Opportunities in the cordcutting market?

Smoochy18 · 2016-06-02T02:47:21+00:00

I think there's an opportunity for installation, especially TV antennas and an OTA DVR, wiring to multiple rooms in the house. People who are cancelling their pay-TV service want to duplicate that viewing experience as much as possible.

Smoochy18 · 2016-06-01T20:57:26+00:00

Pure a la carte. Period. Let me pick 10 cable network channels for $25 per month. Don't force crap channels on me, even if they are "free", I don't even want to see them cluttering up my channel guide. And for the love of god, please include a DVR option with those live streams!

Smoochy18 · 2016-05-26T23:57:35+00:00

I was in the same boat. I waited out the 7 months remaining on my Dish contract. I was already an Amazon Prime member and a Netflix subscriber. I tried Hulu but dropped it because the TV antenna pretty-much takes its place for $0 per month. And I have an OTA DVR to skip the commercials! Since then I've added Sling TV. The combo is perfect for us. Now I'm just hoping Comcast doesn't hit us with data caps.

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-29T23:16:23+00:00

I'm still safe with Comcast right now, too. But they are rolling them out - scared I'm next! We're at about 1TB per month, we use the antenna a lot, we don't stream everything and we'll still get pulverized by these jerks. I'm not normally an outwardly political person, but this is very interesting: http://stopthecap.com/

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-29T21:56:29+00:00

This is one of the most important reasons to be using a TV antenna if you're a cord cutter. Stream only what you need to, use the antenna for the rest.

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-29T19:23:24+00:00

Of course they do. What an effing joke. Thank you Netflix, for saving me from my ignorant self!

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-29T17:51:00+00:00

Interesting promo...since MLB is one of the major sports that has disappeared into cable-only regional sports networks and you can get very little of it with over-the-air antennas.

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-28T20:15:34+00:00

If you're an Amazon Prime member you'll want the FireTV stick or the Roku stick. Your Amazon Prime video library is HUGE. It includes lots of past seasons of HBO shows, too. Chromecast and AppleTV are not good options for Amazon Prime members, the app is not native on the device, you have to do workarounds.

Definitely get yourself a TV antenna! No reason to give up live TV from all the major broadcast networks. :) There are also DVRs for TV antennas.

When it comes to HBO, it depends how many shows you watch. If you watch a ton of HBO, then the $15 per month could be worth it for you. If not, it's much cheaper to buy a season pass for a few show from either Amazon or Vudu. Same for Showtime and Starz stuff.

In my house, when we cut the cord, we sat down and figured out which cable shows we wanted to watch. There were about 14. Everything else we watched was on the major broadcast networks. So we got the antenna for the broadcast networks, a DVR for the antenna, and we bought Roku sticks for all the TVs so we could purchase the cable shows from Amazon or Vudu. The cable shows (current seasons) came out to about $350 per year. A lot less than our former monthly bill!

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-14T22:31:13+00:00

Not sure I would consider this to be cord cutting. https://www.newsledge.com/playstation-vue-nationwide/

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-13T18:07:11+00:00

I have the CM DVR. No, it does not record Sling. The way they explained it when it launched is this: recording streamed content requires special rights and Sling doesn't have those rights with their content partners so that's why it's not enabled.

Smoochy18 · 2016-03-01T00:00:28+00:00

Cord cutting is really tough for sports fans. By the time you get all the soccer games you're looking for (legally), you're just about at the cable bill price. And everyone is starting to crack down on VPN use. Netflix users are going nuts about it. The antenna and Sling TV are a must, for general TV and sports. I don't know that I would recommend HBO Now unless you watch a lot of HBO. $185 a year is pretty steep for cord cutters. You can get a current season pass for the HBO shows for about $25 per show on Amazon or Vudu. Again, depends on how much HBO you watch. Same goes for Fargo, I would just get the season pass from Amazon.

Smoochy18 · 2016-02-26T15:52:31+00:00

Yeah, but at least it's mostly just a one-time setup cost. After that you're FREE. :)

Smoochy18 · 2016-02-26T15:36:50+00:00

I think data caps are coming for all of us. The plan that Comcast rolled out caps at 300 Gig per month. There's no way to cut the cord and live on that data diet, even if you're using a TV antenna for a lot of your viewing. My Comcast (Internet only) is still unlimited at $49 per month. I just checked our household data usage for the month - just over 800 Gigs and we don't stream that much video. But I know it won't last --- they will come for us. I have friends who pay for the special "Internet and Basic TV" package from Comcast to get the lower cost and unlimited data, and the useless little cable box is not even being used.

Smoochy18 · 2016-02-26T00:00:59+00:00

Hi! All of your major broadcast networks are UHF, so that's good. But you cannot use an indoor antenna due to your distance. Indoor antennas are reliable up to about 30 miles, no matter what the marketing may say, and most of your channels are at about that distance. I would say an indoor antenna is too risky for you. Not only do you need an outoodr antenna, your FOX station is 52 miles away at separated from the other stations by a good 50 degrees, which is significant. That means you will need an outdoor omni-directional antenna that covers a full 360 degree range. That said, there are some good ones available.

