Cord Cutting in Tulsa

[cynical]

Actually, ESPN and some other cable channels are now available to cord-cutters via Sling-TV. https://www.sling.com/

I don't have the service, so I can't vouch for its reliability and quality, and it comes at a price ($20/month), but that is much cheaper than our Cox service. If you are where you can get decent reception on the local channels (I am not), cutting the cord no longer sacrifices sports programming. Sling offers discounts on Roku and some other streaming boxes to ease the pain even more. I'd be curious about whether anyone here has subscribed, and if so, how well it works.

We cut the cord several years ago and will never go back.  

At the same time, we also cut our broadband package to the lowest speed offered.  Cox assured us this package would make streaming Netflix et al. unwatchable.  

Wrong.

We stream Netflix, HBO, Hulu, YouTube, etc. without buffering or problems.  

We combine a traditional antenna mounted in the attic with Apple TV, and have subscriptions to HBO, Netflix and Hulu.  

The biggest issue is sports.  Whoever cracks that nut wins.  

In the meantime, games broadcast on ESPN or Fox are still available, albeit from pirate sites hosted in foregin countries. So, if sports is your drug, you have a dealer.  You can also mirror the broadcast from your computer to most televisions so you're not anchored to a computer.  

[CoffeeBean]

Thanks for the tip re: ESPN.  $20 a month is steep.  Especially during sport-starved months like June-July-August. 

And for everyone else not familiar with Apple TV, it has an ESPN portal, you just need a regular cable subscription to gain access (which defeats the purpose of cutting in the first place). 

[Breadburner]

Lol...20 is steep....How do you figure......You get more than just ESPN......

[Conan71]

Actually, ESPN and some other cable channels are now available to cord-cutters via Sling-TV. https://www.sling.com/

I don't have the service, so I can't vouch for its reliability and quality, and it comes at a price ($20/month), but that is much cheaper than our Cox service. If you are where you can get decent reception on the local channels (I am not), cutting the cord no longer sacrifices sports programming. Sling offers discounts on Roku and some other streaming boxes to ease the pain even more. I'd be curious about whether anyone here has subscribed, and if so, how well it works.

That could work for us.  My wife and I are Food Network junkies, they also have any of the other networks we watch.

So what are the DVR options for cord cutters?

[DolfanBob]

Sign of the times. I love it. They killed Blockbuster and they are trying to do the same to Cable and satellite TV. Now even the big dog has to raise their rates.
How soon do you think it will be before Hulu, Sling, Amazon, Blockbuster and all these other magical internet monsters do the same?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/09/netflix-price-increase_n_5294450.html

50 dollars or more for internet.
8.99 Netflix.
7.99 Hulu.
20.00 Sling.
9.99/14.99/19.99 Blockbuster all access.
8.33 Amazon.
50.00 playstation vue.
14.99 Tivo.
0.00 Local antenna.

Now I don't expect that everyone subscribes to all these services. But I do see that your cord cutting is not as cheap as you want to think it is. I deal with this kind of thinking on a daily basis and I understand the whole bundle frustration with the cost.
What mainly frustrates me is that people think by doing this they are saving so much money and act like it's all free because of an outside antenna.
There is my breakdown of what is available to all you cord cutters and you and I both know it's not free.

Also. Microsoft and Youtube will be introducing their brand of streaming soon and I'm sure there will also be a fee for those magical services too.
I'm sure most of you would take it personal too if there was a topic bragging about how great it is to be someone who is helping destroy the business you make a living in.

[Conan71]

Sign of the times. I love it. They killed Blockbuster and they are trying to do the same to Cable and satellite TV. Now even the big dog has to raise their rates.
How soon do you think it will be before Hulu, Sling, Amazon, Blockbuster and all these other magical internet monsters do the same?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/09/netflix-price-increase_n_5294450.html

50 dollars or more for internet.
8.99 Netflix.
7.99 Hulu.
20.00 Sling.
9.99/14.99/19.99 Blockbuster all access.
8.33 Amazon.
50.00 playstation vue.
14.99 Tivo.
0.00 Local antenna.

Now I don't expect that everyone subscribes to all these services. But I do see that your cord cutting is not as cheap as you want to think it is. I deal with this kind of thinking on a daily basis and I understand the whole bundle frustration with the cost.
What mainly frustrates me is that people think by doing this they are saving so much money and act like it's all free because of an outside antenna.
There is my breakdown of what is available to all you cord cutters and you and I both know it's not free.

