I thought streaming was supposed to save money

[HagginHall1999]

It did, for a bit. Then the cable companies got pissed they weren't getting a piece of the pie. And started their own services. Now it's no better than cable. My advice? Start pirating.

I have a free version of "Hulu" through 3 different avenues yet I'm paying for it, lol. It is bundled with Disney. Disney is free with Spectrum but that doesn't give me ESPN+. ESPN+ is bundled with Hulu and Disney at a discounted rate. Hulu is free with cell phone provider.

Talk about a sh*t show. I just chalk it up to the cost of doing business in 2024. Kind of like the $8 box of Family size Cheezit's at Kroger or the $100 it cost to take my wife and 3 kids (+1 on a lap) to the movies this afternoon. $40 for a large popcorn, large soft drink and souvenir kids bucket/cup of Garfield soda/popcorn. Smuggled our own candy in.

I honestly don't know how people are making it these days. I've managed to stay debt free but man oh man is it tough (especially to save). One income and 6 mouths to feed plus a primadonna dog who requires $110 grooming every six weeks, lol.

 

[will1976]

Try sportsurge.net it is always 1080p. Also free!

 

[UK-chulo]

Queue half the post recommending pirating and stealing.

 

[BBUK]

Uh, yeah they are... That is dreamland stuff you posted...

Kind of tried giving RR a pass but the horse laugh is ignorant in this case..

here is some freebie items...

How to Defend Yourself if Accused of Illegally Downloading Copyrighted Material

It is illegal to download copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Unfortunately, if you download a movie or song illegally, you could be sued. Recently, these lawsuits have been brought by law firms who contract...

www.wikihow.com

Do what you want RR, the lawyers just get the dough. (Plenty of lawyers with nothing to do other than offer their services at nearly any price.) Yeah you can get away with it a lot but go ahead... Enjoy.

 

[csrupp]

I get direct TV streaming and include HBO max ESPN for $140 per month . Then I subscribe to Hulu, Paramount plus , Apple TV , Amazon prime all for about $12 each per month . Trying to figure where the savings are . Now to see UK play a baseball game they want me to subscribe to ESPN plus for a hundred bucks a year .
Am I doing something wrong ?

It was never about saving money. It was about not paying for stuff you don’t want. Of course you are going to pay a lot of money for all those subscriptions.

 

[seccats04]

YouTubeTV is the only way to go in my opinion. I get all my sports and my wife gets all her shows for under $100 a month, right around $80 I think.

Do you watch any sports after the NCAAT? I started watching a little NBA but I can watch most of the games on Max, which my dad pays for. The shows that your wife watches, can she watch them on streaming services like Netflix or Hulu? You can combine those and it’s still way cheaper than YTTV. I drop YTTV right after the NCAAT and then pick it back up when football starts.

 

[BBUK]

The only people who get arrested are the big hosters. The most that happens is your isp sends a letter to stop.

I could give you direct examples but you keep dreaming... I know better.

 

[Dncmaxwell]

Look at it this way guys, we are paying more now and have to manage multiple subscriptions to get worse access.

Then they announce your team is on the new SEC +++ channel and you enter panic mode to figure out what new subscription you have to get and cancel to watch the game.

Then when you can’t find the game you look up the eSPN website and refresh for 2 hours.

It ain’t getting cheaper cause the same guys are in charge…

 

[JonathanW]

All I pay for is YoutubeTV

 

[RunninRichie]

I could give you direct examples but you keep dreaming... I know better.

From the 2000s im sure.

 

[RunninRichie]

Kind of tried giving RR a pass but the horse laugh is ignorant in this case..

here is some freebie items...

How to Defend Yourself if Accused of Illegally Downloading Copyrighted Material

It is illegal to download copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Unfortunately, if you download a movie or song illegally, you could be sued. Recently, these lawsuits have been brought by law firms who contract...

www.wikihow.com

Do what you want RR, the lawyers just get the dough. (Plenty of lawyers with nothing to do other than offer their services at nearly any price.) Yeah you can get away with it a lot but go ahead... Enjoy.

Lmao dude, you just linked me a wikihow article. Yes, it's illegal on paper. But like I said, these big copyright holders go after the hosters and site owners. Not the dude downloading a few movies. And that's even if they go after them at all. Its rarely prosecuted. And the lawsuit in that article was from 2011. If you honestly think the police are busting down the door because you downloaded hangover 2, when they have drug dealer, murder, and rape cases to investigate then lol.


between 2005 and 2008, around 12-15% of Americans downloaded media, during that same time the RIAA was going after people. The RIAA says that there were between 18,000 and 35,000 cases, but that may only represent about 28,000 people facing lawsuits (threatened, filled, or settled).

