Cord cutting help

[Sangre Naranjada]

Let me preface this by saying, forgive me, I am old. I am cutting Spectrum out of my life before the end of the month (except for internet - they are still the only high speed provider in Lockhart ).

Given our move to the SEC, I think Hulu+ live TV will get me all the Longhorn sports that used to be on LHN. But I would really like to hear the experiences of the community before I pull the trigger. So, what say you? Hulu, or another streaming service?

Also, once I have a service, how do I access the + channels? ESPN+, SEC+? Guidance on that is also deeply appreciated.

Hook 'em!

 

[guy4321]

I use FuboTV during baseball season and YouTube TV when it's not baseball season. YTTV works much better and is cheaper but lacks the regional sports channels. 2024 is the first year that Fubo has functioned really good. I don't have any experience with Hulu + Live TV but it seems to come with ESPN+ so that's probably good with the death of LHN. It looks to be $4 more per month than YTTV.

 

[Fan4life]

Let me preface this by saying, forgive me, I am old. I am cutting Spectrum out of my life before the end of the month (except for internet - they are still the only high speed provider in Lockhart ).

Given our move to the SEC, I think Hulu+ live TV will get me all the Longhorn sports that used to be on LHN. But I would really like to hear the experiences of the community before I pull the trigger. So, what say you? Hulu, or another streaming service?

Also, once I have a service, how do I access the + channels? ESPN+, SEC+? Guidance on that is also deeply appreciated.

Hook 'em!

I have Hulu + tv. You can access ESPN+ from he app. This with OTA should be able to watch all Longhorn and SEC sports.

 

[ViperHorn]

SN,

We ditched Spectrum TV last February and increased our Spectrum Internet to 50bps. We the signed up for Fubo to get Texas Rangers baseball. If not for that we would have gone with YouTubeTV, but since June or so Fubo seems to have made enough improvement just to stay with them.

We also have peacock for the auto racing and track, some of their NBC historical programming and to see Mike Florio and Chris Simms try to talk pro football. Simms is actually good (better than his brother who is on NFL Network on Sirius). Max comes with my AT&T Wireless account. All of this for $75-100 less than Spectrum TV.

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

SN,

We ditched Spectrum TV last February and increased our Spectrum Internet to 50bps. We the signed up for Fubo to get Texas Rangers baseball. If not for that we would have gone with YouTubeTV, but since June or so Fubo seems to have made enough improvement just to stay with them.

We also have peacock for the auto racing and track, some of their NBC historical programming and to see Mike Florio and Chris Simms try to talk pro football. Simms is actually good (better than his brother who is on NFL Network on Sirius). Max comes with my AT&T Wireless account. All of this for $75-100 less than Spectrum TV.

Thanks for the info. Looks like Hulu + live TV is going to get me everything except SEC+. I'll have to fart around and figure out how to get that, and if it is worth the cost.

By the way, I found that suppose.tv was a very helpful tool to do side by side comparisons. If anybody else is wondering what streaming service to use, I suggest their website may be quite useful to you, too.

 

[ViperHorn]

Is this the hulu+ you are talking about?

If so check with ESPN because I believe SEC+ is just a part of ESPN+.

 

[Horns11]

Yes, ESPN+ includes SECN+.

I pay for the ESPN+ through Hulu/Disney because of the article access on the website, and it's really the only way to get access to those FCS games and "4th tier" and beyond. The cool thing about the Hulu app is that you can watch all of them on it without switching over to the ESPN app.

 

[Horn6721]

I admit I am learning
But Why do I not get ESPN etc ON AT&T Uverse?
AT&T uverse broke off from Direct tv in 2021.

 

[BornOrange0855]

I admit I am learning
But Why do I not get ESPN etc ON AT&T Uverse?
AT&T uverse broke off from Direct tv in 2021.

I, too, have Uverse so when I heard there were going to be issues with Direct TV I didn't think I'd be affected. I'm guessing I'm missing about 10-15 channels now. This game of chicken pisses me off--on both sides. Didn't Disney recently do some deal where they said it would be good for the consumer? I'm not one for over regulation of business, but the DOJ just needs to call bullspit on some of these mergers. No business merges because they think its a good deal for the consumer.

FWIW, a friend today told me he has Youtube TV and gets all the games for around $80 per month.This dinosaur is considering the scissors.

 

[Horn6721]

BornOrange
I am with you. Clueless on what to do.
please let me know how you navigate it
I can't understand why Uverse which is supposed to be completely separate is affected by Direct.

