paid for comcast and got a few more channels. I really liked fios because I could get exactly what I wanted for a reasonable price. With fios I got 50 mbps up and down, basic TV plus hbo and the sports package that included btn and nfl network all for $82/ mo after taxes and fees. I had to get a special package with a whole bunch of channels I didn't want just to get btn with comcast. I tried comcast again when I first moved to Philly because their hq was right down the street, after spending atleast an hour on the phone with them every day for a week I just got the list expensive package and canceled it on day 30 of their 30 day money back guarantee.



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goblue12820

July 13th, 2015 at 6:16 PM ^

Directv is by far the best ive had. From a sports perspective they have everything except the pac12 network (who cares). People say its expensive, but if you negotiate a little bit its right in line with any other provider. New customers get the sunday ticket for free, which is nice.

Joined: 06/16/2015

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xtramelanin

July 13th, 2015 at 7:01 PM ^

the only exception is of course during college football season - then we get a month-to-month deal with direcTV.   when the college football playoff is over, so is the TV.  we unplug. 

did this deal with DISH for a few years but they were a nightmare of bad service.  direcTV has been doing just fine. 

Joined: 12/09/2014

MGoPoints: 15439

xtramelanin

July 14th, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^

over the ~ 10 years the cost has gone from i think $44.99/mo to $64.99/mo.   something tells me it will be another $5/mo tacked on this year.

we get either 120 or 150 stations, most important of which are the espn stations, BTN, and fox sports.   i know we get some of the other movie stuff (but not the premium ones), and the other garbage that nobody ever watches.  we get the local ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox affilates too.

this started about 10 yrs ago with DISH.  that worked for about 5 years unitl they got real hinky about pulling the plug one year and wanted to charge us extra months, extra money, etc.  fortunately i kept very good notes and eventually i just had them come and pick their crud up.  

direcTV has done fine.  the trick is that i paid for the 'box' they use, so we own it.  i signed up when it was a free install offer, paid the $150-200 to own the box (one time fee) and now we just pay a few months of bills/year, all done after that.  

you have to know what you are asking for as they will try to steer you into the regular monthly programs.  and you have to be able to walk away from the TV.  i will tell you it is a blessing to not have it, but i also understand that not everybody is in the same boat.

Joined: 12/09/2014

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julesh

July 13th, 2015 at 8:35 PM ^

As I said above, the power would go out before DirecTV in Miami. But this was a few years back, before everything was in HD, so maybe it's due to what someone else said about SD signal lasting even when the HD signal goes out.

I've certainly experienced fewer DirecTV outages than I ever did with cable companies. 

Joined: 11/28/2011

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