Cord cutting still subpar

[Zookster]

The gods of FTA will strike me down, but TV isn't about finding available content, it is about watching the content you want to watch.

Not being in a contract means that they can change things (including price) at their pleasure as much as it means that you can walk away.

When it comes "watching content I want to watch," being under contract with cable (I renewed every two years to get a better price for almost a decade) never prevented them from dropping channels or moving them to higher tiers--or adding new ones I never asked for, for that matter--during my contract period. All the contract did was delay the annual $5-$10/mo price increase by one year for me (at which point the increase was double!). Worse, the contracts kept me in their $40/mo. package for all landline phone features plus unlimited national long-distance, a plan that had been lowered to $30/mo for some time.

But jhon69's main point wasn't about the pros and cons of contracts other than to say you can try out OTT live TV services without any risk, so why complain about them so much? You like them or you don't. Tell us what you didn't like and then move on, like many actual users here have. I tried satellite for a couple of years (on contract), after which I decided I preferred cable and switched back, but I didn't spend any time in Dish/DTV forums here harping on things I don't like about satellite months and months later.

 

[Jhon69]

My youngest brother works at Best But and was trying to convince my parents to do Roku with YTTV. He didn't understand that they are in their 60's and want the "traditional" TV experience with a DVR and a "clicker" remote.

I'm in my 60's,but of course I am probably a little more technical than some,a little less than others.
I lost my "clicker" remote when I lost my Zenith Space Command along with my 25" Zenith tube set.

 

[Jhon69]

I wouldn't say most OTT people have more than one live TV service (in 2+ years, I never did). I think some YouTube TV subscribers subscribe to Philo because it offers a good complement of most of the more popular missing channels. But I rarely hear of people with PS Vue, Sling, or DirecTV Now having more than one live TV service; to get the extra channels they want, they just upgrade to higher tiers, just like cable/sat. Though a lot of people do switch around and overlap services while trying them out (no contracts!).

Because PS Vue,Sling and DirecTV Now are setup very similar to the cable and satellite providers and that one reason I don't subscribe to them.

 

[harshness]

But jhon69's main point wasn't about the pros and cons of contracts other than to say you can try out OTT live TV services without any risk, so why complain about them so much?

Because finding and adjusting your viewing methodology to the right service isn't something you should have to concern yourself with too frequently or you're ignoring the value of your time spent hunting down and learning how to use it effectively.

Of course if paying the lowest price no matter what the cost is the game, at least OTT offers some name-brand content that you typically won't find with FTA.

 

[SpaethCo]

There is no storage limit on YouTube TV's DVR, just a time limit.

With the caveat that once a show you DVR is available in the channel's VOD catalog, it is replaced in your list of shows with the VOD version with forced commercials.

PS Vue will only let you pause live TV for 5 minutes, and you can only "DVR" shows by liking specific program titles. If you like "The Big Bang Theory" you get all the new episodes on your CBS station (that works or doesn't work depending on the contract Sony has with your local CBS provider), but you also get all the reruns, VOD episodes, and any of the syndicated replays on stations like TBS. If you record something like a hockey game that has a condensed replay later that evening, the condensed replay will replace your original game recording in your DVR. Certain channels like HBO aren't eligible for DVR at all, so your only choice is to watch live or from the VOD catalog. Generally that's not a problem, but it means some of the programming (Real Time, Last week tonight) you either have to watch it live or wait until it makes it into the VOD system the next day.

Hulu Live will let you pause Live TV for quite a while, but once you pause you can't fast forward through commercial blocks. If you DVR shows from Live TV, you can only fast forward through commercials if you pay the extra $15 for the advanced DVR.

Fubo TV you have to manually setup recording of individual episodes - it has no concept of scheduled series recording. If you want to start watching a show that is already in progress from the beginning, it only works on a subset of devices (mostly Apple devices) that run the Fubo app.

Sling doesn't provide DVR functions at all unless you pony up extra dollars.

None of the streaming services will let you pad your recording schedule to accommodate live events that may go over their scheduled broadcast time.

This is the minus of cloud-based DVRs -- every provider does something different, and it's not always immediately obvious what restrictions you're going to run into on each service.

 

[Zookster]

With the caveat that once a show you DVR is available in the channel's VOD catalog, it is replaced in your list of shows with the VOD version with forced commercials.

None of the streaming services will let you pad your recording schedule to accommodate live events that may go over their scheduled broadcast time.

This is the minus of cloud-based DVRs -- every provider does something different, and it's not always immediately obvious what restrictions you're going to run into on each service.