Here's the limited math part, of the estimated 45,600,000 "pirates" during those years, only 28,000 were "caught." This translates to a 1 in 1,629 chance of being caught at that time. A quick note, getting "caught" doesn't mean getting in trouble. Those that have been solidly caught were made an example of and faced heavy fines. On the other hand, the MPAA seemed to focus more on the sources of "piracy" rather than the consumer.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

Do you watch any sports after the NCAAT? I started watching a little NBA but I can watch most of the games on Max, which my dad pays for. The shows that your wife watches, can she watch them on streaming services like Netflix or Hulu? You can combine those and it’s still way cheaper than YTTV. I drop YTTV right after the NCAAT and then pick it back up when football starts.

I rarely watch anything but sports. I’m not a big tv watcher. I watch College basketball and football. NBA and NFL. College baseball and MLB. Sometimes Golf and NASCAR if I’m really bored. I could probably cancel it in the summer tho because all I do is work and fish. But my wife watches a bunch of different shows and she has Netflix and can’t cancel either for that reason alone.. lol

 

[KyCatFan]

I get Hulu, Netflix, and right now Apple TV free from T-Mobile. Plus MLB TV but don't use it. I watch locals over the air. Then there's Pluto TV. It's like a free cable TV service minus most of the sports and bigger networks. Lots of good content on there.

With no college football or basketball on right now, I pay only for my Internet. Thats like $70 something with Spectrum, but think I'm going to switch to T-Mobile internet and save over $30 a month. I can run over to my mom's and watch the games if I want. So my expenses will only be about $40 a month going forward.

 

[Bluegrassking]

I get direct TV streaming and include HBO max ESPN for $140 per month . Then I subscribe to Hulu, Paramount plus , Apple TV , Amazon prime all for about $12 each per month . Trying to figure where the savings are . Now to see UK play a baseball game they want me to subscribe to ESPN plus for a hundred bucks a year .
Am I doing something wrong ?

The Dtv seemingly boosts you up more than need be because I'm at more like 105ish for YouTube TV including ESPN plus a Max subscription (though I do the annual so that shaves a fair piece off).

I do annual on Disney so that averages like 13 a month. I also have Paramount mostly just for Star Trek really but only pay for it all because I won't deign to tolerate commercials and get it free with my phone. So that is $10.

That is about 130. I also have Amazon but not really. counting it because the TV is a side effect of Prime and I'd likely pay it or most of it with no TV.
Even if I did it would just take me to the $140ish that is your baseline.

It is maybe a hair cheaper but certainly more options by far than traditional cable.

I could easily bring the annual cost down a few hundred a year by turning off YouTube TV after the tournament until football season and another 10 a month by dealing with some commercials with Star Trek but I hate to lose all that infinite DVR stuff I barely watch but like the thought of.

 

[BBUK]

Lmao dude, you just linked me a wikihow article. Yes, it's illegal on paper. But like I said, these big copyright holders go after the hosters and site owners. Not the dude downloading a few movies. And that's even if they go after them at all. Its rarely prosecuted. And the lawsuit in that article was from 2011. If you honestly think the police are busting down the door because you downloaded hangover 2, when they have drug dealer, murder, and rape cases to investigate then lol.


between 2005 and 2008, around 12-15% of Americans downloaded media, during that same time the RIAA was going after people. The RIAA says that there were between 18,000 and 35,000 cases, but that may only represent about 28,000 people facing lawsuits (threatened, filled, or settled).

Here's the limited math part, of the estimated 45,600,000 "pirates" during those years, only 28,000 were "caught." This translates to a 1 in 1,629 chance of being caught at that time. A quick note, getting "caught" doesn't mean getting in trouble. Those that have been solidly caught were made an example of and faced heavy fines. On the other hand, the MPAA seemed to focus more on the sources of "piracy" rather than the consumer.

If you saw the expenses incurred you'd stop but keep going like you have a handle on what you are spouting... You have no idea but are going ahead anyway. Yeah it is not costing you or anyone you know....directly. Oh well, enjoy... (In direct expenses are killing this country and have been for a very long time (Decades) No shop-lifting ever occurs as well and the consumer never incurs the costs. (News flash, prosecutions for a crime do not have to occur for consumers to absorb the costs in a myriad of ways on the backend processes.) You just never see them due to backend costing. Take care...