 

[SabreHorn]

I have no idea what I have (son & grandson know all that crap & know I ain't gonna understand). I have about 20 choices (Paramount, Peacock, YouTube, etc). Only one I use is YouTubeTV, which gives me all the channels - local & cable. Only thing I don't like is no numbers on remote, so you either choose from the 10-15 at top of screen, use voice control, or scroll through 75+ channels. I still don't understand having "unlimited" recordings in the cloud, plus it records the same show as many times as they are on - summer reruns, ESPN games, etc.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Start by getting a good quality outdoor antenna first and see what you can pull in. Mine gets about 65 channels. Most of it I don't watch (just like cable) but in my old age, most of my TV watching these days comes from the antenna. There used to be 1 or 2, now there are about 10-12 channels that show old shows from the 60s-80s and that is mostly what I want anymore.

The LSU-USC game was on ABC so I watched it off the antenna.

 

[Horn6721]

Hmmm PE That sounds interesting. Can you link all tvs to the one antenna.
Do you get all the ESPN channels?

 

[nashhorn]

I have an old style antenna in attic and split it to all tv’s via cable but antennas are small enough, and reasonably priced so that would be simple to do separately for each tv. ESPN is not available via antenna however.

 

[Horns11]

Antennae can also be hooked up to some media server software (Kodi, Plex) so you can use your own computer to record, DVR, etc. That requires a dongle or two, but it's usually fine once you figure out how to connect it to USB or an HDMI-in.

If you're a VPN person, there are plenty of "educational purposes only" builds for Kodi that will get you... well... anything. Live TV, Netflix stuff from other countries, etc. It's illegal but it's pretty much the main way people under 30 stream. Also why you can't trust any TV ratings or Nielsen or whatever. You need really good Internet speed because of routing through Switzerland or whatever, but it's functional. And when a stream/server gets shut down, there are a million more to choose from.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Hmmm PE That sounds interesting. Can you link all tvs to the one antenna.

My house is wired with cable going to most of the TVs so I route my antenna thru that. I also have a FireTV Recast that serves as a DVR for antenna shows and also routes antenna channels to the FireSticks for those couple of TVs that do not have an antenna cable run to them.

Do you get all the ESPN channels?

No, you do not get ESPN thru the antenna. I was getting that on the DL from my brother but now that LHN is it's own app, I am doing without for the time being. I will pony up for ESPN+ if I have to in order to get one of our road games. I already have an ESPN+ account from baseball season so I can just turn it back on again if need be.

 

[Horn6721]

Thanks

 

[TempestHorn]

Yes, ESPN+ includes SECN+.

I pay for the ESPN+ through Hulu/Disney because of the article access on the website, and it's really the only way to get access to those FCS games and "4th tier" and beyond. The cool thing about the Hulu app is that you can watch all of them on it without switching over to the ESPN app.

This is not correct. SECN+ is included as part of your access to SEC Network. ESPN+ is a separate subscription. Both platforms are accessible through the ESPN app. Sometimes they simulcast on both platforms but an ESPN+ subscription does not give you access to all SEC+ content.

Hulu does include ESPN+ content if you have an ESPN+ subscription. I don't think they are as good with SEC+ content. I've had to go to the ESPN app to stream that.

 

[nashhorn]

Phil, the FireTv Recast, how does that work to record off the air tv? That has always been a hang up for me - recording off the air - in dumping the cable cord.
Thanks. I know many years ago there were hard drive boxes you could buy and pirate record shows but they fixed that so that the broadcast wouldn’t come across. Does FireTv get around that or is it something else entirely?

 

[Phil Elliott]

You attach it to your antenna and your internet. It then puts up a listing on any TV with a FireStick of all the over-the-air shows, and you can pick which ones to record. It then broadcasts those recorded shows, and any live tv from the antenna, via wifi to your FireStick.

I think Amazon discontinued the Recast but there is a new thing out there called "Tablo" that does the same thing as the Recast does.

 

[nashhorn]

Cool.
I just remember wayyyy back in the day trying to record onto a dvd recorder shows from live tv and would get proprietary type warnings which would make the media unrecordable.

 

[omarv]

I have YTTV and love it. Have it paired with T-Mobile Internet (and cell service) and I pay $174 (with tax) for 2 cell lines unlimited, home internet (decent speeds but not blazing), YTTV and the Sports Pack extra they have.