Cord Cutting

[Natsinpwc]

With all the bifurcation of the streaming services, it's gonna drive people back to something like cable eventually...

I bet most people don’t even know what they are paying after a while. Hard to keep track of everything.

[HalfSmokes]

I bet most people don’t even know what they are paying after a while. Hard to keep track of everything.

We’re probably up to the cost of cable, but the streaming service offer more and better organized content. I think it’s past just being a price based decision

[The Chief]

With all the bifurcation of the streaming services, it's gonna drive people back to something like cable eventually...

I've made similar comments recently but it's not that bad *yet*.  I am getting awfully tired of hearing about Discovery+ but unless/until they gate shows I'm already watching behind these new "plus" tier services it's not going to change anything for me.

[imref]

we do the disney/espn/hulu live bundle and get every sport except baseball (thanks MASN). It's pricey, but also has more than cable built into it

are you getting Caps and Wizards games?

[imref]

I've made similar comments recently but it's not that bad *yet*.  I am getting awfully tired of hearing about Discovery+ but unless/until they gate shows I'm already watching behind these new "plus" tier services it's not going to change anything for me.

I'm paying for Netflix and Disney+, and we get Amazon Prime with our Prime membership. It does get expensive.

[HalfSmokes]

are you getting Caps and Wizards games?

Yes, only MASN is unavailable for the local teams

[HalfSmokes]

I'm paying for Netflix and Disney+, and we get Amazon Prime with our Prime membership. It does get expensive.

Our big expense is the Disney/Hulu/espn bundle. Netflix is covered by Verizon for now, prime we would already have, and we donate $5 a month to weta to get PBS passport. I think we’re less than cable for now, but everyone can watch what they want when they want

[imref]

Yes, only MASN is unavailable for the local teams

It looks like $12.99 for the Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle (with Hulu ads), that's not bad.

[HalfSmokes]

It looks like $12.99 for the Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle (with Hulu ads), that's not bad.

$78 if you want live tv/Sports. It’s basically cable without the equipment rental, more on demand choices and a better interface

[The Chief]

I'm paying for Netflix and Disney+, and we get Amazon Prime with our Prime membership. It does get expensive.

21 bucks a month doesn't sound so bad.  I wouldn't consider Amazon Prime in that unless Prime Video is the only thing keeping you from dropping Prime, in which case toss it in and make the total 34 bucks a month + whatever basic internet costs.  Still seems cheap compared to:

FWIW, I'm paying about $190 a month for FiOS Gigabit service, the lowest TV package, and a phone line. That includes two STBs and a multi-room DVR.

Like I said before, everyone's needs are a different.  For us it was a slam dunk to ditch traditional cable and has been great for almost 2 years now.  It's not my intent to evangelize here, just sharing my own experiences

[imref]

21 bucks a month doesn't sound so bad.  I wouldn't consider Amazon Prime in that unless Prime Video is the only thing keeping you from dropping Prime, in which case toss it in and make the total 34 bucks a month + whatever basic internet costs.  Still seems cheap compared to:

Like I said before, everyone's needs are a different.  For us it was a slam dunk to ditch traditional cable and has been great for almost 2 years now.  It's not my intent to evangelize here, just sharing my own experiences

I didn't take it as you were trying to evangelize. It's always interesting to hear other's experiences.  I'd drop the phone line tomorrow if I could, and the Disney/Hulu bundle looks interesting.

[HalfSmokes]

I didn't take it as you were trying to evangelize. It's always interesting to hear other's experiences.  I'd drop the phone line tomorrow if I could, and the Disney/Hulu bundle looks interesting.

It adds espn too- which probably helps with JMU sports

[imref]

$78 if you want live tv/Sports. It’s basically cable without the equipment rental, more on demand choices and a better interface

thanks.

[DCFan]

Cord cutting was a novel concept initially but now that there are so many services to choose from it's not worth cutting.

[nfotiu]

thanks.

The steaming, no contract, no box reqd, no extra fees AT&T TV is a decent option for getting MASN.   $84.99 including HBO for a year.   https://www.att.com/tv/  It includes 3 simultaneous streams out of home, so it would be an ideal solution for 2-3 Nats fans to share during baseball season. 