 

[BBUK]

Nah not with a vpn..

😅

 

[RunninRichie]

If you saw the expenses incurred you'd stop but keep going like you have a handle on what you are spouting... You have no idea but are going ahead anyway. Yeah it is not costing you or anyone you know....directly. Oh well, enjoy... (In direct expenses are killing this country and have been for a very long time (Decades) No shop-lifting ever occurs as well and the consumer never incurs the costs. (News flash, prosecutions for a crime do not have to occur for consumers to absorb the costs in a myriad of ways on the backend processes.) You just never see them due to backend costing. Take care...

Pardon me if I don't care about the multi-billion dollar corporations not getting a few more dollars.

 

[chroix]

“Free”

Invest in good antivirus software.

 

[Mr. Stratford]

I get direct TV streaming and include HBO max ESPN for $140 per month . Then I subscribe to Hulu, Paramount plus , Apple TV , Amazon prime all for about $12 each per month . Trying to figure where the savings are . Now to see UK play a baseball game they want me to subscribe to ESPN plus for a hundred bucks a year .
Am I doing something wrong ?

Directv is the most expensive and worst streaming platform. I have Youtube TV with a package that adds HBO, Showtime and Starz for $105 per month total.

 

[BBUK]

Pardon me if I don't care about the multi-billion dollar corporations not getting a few more dollars.

It's yours and my money they are taking under-handedly. I care!

 

[SemperFiCat]

If you saw the expenses incurred you'd stop but keep going like you have a handle on what you are spouting... You have no idea but are going ahead anyway. Yeah it is not costing you or anyone you know....directly. Oh well, enjoy... (In direct expenses are killing this country and have been for a very long time (Decades) No shop-lifting ever occurs as well and the consumer never incurs the costs. (News flash, prosecutions for a crime do not have to occur for consumers to absorb the costs in a myriad of ways on the backend processes.) You just never see them due to backend costing. Take care...

Or, instead of labeling folks as criminals destroying America, they are American consumers fighting a greedy system and basically saying, "ok, rich a-holes, your product is too damn expensive, and your prices continue to go up, so we're going to use some ingenuity and fight back."

To say this is like shop lifting from Jim and Diane's country hardware store is laughable.

 

[BBUK]

Or, instead of labeling folks as criminals destroying America, they are American consumers fighting a greedy system and basically saying, "ok, rich a-holes, your product is too damn expensive, and your prices continue to go up, so we're going to use some ingenuity and fight back."

To say this is like shopping from Jim and Diane's country hardware store is laughable.

Huh? Walmart, Target, yadda, yadda, yadda (Note: I am not sure exactly what you are stating..)

 

[SemperFiCat]

Huh? Walmart, Target, yadda, yadda, yadda (Note: I am not sure exactly what you are stating..)

Because a small, probably tiny, percent of American entertainment pirates and not causing streaming services to continually increases prices. Sure, I bet you can find a Google search, paid for by said companies, that pirating somehow justifies prices increases. But we all know that's complete BS, and it's just plain ole greed. All they are really doing is making conversations like this more common. The American consumer found a way to fight back.

 

[BBUK]

Because a small, probably tiny, percent of American entertainment pirates and not causing streaming services to continually increases prices. Sure, I bet you can find a Google search, paid for by said companies, that pirating somehow justifies prices increases. But we all know that's complete BS, and it's just plain ole greed. All they are really doing is making conversations like this more common. The American consumer found a way to fight back.

Oh I fully understand and agree the thievery by "Big Business" is ridiculously over the top blatant fraud against the American public now. (Any and every excuse is used, true or mostly not true but who is going to prove it.) What I was stating is that piracy no matter how it is justified still costs all consumers. The cost comes in fees to lawyers first and foremost. That cost is passed on no matter how you (Not you.) think you are tricking "Big Business"... they do not care, they just keep raising prices in the name of "increased costs"... Amazing how those prices never go down, they are just reallocated somewhere else.) Apologies, I have to go to work...

Wonder how eggs went to three dollars and more a dozen from $.75 .... Oh the excuse has long passed...

 

[TeoJ]

You can subscribe to ESPN+ for $10.99 for a month if you want (you don't have to pay for a year).

Try to cancel.

 

[Mike-D]

I pay 45/month for every channel known to man. This includes a full movie/series database, and PPV's.

 

[ThroughBlue]

I literally only watch TV to watch Kentucky play. I cant justify paying even 50 a month for TV. If i cant get the funchester stream I listen on iheart.

