# What type media (TV) service do you currently use.



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Just wondering, I recently changed off of my long time TV service provider as the bill had gotten out of sight. My internet at the house with my service was just south of $300 a month. That was 100mps of internet and 6 TV's with two DVR's. Honestly the only reason I had the DVR was not to record per say but to have the ability to rewind something that I was "monitoring" cause I seldom watch anything....but occasionally, like when watching football/baseball I might want to rewind and look at a play before the network replays....or I may be cooking and missed something and can rewind a bit to catch what I missed. I have a broadcast antenna but really am not a fan of the thing on the house so I had local channels on my plan, that means the antenna wasn't being used....I'm taking it down. Another problem is a lot of newer sets don't have a tuner in them so it was useless as tits on a boar hog unless I added a tuner. 
The way I went about the change was to add high speed internet via fiber to the house (had to co-pay to run the fiber) and settled on a plan that runs at 300mps. This allows for non-glitch streaming of channels (locals included depending on the service) YouTube TV, Hulu, Philo, HBO, Cinemax, and a few more all have plans now. YT and Hulu both have local channels on their plans. So my internet is now $135 per month and YT is $70 a month and that's got most all channels you could want....with the exception of Hallmark and a couple of Lifetime channels, but Philo has all of those for $20 a month. Right now I have a trial subscription to all of them while I try them out. I installed a new router/WiFi hub and Roku devices on all of the sets (6) the Roku is about $30 each and the new router was $140 so there is a bit of initial investment but not too bad. So far so good, no glitching at 300mps at all, and the video quality is very good (better than these old eyes can discern) and the remotes that come with the Roku are very easy and uncluttered. One of them is voice command and it understands my southern drawl just fine....
At the end of the day, I'm not saving a huge amount but I have freed myself from the cable company (Mediacom) whose service had gotten pathetic ever since they went to this Extreme service they have now. It's Extremely unreliable... just wondering if anyone else has tried this and what service you may have chosen and why....I like the guide better on the YouTube TV (has unlimited DVR storage for me, not unlimited I don't think, but way more than I would ever use) Hulu also has DVR built in but not as much but still enuf for me....
Anyone have these services? Any good experiences.....


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

We just recently got a really good antenna, before that we had CBS and FOX. Now we get QVC too.....

We have had Netflix and Amazon Prime for a number Of years. Just got Disney Plus few months ago. Our internet isn't too bad but it does buffer a bit at times.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Disney has a tv package as well....lots of different packages out there but most do require a high speed connection to prevent buffering.....100mps is about the range you need to be in, the more the better but it all comes with a cost. I pick up about 8-9 channels over the air. Mine is mostly for the wife and kids (when they come home). I do like that none of them require a commitment, you can go month to month if you like....


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

Got rid of the ditect tv about 8 years ago and went to streaming. Now run a US Cellular 4g modem. That's the best I can do unless I pay a lot more for internet. Netflix, Amazon prime and disney now too, I guess.
Still cheaper than the last direct tv bill I paid.

Someone told me to switch everytime your contract is up so you get the latest and greatest hardware and packages. I opted to tell them to pick it up.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I really don't watch much TV except in fall and winter. I bought an over the air broadcast antenna that is about 2' x 2' square that is placed in my attic (or upper room) that picks up all the broadcasted channels in my region. I think there is 28. Picture quality is superior and I can watch local news and others and some network ball.

I did use Sling but canceled until this fall. Not sure what I will try this fall, but I want to be able to get Paramount so that I can watch Yellowstone. Supposedly one of the very best series out there right now. College football and basketball are the main things I watch. And the little woman watches cooking shows, and I do occasionally. 

My internet provider is Comcast and it runs about $66 per month plus whatever streamer I use. I may have to check into fiber as I just have cable to the house now. I probably would need about 400 feet of fiber optics. Is that high dollar?

