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Topic: Cutting the Cord 2021

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Thumper

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Cutting the Cord 2021
« on: January 01, 2021, 01:12:52 PM »
The cord cutting landscape has changed a lot in the past year.  I had to dump AT&T as they eliminated AT&T TV Now.  I could keep what I had but at a higher price.  There streaming package now is HBO Max or ATT TV which is offered on a 2 year contract basis.
Since CFB is really the only sport I care about, I didn't subscribe to anything for spring and summer.  As football season rolled around I looked for a new package.  At the time, the only ones that gave a comprehensive sports package that included the locals were Hulu and YouTube TV and Hulu was about $10 per month cheaper.  As it turned out, the Hulu package had ads, really annoying ads.  I found I could turn most of them off by paying another $5/month.  Then both Hulu and YouTube raised their prices to about $75/month.  I switched to YouTube and I like it better than Hulu.  I'll turn it off at the end of January and I'll sign up again next football season.
Streaming has really become like the old cable packages but the big advantage of streaming is the ability to cancel/restart at any time.  For half the year, I don't have a TV bill.  I still have Amazon Prime so I get Prime Video along with a lot of free books and music.  If Netflix has something I want to see, I'll subscribe/cancel as I need.
The biggest downer I see is Disney now owning both ESPN & Fox Sports channels.  I really expect them to make some kind of bundle that will make sports even more expensive.

MikeDeTiger

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Re: Cutting the Cord 2021
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2021, 05:39:12 PM »
The price increase is kind of what I always thought would happen once they got enough subscribers to cut the cord.  At ~$75 with tax, their only draw now is, as you said, the ability to cut if off when you don't want it.  I've done both Hulu and YTTV over the past few years.  Overall I preferred YouTube, for a couple of reasons.  But like you, I don't watch much TV the rest of the time.  For anyone who wants TV year-round, I can't see a reason not to just have old-school cable.  The streaming services are still way to clunky overall to be charging this kind of money.  I think they were valued about right back in the $50 days.  The time will come when they're probably more functional, but as of now, the only reason to do it is to avoid the hassle of satellite contracts and cable installs/discontinuations.  

Thumper

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Re: Cutting the Cord 2021
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2021, 08:54:29 PM »
Yep.  It is getting to be that time.  I'm going to try Vidgo this time.  They have the best sports package including the BTN, ACCN, SECN, and LHN.  They don't have a DVR but that isn't important to me.  Price is $55/mo.

 

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