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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsCable cutters, what do you do for tv news?
I finally cut the cord. I'm getting 4 streaming services for what the rental fee alone cost on my boxes (2 HD DVRS and 1 regular box). I was paying over $200 a month without premium channels. I have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. I have found a few options like Newsy, CBS, and Reuters. Does anyone have any advice to those new to cutting the cord? The ones I will miss the most are Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and The Daily Show. I'd rather not have to purchase another subscription, but I will consider it if the price is right.
FreeState
(10,692 posts)However its closing down. Im leaning towards YouTubeTV.
Xipe Totec
(44,072 posts)Basic Internet connection plus, for an extra $10 per month, I choose 20 channels I can receive over internet.
Two of these choices are MSNBC, and CNN. The only ones I care about.
The rest, meh.
montanacowboy
(6,312 posts)to a steaming service (Hulu with live TV, Sling, YTube TV) we are doing the same thing this month. We are sick and tired of paying $250 month of a lot of shit we will never watch.
CNET has a comparison chart on their website, check them out
dewsgirl
(14,964 posts)and a casting app to cast to my Roku TV, in conjunction with the Tunein app to listen to MSNBC and CNN. Also at 9 there is almost always a live stream for Maddow on YouTube, the same with Real Time with Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight.
Rollo
(2,559 posts)I use two TV antennas on the roof, with coax going to a switch where they can be combined or selected A or B. Then the output goes to a signal booster, and from there to various rooms of the house that have TV's.
I used ATT DSL for a while, but the lousy service led me back to Comcast for internet only service. Naturally that fee has crept up over the years; the best I could get is now $45/mo. There's a new Wifi based internet service in town, but at only $5 less than my Comcast I'm a bit reluctant to switch. Comcast service has been very stable and fast enough for my needs.
I get all the major TV networks over the air, with quality equal to or better than what I was getting from cable TV. For some shows on cable-only networks, there are a variety of internet sites where one can access them.
I also record a lot of programming off the air to a DVD recorder with digital TV signal reception. For my own use, of course, so I can time-shift or watch later.
Most of my viewing, other than TV news and some sports, has been via the local PBS broadcasts. I also have recorded some classic movies off a local station that specializes in such. I find I can just fast forward through the TV commercials when watching those movies. It's not as bothersome as I thought it would be. If I was really interested, I could re-record the movies to another DVD and cut out the commercials. But I'm not that interested .
The PBS shows come generally commercial free, so no problem there.
Your mileage may vary.
Ellen Forradalom
(16,179 posts)Should be part of Sling's French package, $15/month.
I also cut the cord. I have streaming HBO, Sling French, Amazon Prime, Netflix and Crunchyroll which is more TV than I can possibly watch with minimal cruft.
russ1943
(618 posts)Like poster #2, Im on Spectrum. Weve recently paid $170.00 for Internet and more TV channels than we watched, no premiums like HBO etc.
Here in west Michigan Spectrum has offered a TV Choice plan, $35.00 mo. Choose ten channels plus they add local (ABC, CBS, NBC PBS &Fox). Plan requires either a ROKU, a recent model Samsung smart TV, Apple TV or an Xbox 1.
We had two boxes were returning, $7.99 ea mo. Wife loves Hallmark channels, we both like MSNBC, theyre available among choices.
Just grabbed a HULU $1.99 mo for a year, we already have Amazon Prime. After factoring a $10.00 increase in Internet service,
Anticipating just over $50.00 mo saving, first modest step towards Cord cutting this week.
Dr Vegas
(456 posts)Seems to work well for me. I also have the Pluto App installed on both on my Kindles>
Pluto is now owned by Viacom, which it dumps it's back catalogue on various channel.
