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Cutting the 'cable'..

One consideration of cutting the cable is that there are circumstances where you lose Internet, but cable will remain. When you rely exclusively on Internet, when that goes, you only have your phone or cell capable iPad left. That was not enough to stop me. 🙂
 
Well, for American Football and SlingTV:
The SlingTV Blue package includes Fox Sports. NBC (Blue Package) which should cover Sunday Night football, but is in the process of being released in major markets for streaming, and Houston does not yet have it (Dallas Ft Worth, L.A. and some other cities have it.) The NFL Network (Blue Package) is supposed to carry Thursday Night Football. But unfortunately for Monday Night Football, ESPN is required, and that requires another $15 for the combined Blue+Orange package. As the Super Bowl in 2017 is being covered by Fox, I'll cancel the Orange package in Jan after the playoffs.
 
Huntn said:
Well, for American Football and SlingTV:
The SlingTV Blue package includes Fox Sports. NBC (Blue Package) which should cover Sunday Night football, but is in the process of being released in major markets for streaming, and Houston does not yet have it (Dallas Ft Worth, L.A. and some other cities have it.) The NFL Network (Blue Package) is supposed to carry Thursday Night Football. But unfortunately for Monday Night Football, ESPN is required, and that requires another $15 for the combined Blue+Orange package. As the Super Bowl in 2017 is being covered by Fox, I'll cancel the Orange package in Jan after the playoffs.
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Can you get NFL RedZone on Sling? Unless you just want to watch a specific game then RedZone is the way to go for Sunday afternoon football. Monday, Thursday, and Sunday night are obviously different.
 
mscriv said:
Can you get NFL RedZone on Sling? Unless you just want to watch a specific game then RedZone is the way to go for Sunday afternoon football. Monday, Thursday, and Sunday night are obviously different.
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Yes, Sling has Redzone. Is that just jumping around to all the games as they happen or soon after they happen?
 
Huntn said:
Yes, Sling has Redzone. Is that just jumping around to all the games as they happen or soon after they happen?
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The point behind RedZone is to catch every touchdown from every game in real time as much as possible. So, yes, they do jump around from game to game, but it's to show you the plays that count instead of seeing movement along the middle of the field. If you are a general football fan and like to keep up with what's going on around the league or if you play fantasy sports then RedZone is the way to go. If you are just a fan of a particular team and you want to watch every play of their game then it likely wouldn't be for you. I think it's great and certainly worth trying out just to see what you think.
 
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Looking into doing this but it really doesn't make much financial sense to cut the cord and subscribe to multiple services to be able to watch the channels that Hulu doesn't have. Fios offers 100/100mbps internet for $49.99/month (50/50 is the same price), but also has a bundle for $64.99 with cable including all the worthwhile channels like FX, USA, AMC, etc or a bundle also including phone with a three-year price guarantee for $69.99.

SlingTV Blue would be required to even come close to matching the channel lineup, but then there are limited On Demand options.

It's $49.99 Internet + $24.99 SlingTV Blue vs $64.99 + a $9.99 cable box.
 
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bought sling and I am trying to get used to it, but if I can't record then it will make it hard to move from DTV.
hope there is a way to watch programs that aired already using Sling for the HBO lineup
 
Despite trying to cut the cord the deals to get fios and even Xfinity are good enough that it just doesn't make sense. If Hulu offered the complete AMC, FX/FXX, and USA networks then I could see it being worth using the service for commercial-free "on demand," but as of now I could get all the channels I want besides the premium networks for only $14.99 more in service charges on fios.

I'd love to see Apple create an on-demand service with limited-to-no commercials and all the major cable networks but unless they become an ISP too it would have to be under $29.99/month to be worthwhile. Considering commercial-free Hulu Plus is $11.99/month $19.99/month would be the sweet spot IMO to have all of Hulu's content and also have a choice of ~ 12 cable networks + more available at a cost.
 
MICHAELSD said:
Despite trying to cut the cord the deals to get fios and even Xfinity are good enough that it just doesn't make sense. If Hulu offered the complete AMC, FX/FXX, and USA networks then I could see it being worth using the service for commercial-free "on demand," but as of now I could get all the channels I want besides the premium networks for only $14.99 more in service charges on fios.

I'd love to see Apple create an on-demand service with limited-to-no commercials and all the major cable networks but unless they become an ISP too it would have to be under $29.99/month to be worthwhile. Considering commercial-free Hulu Plus is $11.99/month $19.99/month would be the sweet spot IMO to have all of Hulu's content and also have a choice of ~ 12 cable networks + more available at a cost.
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SlingTV offers AMC, FX/FXX, and USA, about 40 in all for $25. However when streaming the commercials are still there and they don't let you fast forward through them. This was one of the advantages of the DVR/Tivo style service (recordings)- fast forwarding through commercials.
 
mscriv said:
Great information @Huntn. Thanks for sharing this journey with others who could benefit. I've thought of cord cutting for a while, but my family's love for sports makes it hard.
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Really the only reason why I have cable. ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNU, Fox, CBS, and NBC. Once someone (please apple) works out a deal with the providers to stream this content over the internet easily... Game over.
 