Regards, Mike


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

We use Rise Broadband internet, have small antenna that hits another antenna on my buddy's grain leg 1.5 miles away. Internet is $57/month and streams very well 98% of the time and unlimited data. Using Hulu and Netflix thru Roku devices. Had to add on Starz for a couple months to watch new series of Outlander. Dropped dish network 18 months ago, they were $130/month.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Wow, that's a lot of broadcast channels....Co-pay wasn't too bad I guess, I had to pay $700 (I thought that was kinda steep) total length of run was 1500' from pedestal to house....

I heard that outlander was purty good....Netflix has some good programs too, I just never have time to watch them consistently....


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

I looked at having Charter (local cable) bring cable to my house and they quoted me (what I thought was) a ridiculous price of $10 a foot for everything over 300'. They would need to come about 1 1/2 miles (7-8 thousand feet was the shortest route). The shortest route also came within 1/8 mile (or passed by) 50+ houses (without cable/high speed internet).

I have Charter at my office (7 miles away from home), cost is$90 a month for 100 Mbps (business pricing). That's were I do most of my online stuff for now, along with internet phones.

I just had Hughes (satellite) hooked up at home ($70 for 25 Mbps), so far not impressed. That 2 1/2 to 3 second delay (2500-3000 ms), is noticeable when you are used to 5-10 ms lag time.

I own my own equipment with Dish, have 4 receivers (one dual), so 5 TVs can watch different channels. No DVR stuff, they keep wanting me to 'upgrade' however. Have local channels, American 250, Ci-Max, Star, plus sports channels (great during NCAA March madness, in a normal year, if you like college BB), around $150 month or less.

Nice thing about the different receivers, I can take one (or two or three) and have them in different locations. I take one up North in the fall, while deer hunting (it's still football season isn't it). Might have a receiver at a couple of son's homes also.  Come on do you think the better half & myself need 5 TVs for ourselves?

Looking into a different internet service yet, don't have much info. My nephew was suppose to get it last Friday. He lives 1/2 mile away, but in the same 'dead' spot area that I do. Our problem is I live one mile inside my township, to the south is a different township and there is cable running down a little dirt road (1 mile as crow flies). I'm on a black top road, but the nearest cable to the north (2nd closest) is 3 miles.

I guess what I'm saying, is maybe be thankful of the choices you might have. And what I have for a TV picture today (with my antique equipment) is a far cry better than the 'snow' days. I didn't realize Gunsmoke didn't have 'snow', until recently while watching (following my Gov's orders you known, stayin' home).

Larry


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## KS John (Aug 6, 2018)

I have Viasat satilite internet on a special deal I got a few years ago, Unlimited (supposedly) for $100. Streaming via Netflix, Philo, Pluto, and a few others on Roku devices. Philo is $20 a month and has most channels I wanted. Pluto and the others are free. I had Dish Network for 15 years and had to call every 6 months to get a "deal". Finally the wife said get rid of the TV one time too many and away it went!. Really do not miss it much. I have seen some Youtube videos on Netlink Nighthawk and MoFi 4G routers. They are unlocked and will work on any carrier. Unlimited for about $60 a month if you are interested.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

somedevildawg said:


> Wow, that's a lot of broadcast channels.


Yeah, I was shocked when I found out what I had been missing. Great signals and enough variety that I only pay for streaming about 6 months of the year. Most of the origination is from Knoxville with some additional from around the area and it doesn't cost anything.

