What Satellite & Cable Companies are doing as a Result of Cord Cutting

[rekees4300]

AT&T dumping DirecTV? This may end up being a big deal for those living in rural areas.

Is AT&T selling DirecTV? What a split could mean for viewers

We had Comcast for about the first 10 years here for something like about $10/month for virtually everything on cable but Showtime and junk like it, even local channels. Then Xfinity bought them out with them suddenly wanting 5 to 10 times the price/month. Went with DirecTV as part of a CenturyLink package. THEN DirecTV kept going up in price; didn't get local channels; got them on rabbit ears. Finally cut the cable about a year ago with Roku and signing up on SlingTV to get ESPN and ESPN2 plus FS1 for $40/month; get local channels on rabbit ears. Cannot get "U", "news", ACCnetwork and some others. Hulu now has all these and more for $45/month. Sling wants another $10/month, which would total $50/month to get same. So far, sticking with Sling.

Get LOTS of really good, free movies on Tubi and Roku channels on the Roku gizmo, which is a one-time price of about $40.

Ralph

We've had DirecTV for many years. Ten years ago it was $75 but now it's $175 for the same content! Bought a Roku few months ago and it works really well but it's limited by Verizon's so-called "unlimited" 4G Internet plan (15GB). So cord cutting for us (and most rural folks) isn't a viable option. Maybe things will change when (if) 5G becomes a rural reality?

 

[jgedmond]

We've had DirecTV for many years. Ten years ago it was $75 but now it's $175 for the same content! Bought a Roku few months ago and it works really well but it's limited by Verizon's so-called "unlimited" 4G Internet plan (15GB). So cord cutting for us (and most rural folks) isn't a viable option. Maybe things will change when (if) 5G becomes a rural reality?

I took a similar as you did from $175/month DirecTV to Roku plus PlayStation Vue ($70/month). We are lucky to have DSL in our area at 25 mb/s with 50 mb/s available with the provider's bonded (4-wire) modem. The main problem with PS Vue is that their contract with our local TV stations does not include live streaming sports. I have found some workarounds using Roku channels or watching on my phone (that sucks), but not 100%.

 

[Oaktree]

You have to really like commercials with free TV on Ruku. Most shows start off ok, then go to 3 minutes of the show and 5 minutes or more of commercials. They don't break where regular TV break, they will brake right when someone is in the middle of a sentence.

Yeah, I've noticed that too...it's like there's a timer that goes off every xx min. and pauses the show for the commercials. At least the commercial breaks aren't very long, and there's usually a "2 of 3" indication. Sometimes you get the same commercial 3x in a row. :confused3:
Then again, IMHO most of the free content is so lame it's not even worth watching.

 

[goeduck]

I have a 1TB data limit from Xfinity on a 60MB/S cable connection. ROKU does very well at that speed and data limit. My Wife uses up half the data plan, I use Tablo.

 

[LD48750]

You have to really like commercials with free TV on Ruku. Most shows start off ok, then go to 3 minutes of the show and 5 minutes or more of commercials. They don't break where regular TV break, they will brake right when someone is in the middle of a sentence.

It has gotten that way with regular network broadcast TV too.

I pay an outrageous price for cable tv that is 100+ channels of stuff nobody will watch & reruns & commercials.

Maybe I get 100 Min of new programing per day & that is from the local news that I get off my private antenna because the cable co dropped local Lansing stations.

 

[rekees4300]

You have to really like commercials with free TV on Ruku. Most shows start off ok, then go to 3 minutes of the show and 5 minutes or more of commercials. They don't break where regular TV break, they will brake right when someone is in the middle of a sentence.

Nothing is really "free". One way or another the streaming services have to cover their expenses to stay in business. Wish Roku had a DVR device so commercials could be skipped.

 

[goeduck]

Commercials do not bother me. I figure if the advetisers pay the bill, that is better than me doing it. Plus I need a periodic pee break anyway, or one of the dogs does.

 

[LD48750]

Commercials do not bother me. I figure if the advetisers pay the bill, that is better than me doing it. Plus I need a periodic pee break anyway, or one of the dogs does.

Thats the point, we are paying a high price to watch these commercials and reruns.

 

[goeduck]

Thats the point, we are paying a high price to watch these commercials and reruns.

On the free services like Pluto?

 

[tom3]

Around here internet service is right at $60 a month. Add in a couple streaming services and it still gets nuts. Depending on time of day and weather I get 20 or 30 channels on the antenna, but no real sports. Just can't win.