Top Rated Streaming Service?

[reubenray]

If or when I get high speed internet I am thinking about canceling Dish and start streaming. I am paying $115 a month for Dish and my contract runs out in about 7 months. I am paying for a lot of channels I do not watch. I have Paramount + already.

I have an antenna that I can get my locals on. I would want 4k picture quality if possible, but having HD is a must. Some of the main channels we watch are Lifetime, HGTV, Hallmark, Uptv, USA, WGN, FX, POP, Syfy, Cook, TNT, TBS, CMT, Travel, Newsnation and ION,

 

[Bruce]

If or when I get high speed internet I am thinking about canceling Dish and start streaming. I am paying $115 a month for Dish and my contract runs out in about 7 months. I am paying for a lot of channels I do not watch. I have Paramount + already.

I have an antenna that I can get my locals on. I would want 4k picture quality if possible, but having HD is a must. Some of the main channels we watch are Lifetime, HGTV, Hallmark, Uptv, USA, WGN, FX, POP, Syfy, Cook, TNT, TBS, CMT, Travel, Newsnation and ION,

I find that You Tube TV has the best picture, mostly everything is 1080P, they do offer certain things in 4K, mostly the same sporting events Dish has, but since most of it is up-converted from 1080P I find it is not worth the extra money.

For it’s package price, $65, you will get all those channels you listed at least.

The extra money for 4K on YTTV would be better spent on HBOMAX ( 4K is getting better, everything else is in 1080P) or Netflix ( tons of 4K there).

 

[Ronnie-]

I find that You Tube TV has the best picture, mostly everything is 1080P, they do offer certain things in 4K, mostly the same sporting events Dish has, but since most of it is up-converted from 1080P I find it is not worth the extra money.

For it’s package price, $65, you will get all those channels you listed at least.

The extra money for 4K on YTTV would be better spent on HBOMAX ( 4K is getting better, everything else is in 1080P) or Netflix ( tons of 4K there).

I agree on the 4k added expense. I will say though, the ESPN 4k college football games were eye watering sharp. I think those were true 4k and not upconverted.

 

[reubenray]

We don't watch much sports other than college football and then only LSU. Having 4k is not necessary, but HD is. I don't plan on getting Disney or Netflix (enough said). We don't care that much about watching older shows, but more current shows that we would watch on Dish when they are first shown.

 

[NashGuy]

If or when I get high speed internet I am thinking about canceling Dish and start streaming. I am paying $115 a month for Dish and my contract runs out in about 7 months. I am paying for a lot of channels I do not watch. I have Paramount + already.

I have an antenna that I can get my locals on. I would want 4k picture quality if possible, but having HD is a must. Some of the main channels we watch are Lifetime, HGTV, Hallmark, Uptv, USA, WGN, FX, POP, Syfy, Cook, TNT, TBS, CMT, Travel, Newsnation and ION,

You might want to use this website to help you figure out which cable TV service will be best for you. Enter your zip code and then pick your "must-have" channels and it'll show you which services offer those channels and how much they cost.

Suppose... you could design your perfect TV service

Suppose lets you select your favorite TV channels, searches billions of combinations of cable, satellite and streaming TV services, and finds the best for you.

www.suppose.tv

Just FYI, I don't think there are any streaming cable TV services that offer ION but you can probably get that with an OTA antenna for free. YouTube TV is a good service for $65/mo but it lacks a few other channels on your list: Lifetime, Cooking Channel and UpTV, although the others you list are available. As for WGN, that's purely a Chicago local channel now. You might get WGN on YouTube TV if you live in the Chicago area, I don't know. You may end up needing to subscribe to both YouTube TV ($65) plus Frndly TV ($8) since Frndly TV offers a few channels that YouTube TV lacks, like Lifetime, History, A&E, UpTV, INSP, MeTV, H&I, etc.

 

[mwdxer1]

So many great free services too, like Pluto, Tubi, Crackle, STIRR, etc.

 

[reubenray]

You might want to use this website to help you figure out which cable TV service will be best for you. Enter your zip code and then pick your "must-have" channels and it'll show you which services offer those channels and how much they cost.

