Cutting the cable/satellite cord

[Berkut]

So, I am going to be moving to a new place of my own soon, and I am considering using this as an opportunity to try going cable/satellite free.


What is the current state of living without cable or satellite TV?


I have a netflix account, and Amazon Prime. But what about sports? Regular TV? ESPN? HBO?


What are the options with things like Apple TV?

[Barrister]

I have a netflix account, and Amazon Prime. But what about sports? Regular TV? ESPN? HBO?

What are the options with things like Apple TV?

Sports are the reason I still have cable.

It depends which sports you want to watch.  I'm a hockey fan, and my team is "out of market", so I watch 80-90% of games on the Apple TV using the NHL App - cost was ~$200 for the season.  Unfortunately, the remaining games, and any playoffs, are only on cable.

I know MLB has a similar set-up - you can pay a fee and watch out-of-market games to your hearts content, but again - no playoffs.

Pretty sure NFL has no on-line viewing options.  I know CFL (Not that you care) is exclusively on cable.  I have no clue about NCAA or NBA.

Aside from Sports, my wife relies on iTunes for the odd show that Netflix doesn't watch.  She'll buy a season for Walking Dead or Game of Thrones, and be able to watch it 24 hours after it shows on cable.  Of course iTunes isn't all that cheap, but if there are only a few shows like that you absolutely have to watch it's viable.

Of course there's a whole world of illicit streams and torrents, but I don't partake in those.

[Josquius]

Yes. Sports wise streams are plentiful but I'm not familiar with a decent legal way.

Take just the sports package?

[Grey Fox]

I have a netflix account, and Amazon Prime. But what about sports? Regular TV? ESPN? HBO?

What are the options with things like Apple TV?

Sports are the reason I still have cable.

It depends which sports you want to watch.  I'm a hockey fan, and my team is "out of market", so I watch 80-90% of games on the Apple TV using the NHL App - cost was ~$200 for the season.  Unfortunately, the remaining games, and any playoffs, are only on cable.

I know MLB has a similar set-up - you can pay a fee and watch out-of-market games to your hearts content, but again - no playoffs.

Pretty sure NFL has no on-line viewing options.  I know CFL (Not that you care) is exclusively on cable.  I have no clue about NCAA or NBA.

Aside from Sports, my wife relies on iTunes for the odd show that Netflix doesn't watch.  She'll buy a season for Walking Dead or Game of Thrones, and be able to watch it 24 hours after it shows on cable.  Of course iTunes isn't all that cheap, but if there are only a few shows like that you absolutely have to watch it's viable.

Of course there's a whole world of illicit streams and torrents, but I don't partake in those.

Sportsnet has a 25$/month streaming package.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/now/

[Berkut]

For sports I am thinking buying the Pac-12 sub pretty much will cover 90% of what I care about.

[Grey Fox]

Sports is the great anchor because of the need to be live. Everything else can be acquired in different shady & non-shady ways.

If the Pac-12 sub is fine for you than cut, cut, cut!

[viper37]

So, I am going to be moving to a new place of my own soon, and I am considering using this as an opportunity to try going cable/satellite free.


What is the current state of living without cable or satellite TV?


I have a netflix account, and Amazon Prime. But what about sports? Regular TV? ESPN? HBO?


What are the options with things like Apple TV?

Here's a good guide to do it the legitimate way:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/cord-cutting-guide,news-17928.html

And here's a site with relevant info for the Canadians:
http://cutcord.ca/

[The Minsky Moment]

A combination of Sling/Vue (both have ESPN and some other stuff) + an HD antenna will bring in a decent amount of sports.

[viper37]

A combination of Sling/Vue (both have ESPN and some other stuff) + an HD antenna will bring in a decent amount of sports.

all that being said, with a range of competitive streaming services each offering their own exclusivities, I fear it's going to cost just as much as regulard cable/satellite, if you want to do it legally.

[CountDeMoney]

HD antennas are fantastic.  Best picture you'll get on your TV.

But MM has a point: going a la carte with streaming service subscriptions (legitimately) can wind up costing damned near as much as the cable services themselves.

[viper37]

HD antennas are fantastic.  Best picture you'll get on your TV.

only good for those people living in cramp quarters inside huge, inhuman cities

[garbon]

Seeds is suburban.

[viper37]

Seeds is suburban.

that's the same to me

[CountDeMoney]

HD antennas are fantastic.  Best picture you'll get on your TV.

only good for those people living in cramp quarters inside huge, inhuman cities

It's not a compressed video signal, fuckstick.  You honestly think you're getting 1080 through that little wire?  Ignorant ass fuck cuntfuck.

[viper37]

It's not a compressed video signal, fuckstick.

All HD signals are compressed when transmitted to the antenna that pushes the signal to you.  Otherwise it just too big to transmit. Even blu rays are compressed video&audio, it's a lossless compression algorithm though.

You honestly think you're getting 1080 through that little wire?  Ignorant ass fuck cuntfuck.

Nope, I am not.  I have satellite tv, wich is 720p for most channels and 1080i for some.  And yes, the image quality is horrible.
To get 1080p or 4k for some on demand tv, I would need to switch provided, but then I'd lose half the channels I like and pay more for their services.  I actually get better video quality with illegal downloads and streaming than through legitimate services.

Those who live in the city have access to fiber optic cable and it delivers 1080p video signal on all channels, with a lossless compression format.  It's the same quality as what you receive with an HD antenna.

At last, I will say that my remark was only to point that HD antenna signals are not available everywhere, and even in some suburban counties, there might not be much of a choice.