catv_alternatives
Table of Contents
This is an old revision of the document!
Cutting The Cord - An Approach
So you're thinking of cutting the CATV cord and relying on Internet instead. How should you approach this? Here are my thoughts.
Analyze the situation
- What are you paying now for CATV?
- What would you save if you kept everything and eliminated CATV?
- Consider effects of bundling
- What channels would you want to continue watching?
- Look at content services below that are free, will these cover them?
- Which content service(s) would you need/want to cover the other channels?
- Add 'em up. See what it would cost without CATV. More? Less?
Other considerations
- Convenience of using CATV vs Internet content services
- Reliability of the replacement content services
- Cost of the content services you'd need vs your no-CATV savings
- Do you use DVR? How would you record content without it? (Alternatives?)
- How would you watch content without CATV?
- Does your TV allow browsing to services?
- Does your TV allow apps (as some content services may offer apps)?
- Alternatives (dedicate PC to feed TV, others?)
- Note that: A portion of your CATV cost goes to support community cable, LexMedia.
- If you kept CATV, you would still be able to use content services (esp. free ones!)
- Possible effects of using VPN
Lets try an example
- Determine the channels you like (e.g., CNN, HGTV, BUZZR, channel 5)
- Find services below that offer one or more of these and try them out
- Start with free services (e.g., Watch News Live (CNN, HGTV), Pluto.tv (BUZZR))
- Get antenna and try watching local TV using free air signals (e.g., channel 5)
- Could you rely on network content replays (e.g., 20/20 and Bachelor playbacks on ABC)
- Could you rely on live feeds from local channels (wbztv.com, wcvb.com, nbcboston.com; streema? others?)
- May need to select CATV provider to access
- Note that most services that cost $ offer a short free trial period
Disclaimer
- I am on the board of LexMedia (unpaid)
- I don't own a smart TV
- I am paying for and using Verizon FiOS
- I am not paying for any premium channels
Cable Alternatives :or: Additional Watching Options
Information updated Jan 13, 2020.
There is a comparison of channel coverage in this spreadsheet, its info summarized here.
Your comments appreciated! Did I miss any services? Or should anything be corrected?
Disclaimer: This is not a complete list!
Paybies
| Service | Summary | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Hulu https://www.hulu.com/welcome | Hulu $5.99/mo; $11.99/mo no ads (on-demand library of TV episodes and movies; 1 device/time) Hulu + Live TV $44.99/mo (Hulu plus live and on-demand TV from 60+ channels; 2 devices/time) | Hulu+Live TV: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, A&E, Animal Planet, CNBC, CNN, Discovery, Disney, Entertainment, ESPN, Food network, Fox News, HGTV, History, Lifetime, MSNBC, NASA, National Geographic, Oxygen, SyFy, TBS, TCM, TLC, TNT, USA |
| Amazon Prime | $8.99/mo, included w/Prime | movies on demand. Also some premium services at added cost (e.g., HBO, StarZ, Britbox, Showtime) |
| Netflix https://www.netflix.com | several plans, $8.99/mo (one user at time) to $12.99/mo (two at a time) and up | movies and tv series on demand, pay one price get all they offer |
| Philo https://try.philo.com/ | $20/mo no contract live & on-demand & record live TV | A&E, AMC, Animal Planet, BBC World News, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, Cooking, Discovery, DIY, Food Network, Game Show Network, HGTV, History, Lifetime, TLC, TV Land Available on Roku, Apple TV, firetv, Android TV, iOS (up to 3 at a time) |