I've been on the old grandfather directv now package that now has MASN, and it's a good service.

[nfotiu]

Cord cutting was a novel concept initially but now that there are so many services to choose from it's not worth cutting.

Too many choices is a bad thing?   At some point, the live bundle will die or at least by obsolete and everything will be available direct from the content provider.   So with no $60+ bundle, and 3-4 big players with most of the content, prices should be significantly cheaper than cable.

[DCFan]

Too many choices is a bad thing?   At some point, the live bundle will die or at least by obsolete and everything will be available direct from the content provider.   So with no $60+ bundle, and 3-4 big players with most of the content, prices should be significantly cheaper than cable.

The plethora of choices is getting to be like a buffet. Just give me a regular meal.

[HalfSmokes]

The plethora of choices is getting to be like a buffet. Just give me a regular meal.

it's like a regular meal, you just have a menu and choose what to order.

[CowherPower]

I cut the cord (or more precisely, "severed the satellite") about two months ago after having been with DirecTV for over 20 years.  AT&T has absolutely driven that company into the ground.  Anyway, I switched to YouTubeTV and I haven't missed DTV at all.  I'm paying $65/month and have all my local channels, tons of sports channels (but sadly not MASN), and an unlimited DVR.  The unlimited DVR is cooler than I thought.  I'm taping a ton of stuff so there's always something to watch.  It allows 3 simultaneous feeds, and the interfaces on Roku, FireTV, the PC and mobile are all excellent. 

When the NFL season rolls around I will probably add the Sports Plus package for $11/month so I can get the Red Zone channel.  I also have Amazon Prime and Netflix, but I had those when I was on DirectTV as well.

The only missing piece is MASN, but I plan to get a VPN or Smart DNS package to go along with my MLB.TV membership once the season starts so I can watch the Nats.

[GburgNatsFan]

I've said this before, but if you are looking for locals, try locast.org. You can turn off the "please contribute" stuff for $5 a month. Picture is fine (probably 720). All the local stations if they carry your broadcast area. Works great.

[1995hoo]

I bet most people don’t even know what they are paying after a while. Hard to keep track of everything.

How timely today's comics are in light of this discussion:

[DCFan]

How timely today's comics are in light of this discussion:

(Image removed from quote.)

My point exactly!

[1995hoo]

My point exactly!

I'm pretty sure we're still paying less per month than we were with DirecTV once I adjust the costs for two services billed annually to reflect a per-month basis, and no more hassles with "rain fade" during thunderstorms or with the DVR boxes' hard disks failing. I also play the credit card game—last year I made sure to use American Express to pay for streaming services because they had a $20 per month statement credit for streaming services, and this year I'm switching them to Discover for April, May, and June because they have a 5% Cashback Bonus promo for streaming services during those months (which isn't huge, but I take the Cashback Bonus and roll it back into a statement credit—the big one was January through March, when it was 5% at grocery stores up to a maximum $75 aggregate, which of course we easily reached).

I don't view Internet service as part of the cost because we would have the same FIOS Internet service regardless of how we get our TV service. I also don't count my wife's annual donation to WETA that gets her PBS Passport access because she was making that donation already and simply continued to do so.

[The Chief]

The only way anyone's getting internet + cable for 100 bucks or less these days is on a new customer deal, so unless you like changing providers every two years that comparison point needs to be a lot higher.  When our FiOS agreement was due to expire the best deal they could offer us for our existing service was $180/mo.  We're now at $85/mo (65+20) for internet and our one streaming service.  Add Amazon Prime if you want to be a stickler, but we'd be using that anyway, and we're still under $100/mo even if you count it.  Even if you toss in the cost of a nice antenna and 2 Roku sticks, we were even and saving money after 2 months and have been saving ever $80-$100/mo ever since (depending on whether you count Amazon).

It's no contest for us, but people's needs vary.

[Natsinpwc]

MLB working fine on my Roku. I guess all the spring training games are free? Usually they have a free week to start the season also, don’t they? In any event ESPN has a bunch of games opening week including the Nats opener.