Streaming services versus Direct TV

[Menagerie-Manor]

You may be able to save money by streaming now, but what about the future? As cable & satellite companies go away, broadcasters will have to charge streaming services more for content in order to make up for lost revenue. Price hikes are sure to follow.

Any savings you get now may be short lived.

So all the customers who use Sat and Cable will not switch to streaming, what system will they use.

 

[lman]

Ah, if it were only so. Here's my tale of antenna woe:

I live in a semi rural location, 40 miles from a large city that has 35 broadcast channels available. The house is on a hilltop and, except for trees, has a near line of sight view of the transmitter towers serving the city.

Even with an amplifier and an antenna rated for 120 miles, I can only get 9 channels. It drops to 5 in the summer with leaves on the trees.

Before TV went digital, I could receive all the available channels with a large VHF/UHF antenna on a roof mounted mast. Over the years, it was struck by lightning a dozen or more times. Early on, little damage resulted, due to an effective grounding system. More recently, with the proliferation of electronic devices around the house, lightning damage gets quite expensive. Consequently, I took down the mast and mounted the new digital antenna lower, below the roof line. That solved the lightning problem but our TV reception took a hit.

I would love to be able to ditch our satellite and go to a streaming service but few offer local channels at a reasonable price.

BTW, among others, I tried that HDTV Digital, 150 mile antenna from Amazon you show in your post. Not only didn't it work very well, but the first wind storm we had tore it to pieces. It's very cheaply made and I don't recommend it.

We're about 30 miles from the transmitters and tried a couple of different antennas that didn't work satisfactorily. I wound up going with this one at about 25' up on the chimney. Now we have a solid signal.

https://www.amazon.com/Televes-DATBOSS-Amplified-Outdoor-149983/dp/B071VXK57H?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1GAF1H4JQJZXC&th=1

 

[lman]

So all the customers who use Sat and Cable will not switch to streaming, what system will they use.

I know people that are paying $150 for DirecTv and complaining about the price when they could use an antenna and pay nothing.

 

[Oaktree]

The “old” antennas work just fine, most even better. The huge flying v’s just probably aren’t pretty enough. The tv frequencies were shifted, however they still use the VHF/UHF bands.

The majority are on the lower UHF frequencies (moving target, but I think it's in the 14-30 or so range), a few are on VHF frequencies, but those don't lend themselves as well to digital transmission. It's the lower VHF (2-6) that required the older antennas to be so big, and AFAIK those frequencies aren't used anymore.

I would love to be able to ditch our satellite and go to a streaming service but few offer local channels at a reasonable price.

When you say "local channels" are you referring to network tv or local programming? There are channels for smart tv's, Roku boxes, etc. that will let you stream local newscasts, and most of the networks' newscasts are also available if you search a bit.
As far as network programming goes, they all have their own streaming channels (CBS has Paramount+, NBC has Peacock, etc.) that have limited offerings for free, or by subscription for full access. We have Paramount + since most current network shows we're interested in are CBS.
I'm not interested in sports so I don't know what the options there are.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Also, the new digital antennas are Far better than the old tower antennas we had 20 years ago. You can probably pick up most of the major networks local channels, unless you are 150 miles from a city. Note, the advertised range is normally about double the real life range; if you get a 150 mile antenna, it's probably good for 75 miles, but still, they are Dirt Cheap.View attachment 848279

We don’t even have radio stations that can be picked up. So I guess it is where you live. I am less than 150 miles from a “city”. But I need decent internet for work, so I use that for everything.

 

[Furu]

UHF and VHF frequencies for over the air TV are line of sight (does not skip like some frequences). Does not matter much if you are 150 miles or 15 miles if you have a mountain range or high elevation ridge in-between it is a real challenge. I have an AT&T tower that is about 4 miles from the house. Coverage is near nil. Why - there are several ridges between the antenna elevation and our elevation.

 

[ericm979]

We have both directTV and streaming from an apple tv device. I watch mostly weird sports like bicycle and motorcycle racing where some events are only on streaming.