Also. Microsoft and Youtube will be introducing their brand of streaming soon and I'm sure there will also be a fee for those magical services too.
I'm sure most of you would take it personal too if there was a topic bragging about how great it is to be someone who is helping destroy the business you make a living in.

For us it makes sense.  I think our DTV is about $100-$110.

MC already has a subscription for Amazon Prime and our internet is $57 or $59/month.  We will have internet regardless so it's not a new cost.  I've already got Netflix, so adding Hulu and Sling adds $27.99, but dropping off DTV would give me a net savings of $72.01 a month.  If Tivo is the only DVR option, then savings are $57.02 or $684/year.  I'm really not even certain I'd still continue my Netflix sub or get Hulu as there are some shows we like that stream direct from the network's own web site. 

Just an idea I'm toying with.  I haven't even started adding up the equipment costs and lifespan of said equipment we'd have to do it.

[patric]

I haven't even started adding up the equipment costs and lifespan of said equipment we'd have to do it.

I bought my Philips DirecTV TiVo the week before 9/11.

It is used every day, and runs 24/7.  Some stuff is built right.  +Linux.

[saintnicster]

Thanks for the tip re: ESPN.  $20 a month is steep.  Especially during sport-starved months like June-July-August. 

And for everyone else not familiar with Apple TV, it has an ESPN portal, you just need a regular cable subscription to gain access (which defeats the purpose of cutting in the first place). 

Most

50 dollars or more for internet.
8.99 Netflix.
7.99 Hulu.
20.00 Sling.
9.99/14.99/19.99 Blockbuster all access.
8.33 Amazon.
50.00 playstation vue.
14.99 Tivo.
0.00 Local antenna.

Here's the thing, though.  Most all of these (Sling included) have no contract.  If there are lapses in content that you want, then don't pay for it!  I'd suppose that Amazon kinda does, as you pay for a year at a time, but even then, if you cancel before that year is up, you can get a partial refund, I believe.

If you're cord-cutting smartly, then you're only subscribed to what you want, when you want it.  You're also hopefully aware of how much overlap there is in the services you're buying.  Someone who has PS Vue likely won't want Sling.  Amazon's streaming and Netflix (when I was a prime member) had a bunch of overlap.  Blockbuster all access, no clue... Netflix or redbox overlap?

[sgrizzle]

I bought my Philips DirecTV TiVo the week before 9/11.

It is used every day, and runs 24/7.  Some stuff is built right.  +Linux.

The $15/mo kills it for me on that. You can do an OTA-only Tivo with 4 tuners for $50, but then it's $15/mo forever.

[TeeDub]

The $15/mo kills it for me on that. You can do an OTA-only Tivo with 4 tuners for $50, but then it's $15/mo forever.

Assuming you have an extra PC and TV tuner card laying around, you can use Windows media center to "Tivo" for free.   It will also bring up menus and programming schedules.   

There are lots of open source alternatives as well.

[cynical]

Beware: When Windows 10 rolls out, it will have no Windows Media Center and no way to add it in. The codecs to play digital media will be added later in an update, but the extra bells and whistles will be gone. So hang onto your Windows 7. For $80 you can get SageTV, a dvr application that runs under Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux, or you can set up a Linux box with MythTV. GB-PVR looks good on paper, runs under Windows, and is free. I haven't run any of these and have no idea whether there may be security traps in there somewhere.

Assuming you have an extra PC and TV tuner card laying around, you can use Windows media center to "Tivo" for free.   It will also bring up menus and programming schedules.   

There are lots of open source alternatives as well.

[DolfanBob]

Beware: When Windows 10 rolls out, it will have no Windows Media Center and no way to add it in. The codecs to play digital media will be added later in an update, but the extra bells and whistles will be gone. So hang onto your Windows 7. For $80 you can get SageTV, a dvr application that runs under Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux, or you can set up a Linux box with MythTV. GB-PVR looks good on paper, runs under Windows, and is free. I haven't run any of these and have no idea whether there may be security traps in there somewhere.

OMG! All that to watch TV. Count me out. 

[sgrizzle]

OMG! All that to watch TV. Count me out. 

What would you do for a few thousand dollars? apparently not spend an hour on a computer.

[TeeDub]

OMG! All that to watch TV. Count me out. 

No, all that to timeshift/tivo TV.   You can still watch TV for free with just an antenna.

[DolfanBob]

What would you do for a few thousand dollars? apparently not spend an hour on a computer.

That's my problem. I'm on a computer 55 hours a week. When I get home. The last thing I want to do is jack with a computer. But that's just me.