YouTube TV allows users the option of watching the recorded version or VoD version on all channels except CBS, Pop, and CW, when a VoD version is available (doesn't affect my local news, sporting events, etc.). When watching the recorded version, there are no restrictions on fast-forwarding.

I have never reached the end of my pause buffer with YTTV. It's at least one hour, maybe two.

I've never missed the end of an event that ran over the originally slotted time when watching a recording of it. I've watched major award shows and sporting events that ran over on many occasion without issue, and a couple weeks ago my college football team's game had a 98-minute in-game delay due to a lightning storm, and the recording caught all of it.

Like PS Vue, to record shows, with YTTV you add them to your Library, and yes, it "records" every instance, including past season episodes, and you can't delete them. But as there's no space storage limit, it's not an issue, and on many occasions, I found it handy to go back and watch an important episode or scene, which, if I had cable/sat, would've otherwise been deleted already. So that's an added convenience for me, not a problem. The Library menu makes it easy to find the most recent episode (always the first one), so I'm not scrolling around trying to find it amid past stuff.

 

[tigerfan33]

I still haven’t received VOD from this weeks CBS episode of The Neighborhood. Recording only. Which is fine with me
Hopefully CBS will work things out with YTTV soon.

 

[Zookster]

Just because I almost didn't believe it myself, after 20 months with PS Vue, I've attached a screen grab from my YouTube TV recording library that shows a 4:40:05 time stamp for the SDSU game that had the lightning delay and last week's game that also ran long (03:38:05).

 

[harshness]

Thanks to SpaethCo for many excellent insights!

Note that some of the policies may be changed (or are changing as we type), but it puts everything in one place for comparison.

 

[DRCars]

YTTV saved all of the 8-hour+ World Series game last night. Someone or something must be tracking and extending the recordings. I've never missed the end of a MLB game, NASCAR race or any other live events. They/it does a better job than I ever did at extending/catching the entire event.

Also, the VOD versions of the Big Bang Theory (new episodes), Bull (new episodes), House (reruns), The Guest Book and Sheldon (new episodes) that I have been watching actually have no commercials at all. Better than having to FF thru recordings. Who knows if or when that may change?

 

[Zookster]

YTTV saved all of the 8-hour+ World Series game last night. Someone or something must be tracking and extending the recordings. I've never missed the end of a MLB game, NASCAR race or any other live events. They/it does a better job than I ever did at extending/catching the entire event.

There must be something in the broadcast feed that flags the end of the program or game to tell YouTube TV to stop recording. With more than 30 college football games on today plus a couple dozen other games and matches in other sports, I can't imagine a live human being manually monitors and sets the end time for each one that goes over. One possible piece of evidence corroborating this is one of my SDSU game recordings actually has a timestamp of just under 3 hours, so less than the normal time block for a game like that. In other words, why would a live human set an end time for a sports program block that has a completely expected and normal run time?

Also, the VOD versions of the Big Bang Theory (new episodes), Bull (new episodes), House (reruns), The Guest Book and Sheldon (new episodes) that I have been watching actually have no commercials at all. Better than having to FF thru recordings. Who knows if or when that may change?

I have heard similar things for CW shows, but unfortunately I am still getting commercials. I have seen no commercials for shows on other networks, however.

 

[navychop]

I think I’ll grab a sandwich and sit down and watch something really old off one of my Dish EHDs.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[comfortably_numb]

I think I’ll grab a sandwich and sit down and watch something really old off one of my Dish EHDs.

Because you can!

 

[tigerfan33]

I think I’ll grab a sandwich and sit down and watch something really old off one of my Dish EHDs.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

Boy. This makes me wish I never left Dish and saved a bundle

 

[comfortably_numb]

Boy. This makes me wish I never left Dish and saved a bundle

I only pay Dish about $30 per month. How much do you pay?

 

[tigerfan33]

I only pay Dish about $30 per month. How much do you pay?

$40.
How many providers do you have

 

[comfortably_numb]

$40.
How many providers do you have

I mainly use Dish, OTA and FTA. I have a free sub to YTTV through work, but I rarely use it

 

[tigerfan33]

I mainly use Dish, OTA and FTA. I have a free sub to YTTV through work, but I rarely use it

I was wondering why you hang around the IPTV group so much

 

[comfortably_numb]

I was wondering why you hang around the IPTV group so much

I keep an eye on IPTV. My job revolves around being educated on current technology trends.

 

[harshness]

I keep an eye on IPTV. My job revolves around being educated on current technology trends.

Everyone who pays for TV should be constantly watching the cost .vs. benefits curve. Of course each person's curve is different as some put little to no value on their time, WAF and other "luxuries".