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arggg14 said:
Really the only reason why I have cable. ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNU, Fox, CBS, and NBC. Once someone (please apple) works out a deal with the providers to stream this content over the internet easily... Game over.
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Same here. I really wish SlingTV would create an addon for Kodi, or allow someone else to do so. The sports tuff is the hardest part for me right now and the only real reason I have cable.
 
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Huntn said:
After using SlingTV for a week, I'll report it works great, but it's customer service leaves much to be desired, not that they don't help, but the inefficient means they offer customer support about your questions. After you locate the place to send them a help request, you'll discover there is no troubleshooting web portal customer service ticket system and there is no way to talk to them on the phone. Guess that saves money. 🙄

When you submit a question, you'll see a message that says "watch your in basket", no not any basket in their website, but your email in-basket. About 6-12 hrs later you'll get a response. The first one of these I got I was irritated because while they told me they were working diligently to answer my question, they did not bother to answer the question I had sent them, such as how to edit your MyTV list? The answer btw is to scroll the list to the far far far right and you'll see an edit button.

PS, if you plan on paying up front 3 months for either a Roku or an Apple TV (discounted price), do that before you sign up for the one week trial. However, even during or after the trial, you can still take advantage of the offer, by emailing them and offering to pay for 3 months in advance, and they will make it happen.
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Hi Huntn. I wanted to offer my experience with Sling support. If you have a Twitter account and follow @slinganswers, you can tweet them via direct message and they have been absolutely great for me. The first time I asked them to follow me back and direct message me which they did in about 15 minutes. I had an account question that they fixed for me. I have the Blue package plus TCM and my experience has been great. The UI could be better but I have had virtually no real streaming problems on the Atv4. I started with Sling when it was in beta and it was definitely raw but it has come a really long way since.
 
z06gal said:
Hi Huntn. I wanted to offer my experience with Sling support. If you have a Twitter account and follow @slinganswers, you can tweet them via direct message and they have been absolutely great for me. The first time I asked them to follow me back and direct message me which they did in about 15 minutes. I had an account question that they fixed for me. I have the Blue package plus TCM and my experience has been great. The UI could be better but I have had virtually no real streaming problems on the Atv4. I started with Sling when it was in beta and it was definitely raw but it has come a really long way since.
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Thanks, this is good to know! Fortunately I have had no technical issues since initial setup. Hopefully I can remember this for next time. 🙂
 
Tech198 said:
Sounds the same to me.
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In the equation you are referring to, most people use the Internet and there would be an additional charge for Internet on the cable side, making it $40-70 more expensive. In addition, for myself, the channels they offer for $25 are better than what you get in some basic cable packages which are higher priced.
 
When I left Directv, my bill was $200 with no movie channels. What really irked me was the fees that they could never explain or define. Cutting the cord has saved me $150/mo
 
z06gal said:
When I left Directv, my bill was $200 with no movie channels. What really irked me was the fees that they could never explain or define. Cutting the cord has saved me $150/mo
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Nice savings.
Most of the fees listed on my utility bills aren't clearly explained. Even though they use fee or other terminologies as descriptors, most, if not all of those, are governmental taxes. As streaming/download services continue to grow, their bills will be weighted with similar. It has already begun.
Pennsylvania has joined several states in enacting a tax on digital streaming and download services. The 6 percent sales tax on services like Spotify, which went into effect on Aug. 1, is part of a revenue package introduced earlier this year, designed to plug a $1.3 billion budget shortfall, as CBS Pittsburgh reported. (Also relevant to the music industry, that package included a $4 million pool in tax credits for concerts and rehearsals produced in the state.)[...]
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http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7469634/pennsylvania-taxing-streaming-services
 
jkcerda said:
bought sling and I am trying to get used to it, but if I can't record then it will make it hard to move from DTV.
hope there is a way to watch programs that aired already using Sling for the HBO lineup
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It seems that different networks have different amounts of on demand content available. For example ABC, home of one of my favorite shows, Modern Family on SlingTV has live streaming but ZERO on demand content.

I am so used to recording what I want to watch, this could be a inconvenience, although MF can be found on the ABC App for streaming of current season episodes on your iPad but wait! Who wants to watch TV on your iPad when you have your big screen?

APPLE TV to the rescue! On Roku, you will find ABC with streaming, but also a message saying: cable or satellite required. The latest version of ATV includes App support, so the ABC app can be installed making streaming of the current season available just like on your iPad, no cable required!

Hopefully this might offer an option for your case. 🙂
 
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