Resurrecting this thread to ask a question.
I'm finally moving home after Harvey at the end of this month, and we're going to cut the cord. For those of you who use a proxy/MLB.TV, does that interfere with your Netflix/Hulu/Amazon apps? Do you change the DNS on your Smart TV and access the apps through a fire stick/Roku or something? I don't know the lingo very well so please tell me where I'm an idiot. Are there certain brands that do this better than others?
Basically I need my 10 year old to be able to turn the Astros on whenever he wants and my 8 year old to change it to Netflix whenever she wants.
Any help appreciated. Going back to reading more and posting less now.
I'm using a Roku on my already smartTV that does not have the apps necessary to run anything I need (in terms of live TV). I use the Roku Premiere stick and it comes with a remote that allows me to control certain television settings like volume. With the remote, it is easy to jump to the apps I need when I want to switch to view certain things I want to watch not on the live tv apps. For instance, PLEX or other apps that run television series or movies not found on the live tv app. So as a for instance:
1. I use the Roku to launch Sling (my live tv provider). I'm using Sling to watch some of my favorite broadcasters, like TNT (for the NBA playoffs), Food Network, and ESPN (for NBA playoffs). I chose Sling because of their promotional price, so for three months I have that service at a very reasonable price. But that does not satisfy my Astros watching. Nor anything Netflix related or Hulu related which are good for provisioned series (for instance if you like to binge watch popular television series, you'll find them there).
2. There are other ways to watch live tv like Crackle or Pluto.
Kim Kamando has a nice article on your choices. Limits are on what you can watch and some are live and some are not. All I can run from my Roku menu of options.
3. Back to the Astros. Right now, the only option to get the Astros broadcast live (ATTSportsNet) is through cable or DirectTV but there is one streaming service for Astros live:
Fubo.tv It's not cheap, it's right up there with the other expensive live tv streaming offers (DirectTV Now, YouTube TV, and the most expensive Sling option). The fact that they've all raised their subscription prices is worrisome because it is making cord cutting less of an option. So some of the cable companies have gotten smart and offer their own version of streaming tv that does not require the coaxial cable connection.. their service is through the internet just like the others. Spectrum offers to stream live proogramming for about the same price as Direct TV and YouTube TV as a frame of reference. I know that ATT is now offering live TV steamed as well. The
ATT offer is quite intriquing because it is very reasonable. It seems to be a direct competitor of Sling's good options. I'm keeping my eye on this service in case they ever offer regional sports coverage like ATTSportsNet. For now, I'm just using MLB TV to watch baseball and of course the Astros on delay when I can. I did the free trial of Fubo and liked it, but I did not like the price.
4. A la carte: No one offers a la carte streaming, most are bundled offers from the services (DirectTV, Sling, etc.) The bundles drive what the streaming services offer, for instance, if Fubo does not make a deal with Disney, they don't get ESPN and other Disney offerings. If DirectTV does not make a deal with ABC or FOX, they won't get their bundle which would mean you don't get certain favorite broadcasters that only come in said bundle. That is why the different providers have different offerings, the bundle deals they make drive what they offer. No uniformity in offerings, so you have to make choices and can't mix and match that much. Sling does something interesting, they get the closest to making a la carte offerings. They offer extra bundles, like a Sports extra or Entertainment extra and that allows you to do one stop shopping on their program instead of having too many apps.
So the good thing about cord cutting services is that it is as good as getting cable offerings in terms of quality (don't go cheap on your internet provider - ATT, for instance only offered a very low up and down mps service, well below 100 mps... that is just too low. In fact, I would say to be most successful and not having to tether (ethernet cabling) every device, have at least 250 to 300 mps internet service and you'll never look back. The bad side of cord cutting is the very fact they are as good as quality as cable that they're pushing their price points to almost cable prices. And cable is getting smart, they are making their own streaming options available. The two are meeting at similar price points right now but hoping it's not about raising prices more and more because of comfort levels of subscribers. We are cord cutting to save money but still get the same quality. Other may be cord cutting because of the flexibility of device watching (anywhere, anytime) because no cord is necessary. For those shoppers who are making a lateral move just for flexibility, there isn't anything to fear.
Recap: I use Ruku to launch Sling Orange and other apps (including over the air broadcasting through an app), oner of which is Plex for my own movies that I've converted to mp4s from my DVD and BluRay collection. I'm enjoying the flexibility a lot. I'm enjoying the huge drop in cost very much. I'm not watching the Astros live (the drawback) but that is my choice. My savings doing this is somewhere near $800 a year. Had I wanted to buy more bundles (like Hulu, Fubo and Sling) and services, I estimated my savings near $200 a year from cable, which makes in almost a push.