Suppose... you could design your perfect TV service

Suppose lets you select your favorite TV channels, searches billions of combinations of cable, satellite and streaming TV services, and finds the best for you.

www.suppose.tv

Just FYI, I don't think there are any streaming cable TV services that offer ION but you can probably get that with an OTA antenna for free. YouTube TV is a good service for $65/mo but it lacks a few other channels on your list: Lifetime, Cooking Channel and UpTV, although the others you list are available. As for WGN, that's purely a Chicago local channel now. You might get WGN on YouTube TV if you live in the Chicago area, I don't know. You may end up needing to subscribe to both YouTube TV ($65) plus Frndly TV ($8) since Frndly TV offers a few channels that YouTube TV lacks, like Lifetime, History, A&E, UpTV, INSP, MeTV, H&I, etc.

Frndly TV looks to be my best option for me. I can change my Dish programming from the Top 200 to the Top 120 + the Heartland pack and cut my bill $19 plus canceling the locals would save another $12 a month. I have an OTA antenna to use for these. My only concern with Frndly TV is the picture and audio quality. I already have Paramount + and Amazon Prime.

But all of this depends on getting faster internet service to be able to stream. I tried to stream Seal Team four times last week and finally gave up.

 

[Yespage]

Frndly TV looks to be my best option for me. I can change my Dish programming from the Top 200 to the Top 120 + the Heartland pack and cut my bill $19 plus canceling the locals would save another $12 a month. I have an OTA antenna to use for these. My only concern with Frndly TV is the picture and audio quality. I already have Paramount + and Amazon Prime.

But all of this depends on getting faster internet service to be able to stream. I tried to stream Seal Team four times last week and finally gave up.

Check out Philo. Not as cheap as Frndly, but it has a wider general interest set of channels. No Comcast, Turner, or Disney. We used Philo to supplement Welcome Pack.

 

[NashGuy]

Frndly TV looks to be my best option for me. I can change my Dish programming from the Top 200 to the Top 120 + the Heartland pack and cut my bill $19 plus canceling the locals would save another $12 a month. I have an OTA antenna to use for these. My only concern with Frndly TV is the picture and audio quality. I already have Paramount + and Amazon Prime.

But all of this depends on getting faster internet service to be able to stream. I tried to stream Seal Team four times last week and finally gave up.

Yeah, I switched my parents from Top 200 to Top 120 + Heartland around a year ago but then they ended up cancelling DISH completely back in Jan. after switching to YouTube TV. Took their monthly bill down from about $118/mo to $65/mo (not including sales tax).

If you were to keep DISH's Top 120 + Heartland, I'm not sure why you'd even needly Frndly TV. Just about all their channels are in either Top 120 or Heartland.

 

[mwdxer1]

Yeah, I switched my parents from Top 200 to Top 120 + Heartland around a year ago but then they ended up cancelling DISH completely back in Jan. after switching to YouTube TV. Took their monthly bill down from about $118/mo to $65/mo (not including sales tax).

If you were to keep DISH's Top 120 + Heartland, I'm not sure why you'd even needly Frndly TV. Just about all their channels are in either Top 120 or Heartland.

I have looked at Frndy TV myself as they are beginning to carry more diginets. I have been waiting for some service to concentrate on diginets.

 

[HipKat]

If you have a 4K TV, and I presume you do, the Nvidia Shield Pro's AI 4K upscaling works very nicely and is the best streaming device out there. I have a Sony X900J with Android OS so I don't use a device like the Shield or a Firestick anymore but the upscaling on that TV is also very well done

 

[FTA4PA]

So many great free services too, like Pluto, Tubi, Crackle, STIRR, etc.

Our LG TV has the Pluto service available in WebOS along with many others. We had heard good things about it and since it is free (with ads) we gave it a try. We found some very good channels available (at least for us ) and we have watched it quite a bit lately. The ads, at this point, are not overbearing either.

 

[mwdxer1]

There are so many great free streaming services these days. The number of channels seem almost endless.
Pluto, Plex, Tubi, Crackle, Xumo, STIRR, Free version of Sling, F2VTV (Roku), Airy TV (Roku), Roku Channel, Anthum TV, Bumblebee TV, Distro TV, IMDb TV, Glewed TV, RedBox, Red Bull (Sports), to name a few. I know people that just watch OTA and free streaming services. Many streaming services have less ads that regular cable type channels too.