Cord Cutters
- Thread starter WolFyre
- Start date
Follow-up to this, as now I've gone thru the first legit billing cycle with the Internet-only version of Google Fiber, & DirecTV Stream.
Pre-March monthly cost : $191.79 for Google Fiber internet + Google Fiber TV
New monthly cost : $159.99 for Google Fiber internet + DirecTV Stream ( with a 99% comparable channel lineup to what we had with Google Fiber )
Monthly savings : $31.80
DADDY LIKE.
Really liking YouTube TV. $70 for what they give you is pretty good. Only thing missing is my regional sports networks, but I don't start paying attention to the Non-Bronco teams until the playoffs (which means I never see the Rockies but I digress). It does have the two sports I primarily watch (Auto Racing/F1/IndyCar) and Premier League Soccer (Liverpool is like the Red Sox or Cowboys, they're on constantly). Also has a nice DVR feature. And the interface is nice. Pretty happy with it.
Ok, hold on there. I just got YouTube TV. I thought you were leaning towards Direct TV streaming?
Anyway, I agree that YTTV is a good cable replacement. And AFAIK, the "DVR" is the library feature. If you want to record a particular show, such as SNL, you add any episode to the library, and it basically finds every on-demand episode in the series. So instantly, I have like 30 seasons of SNL.
I also like the program menus in the "Live" mode, both on the TV and phone app. And right now, it's giving us a free preview of all the Cinemax channels.
I also don't recall ever hearing you mention F1. Are you a long-time fan? Are you a Mercedes guy? Ferrari? Hamilton fan? Or Max? I'd be interested to hear.
DIRECTV was a little out of my range price-wise. And YoutubeTV has the sports channels I like (no NHL network, but there's enough hockey on the networks to compensate, watching CGY/DAL in the playoffs now).
F1 I had picked up in the last few years, since I started watching TopGear/Grand Tour there was a lot of that content on those shows. Always had some form of interest in racing, but it was mostly NASCAR early on (still kind of is, although last on the list). Still trying to decide between Max Verstappen and Hamilton as particular favorite drivers.
To further derail this thread, I've been an avid F1 fan since the late 80s, before Michael Schumacher started in F1. I became a big fan of his. Trivia: one of his teammates was Max's father. After Michael, I rooted for whoever drove for the BMW team, which eventually was Sebastián Vettel. He had 4 WC titles with Red Bull.
Over the last 9 years, Mercedes has nauseatingly dominated, so I root for whoever can beat them.
They haven't been doing that great this year. The race I watched in Miami, Hamilton finished no better than 6th. Verstappen hasn't been entirely dominant, but he's won a couple.
Eagerly awaiting the Vegas race, at night, in 2023. That might be one I would go see in person if I can.
So here's something weird about YouTube TV. As a cable replacement option, it allows you to watch any channel live, as it's being broadcast. That includes commercials, and on many channels, the commercials look pretty much the same as when I had cable.
But on some of the national channels like CNN and MSNBC, a portion of the commercials are replaced with this
It's accompanied by music that repeats every 3 seconds, sometimes for minutes. Supposedly, there are blocks of commercials that are controlled by the local cable provider, and so with a streaming service, you don't get them.
But here's where it gets weird. The YTTV phone app streams the same channels on my phone. But when my TV replaces the commercials with the gray banner, I can see the commercials on the phone. Then both the TV and phone return to the show at the same time.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I'd prefer seeing more commercials, or listen to the monotonous music.
But on some of the national channels like CNN and MSNBC, a portion of the commercials are replaced with this
It's accompanied by music that repeats every 3 seconds, sometimes for minutes. Supposedly, there are blocks of commercials that are controlled by the local cable provider, and so with a streaming service, you don't get them.
But here's where it gets weird. The YTTV phone app streams the same channels on my phone. But when my TV replaces the commercials with the gray banner, I can see the commercials on the phone. Then both the TV and phone return to the show at the same time.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I'd prefer seeing more commercials, or listen to the monotonous music.
When we go to the Caribbean, HLN has the same type of thing. Any service you get commercials on during that time is adding them which was the whole point. It's the same as network TV. Certain blocks of commercials are for local stations while others are aired across the whole network.
Yeah, I'm aware that there are 2 categories of commercials. But prior to getting a streaming service, my provider has always filled-in all the commercial spots. This is the first time I'm seeing what is essentially "dead air". But the other odd thing is how the phone app is showing the commercials that the TV stream isn't airing. It's just really strange.
Yeah, usually companies want to squeeze every penny out of their service that they can.
I've read that, somewhere in the near future, marketing companies will be inserting commercials into those spaces.
You get this same thing with DirecTV Stream. It also pops up for Paid Programming like Joel Osteen's show ( it comes on after the local ABC affiliate news on Sunday mornings here ). And every week I make a dumb "OH, NO - THEY DONE TOOK MAH JOEL OSTEEN SHOW AWAY!!!!" joke in my head.