Any alternatives to YouTube that aren't "cable"?

[NociHTTP]

When I saw the news today that YouTube had raised its "base plan" to $73, I immediately cancelled. As did many. I've no interest in ever going back to Cable, haven't watched that in maybe ten years. So I am wondering what the alternatives out there are. I'm a big college hoops and MLB fan, not really a fan of any other sports, and I enjoy watching holiday classics.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

Sling or Hulu tv

 

[Wesley91581]

ESPN +

 

[Glenn's take]

ESPN +

That doesn't get you the on air networks.

 

[chroix]

Hulu+ is great but it’s more expensive than YouTube+. Sling seems to be the best inexpensive option I’ve seen. A lot of people love like Roku as well. I’m personally going to switch to Sling from Hulu to save some money once the tournament is over.

 

[Boyd94]

Philo has a lot of good channels. No sports or locals though.

 

[Wesley91581]

That doesn't get you the on air networks.

What’s an on air network? The ones you can get with rabbit ears for free?

 

[Glenn's take]

What’s an on air network? The ones you can get with rabbit ears for free?

ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNU, SEC NETWORK. None of that stuff is on ESPN +.

 

[Wesley91581]

ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNU, SEC NETWORK. None of that stuff is on ESPN +.

Okay but doesn’t it live stream the games those networks are on anyways?

No one watches sports center/get up/first take anyways

 

[CB3UK]

Okay but doesn’t it live stream the games those networks are on anyways?

No one watches sports center/get up/first take anyways

No, it does not. That's his point.

 

[Glenn's take]

Okay but doesn’t it live stream the games those networks are on anyways?

No one watches sports center/get up/first take anyways

Nope. No games, no nothing that are on those networks. On the ESPN app you need to sign in with your provider to get that. ESPN + is your minor college sports. It's the NHL version of the Sunday ticket. UK plays 1 football and 2 basketball games every year that are only available on ESPN +.

 

[Perrin75]

The simplest answer is Sling TV orange + the Sports Xtra package. I think that is around $50 a month.

A more creative method is to:

1. Get an Antenna - Use Antenna Web to find out what is best for your house. This gets you local channels
2. Buy a DVR - normally I would Just recommend the Amazon Recast, but it has been discontinued. Until my Recast stops working I won’t replace it so I don’t have a recommendation. Just search YouTube for OTA DVR and you will find reviews. You could also explore setting up a Plex server for this. YouTube will show you how to set it up.
3. Get streaming devices for your TVs - I use the Fire Stick because it works with the Recast. Pick the one you like best
4. Download FAS apps - There are tons of free content if you are willing to watch Ads. Some I recommend are Pluto, Tubi, Xumo, FreeVee, Crackle, Roku and Plex.
5. If these options aren’t getting you the games you want, then sign up for a dedicated league pass. All the pro leagues have some version of it.
6. College Sports are the only big problem. Unfortunately ESPN owns the rights to most of the leagues right now, so I normally subscribe to Sling Orange + Sports Extra and Cancel when the season is over.

For me personally, I pay for TV from September - December for Football. I also get the NFL+ package. Without doing any heavy math, if I were to break this down, my TV expenses are probably about $10 a month. I also get the Disney Bundle as part of my Verizon subscription so I have more than enough options of stuff to watch.

 

[Wesley91581]

Nope. No games, no nothing that are on those networks. On the ESPN app you need to sign in with your provider to get that. ESPN + is your minor college sports. It's the NHL version of the Sunday ticket. UK plays 1 football and 2 basketball games every year that are only available on ESPN +.

Oh got it sorry that’s seems absurd to pay for that then!

 

[Hank Camacho]

The simplest answer is Sling TV orange + the Sports Xtra package. I think that is around $50 a month.

