Last fall I finally pulled the plug on cable service. Between sports packages, HBO, and whatever else we "needed", our Direct TV bill was over $220 a month. When I first brought this up to Lori, she responded, "I better be able to watch all my shows". The bigger question wasn't the ability but on how. Is "live" good enough or do you need it on-demand?
So I went off and started researching how to cut cable. One of the best guides I found was Tom's Guide to cutting cable TV. Another great video to watch is from Modern Dad, who is a tech blogger. You can check out his cord cutting video here. But it really opened a bigger conversation on needs, wants, ecosystems, technology and whatever else you can think of.
To begin this discussion, I need to start that the Lambert family hasn't owned a DVD player for a few years. We had been using a Chromecast to cast movies to our TV. Basically, all our movies were purchased digitally. So we needed to have Google Play access to whatever hardware we decided to choose from. Then we needed to pick what services (for old school people, what channels) we wanted.
I decided to write down my thoughts on all the options you can choose from. So here it is.
Hardware
Hardware also known as "ecosystem" is probably the most important conversation you need to have. How to watch movies currently? What app do you listen to music on? What type of phone do you have? Does your kid use an Amazon Fire Tablet?
For us, it was simple, it needed to be Google Play friendly. So this instantly took us out of the Apple TV device. For people who aren't big nerds. The Big Three aka Google, Apple, and Amazon, do not play nicely with each other. Amazon Prime Video can't be played on Chromecast, Google Play movies can't be watched on Apple TVs and all don't play nice on Amazon Fire Sticks. You get my point.
So our best options was a Roku player. Roku is nice because they are probably the easiest and most compatible company. We can watch all our Google Play Movies on it, can rent from other services, and can watch any of the basic cable service type apps on it (more on this later).
I chose the Roku Ultra because it is the best player they make, can watch in 4K or UHD, if available and also has the fastest processor and all the fancy stuff. The other cool part with the Roku Ultra is that it allows you to voice search via the remote for anything you want. If it is a movie, it will show your options available and the cost.
I did research the Apple TV and NVIDIA Shield TV but ultimately decided on the Roku Ultra. But these two are both top quality players. I also researched the Chromecast Ultra but like I mentioned previously, Google has doesn't play nice with others. It also isn't as much as a player but instead is just a casting device (which means it just casts whatever you are watching from your device to your TV). I don't recommend this as an option for the average user unless you have used a Chromecast before. PlayStation 4 can also be used as a player but since we didn't have one, it wasn't really worth $399.
I also highly recommend buying an HD antenna for the local channels. If all you need is to be able to watch the local channels live, this will basically cost you $30 and no service charge. All your live football games and shows you can watch.
Services
So here is where it gets tricky and depends on personal preferences. The three major "cable" services as I like to call them are Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, and now YouTube TV (which recently just entered Hampton Roads and Roku). We tested all of these over the course of six months. more discussion below.
Other than these "services", I highly recommended getting the following paid services.
Amazon Prime Video: If you don't have Amazon Prime, get it, it is worth it's weight in gold just for the kids shows. This is free with Amazon Prime membership. This was also an app we had to have on our TV for our daughter.
Now onto the cable services....
Sling TV: We initially chose Sling TV because they gave you free Roku players with sign-up. So, the initial two months of signing up pays for itself with just that. They have two packages, orange and blue. If you are like any normal family, you basically need both for the select channels you need. Another downfall was they charged an extra $5 for DVR service (and only up to 50 recorded shows). That cost us $40 (plus $5) a month. We paid for two months ($80) and received a $60 Roku in return. The $40 package had way too many channels. I do recommend this as an option to get yourself a free Roku player if need be.
Out of all the services, this was our least favorite. One the main reasons is that it did not have any of our three local channels in Hampton Roads and only two of the major networks on-demand services. What does this mean? We still needed an HD antenna to watch local channels (most importantly FOOTBALL) and we had to watch certain shows live (who has time for that in 2018). Our second beef with Sling was its operation system or OS. It was very boring and circa 1998 cable-ish.
Hulu with Live TV: Next we switched to Hulu with Live TV (not to get confused with the basic Hulu which is much cheaper). Hulu with Live TV gives you basically all the major networks on-demand services plus only one of the local channels live. The downfall of Hulu is that it did not have AMC in its channel selection. The one thing Hulu did have was an amazingly beautiful operation system. Hulu does have several original content shows on it. You could also tell that they are competing with Netflix for most visually appealing apps. The cost of Hulu was $35.
YouTube TV: in January, right before the Super Bowl, YouTube TV announced that they finally released a Roku app for its cable service. Since its inception, this was the best service to me. They had two out of the three local channels (but all the major networks on-demand), AMC, BRAVO and even added the NFL network, MLB network, and NBA network in the past few months. They are also allowing subscribers to purchase your favorite baseball team's complete season to watch for a price. YouTube TV also was nice because it had unlimited DVR storage. It also has the biggest selection of sports channels. YouTube TV costs around $35.
