TV sports packages, streaming, ESPN+

[billhoward]

A thread to discuss streaming TV, streaming sports packages, and to rant at ESPN+ pricing.

Might also be a place to share favorite cable-cutter streaming-package recommendations.

Below, recommendations culled from review sites. Top recommendations, but note some of these are Best For X Purpose ranking after the first, overall recommendation:

Tom's Hardware: Sling, YouTube TV (is not not the YouTube channel),
Hulu +

CNet: Hulu Plus, YouTube TV, Sling

PC Mag:
YouTube TV for replacing cable, Fubo for sports, Hulu for live and on-demand

FuboTV is often mentioned if you want sports coverage including Regional Sports Networks (RSNs).

If you're in-town or suburbs, an antenna hooked to the TV for $30-$100 pulls in local broadcast stations. Antennas Direct (several models), Mohu Leaf+, Monoprice, Amazon basics antenna. You can spend more.

[edit add:] Streaming was a good deal until more or less now.
Before: Unstainable (maybe) low prices to lure people from cable. Loose restrictions on your 30-year-old offspring in far off zip codes glomming onto your NetFlix account with no upcharge.
Now: Streaming services are ratcheting up prices, certainly > CPI. Bundles with stuff you don't want (Paranoia sorry Paranormal Channel). Limits on how many active streams your family can have. Higher prices if you want to watch the NFL on anything bigger than a tablet. I thought I heard approaching-$500/year if you want access to any NFL game not just team with the closest stadium. And if you do stream, you'll want to increase the speed of your connection. All of which makes $10 soon $11 a month for ESPN+ a pretty good.

[Trotsky]

This is a good idea, Bill.  Thank you.

[RichH]

You can tell how old it is if they call it "Hulu Plus."

Edit: after actually clicking, I see that's shorthand for "Hulu + Live TV" (an unfortunate marketing choice) as opposed to "Hulu+" which is what the regular streaming service was once  called.

[ugarte]

you honestly wouldn't believe how much a decent digital antenna picks up on a roku tv for basic cable networks

[billhoward]

you honestly wouldn't believe how much a decent digital antenna picks up on a roku tv for basic cable networks

Our home audio / structured wiring / etcetera guy said he could put a digital antenna up in the attic. But first, he said, try just putting a $50 antenna next to the TV. In our case, we're on a rise that puts us almost line of sight to Manhattan.

All this wouldn't be necessary if community antenna television wasn't a boondoggle for the capitalist -- uh, sorry, been listening to Trotsky -- and it was a community service, at least basic transport of the local channels to houses that don't have good over the air reception. The cable-replacement services (YouTube TV, Fubo, etcetera, noted above) have gone beyond beyond mere aggregators.

[upprdeck]

my digital antenna picks up zero channels locally / picked up a dozen before the last upgrade to digital.. Digital is awful when you live in the country with hills.

[ugarte]

you honestly wouldn't believe how much a decent digital antenna picks up on a roku tv for basic cable networks

Our home audio / structured wiring / etcetera guy said he could put a digital antenna up in the attic. But first, he said, try just putting a $50 antenna next to the TV. In our case, we're on a rise that puts us almost line of sight to Manhattan.

That's the kind of digital antenna i meant.

[marty]

you honestly wouldn't believe how much a decent digital antenna picks up on a roku tv for basic cable networks

Our home audio / structured wiring / etcetera guy said he could put a digital antenna up in the attic. But first, he said, try just putting a $50 antenna next to the TV. In our case, we're on a rise that puts us almost line of sight to Manhattan.

That's the kind of digital antenna i meant.

For now, but in few years...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0NhV5BdEWqo

[ugarte]

you honestly wouldn't believe how much a decent digital antenna picks up on a roku tv for basic cable networks

Our home audio / structured wiring / etcetera guy said he could put a digital antenna up in the attic. But first, he said, try just putting a $50 antenna next to the TV. In our case, we're on a rise that puts us almost line of sight to Manhattan.

That's the kind of digital antenna i meant.

For now, but in few years...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0NhV5BdEWqo

i think most of these digital channels want to be picked up for free

[marty]

you honestly wouldn't believe how much a decent digital antenna picks up on a roku tv for basic cable networks

Our home audio / structured wiring / etcetera guy said he could put a digital antenna up in the attic. But first, he said, try just putting a $50 antenna next to the TV. In our case, we're on a rise that puts us almost line of sight to Manhattan.

That's the kind of digital antenna i meant.

For now, but in few years...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0NhV5BdEWqo

i think most of these digital channels want to be picked up for free

One of their biggest income streams for local channels is the payments they collect from cable.  The Youtube guys who are worried here think that everything will be scrambled so that all viewers will have to pay the equivalent of the cable fee to see the channels.

My crystal ball is cloudy here, but if enough antenna users bitch this will be unlikely to occur.

[billhoward]

One of their biggest income streams for local channels is the payments they collect from cable.  The Youtube guys who are worried here think that everything will be scrambled so that all viewers will have to pay the equivalent of the cable fee to see the channels. My crystal ball is cloudy here, but if enough antenna users bitch this will be unlikely to occur.

Channels that originate as over-the-air broadcasts, I believe that can't be broadcast as scrambled or encrypted channels. Something that lives only as a cable channel, say the Paranormal Channel (when in the seventies cable TV proponents said everyone would get 500 channels of diverse programming, is this what they meant?) could be encrypted.

[upprdeck]

i dont know why that would be true.. you cant rebroadcast those channels, so that doesnt mean you can just pick them up and offer them

[marty]

One of their biggest income streams for local channels is the payments they collect from cable.  The Youtube guys who are worried here think that everything will be scrambled so that all viewers will have to pay the equivalent of the cable fee to see the channels. My crystal ball is cloudy here, but if enough antenna users bitch this will be unlikely to occur.

Channels that originate as over-the-air broadcasts, I believe that can't be broadcast as scrambled or encrypted channels. Something that lives only as a cable channel, say the Paranormal Channel (when in the seventies cable TV proponents said everyone would get 500 channels of diverse programming, is this what they meant?) could be encrypted.

That is what they are supposedly planning to change.  Listen to Lon's Youtube rant.  I have no idea how likely this is to come true.

The worriers think that the broadcast channels are planning to change the covenent they have with the feds.

[jtwcornell91]

One of their biggest income streams for local channels is the payments they collect from cable.  The Youtube guys who are worried here think that everything will be scrambled so that all viewers will have to pay the equivalent of the cable fee to see the channels. My crystal ball is cloudy here, but if enough antenna users bitch this will be unlikely to occur.

Channels that originate as over-the-air broadcasts, I believe that can't be broadcast as scrambled or encrypted channels. Something that lives only as a cable channel, say the Paranormal Channel (when in the seventies cable TV proponents said everyone would get 500 channels of diverse programming, is this what they meant?) could be encrypted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW3uqvQ5XbA

[RichH]

A reminder that the subscription rates for the Disney family (which includes ESPN+) are all increasing this Thursday, Oct. 12.

Monthly increases from $9.99 to $10.99. If you subscribe today through Wednesday, you get the 2 exhibitions, UMD(2), @Yale, @Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard games at the lower rate. Save a buck.

The annual rate increases from $99.99 to $109.99. I checked my credit card "offers" and found a 15% off discount for ESPN+. I don't watch sports as much as I used to, but I decided it's worth $7-$8 a month to take me through lax season and some MLB.

It looks like the only CU hockey games not on ESPN+ this year are the ones @ASU in early Jan. The Lake Placid tournament before New Years has the ESPN+ logo on the Athletics website.