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ya that’s one thing that most folks don’t realize, the signal from over the air terrestrial is way better than the compresssed/uncompressed signal that the carriers have.....it’s really significant the difference.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

We ditched the directTV awhile back... got an antenna and was shocked by how many channels are on there now... My BIL in Indiana "refuses to pay for TV" (smart IMHO) and ONLY has the old antenna (and our Netflix account we watch when we're visiting up there he uses as he wants) and honestly I enjoy the old shows on Heroes and Icons and COZI-TV and the other "independent" channels over the vast wasteland that TV has become any day of the week... We had direcTV for a long time, but I found that basically I wasn't really watching anything "regularly" except "Vikings" and "TURN: Washington's Spies" and that one ended... the rest was just DVR'd movies I'd watch later. What *REALLY* got my goat was the fact that the direcTV price was going through the roof, and at the same time they literally NUKE you with commercials nowadays... I mean, for instance, I recorded "Silver Streak" one day when I found it in the upcoming guide and that is about a 96 minute movie... When I recorded it and went to watch it later, they stretched that movie out to THREE HOURS AND THIRTY MINUTES! It started off with about ten minutes of movie, then about 8-10 commercials (4-5 minutes worth of commercials) that i skip by hitting the "skip commercial" button 8-10 times... I count my shots LOL Anyway, as the movie went on, the amount of movie decreases and the amount of commercials increase... the last 20 minutes of the movie were stretched out OVER AN HOUR because they'd show about 2 minutes of movies and about 10-12 commercials... one commercial break was actually FIFTEEN COMMERCIALS! Now, anybody familiar with the history of broadcast media (starting with radios after the turn of the 20th century) knows that the folks wanting to sell radios to "common folks" had a big problem back then- having CONTENT that people would actually spend hard earned money to BUY a radio to listen to! SO, they invested in content and the "entertainment industry" slowly grew out of that-- the more content they had, the more customers for radios they got, and the more they could invest into the content, BUT, the system soon outgrew that model very quickly... people wanted more and better content, not just music and news but radio shows and other such programs... Stuff that cost a lot more to produce. The problem was, how to pay for it?? SO bright people came up with the idea of selling ADVERTISING to pay for new programming-- and hence "now a word from our sponsor!" entered the lexicon... The media industry has been selling advertisements ever since. Now, when the space age came along and we got communications satellites, well, it took special equipment to get those broadcasts, and so the local stations had the equipment and bought rights to programming and sold advertisements to local businesses, and the companies sold advertising packages to national companies for nationwide ads, etc. With the small electronics revolution in the late 70's and early 80's, it became possible for folks to buy satellite dishes and "decoders" to receive those signals DIRECTLY, BEFORE they had the advertising added to it during "station breaks" as they would be broadcast over the airwaves locally. Folks with a little money and some technical know-how flocked to satellite receivers to "get away from the ad blitzes" going on in broadcast TV. Of course this growing trend was cutting into broadcaster's profits, as it was hurting ad revenues since these people weren't being bombarded by the advertiser's crass messages constantly. SO they invented "encoding" of the signals and satellite TV became a "pay" service-- you paid your four bits to get the 'code' to unscramble the signals. Later the small dishes supplanted the bigger ones and the services and equipment was more streamlined and incorporated new technologies, like DVR's, and offered many of the new "cable only" networks/stations that were never on local broadcast (airwaves) but strictly on "pay TV", like the Sci-Fi channel, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Science Channel, etc. The cost was about on-par with cable rates most people were paying in the cities anyway, and usually offered more programming, so cable slowly fell by the wayside and satellite TV supplanted it. Then the programming went to sh!t, and the Sci-Fi channel became "Sy-Fy" and instead of showing old science fiction classic shows like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, etc. it became the 'Sharknado versus Lava Worm" channel (and other assorted nonsensical tripe), History channel became about Aliens and Pawn Shops instead of History, Science channel became about environmental activism and other nonsense instead of about science, you name it...