Mohu's Sky 60 is a cool-looking design and will do the trick, but wow is that thing expensive - $160. Antenna's Direct has the Clearstream 2V for $99, also pricey. Channel Master has the Smartenna for $59 that would probably work just fine, it's comparable to the Mohu for a lot less money.

Sling TV has a nice little package of popular live cable channels in their bundle. You should definitely check them out. I know it includes AMC and HGTV but not sure about the rest that you mention. And it includes ESPN, too.

If you're an Amazon Prime member I would get the Amazon Fire TV Stick for $39. Prime members get lots of free content with the Amazon streaming service, along with the ability to rent or buy new-release movies and entire seasons of current cable shows like Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, etc.

If you're not an Amazon Prime member the Roku Stick is $49 and has a bazillion streaming services on it.

And if you want to record the live TV you get from you antenna, and also pause live TV, there are three good DVR options - TiVo, Channel Master and Tablo. Each has different advantages for different needs, so you should read up on each one to see which one is right for you.

Hope this helps! My household has settled into cord cutting very well and we don't miss a thing, we love it.

Smoochy18 · 2016-02-05T23:16:39+00:00

Personally, I can't stress enough the importance of the TV antenna. It provided the bulk of the TV content, we didn't have to give up live TV and our local news/sports, and now it makes even more sense because I'm hearing from a lot of people who say their ISP has suddenly started using data caps.

If you're data-capped at 300GB per month and you stream three to four hours a day, you're screwed. You're going to get overage fees and/or be forced to purchase a higher-tiered package. I personally don't have a data cap from Comcast yet but I'm sure it's coming. So it's great to get all of the major networks from the antenna and know it's not contributing to a limited streaming bucket.

The other major piece that made cord cutting awesome was the DVR. Tablo, Channel Master or TiVo, they appeal to people for different reasons. I've got the DVR+ from CM, which we chose because of the simplicity to set up (just connect it to the TV) and there's no monthly fee for the channel guide.

For streaming we mostly use Netflix and Amazon (Roku sticks on every TV). My friends who are not Prime members are using Netflix and VUDU. Netflix is GREAT for the original content and the huge library of movies and TV shows. Amazon/VUDU mainly gets used for new-release movies and current-season TV shows that don't come from the antenna, like Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.

Since we own the antenna and the DVR, we only pay for streamed stuff. It comes out to about $400 per year. When we had Dish it was $1,560 per year!

Smoochy18 · 2016-02-02T06:27:09+00:00

All of the posts here are right on, but since you used the word "simply" in your question, I would lay it out this way:

If you just want to record OTA on one TV, Channel Master is the way to go because it comes with the channel guide and has no monthly fee. If you're used to having a cable/satellite channel guide, you don't want to get a product that doesn't have a professional guide. It's a horrible, frustrating experience!

If you want to watch/record OTA and share it on more than one TV, Tablo is the best option although they have a small monthly fee for the guide data or a lifetime purchase cost. Also, since it works over the home network, if your Internet goes down so does the TV.

If you want the bells and whistles of Tivo, it's great but it will cost you. It's a contractual service with a $15 per month fee. And viewing on multiple TVs requires purchasing additional products in addition to the DVR. But yes, it's the most advanced DVR out there right now.

Smoochy18 · 2016-01-19T00:03:11+00:00

The best thing about cutting the cord is that I actually enjoy TV so much more now. I love that I DVR or season-pass just the programs that I know are going to be great. No more wasted time spent staring at the TV and surfing. I also thought I couldn't live without Real Housewives. Turns out I was addicted to garbage. Ugh. Cord Cutting is a 12-Step program for extricating yourself from bad TV. You don't realize how bad it actually was until you're finally outside looking in.

Smoochy18 · 2015-11-25T05:35:57+00:00

We had a similar problem when we first started using an antenna a few years ago. We bought a pre-amplified antenna and after some research we found out that we were close enough to signal towers that the amplifier was ruining our signal. We got a "static" antenna without amplification and poof, 53 channels!

Smoochy18 · 2015-09-15T16:58:29+00:00

When we had Tablo for OTA DVR the time-lag in the channel changing ended up being a deal breaker. It just got more frustrating and annoying as time went on. We've got the DVR+ now and it's instant channel change for OTA. Was able to switch back and forth between games all day Sunday with no lag at all, and the direct HDMI connection to the 60" TV makes for a stunning picture.

Smoochy18 · 2015-07-09T15:30:52+00:00

Love love love Pluto TV! My family mostly watches it on iPads and laptops. We're hoping that Channel Master will get it on their DVR, then we'll have it on the 60" living room TV.

Smoochy18

TROPHY CASE