Streaming Services

[Kennywood]

My wife and I are just about ready to kick DirecTV to the curb. They keep raising our monthly bill to the point that it's ridiculous. So, whether we're ready or not, we're going to be going to streaming services.

We've narrowed down our choices to these three:

• Netflix
• Hulu
• YouTube TV

We'll probably also get Frndly TV, as we like Hallmark, GAC, and Lifetime movies.

We'll do the free-trials for each of them, but I was wondering if anyone has suggestions, advice, warnings, etc we should also consider.

 

[soccerdad72]

We dropped DirecTV a few months ago and also went with YouTube TV as our primary streaming service. We already had Netflix and others, but for live TV, we found that YouTube TV was the best choice. My only issue has been not having the local sports cable channel (who has no agreements with streaming services, unfortunately.

 

[Moliphino]

Remember you don't need to maintain a subscription at all times. I sign up for Netflix for maybe 2 months a year, watch what I need to catch up on, then cancel until there's enough new stuff I'm interested in.

Hulu has had really good Black Friday subscription deals the past few years on the ad supported tier. You can sign up for $1-2/month for a year if you subscribe then. The 2021 deal was $1/month, 2020 was $1.99/month.

 

[BrianL]

I have the DirecTV Streaming and it's pretty good and not as expensive. It had all of the channels I wanted and I could bundle with my AT&T (I had U-Verse for years). If you don't want the LiveTV option, then just get whichever one has the most stuff that you want to watch. You can always switch out as there is no contract.

 

[Deb]

I cut the cord when I moved in 2020. I have been happy with YouTubeTV

 

[_19disnA]

I think all of the various TV/streaming constantly raise rates once their 'promotional' period is over. It's like a game to chase who has the lowest costs. Have also found it takes an average of 3 visits by the technician to get everything hooked up and working correctly. Some technicians seems clueless of what they need to do while others seem very skilled. Switching is a hassle and you basically are right back where you started.

 

[Deb]

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I think all of the various TV/streaming constantly raise rates once their 'promotional' period is over. It's like a game to chase who has the lowest costs. Have also found it takes an average of 3 visits by the technician to get everything hooked up and working correctly. Some technicians seems clueless of what they need to do while others seem very skilled. Switching is a hassle and you basically are right back where you started.

streaming should not require a tech visit. If your internet is working you can stream

 

[_19disnA]

Could be, have only used the major cable products. Some cities have limited choices for things like internet so probably also depends on where you live

I see the lowest price for Dish is $70/month. How much does it go up when the 2 yr introductory period has ended?

 

[Lumpy1106]

Can you get a signal for the local channels over the air (OTA)?
You can also save money rotating the services; Disney+ one month, Hulu the next, HBO Max the next, etc. The content doesn't get removed right away so you won't miss anything.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

We went with a Fire stick a few years ago for all of our TVs and dropped DirecTV. We have never regretted out choice. YouTubeTV is the one we watch the most. It has a lot of variety and is pretty reliable-originally we got it because we wanted our local channels, but we watch it for nearly everything now. I also have Netflix, which doesn't have live channels. I like the documentaries and a lot of their shows. Hulu we have because we have Disney+. I can't say I watch it very often.

 

[bluezy]

We cut the cord a few years ago. I went kicking and screaming...did not want to lose cable TV. Now I wish we had done it sooner. We have You Tube TV, Hulu, Netflix (We pay about $5/month for that through T-Mobile), and Disney+. We also have a few free services (LocalBTV and one or two others that I can't think of right now) that we use for local channels. I still get all the channels we used to get with cable but we're saving about $60/month.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

If you are getting Hulu, you should consider the Hulu/Disney+/ESPN bundle.

 

[disneychrista]

I cut Dish and went with basic ad support Hulu (no live TV). It works for me and for $7/month you can't beat it. Other than that I will use free streaming channels - Freeve, Peacock (actually have plus through my Comcast, my internet provider), Roku Channel, YouTube etc.

I refuse to pay for more than one service.

 

[sam_gordon]

What do you want to watch? Netflix doesn't have live TV. I think there's a version of Hulu that does and that's all YouTubeTV is. As someone else asked, can you get over the air television. We have (in addition to satellite) Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime (use for shipping also), and Disney+. Disney+ and Hulu(?) we get for being Verizon customers.

DW watches Hulu, I go back and forth between Netflix & Prime. DS & I watch D+ (Marvel/Star Wars). Our live TV is over satellite (sports) and OTA.

 

[Kennywood]

We've tried talking with DirecTV about lowering our bill. The best they'll do is to offer us a premium channel (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax) free for 3 months. Even then, there's really nothing worth watching on any of those premium channels.

This past weekend, we ordered a new 4K television to be delivered this Saturday. Then we bought a Roku Ultra 4K streaming device and an over-the-air antenna.

While we'll certainly take advantage of the free trial periods of the various streaming services, we're leaning toward YouTube TV. As I mentioned before, we'll also get Frndly TV for the channels that they offer which we like.

The part that makes me nervous is getting everything correctly hooked up to the new TV and then trying to figure out how to work everything.

 

[wdwfan51]

We have basic cable included in our condo’s HOA. In addition, we have Hulu (from their Black Friday deal - around $1 per month for a year), Amazon Prime (more for shipping though), Britbox (I am a Britcom geek) and the best is Wondrium (formerly Great Courses).
If you like educational courses Wondrium is worth looking into. I think we pay around $150 for the year.
I am considering dropping BritBox just to cut costs but haven’t decided yet.
Hulus has some enjoyable stuff to watch while I am in the gym and at $1 it’s ok for now.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[rwdavis2]

If you are getting Hulu, you should consider the Hulu/Disney+/ESPN bundle.

We got this promotion. So far so good. Hulu had better choices over YoutubeTV.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Of the ones you are considering, we have Netflix and Hulu. I watch Netflix way more.

 

[sam_gordon]

We got this promotion. So far so good. Hulu had better choices over YoutubeTV.

Hulu is "on demand" (ie: I want to watch 'Castle' now, go to Hulu and start watching it). YoutubeTV is "linear" TV delivery (I want to watch Discovery channel, go to YTTV and select the Discovery channel and watch whatever they're showing).

Hulu does offer a "live TV" element, but it should be similar to YTTV. Like DirecTV vs Dish vs Comcast/Spectrum.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My wife and I are just about ready to kick DirecTV to the curb. They keep raising our monthly bill to the point that it's ridiculous. So, whether we're ready or not, we're going to be going to streaming services.

We've narrowed down our choices to these three:

• Netflix
• Hulu
• YouTube TV

We'll probably also get Frndly TV, as we like Hallmark, GAC, and Lifetime movies.

We'll do the free-trials for each of them, but I was wondering if anyone has suggestions, advice, warnings, etc we should also consider.

We've been wanting to cut the cord for years and can't figure out how. It seems the "norm" is to switch to streaming, but once that's all added up, it gets just as expensive. Our big question is internet. We have a bundle with Comcast, if we drop Comcast TV our internet goes thru the roof. My husband works mostly from home and internet, good internet is a must. Our only choices in our area is AT&T or Comcast and from what we heard so far, AT&T is terrible. I don't know if you ever heard of Clark Howard. He has a website and it has information he recommends about cutting the cord.