To Cable or Not to Cable?

[Cail]

So I'm moving to a new apartment. Obviously I'll be getting internet. Only provider is Comcast.

I dont really wanna get cable as its so damn expensive. What are some good non-cable options? Only TV channels I ever really watch are NHL Network, ESPN/s (I have espn+), Red Zone, and then I'll flip on some of the other channels like FXX/FX/Comedy Central every so often. Are there any online choices that let you actually pick individual channels instead of lame-ass packages?

[Anoat]

VidGo is a relatively new stream service that has all the channels you mentioned in the base package (including Red Zone), right now they have a promotion where you can get first month for $10 and then it’s $55 after that. A few detractors, no DVR and very limited On Demand if that matters to you. Of the networks, they only have ABC and Fox available.

YouTube TV and Hulu Live are really good, but they are more expensive around $65 a month. Both have free trials if you want to give them a try. I’d say avoid Sling TV because they don’t have any networks and try to paint it like you can pick the orange or blue package to save money but the reality is they split their programming up in a way that you have to order both to get everything you want. Bitches.

fubo TV is perfect if all you want is sports, it’s around $55 and you get pretty much all the sports channels and your local networks but not much else unless you pay extra

[synistar]

Since you have ESPN+, just go Hulu Live imo. and then add Red Zone on the top of your Hulu Live sub. Only thing losing out is NHL network. But ESPN covers nearly everything hockey now iirc.

[Krandor]

FWIW, I've noticed Hulu Live has a pretty major delay, it usually seems to be like at least 60-90 seconds behind. Could be a bit of a hassle if you're trying to follow along with live sports.

I've been using YouTube TV for awhile now and I like it. It can occasionally kind of hitch and freeze, but a quick button tap to return to live restores it. DVR functionality on it is really good to.

Hulu does have the advantage of offering East and West coast feeds for channels, whereas YouTube TV only offers the local option. But since you live on the east coast already that's probably not that big a deal, it only comes up for me in the case of wanting to watch wrestling live.

[Boyiee]

When I still wanted live tv I used YouTube tv and added RedZone. It's definitely the best but for how little I watched I couldn't justify it. I cut live tv entirely and use the Hulu no ads Disney ESPN+ bundle, and Hulu is okay enough that if I wanted live tv and RedZone again I'd try out their live version.

Thing is, I get all my NFL/RedZone/NHL from the internet/Reddit streams which I cast to my TV's. So I really don't see myself going back to live tv. Hulu is nice cause any new shows the wife may want to watch like idol or AGT are available the next day. So the only thing we lack is sports which are solved by streaming from NFL bite or something.

Consider me frugal, but we pay for the cheapest internet package Xfinity allowed ($60), Hulu/dis/ESPN bundle(not live super cheap), Prime so we get all that comes with, and we log into my sister's Netflix once a month just to log out since we don't find anything. I don't see a need for live tv anymore or sports, it takes one extra step to get to the sports is all.

[Cail]

I know my TV suppots chromecast, so i can do the streams that way...ive just never done it

[Malithar]

When I still wanted live tv I used YouTube tv and added RedZone. It's definitely the best but for how little I watched I couldn't justify it.

This is what I did as well. Auto DVR for anything you want with no limit was pretty sweet. The pricing felt competitive I thought, I just didn't need live TV anymore.

[Boyiee]

I know my TV suppots chromecast, so i can do the streams that way...ive just never done it

So it takes a few extra steps the first time because Chromecast is finicky with some of the streaming sites. It used to cast perfectly from my laptop browser with sound, now it only cast video and if it casts from your phone it's stupid.

So the easiest thing I've found was to get a browser on your TV and I found the best one to be called TV bro and you download it by sideloading it from a website since it's not listed on the Google store.

With a web browser on the TV you just open the streaming site with no issues except clicking through the first couple ads.

It sounds like a lot and takes a few minutes to set up but once it's up you have all sports for free basically without hassle it's just less convenient than swapping channels because you're changing browser pages or loading different games.

I don't cheer for a local team so I always got blacked out and have felt live TV was pointless for sports for years because of that. The only network or thing worth having was Red zone or whatever premium sport service you use, MLB TV NBA TV etc. Many providers still don't have red zone as an add-on and you either can't get or it's very difficult to get it standalone. Sometime in the future I'm sure red zone and blacked out games will become a standalone product and be worth every penny and I probably will pay for it then. For now I'm just going to keep streaming.

[Roranora]

Not to Cable.