A more creative method is to:

1. Get an Antenna - Use Antenna Web to find out what is best for your house. This gets you local channels
2. Buy a DVR - normally I would Just recommend the Amazon Recast, but it has been discontinued. Until my Recast stops working I won’t replace it so I don’t have a recommendation. Just search YouTube for OTA DVR and you will find reviews. You could also explore setting up a Plex server for this. YouTube will show you how to set it up.
3. Get streaming devices for your TVs - I use the Fire Stick because it works with the Recast. Pick the one you like best
4. Download FAS apps - There are tons of free content if you are willing to watch Ads. Some I recommend are Pluto, Tubi, Xumo, FreeVee, Crackle, Roku and Plex.
5. If these options aren’t getting you the games you want, then sign up for a dedicated league pass. All the pro leagues have some version of it.
6. College Sports are the only big problem. Unfortunately ESPN owns the rights to most of the leagues right now, so I normally subscribe to Sling Orange + Sports Extra and Cancel when the season is over.

For me personally, I pay for TV from September - December for Football. I also get the NFL+ package. Without doing any heavy math, if I were to break this down, my TV expenses are probably about $10 a month. I also get the Disney Bundle as part of my Verizon subscription so I have more than enough options of stuff to watch.

It's so simple!

 

[Get Bucket$]

The simplest answer is Sling TV orange + the Sports Xtra package. I think that is around $50 a month.

A more creative method is to:

1. Get an Antenna - Use Antenna Web to find out what is best for your house. This gets you local channels
2. Buy a DVR - normally I would Just recommend the Amazon Recast, but it has been discontinued. Until my Recast stops working I won’t replace it so I don’t have a recommendation. Just search YouTube for OTA DVR and you will find reviews. You could also explore setting up a Plex server for this. YouTube will show you how to set it up.
3. Get streaming devices for your TVs - I use the Fire Stick because it works with the Recast. Pick the one you like best
4. Download FAS apps - There are tons of free content if you are willing to watch Ads. Some I recommend are Pluto, Tubi, Xumo, FreeVee, Crackle, Roku and Plex.
5. If these options aren’t getting you the games you want, then sign up for a dedicated league pass. All the pro leagues have some version of it.
6. College Sports are the only big problem. Unfortunately ESPN owns the rights to most of the leagues right now, so I normally subscribe to Sling Orange + Sports Extra and Cancel when the season is over.

For me personally, I pay for TV from September - December for Football. I also get the NFL+ package. Without doing any heavy math, if I were to break this down, my TV expenses are probably about $10 a month. I also get the Disney Bundle as part of my Verizon subscription so I have more than enough options of stuff to watch.

 

[Glenn's take]

Oh got it sorry that’s seems absurd to pay for that then!

It's a good deal if you like hockey. I have it bundled with Hulu and Disney Plus.

 

[Perrin75]

It's so simple!

So subscribing to Sling TV orange is complicated?

 

[trueblujr2]

Oh got it sorry that’s seems absurd to pay for that then!

for ESPN, you have to have a cable provider that's providing it. What people leave out of all of this is their internet costs and especially if you have kids in the house, it needs to be a pretty high speed service. and there are limited options. I don't like Spectrum all that much, but right now, I pay about $140 per month for internet service and their streaming which gets me most all of the channels and all of the sports channels I need. Not ideal, but if you end up paying $50 for whatever streaming service on top of $90-$100 for your internet, what are you saving?

 

[bbonds]

Plex with NAS…

 

[Creed Bratton]

Sling is the cheapest option but has less channels and options. If you go with the blue and orange package with sports and a higher DVR capacity then you are getting almost to the same as YouTube TV. I hate the price increase but YouTube TV has what I watch more than any of the other options with unlimited DVR.

 

[Lamar Card]

for ESPN, you have to have a cable provider that's providing it. What people leave out of all of this is their internet costs and especially if you have kids in the house, it needs to be a pretty high speed service. and there are limited options. I don't like Spectrum all that much, but right now, I pay about $140 per month for internet service and their streaming which gets me most all of the channels and all of the sports channels I need. Not ideal, but if you end up paying $50 for whatever streaming service on top of $90-$100 for your internet, what are you saving?

$90-$100 for internet service is a correctible problem. I was paying Spectrum $79.99 for 300 Mbps. I received an offer from AT&T for for $49.99. I called Spectrum and with one transfer I reached accounts. I told her I was quitting to go to another vendor. She said I can give you $49.99 and 500 Mbps for one year. Done deal.

