Best TV plan for streaming? Hulu, sling, ???

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Isaac-1 said:
I think on the bang for the buck basis it is really hard to beat netflix ($15.50 per month standard plan / $168 per year) and amazon prime is $14.99 per month / $139 per year, but includes other benefits like faster free shipping, prime discounts on products, etc. so its not just video. Hulu is cheaper at only $8 per month, but that is with adds, without adds it is in the same $15 per month ballpark as Netflix and Amazon, and has a lot less newer content, being mostly older tv shows and movies.
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I also have Netflix. But comparing that to Hulu full service or YouTube TV is like conparing apples to oranges.
 
I have a firestick that I use on my unlimited hotspot. I have Amazon Prime for the free shipping. I watch:
- Amazon Prime Video (no extra charge since I already used Prime for shipping)
- Amazon BritBox ($7.99 plus tax)
- Freevee (formerly IMDB TV) free with ads (I have found I have very little patience with TV ads. Streaming has ruined me for "normal" TV)
- Youtube (we watch Baumgartner Restoration so much that when we watch BritBox shows set in old English mansions we say... "Those paintings need to be cleaned".)
- Netflix (Basic plan - watch on 1 TV at a time for $10 per month)

And I listen to Amazon Music via the TV for free.

I may have to breakdown and add Amazon's Acorn ($6.88/mo) to the mix. Some of the BritBox show seasons are split between BritBox and Acorn. Part of the seasons are on one and the rest are on the other. IT's driving me crazy (and that's a very short trip).

Basically I have found that I tend to stream TV series I like. I like to rewatch a series before the new season drops. Which gets a bit lengthy when it's something like Midsomer Murders (Britbox now in 22 or 23 seasons). I have watched movies that I was going to rent from Redbox (not stream) because they turned up on Netflix or Prime before I got around to renting them.

I don't watch sports. But apparently Amazon is showing "Thursday Night Football" for free to Prime Members. They have a little ad on the top of the Amazon webpage bar.
 
bzerull said:
what’s good about Furbo? Haven’t tried that one.
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I mean, they're all pretty much the same, but I think it's on the cheaper side and I haven't had many issues with it. I started off with the YouTubeTV at $45 and the price kept going up so I cancel for a while and watch games at bars, then once in a while I want to catch a game so I'll pick a new one with a free month or two and try something new.
 
TheBar said:
I have used Philo for 2 years. $25/month for 60+ quality channels, no infomercial or junk channels. Has an unlimited DVR with 1 year retention and a 1 click commercial skip. It doesn't care about your location as it is browser based. Runs on Roku, Fire Stick, PC, etc. The only drawback is there are no sports channels like ESPN. Have to get sports elsewhere.
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does philo have a recording option?
 
tanglemoose said:
Just got starlink for our home and south trip... what streaming service do you like? One that travels to lots of different locations, we travel.. move usually every 14 days..
New thoughts... hubby likes college football and needs ESPN and we like to watch Fox news and business.. that puts a twist in it... we have a roku and paramount + but they don't do the ESPN.. hulu, I heard you can only change address 4 times, then you have to be at main residence... so, that would not work... ideas??
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what do you have to pay for starlink? Equipment?
 
Isaac-1 said:
I think on the bang for the buck basis it is really hard to beat netflix ($15.50 per month standard plan / $168 per year) and amazon prime is $14.99 per month / $139 per year, but includes other benefits like faster free shipping, prime discounts on products, etc. so its not just video. Hulu is cheaper at only $8 per month, but that is with adds, without adds it is in the same $15 per month ballpark as Netflix and Amazon, and has a lot less newer content, being mostly older tv shows and movies.
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You can get free streaming channels with other offers. For instance I switched my wife and I to T-Mobile Magenta Max 55+ Senior plan which includes 2 screen $15.50/month Netflix.

We have Amazon Prime which is good but since Covid started they're charging per episode on many shows that were free. Plus they took advantage of Covid and jacked up the Prime price. Hulu is cheap but my complaint with them was the VOD library (past episodes) is very limited on current shows. But if you have a network provider like Hulu (and many others) you have access to free network streaming channels like ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC which have better VOD content than Hulu.
 
Thanks for the info. By the way, on YouTube tv, I don’t have a problem skipping by commercials on a show I have recorded, no matter how old.
 
jadebox said:
Most of the services now make it fairly easy to cancel. You used to have to call and talk to a person that would refer you to the "customer retention department" which would try to keep you from cancelling. Now, you can usually just fill out a form online.

