Fast Company:
YouTube TV—a streaming service that will offer conventional TV channels streamed across the net to phones, tablets, PCs, and TVs. The company is only saying it will be available in “the coming months.”
But it’s disclosing most of the other vital facts about what the service will offer, and on paper, at least, they sound like a serious rival to existing services such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now, and PlayStation Vue.
This might be a good deal for some but no CBS, MTV, Comedy Central and the other channels from Time Warner and Viacom might be a dealbreaker for many.
Cut the cord and the cable company raises the rate it charges you for broadband.
Actually, I finally cut the cord not to save money, but for control. The thing is, it’s often cheaper to do a bundle from the cable company, get the “$N for 12 months” deal and just get a new deal when that’s up. But I got tired of the BS – why should I, a long time customer, have to call and figure out what new deal is best for me every 12 months?
So, last summer I went to internet only with Comcast. For NFL live broadcasts on ESPN/NFL network, I went with Sling. But here’s the nice part – after the Super Bowl, I cancelled Sling, saving my $40/month. Next season? I can reactivate it if I want or maybe use Youtube’s or the new Hulu offering.
Similarly, I can use Starz if I want (for the Marvel movies they have) and if I tire of them… cancel. Same for Hulu, etc.
It’s not so much the money, it’s being able to control what I use, when I use it and especially to add and subtract things online. Comcast? You can ADD things… but not take them away.
PS: this also applies to my internet. If Centurylink ever gets off their asses and brings fiber to my street, I can move from Comcast to them and none of my services are disrupted.
I totally agree and am doing the same, also with Comcast. I also use an antenna and am between Boston and Providence RI, so I get many stations. I have not tried Sling yet but was thinking of it when some programs become available. I had heard, however, that it buffers a lot on wifi.
I only use wifi now and find the speed perfectly adequate for streaming.
Did Sling stream well for you?
I do find that using the services as we do though, that it does actually turn out to be cheaper. Although quite honestly, that was not my primary motivation either.
Sling was mostly fine for me. I used it on an Apple TV 4 and a Roku Streaming Stick and the only times it buffered was on highly popular events. It mostly recovered in a second or two and oddly, seemed better on the Roku Stick. I’ve got wifi via an Airport Express with a 75m/sec Comcast plan.
With Sling there’s two plans. You can get one for $20, the other for $25 or both for $40. The cool thing is that Sling is also considered aTV provider by some apps so the single signon stuff that used to need a cable sub works if you have Sling.
The other nice thing about this approach is that network shows on Hulu are ~42 minutes because I bought the no commercials plan. On Comcast, yes, you can get them on demand… but they come with all the commercials.
Thanks, it seems the only difference between us is I have a 25m/sec plan. It’s only me and my wife and she barely makes a dent. I’ve got my Airport Express optimally located so all areas of the house are pretty strong.
I’ve looked at the Sling plans and did see that in some situations you can use Sling as a provider. Not bad at all. I was really only worried about the buffering.
Interestingly some people said that it was fine during the 7 day trial but not so great afterwards. Which made, and makes, no sense to me. You can cancel after 30 days, so that scenario is illogical and sounds more like a coincidence to me.
As far as Comcast offerings I’ve decided they are not for me. Too many commercials and their streaming service is too limited with very few good channels.
Thanks again for the time to give me the info.
25m should be fine. Take a look, too at the Playstation Vue offering. Same concept, broadly the same offerings. Of course, what apps are available to you are important too.
They do have CBS. But it’s still a bundle, and the price isn’t much better than most basic cable plans. And their “unlimited” DVR has a 9 month limit. No thanks.