I cut the cable!
/I have had Comcast TV & Internet service since 1993. That is a long time. Over that time the TV programming has not necessarily gotten better but the charges have gone up astronomically. Yes, the Internet service has gotten better; much faster and more reliable. However, after my bill topped $200/month for basic TV and Internet I had had enough.
I had heard of live TV Internet streaming services over the last year so I decided to start researching. Live TV streaming offers live TV channels, many with local TV channel feeds, a DVR service for recording and on-demand programs available via your Internet service. Most of them are about $40/month and offer around 60 channels. The different services have different sets of channels, different DVR features, and different local TV services. You really have to research their offerings to figure out which one best meets your needs. Some people want more sports channels, others want more entertainment and movie channels, others want more news channels.
You get streaming services via the Internet and a physical device like an Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Google Chromecast. Of course, I have and love an Apple TV. The Apple TV is a lot like an iPad that uses your TV as the screen. Like the iPad it comes with apps and it has an App Store like your iPad or iPhone.
Some of the apps you can get on these devices are live TV streaming services. The apps are free. Most of them have free 7 day trials and after that you pay their monthly service fee via your credit card. All of these services are month-to-month with no contract so you can try different ones. Heck, with their trials you can try them all free over a month’s time and get the feel for each.
Here are the live TV streaming services I researched and my brief thoughts on each:
YouTubeTV - Great service, fantastic unlimited DVR storage. 6 accounts per household. I just did not care for their channel offerings. tv.youtube.com
SlingTV - You have to pay extra for DVR service and there are no local channels. Plus, I did not like their channel offerings. www.sling.com
Playstation Vue - Good channel offerings, but no local and DVR service is extra. www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue
DirectTV Now - This has the best channel lineup and the best local channels. It has upgrade options if you don’t like their basic package. The DVR is limited to 20 hours/30 days. The worst parts were the reviews. It is reported to be buggy, hard to use and, since it is owned by AT&T, it reportedly has bad customer service. This was a close second choice for me. www.directvnow.com
Hulu Live - This is what I went with and, for me, it offered the best balance of the pluses and minuses of the others. Good channel selection, local channels and a 50 hour DVR. www.hulu.com/live-tv
There you have it - cable has been cut. Of course, you still need Internet service. I kept my Comcast Internet service (about $65/mo) but almost any Internet service will work. My TV plus Internet bill is now a bit over $100/mo compared to the previous over $200/mo. The Hulu Live (like most of them I would guess) is not as user friendly or slick as Comcast’s TV interface, but Comcast’s slick service is not worth an extra $100/mo to me. Your mileage may vary.