 

[Wesley91581]

So it sounds like it’s a lot of work to save a few bucks

 

[BMoore2]

When I saw the news today that YouTube had raised its "base plan" to $73, I immediately cancelled. As did many. I've no interest in ever going back to Cable, haven't watched that in maybe ten years. So I am wondering what the alternatives out there are. I'm a big college hoops and MLB fan, not really a fan of any other sports, and I enjoy watching holiday classics.

Hulu TV is fine. Add in AT&T fiber, and it’s about $150, which is not spectacular, but it’s solid.

 

[NociHTTP]

Hulu TV is fine. Add in AT&T fiber, and it’s about $150, which is not spectacular, but it’s solid.

Only interested in streaming services. I'll check Hulu out.

 

[M4CAT]

Fubo TV is good for sports and have the regional sports networks.

 

[bbonds]

Which ones have Bally Sports Ohio?

 

[Glenn's take]

Which ones have Bally Sports Ohio?

I wouldn't make decisions that involve Bally Sports right now. Don't know a ton but I believe they just declared bankruptcy. MLB may be going to someone else if they can't make their payments.

 

[UK-BILL]

When I saw the news today that YouTube had raised its "base plan" to $73, I immediately cancelled. As did many. I've no interest in ever going back to Cable, haven't watched that in maybe ten years. So I am wondering what the alternatives out there are. I'm a big college hoops and MLB fan, not really a fan of any other sports, and I enjoy watching holiday classics.

$73 is a deal breaker? Really? Hell once I saw I could watch 4 NCAA games at once I accept the increase with a smile lol

 

[NociHTTP]

It's not about the games, for me anyway.

 

[cricket3]

When I started with DirecTV Stream 5 years is was $35 a month, my most recent bill was $100 😒

Only pay $40 for internet though so it’s still cheaper then cable when I price out a comparable cable/internet package through Spectrum.

 

[Girthang]

When I saw the news today that YouTube had raised its "base plan" to $73, I immediately cancelled. As did many. I've no interest in ever going back to Cable, haven't watched that in maybe ten years. So I am wondering what the alternatives out there are. I'm a big college hoops and MLB fan, not really a fan of any other sports, and I enjoy watching holiday classics.

Most of the plans that carry all of the sports networks are about 65-70 per month when you do the add-ons. That's why we've scaled back and will likely drop the last one we have. If I want to see a game bad enough, I'll go watch at a sports bar or restaurant, or in person.

Sling
FUBO
YouTube

If you want all of ESPN, plus FoxSports, plus ....
69 for fubo I believe. We left sling because it got up to 75 within a year or two. Tried YouTube for a free trial before finding out they were the same as sling and fubo. Fubo does have a large dvr space on the higher level plan, but I'm sure YouTube competes with that

 

[Girthang]

When I started with DirecTV Stream 5 years is was $35 a month, my most recent bill was $100 😒

Only pay $40 for internet though so it’s still cheaper then cable when I price out a comparable cable/internet package through Spectrum.

DirecTv is what we had before we went to all streaming. Streaming is getting more and more like cable. No way to avoid it

 

[Glenn's take]

One thing to be taken away from this thread is exactly how much we pay for sports. Mostly ESPN. There are streaming services without ESPN that have pretty much the same channels and they are half the price.

 

[Blue63Madison]

When I saw the news today that YouTube had raised its "base plan" to $73, I immediately cancelled. As did many. I've no interest in ever going back to Cable, haven't watched that in maybe ten years. So I am wondering what the alternatives out there are. I'm a big college hoops and MLB fan, not really a fan of any other sports, and I enjoy watching holiday classics.

You’re crying about $70?

 

[KyCatFan]

If you get TMobile you get free Netflix and they have been giving free MLB.TV every year I've been with them. So you could get at least one sport free. They should be giving out the code for it here soon. I haven't tried it but they also have home internet for $50.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

If you get TMobile you get free Netflix and they have been giving free MLB.TV every year I've been with them. So you could get at least one sport free. They should be giving out the code for it here soon. I haven't tried it but they also have home internet for $50.

I also got a free year of AAA and a free year of MLS (will never watch it, but free is free)

 

[bbonds]

TMobile also gives $10/month credit for YTTV.