 

[SemperFiCat]

My buddy showed me his pirate box thing. He got it from some guy in Canada, and it's about the size of a small router. Anyway, it's like what some of you are describing, every channel known to man etc, and I think his was possibly a one time purchase for $100 or $150. It was pretty impressive. Even had a massive adult section, if that's your jam. Really, the only thing I wasn't a fan of is the user interface. Now granted, it was my first time driving it, but I didn't find it the easiest to navigate every channel known to man. What are similar things people recommend? I don't need every channel known to man, but the usual stuff, and in a nice navigation interface would pretty tempting.

 

[know1]

You basically got rid of cable and then re-subscribed to all your channels on separate platforms. Of course it will cost more.

You need to focus on what you really watch and subscribe to those. And drop them during seasons you dont/won't watch. For example, I drop my Sports package during the spring and summer.

 

[TCurtis75]

I get direct TV streaming and include HBO max ESPN for $140 per month . Then I subscribe to Hulu, Paramount plus , Apple TV , Amazon prime all for about $12 each per month . Trying to figure where the savings are . Now to see UK play a baseball game they want me to subscribe to ESPN plus for a hundred bucks a year .
Am I doing something wrong ?

If you are subscribing to Hulu already, just change to the bundle that also includes Disney + and Espn+. That is what I have and it's only something like $3 more than just Hulu.

 

[bigbluedon]

I have YouTube Tv , Max , Netflix, Hulu ( includes ESPN plus) , Disney , paramount+, Apple TV, and peacock. When I started streaming and cut the cord a few years ago everything was cheaper. Now everything has gone up so to be honest I don’t know what would be the best option anymore.

If u have YouTube tv, why do you need Hulu? The only thing I miss that YouTube tv doesn’t offer is the Tennis Channel. We started out at $58.95/month and now it’s $78 something. They won’t let you enjoy good deals for long.

 

[JPFisher]

Am I doing something wrong ?

No. I believe that's why Gen Z wants to "eat the rich."

 

[kywildcat41086]

If u have YouTube tv, why do you need Hulu? The only thing I miss that YouTube tv doesn’t offer is the Tennis Channel. We started out at $58.95/month and now it’s $78 something. They won’t let you enjoy good deals for long.

I don’t have Hulu live I use it for the ESPN plus and for some shows the wife likes. The only 2 of the streaming channels that I really watch is the YouTube TV and Netflix everything else is the wife.

 

[52T]

I just use Kodi and watch basically anything for free.. Costs like $50 year for a good VPN blocker..

Who do you use for VPN

 

[jjsomer]

I get direct TV streaming and include HBO max ESPN for $140 per month . Then I subscribe to Hulu, Paramount plus , Apple TV , Amazon prime all for about $12 each per month . Trying to figure where the savings are . Now to see UK play a baseball game they want me to subscribe to ESPN plus for a hundred bucks a year .
Am I doing something wrong ?

I get everything you do minus DirectTV and HBO Max for $140 a month less and probably have access to the same programs.

 

[ftp000]

I get direct TV streaming and include HBO max ESPN for $140 per month . Then I subscribe to Hulu, Paramount plus , Apple TV , Amazon prime all for about $12 each per month . Trying to figure where the savings are . Now to see UK play a baseball game they want me to subscribe to ESPN plus for a hundred bucks a year .
Am I doing something wrong ?

I pay $98 for YoutubeTV with Max. ESPN is included, along with ESPN plus.

 

[ftp000]

I just use Kodi and watch basically anything for free.. Costs like $50 year for a good VPN blocker..

we used kodi for a while, mostly for movies. Constant buffering.

 

[jjsomer]

My current lineup.

Sling Blue+Orange - 70
Hulu - 18
Paramount+ -11
Peacock - 5
Netflix - 18
-$125/mo

AP is up to $140/yr...I refuse to give Bezos any of my money. F that guy.

All I really need is SECN+ and ESPN+. The rest is for my better half.

 

[UK-chulo]

Or, instead of labeling folks as criminals destroying America, they are American consumers fighting a greedy system and basically saying, "ok, rich a-holes, your product is too damn expensive, and your prices continue to go up, so we're going to use some ingenuity and fight back."

To say this is like shop lifting from Jim and Diane's country hardware store is laughable.

In principle it is exactly that. But I get it, very few live by principle now.

 

[BC_Wader]

Knew a guy who got fired from a fantastic job because he was selling movies for $5 in the parking lot. Thought he was selling drugs then figured they had to pin something on him.