| Sling TV https://www.sling.com/ | $25-$40/mo (There is a device “Slingbox”–theoretically connect to your home cable and view your channels anywhere–but I'm not able to use it any longer) | Orange ($25/mo): ESPN, Disney, A&E, TNT, AMC, HGTV, CNN, TBS, Comedy Central, History, Food network, Lifetime, Bloomberg; one device/time Blue ($25/mo): BBC, National Geographic, USA, TNT, AMC, HGTV, CNN, TBS, Comedy Central, History, A&E, Food network, Lifetime, Bloomberg, discovery, TLC, SyFy, BET, Entertainment; 3 devices/time Orange+Blue ($40/mo): both plan's channels, 4 devices/time. |
| Fubo TV htttps://www.fubo.tv | $54.99/mo | 100+ channels; sports mostly. In our area: 4, 23, NBC, NESN, A&E, AMC, Bravo, Entertainment network, CNN, Food Network, HGTV, History, USA, TNT, TBS, SyFy, TCM, NECN, TV Land, Discovery, TLC, many more |
| ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/ | Starts at $4.99/mo $49.99/yr | $4.99/mo: live events, series 12.99/mo: add Hulu and Disney+ |
| Apple TV | $4.99/mo ad-free; need iPhone, iPad, Apple TV HD, or Apple TV 4K, MacOS Catalina, Samsung or LG smart TV, Roku, Amazon Fire | Buy or rent movies. Watch many channels, but each has monthly costs. Most prices match provider (Native App) but providers usually offer annual price break and Apple TV is straight month-to-month; for example Britbox is $6.99/mo with Apple, but $6.99/mo or $69.99/yr with native app. HBO $14.99/mo, Showtime $10.99/mo, StarZ $8.99/mo. Opinion: best to go with native app as it often offers break for annual. |
| Orby TV http://orbytv.com | Essentials $40/mo; get local channels using outside antenna; requires satellite dish | A&E, CNN, Food Network, FYI, HGTV, History, HLN, Lifetime, TBS, TCM, TLC, TNT, TV Land, AMC, BBC America, Discovery, more |
| YouTube TV https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/ | $49.99/mo | ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC ESPN, AMC, CNN, Disney, Food network, HGTV, TNT. Local channels 4, 5, 10, 25, 38, NECN. |
| HBO Now, HBO Go https://www.hbo.com/order/now-vs-go | HBO Go: included with paid TV subscription that has HBO HBO Now: $15/mo, stand-alone doesn't need cable TV package | All HBO content. Available on Fire TV, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Samsung smart TVs, more |
| CBS All Access https://www.cbs.com/all-access/ | Limited commercials plan: $5.99/mo Commercial-free plan: $9.99/mo | CBS TV shows. Also available on Amazon Prime as add-on, same price |
Freebies
| Service | Summary | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Pluto.tv http://pluto.tv/live-tv/ | Free. | Many movie channels. BUZZR, British TV, James Bond movies, Baywatch, Crime Network, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, Bloomberg. Addams Family, Dragnet, Dick Van Dyke Show, Unsolved Mysteries, Forensic Files, Hell's Kitchen uncensored, This Old House, Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders, Comedy Central, many sports channels. Scifi, Science, Tech, C-Net, NASA. Cats channel, Dogs channel Pets channel. |
| ABC | Watch Live https://abc.com/watch-live Watch shows https://abc.com/shows | |
| NBC | Watch Live https://www.nbc.com/apps Watch Shows on demand https://www.nbc.com/shows/all/popular Bravo, Entertainment, MSNBC, Oxygen, SyFy, USA | Offers free app (for iOS, Android, ROku, Fire, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, more) to watch live feed |
| Watch News Live http://watchnewslive.tv | free | A&E, Bravo, CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, Food Network, Fox News, HBO, HGTV, History, NFL Network, StarZ, SyFy, USA |
| Live News Mag https://www.livenewsmag.com/ | free | ABC, MSNBC, National Geographic, more |
| Tubi TV https://tubitv.com | Free | Movies on demand. Minority Report, Jeff Dunham, Catch Me If You Can, more. Many more you've probably never heard of. |
| Streema https://streema.com/tv/Boston_MA | free? | Channels 5, 2, 4, 25, 38; more, choose by region, country, city, genre I just found this, needs more analysis, points out that there is MUCH MORE STUFF AVAILABLE! |
[731 page views]
catv_alternatives.1579050010.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021.12.22 14:21 (external edit)