For News you get CNN, CBSN Main/New York/ Los Angeles, NBC NewsPluto Headline News, Today's Top Stories, Pluto Tv Elections,
Bloomberg TV, Cheddar News, Newsmax Tv, YYT Network, Sky News
Most provide 20 minute loop segments, half live/half pre-recorded.
targetpractice
(4,919 posts)Hulu Live is great for Live TV... It's a freaking challenge to figure it all out now... Basically, I only pay the cable company for bandwidth. Then I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Live, Disney+, Apple TV+... And now, at the end of the day, I realize the streaming companies have basically re-invented cable.
yellowdogintexas
(22,753 posts)after it has run on TV.
also someone here on DU shared this link. https://www.livenewsmag.com/ to watch cable news. I have used it to watch Rachel and Lawrence
sakabatou
(43,125 posts)csziggy
(34,189 posts)Sling Blue covers most basic cable channels, the News addon provides MSNBC, CNN, BBC, and a number of other news channels I don't watch.
Sling Blue is $25 a month, the News is $5. I'm considering getting their DVR service so we can record Rachel - I think it's another $5.
I've read here that YouTubeTV also has a similar line up with DVR available, but haven't checked into it.
vsrazdem
(2,188 posts)LeftInTX
(30,106 posts)I really like it!!!
It isn't like MSNBC or CNN. It's mostly news. It's low key. Very few commercials. No hotheads. It's good old CBS News 24/7. Kinda like CNN was when CNN started 40 years ago. CBSN is live and not recaps.
Al Jezera is also good.
I'm not able to receive MSNBC without a service....There is an NBC News app and they showed the debate...but the app mostly shows old segments.....
Mike 03
(17,016 posts)Sirius/XM not only has audio for CNN and MSNBC but also the BBC, Bloomberg and lots of other channels besides. You can pull it in with an antenna and/or stream it on computer.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Got rid of cabletv in 2011 and never really missed it as much as I thought I would.
I get both NHK and DW on my local PBS station (as well as PBS, natch). Those three bring a pretty good world-wide view, and I hit CBS national news for the American-centric bits.
Not much editorializing or discussion panels with any of them, but that's one of the reasons I dig non-cable news-- much easier to separate the chaff from the wheat.
Flaleftist
(3,473 posts)There's some good suggestions on this thread.
hunter
(38,980 posts)There's something about television that bypasses human critical thinking skills. Some primitive part of our minds thinks television is real. That's why the big money goes there -- television is a tremendous tool for corporate and political propaganda.
It's safer to dismiss all television as fantasy, be it Die Hard, The Daily Show, or most especially, all those annoying commercials.
I occasionally watch YouTube clips of John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, Trevor Noah, etc. here on DU, but I don't make a regular habit of it. The only thing I know about Rachel Maddow is what I read here, or hear about from my parents or my wife's parents.
The television in our house plays DVDs and Netflix. That's all it does. When I'm exposed to television news in hotel breakfast rooms, waiting rooms, etc., I don't like it. It's noise. When my wife and I stay in hotels we never touch the television.
My dad and my wife's mom watch a lot of television news and opinion. Thankfully it's MSNBC and such, not Fox. My wife and I used to have Comcast, which our parents would sometimes watch when they visited, but a little over a decade ago we cut the cable and the antenna.
Our own children don't have cable, antennas, DVD players, or television remote controls in their homes. They control their televisions with their phones. I know they have their own Netflix subscriptions, but I don't know what other streaming services they subscribe to. They live in big cities and have fiber internet connections to their homes which are fast enough for multiple HDTV streams. We have an inexpensive DSL internet connection in our home which is fast enough for a single stream of "standard" quality Netflix.
It was one of our children who set us up with Netflix in the first place. We pay $8.99 a month for that. My wife and I also rent DVDs from the neighborhood Redbox and buy DVDs in thrift stores and bargain bins. I'd be very uncomfortable spending more for television.
Fla Dem
(25,753 posts)CBS News
NBC News
ABC News
CNN
CNBC
There are local news channels
Boston 25
Nashville 5
New York nbc 4
Ton more
Weather Channel