So .. the reason I said all that is that you don't have to decide which is best for you. You can try them one at a time. And you can switch fairly easily to another whenever you want to help avoid multiple charges. Also, most offer a free trial period.

Having said all of that, I am lazy and have a subscription to several services. The most expensive one is YouTube Live. It is basically like a cable package with local channels and a lot of "cable" channels plus a lot of on-demand selections. One nice feature is that it has almost unlimited "DVR" storage. You can set it to save anything you are interested in and it'll keep the programs for up to nine months. It basically turns everything you DVR from the local and cable channels into on-demand stuff.

If you are interested in network programs but don't need local channels, you can subscribe to Hulu (mostly ABC and Fox), Peacock (NBC), and Paramount+ (CBS). All three also have movies and other things. If you choose the "with commercials" options, it isn't very expensive to get all three. I don't recommend the non-commercial options because you will be annoyed by how many commercials they still show you even though you paid extra to avoid them!

If you want live sports, I recommend YouTube TV.

If you have kids or just like Marvel, Star Wars, and other Disney properties, of course, you should consider Disney+. It's also a pretty good deal if you aren't a Disney fan because it has a lot of content and because you can bundle it with Hulu and ESPN+. My biggest nitpick is I don't like the interface it uses on our Roku TVs. The program icons and titles are too small especially on the smaller TV in our RV.

HBO Max is a good choice for more adult (not that kind of adult, though!) programming. Lots of good movies and series.
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Can you record something on the DVR and watch while offline, like Netflex or no??
 
bzerull said:
what do you have to pay for starlink? Equipment?
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We have zero internet capability at home, so starlink was it, $600 for equipment, which you can sell if you decide you don't want. $110 month at home, $125 while traveling on our south trip. We camp where there is no ability to even make a cell call.. so will be nice to have the internet. We have used Direct tv dome for 6 years, but direct tv keeps deleting channels... so off to streaming we go!
 
bzerull said:
I have had youtube tv for three years now. You can watch everything you mentioned and easy to save shows for watching later. You can change your home location whenever you want. Same cost as Hulu and other streaming services. I think it is the best for what you want to watch.
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Can you watch your shows you have saved while offline?
 
tanglemoose said:
We have zero internet capability at home, so starlink was it, $600 for equipment, which you can sell if you decide you don't want. $110 month at home, $125 while traveling on our south trip. We camp where there is no ability to even make a cell call.. so will be nice to have the internet. We have used Direct tv dome for 6 years, but direct tv keeps deleting channels... so off to streaming we go!
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Thank you for the info. I had no idea starling existed. Very interesting.
 
Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet service that came online earlier this year. They're building a constellation of low earth orbit satellites with the goal of eventually providing worldwide high speed Internet. It's had growing pains and slow speeds in a few areas with heavy concentrations of users but in general it works well.
 
tanglemoose said:
Can you watch your shows you have saved while offline?
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Watching shows while offline or without internet depends on the hardware. For instance there is software like AceThinker you can use to record your computer screen. Or you can use software called PlayOn which can download the shows to the computer or your phone/iPad. I got both AceThinker and PlayOn back when they were free but now you have to buy them. One way I have not tried is using a FireStick attached to your TV to download shows.

Once you have the shows recorded on your computer or phone/iPad you can watch them whenever/wherever without internet or cell service. I down mine to a usb stick and most modern TV sets can play back whatever is on the stick. Or you can broadcast from your phone to a TV. Or you can connect your computer to a TV set using an HDMI cable.
 
Live sports is still a bit of a dilemma. NFL, NBA, MLB know that they have always been a big draw for the cable companies who package in a ton of BS you don't want. But it's getting a bit better.

My Comcast subscription got me Peacock for free. I think we get Thursday night football and some college stuff but it's hard to tell. Xfinity's interface shows FreeVee and Tubi on the main screen so sometimes I don't know what I'm watching.

Coverage of the World Cup was awesome, except all the announcing was in Spanish - LOL... The Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaalllll guy was announcing many of the matches. The final was an awesome game.

I have considered an ESPN3 subscription as that appears to have the most highlights and I rarely watch full games. I also have a separate subscription to F1TV as I am a total F1 fan.

I also have prime, whih is good for WWII and other war documentaries, Hulu which is good because there is a fair amount f 1st run TV I like. I think I get Showtime as part of my Amazon.

Netflix used to be my go-to but I don't watch hardly anything there any more. I think I keep it for some of the Netflix original programming.

It sounds like a lot but my subscriptions probably add up to $70 a month + the internet which is like $40. Still a lot cheaper than 180 cable channels I don't watch...
 
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