There are some real drawbacks to streaming.

You probably need to sign up with more than one streaming service to get all the stuff you want. I try to keep it simple and there's still 2-3 services.

Each service has its own app, and the apps all work differently as far as the UI is concerned. And often they're pretty terrible interfaces, with parts that are downright broken. For example fast forward on Peacock on apple TV doesn't work. Often using their app on a tablet works better, and you can cast the video onto the TV for display. But that's an extra layer of stuff. It gets pretty complex.

The streaming services will let you watch your thing any time, but they can also delete it at any time. Leave it for a few weeks and it may be gone.

With streaming you usually can't fast forward past the ads. This is the worst part of using them.

The streaming services are all in the end stage of ensihttification where they are maximizing profits by jacking up prices on their captive customers. They're no longer a good deal.

OTOH for some bike races, once it's all set up and working, I can get better actual coverage. At least I did for one big race last year, but then that streaming service went under. Dunno what I'll do this year.

If you can get what you want on DirectTV I'd stick with that. It's a lot simpler and it just works.

 

[nybirdman]

Until you get a high speed internet connection,Dtv is your only choice

 

[duffer]

SIAP, but check if Verizon has a cell tower near you. They have a whole house wifi router that works with their cell signal. $50/month. Get 20-40 mbps. We used it for a couple of years for streaming, until we recently got fiber optic installed.

 

[ultrarunner]

SIAP, but check if Verizon has a cell tower near you. They have a whole house wifi router that works with their cell signal. $50/month. Get 20-40 mbps. We used it for a couple of years for streaming, until we recently got fiber optic installed.

Brother uses for point of sale for his seasonal Christmas Tree Retail Sales… said it works well and lowest cost option.

Don’t want to say how much Comcast wanted to run fiber to a “Commercial” business.

I’m sure it would pencil out for year round operation but for 2 months each year he is very happy with Verizon.

 

[NoTrespassing]

We currently have Dish Network and I'd like to switch to streaming. My problem is that it looks like it will cost almost the same for the same content. I refuse to watch live TV, I always pause the channel I'm watching before sitting down to watch it. Currently our old box has 2 tuners so pause one, watch the other and skip back and forth. I want local channels and the Big Ten network with DVR capabilities. My wife wants movie channels. Marquee network would be a huge plus but it's only available on a few streaming services.

Considering Futbol TV and Netflix right now. Futbol package with Marquee is $90/month and Netfix is what, $15/month. Neighbor has negotiated with Dish and pays $100 per month for 5 tvs but no Marquee.

 

[nybirdman]

I had Direct TV and now streaming when high speed internet became available.
Mine is 25mps down load,minimum in my experience.
Direct TV was $200+ mo.My internet is $110,subscribe to YouTube TV@$72.00.
Close to a wash but have the internet for the computer anyway.Still cheaper.
Lots of movie channels available for free with streaming,plus is I get ABC,NBC,CBS and Fox local channels.Still have and use an antenna(NBC not available local).

 

[JethroB]

I found Clark Howard to be a good source when choosing streaming services. I tried HULU but gave up last year due to their “home location“ issue and StarLink. Using YouTube TV now without any issues. I have put Roku devices (ones with volume control) on all my TV’s to standardize the remotes and interfaces.

Best Streaming Services for 2024: Every Option Explained

Is the ever-changing and increasingly crowded streaming services market leaving you confused? Team Clark helps you pick the right TV content!

clark.com

 

[ConawayFarms]

I've transitioned from traditional TV to streaming and found it much more flexible. I don't need to worry about bulky equipment or being tied to a single room to watch something. Plus, there are many free options online for movies and shows if you want to look around. For local channels, an antenna can help, but for movie nights and shows, platforms offering a variety of genres enhance the experience. I've stumbled across plenty of sites like that, and one I found recently, 123 Movies, has a vast library and doesn't require signing up, which makes it super convenient.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I've transitioned from traditional TV to streaming and found it much more flexible. I don't need to worry about bulky equipment or being tied to a single room to watch something.

