i subscribe to nba league pass and use the nba app on my xbox or chromecast, and i have an antenna for local channels cbs/nbc/fox for football
It's just a choice you have to make. I finally got fed up with huge cable bills and terrible service. I watch all the highlights online and catch the Rockets on TNT/espn. Kind of sucks they look so good this year but I just had enough of cable.
For all those who don't want to leave cable because of the Rockets/Texans/Astros I had the same concern until I found streams on Reddit. If you go to https://www.reddit.com/r/nbastreams/ and click on the link of the game you want to see and there will be a whole bunch of reliable streams where you can watch the Rockets. I just connect my TV and laptop with an HDMI cable and whatever is on the laptop shows up on my TV. Full HD streams and I haven't missed a game this year. It's a little extra work but I'm so glad I finally cut the cord.
Astros/Rockets are completely the only reason I have cable still. I have Comcast, and pay about 150 right now. I love their internet and don't want to lose that, so if I just cancel the cable portion I could save 60-80 bucks or so. It came down to whether I was fine paying 60-80 dollars solely for hassle free, HD quality, DVR-able access to Rockets/Stros, and it's honestly a pretty easy call for me. It's not as if that extra money is gonna be a huge lifestyle upgrade for me. Having said that, if NBA/MLB allowed me to pay them directly the watch those games and save money, I would drop cable at breakneck speed.
Yeah, this would've been a deal breaker for me as well, but but for whatever reason I just don't watch a lot of TV anymore. I realized that I was only actually watching Rockets games once maybe twice a week. Half the time I would forget that they were even playing until I'd get a notification on my phone saying that they'd won. There's times where I wish I could watch, last night being one of them. But overall it's not that big of an L for me. That said, once there's a solid way to get the games... I'll be all over it.
I've been using the Kodi app on my smart tv. It's free. Live sports are kinda hit and miss though. The streams freeze a lot sometimes.
I cut the cord (DirecTV) a while back. I have a wife who is a TV watching fiend. Live, DVR, doesn't matter. She was VERY against me cutting off the TV. At the time, our satellite bill was month to month and was about 200/month. Internet has always been separate through Comcast. So, cut that, add Hulu with no commercials, Netflix, Amazon Prime, DirecTV Now (recently), and antenna for local. I currently catch the Rockets games via reddit. I'm still looking for a service like ballstreams that I like. DirecTV Now is...eh, I'm using the promo price for the 100+ channels, but my experience has been pretty crappy so far. Quality is garbage, they only allow 2 streams. I will give it a little more time as I want to make sure before I cancel and lose the pricing. My data usage seems to avg in the 600-700 GB range. It did hit about 850 in December, but that's expected since everyone is home bumming around.
I cut the cord and replaced with: Sling TV HBO Now Amazon Video (free with Prime) Netflix discs (better selection) Antenna for local channels Only thing it sucks for is Astros and Rockets. I find streams online.
Since finding the Reddit stream I'm on: 1) Antenna for local 2) PlayStation Vue 3) Amazon Prime 4) Netflix 5) reddit Stream for Rockets Zero issues with streaming Rockets games. I'd pay for them if I was allowed to. Not really down with being strong armed into service for any reason. I can't even pay for league pass lol. That's ridiculous.
With PS Vue, is there any need for Hulu? Hulu is only good for TV shows that we miss, but if we can set Vue to DVR them, then Hulu becomes pointless.
For those that use PSVue, how much delay is there when watching live sports on ESPN and other channels? I've been streaming all Rockets/Astros (VPN with MLB TV) for so long now, but I actually kinda want to get cable now. Which service do y'all recommend? Obviously Dish is a no-go without RootSports. Mainly just want to watch live sports, will probably get premium channels as well.
Has anyone here used both Sling and PSVue? How do they compare? I just recently cut the cord and started Sling, but don't really love it. Want to see what other options are out there
This is easily the best time to be a cord cutter. However, I've been a cord cutter myself since 2011, and I've never looked back. The only thing I really pay for religiously is nba league pass. The only thing I miss somewhat is watching the titans (I live in texas), sunday ticket is way too expensive. If you are committed to every sport (the astros and rockets) and live in Houston, it might be a pain to get your ip hidden so that you can watch your local teams, plus directtv is pretty damn cheap now. The other thing is that if you want 4k content, the easiest way to do that is with directtv and a 4k tv. I really don't think cord cutting is as fantastic as everybody says it is, on a personal note. Directtv has become way more competitive than ever before, and if you cord cut and want premium channels (espn, hbo, showtime, Netflix and hulu, plus leaguepass) it will cost you a lot. My main reason for cutting the cord is actually not the price savings, but the fact that I hate sitting in front of a tv, and my computer is my only source of entertainment. So I use my computer as my tv and I get to be connected while I watch tv, and with hulu I can pause and go back (no commercials), you get the idea. Sitting in front of a tv is excruciating for me, personally. I would never cord cut if I wanted to connect a bigscreen tv, but for me I don't want to do that.
Really? You love Comcast internet? I used to have Comcast and it was AWFUL. After switching to Verizon FIOS with its dedicated speed, I never looked back.