About this time a wonderful new technology finally came of age-- streaming TV over the internet.... anything you wanted, whenever you wanted it (more or less), no trying to find it somewhere in the endless guides on satellite TV, when they had time to show anything you might actually want to see between tripe and infomercials... Being the "new kids" they priced things cheap to gain market share, and it really took off. At the same time, satellite TV, which was "commercial free" in the early days and had remained so for quite a few years after it became "pay to unscramble", had gotten greedy and fat and wanted more... hence they started selling more and more commercial time to advertisers for big $$$, and slowly increasing their monthly rates for the satellite 'service'. Basically, they're DOUBLE DIPPING-- charging customers a bundle to bombard them with huge amounts of advertising they're selling airtime to advertisers to for a big bundle of money-- IOW, you're PAYING to be nuked by ADS... the DVR's and stuff allowed people to "fast forward" past most of the advertising, and for awhile you could "flip channels" like the old days and watch one show you liked til commercials came on, flip to another channel to a show you had seen or didn't mind seeing again or were less interested in, and watch it for five minutes while the commercials ran on the show you were watching... Til the satellite providers started doing ALL their commercials on every channel at the SAME TIME. That's when I quit watching in "real time" and started just DVR'ing everything to watch later.

Anyway, streaming came in, again with no adverts, and at lower cost and offering pretty much anything you wanted whenever you wanted to watch it. So they grew by leaps and bounds, drawing off customers from the satellite and cable providers... so they started jacking up their rates. My brother got DirecTV years ago, as a gearhead, specifically to watch various "car channels" and racing channels and stuff... til they started charging extra for it and jacked up his rates, and the programming started going to sh!t, so he just pulled the plug on them after about a year. We clung on, but when the bill got up to over $100 we said, "wait, WHAT are we getting for this money again?" and started looking at it and Betty called DirecTV and they offered to cut the bill to $47 a month, but we lost "the military channel" (which is one I liked) and some other things I didn't care as much about. Of course awhile later they started jacking the price back up and about a year later we're up over $100 a month again. We called to cancel and they offered to drop it back again to about half what we were paying. They jacked it right back up again over the next few months, and by this time we were sick of it, Betty had seen streaming at some of her friend's houses and we decided to go that route, and we dropped them for good. They offered us another sweet deal, but we were sick of messing with it. We get all the streaming stuff we want now for about $45-50 bucks a month... some channels now are free but DO have advertising, though not as bad YET as the broadcast or satellite/cable systems have... the rest we buy on DVD as seems like every time I go looking for something on streaming I CANNOT find it, it's either bounced out of the cue or pulled for a few months before it "comes back" into the cue...

SO that's what we're doing. We have fairly decent "high speed over landline" internet here, it was REALLY good until my wife UPGRADED It for her masters program and school work, I think the wifi routers they provide are mostly crap, but we can stream shows most of the time with no interruption-- but if all three of us are on the internet or wifi and streaming the system sometimes bogs down, but it's not that expensive so what can you expect... We're spending maybe between $120-140 a month or thereabouts on internet and streaming now. I binge watch stuff, so my current thing is CBS streaming, because we watched all the "JAG" episodes they had (it was on 10 years; the first season is pretty much all there but as it goes on each progressive season has fewer and fewer episodes-- the fifth season had about half of them, and the last two seasons only had about 3-4 of the 22-24 episodes on the service for some reason!) CBS All Access has been around for a few years now; it launched with the "Star Trek Discovery" TV series, but I REFUSED to get a streaming channel to watch ONE show, particularly one that all the reviews said TOTALLY SUCKED... I later got a "free trial" and binge watched the series, and yeah it sucked... but I also started binge-watching the classic Hawaii Five-O from the 60's and 70's and JAG and so we picked up the channel and are paying for it, til the content runs out... we're 2/3 of the way through classic Five-O now, may watch the new ones as well, and we'll see if they ever put the classic Magnum PI on there we'll keep it, but if not, we'll drop it once we've binge watched what we want to see... Star Trek "Picard" is a steaming festering pile of donkey sh!t; I couldn't take it anymore and quit watching after forcing myself to stick it out to the fifth episode, so NO REASON to pay to see that or the not much better Star Trek Discovery, which is a steaming turd itself...

Anyway, that's what we're doing...  OL J R : )


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