I can't stand watching TV without the ability to pause one channel while watching another like I do on Dish Network. Are there streaming options that allow this?

If I'm going to watch any tv, I pause it before sitting down to watch, or I record the program. 30 minute programs take 20 minutes to watch, I can watch an entire football game in about 1:45 minutes rather than 3 hours.

 

[lman]

I can't stand watching TV without the ability to pause one channel while watching another like I do on Dish Network. Are there streaming options that allow this?

If I'm going to watch any tv, I pause it before sitting down to watch, or I record the program. 30 minute programs take 20 minutes to watch, I can watch an entire football game in about 1:45 minutes rather than 3 hours.

I do that with a Tivo 4 tuner Bolt and OTA broadcasting. I wouldn't pay for the streaming channels. We do have Amazon Prime.

 

[John0829]

We are in the process of transitioning to all streaming, DirecTV has gotten so out of line with their pricing for what you get. Hardest part so far has been figuring out how she can keep up with the programs she is most interested in and knowing when new ones are available.

I have figured out that for about the price of two months of DirecTV we can have all the streaming services for the channels we watch for a year. Which translates into BIG savings.

 

[mjonesnh]

Gave up on Dish Network years ago. Price was just getting ridiculous. Subscribe to Netflix and Philo TV which has most of the basic cable networks. Provides us with more tv than we want to watch. Also do watch some tv on Philo, free streaming but with some commercials.

 

[dmccarty]

For years we streamed with 1.5 mbps. Yes 1.5. We ended up with two 1.5 mbps lines to load share a bit but streaming was done on a 1.5 mbps line. At one point, streaming was done over a DVD player and we would get pauses while the buffer filled up. We had to replace that DVD player with a new one, and it must have had a bigger buffer because pauses really did not happen as often.

We surely were not getting high resolution stream but I we did not have a high resolution TV either. Eventually we did get a higher resolution TV and I guess the resolution was reduced but we did not notice. Eventually, we were able to get an affordable data plan over cell that worked for a year or two and then there were problems with the company. Thankfully, Starlink finally arrived and saved the day.

We canceled DirecTV a decade or so ago because there was nothing really worth watching anymore. The price had gone up and content quality was awful. Funny thing is, when we have traveled and stayed at places with pay TV, the problem of a gazzilion channels with nothing to watch has just gotten worse. Even overseas, this is a problem.

We stream primarily YouTube and Prime/Britbox. We have Netflix and Hulu which I would get rid of but the family uses those services. Even with paying for those streaming services, it is far cheaper than DirecTV full of nothingness. We do watch some over the air channels. The other funny thing is WHAT we watch. During the week, it is Big Bang Theory for 60-90 minutes, then either Andy Griffith or Star Trek. After those are over, maybe something on PBS, but there is less and less to watch on PBS, so it is mostly likey Star Trek Next Generation or YouTube.

Recently, we paid a bit more attenton to the streamng channels on the TV. There is quite a bit of content on the TV's streaming channels too.

 

[jk96]

We have moved from directv to youtube tv. We get the same channels including local. We also paid the extra 4k upgrade which gives us not only 4k content, but unlimited simultanious tvs at home, 3 streams outside of our home network, as well as streaming on the go from any mobile device. Also has no limit on the number of recorded programs, split screen for 2 to 4 programs on the same screen. I don't use the split screen but sports fans may like it. Our total bill is $85/month with no extra fees. Start or cancel service anytime.

With the 3 streams outside of the home we now use this same account for the bridal suite and grooms room at our wedding venue. We have been able to cancel 2 directv accounts and use 1 single youtubetv account saving me around $170/month.

The only thing I don't like is there are no tv numbers for channels in the guide, just names. After some frustration on this I found out you can custom arrange channels in the order you want from a computer so now all of my channels I watch are arranged at the top of the list.