Another service you can look into is Direct TV Now. We didn't because we had just left Direct TV. But it is another option.
Other Things I Learned
Movies Anywhere: I highly recommend you sign up for Movies Anywhere. Almost all the major movie companies have banded together to allow for your ownership of movies be transferred from one app, ecosystem or program to another. So all our Disney movies transfer over from Google Play to Amazon to Apple, etc. All it takes is a quick and easy sign up.This is the future. The future is being able to store all your digital movies in the same place or be able to watch them no matter what you own or use.
VUDU: This is my preferred movie app where we rent and buy movies now. They have better deals most the time and also better OS. You can also transfer all your hard copies of movies for $2 to digital via this app. Which is nice if that is your thing. Sadly, I threw out my entire collection of over 300 DVDs a long time ago.
Google Play: Google does not like to play very nice with others. One thing I learned is that they do not allow for UHD or 4K playing on Roku devices. Instead, they prefer for you to purchase a Chromecast Ultra as a second streaming device to do so (like I mentioned previously, you can't watch movies on Amazon on it). This was also the second reason I stopped purchasing from them and went to VUDU. When Star Wars: Last Jedi came out, I could only purchase in HD and not in 4K.
Remote: I tried to standardize our household with one remote. This was a very difficult task. I wish my TV and/or the original Roku remote would allow to control the functions of the other device. Instead, we purchased a Logitech Harmony 665 remote. It does everything you want but it probably has the hugest (its a word) learning curve than anything else I have just mentioned in this post. I am still modifying its settings and buttons weekly. And there are some limitations to the device.
Upgrade your internet: If you can, upgrade your internet to the fastest speeds. I live in Pungo and I was actually able to upgrade my WiFi to the highest possible speeds. This is huge since all of this technology runs of the internet. The nice part was that when I upgraded my internet, they gave me free HBO GO with it. So we get our HBO for free basically.
Apple TV and iTunes: If you are fully supplanted into the Apple ecosystem, both the Apple TV and buying movies on iTunes is highly recommended. One thing Apple has promised is that all movies purchased via iTunes will be automatically upgraded to the newest and highest format available (basically means when it gets upgraded to 4K, you don't have to purchase a new version like I have with Lord of the Rings [Theatrical Release DVD, Extended Version DVD, Blu-Ray Extended Version, Digital Version]). I do see this as a future trend for all movie services.
HBO Go, HBO Now, and Showtime Anytime and Starz: These movie channels have their own specific apps and subscription services ranging from $10-15. I highly recommend purchasing these separately instead of purchasing as part of one of the cable service options. Just my preference.
Apple TV and iTunes: If you are fully supplanted into the Apple ecosystem, both the Apple TV and buying movies on iTunes is highly recommended. One thing Apple has promised is that all movies purchased via iTunes will be automatically upgraded to the newest and highest format available (basically means when it gets upgraded to 4K, you don't have to purchase a new version like I have with Lord of the Rings [Theatrical Release DVD, Extended Version DVD, Blu-Ray Extended Version, Digital Version]). I do see this as a future trend for all movie services.
HBO Go, HBO Now, and Showtime Anytime and Starz: These movie channels have their own specific apps and subscription services ranging from $10-15. I highly recommend purchasing these separately instead of purchasing as part of one of the cable service options. Just my preference.
Final Thoughts
When I decided to do this, my family wasn't so keen on it. But after a while, everyone has gotten used to it and enjoy it. For a huge monthly savings, we still have all the channels and shows we want and need. The future of television is going this way anyways. Hulu, which has original content is owned by the major television stations. Amazon Prime members were also able to watch NFL Sunday Nights via Roku or other devices. Almost all sporting events are looking into ways to get more eyes from more devices on their content.
My biggest recommendation to anyone is trying it out. Spend the little bit of money that it would cost for the hardware and "cable service" and try it out. Worst case scenario is that Cox will give you a good deal to comeback to them. Best case scenario, you saved a bundle on TV. Another positive too is that all of the "cable services" give users a week or so to try out their services.
Like I mentioned, all of my recommendations may or may not be for you. You may have a PS4 that you can use for your hardware, you may be all-in on Apple. But at the end, it matters to you what you want.
And for a breakdown on our savings, here you go. Good luck and godspeed!
Note: I am taking out Netflix out of this equation because I think most people already have it even though we didn't.
Before Cutting:
Cable-$220
Internet-$69.99
Total-289.99
After:
Cable- $35 (YouTube TV)
Internet- $84.99*
Total- 119.99
Savings of $170 a month
And for a breakdown on our savings, here you go. Good luck and godspeed!
Note: I am taking out Netflix out of this equation because I think most people already have it even though we didn't.
Before Cutting:
Cable-$220
Internet-$69.99
Total-289.99
After:
Cable- $35 (YouTube TV)
Internet- $84.99*
Total- 119.99
Savings of $170 a month
*includes HBO Go.
