Which internet-only TV service should Apple device owners use?

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  • Reply 21 of 41
    As an old-time TV geek, PQ & DVR rule.  Picture Quality with Vue is the best of the lot.  If you watch anything that appears serially, from murder mysteries to proper English football, it benefits from time-shifting.  'Nuff said for starters.

    I was a DirecTV subscriber 22+ years.  Hundreds of channels and we watched ~30 tops.  The minimum Vue package covered all but two.  One of those, TCM, maybe once a month.  Aside from being retirees keeping an eye on a fixed income, Bloomberg TV really is the only fulltime news service available - between the crawl, sidebar and journalists.  Sound on or off, it's nacessary for news junkies like me.  So, we subscribe to Sling just for that.  $25/month for the minimum pkg and covers 3 of us for access on devices in a couple of states all at once.  <$9/month which I would pay just for BBG if available that way.

    Their app is great - standalone w/o network sub requirements; but, no crawl or sidebar.

    We're getting a year of discounts on Sling as T-Mobile cell customers.  The tab for both Vue + Sling is about a third of our tab at DirecTV.  Shipped back our DVR receiver 2 days ago.

    Campaigning at both Bloomberg and Vue to get both w/o needing another pkg.  Yes, we'll try DirecTVNow when they have a Cloud DVR + anyone else joining the scrum.  For now, PQ & DVR rule.  Vue wins in our extended household.
  • Reply 22 of 41
    We have been testing PS Vue at our home as well. Works really well on our 4th gen ATV, iPads and PS4. The video quality looks no different then our current TWC. But from what I can see, none of these streaming options support surround sound. Everything is in stereo. The interface is different but didn't take long to get used to, my kids of course figured it out right away.. If we can get a OTA app for the ATV I would be set to cut the cord.
  • Reply 23 of 41
    I have HBO NOW and SHOWTIME on my AppleTV and computers and iOS devices. I use Plex which is free to stream other items in my library at home, as well as a number of commercial-free cable and network channels that are also free. EyeTV also works on Plex for OTA channels and some satellite FTA channels.
  • Reply 24 of 41
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    Competition is good. It leads to more choices and better pricing. The old cable model is clearly fading - subscribers cutting cords  in record numbers - so the market forces are working, albeit slowly.

    Slightly ot, I am looking forward to trying the mohu airwave. I currently use OTA the most, but the new mohu airwave app looks really nice. The HomeRunHD thingies will feel the pressure. I wonder if either Mohu and/orSilicon Dust will become a target for acquisition by AAPL.
  • Reply 25 of 41
    Get one of these services to tie in to the "TV" app and that's where I sign up. I want to be able to consume shows, not networks. If I can easily navigate among the shows I am watching regardless of it being on Netflix, Hulu, or a network that I am getting through satellite / streaming then that is for me. Cost is important but so is ease of use and interface.
  • Reply 26 of 41
    None of the above. They all charge to much and only offer bundles which are the same as your lousy cable providers. People that want to cut the cord want an ale-cart system that the customer can choose what channels specifically they want and at a fair price. None of the choices from Sling, Directv, or Playstation Vue offer this. Same old expensive packaged deals with channels that not everyone wants or needs and cable pricing.
  • Reply 27 of 41
    A few months ago I signed up for FilmStruck, which is a collaboration between Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection, and since then I've barely bothered to watch anything else. They have a huge library of great movies and tons of bonus features, no commercials, and I'd watch almost anything on there depending on my mood. It's not for everyone--I know a lot of people would rather see something new and mediocre than something older and amazing, but it's probably the biggest improvement to my quality of life in the past year. 
    ai46
  • Reply 28 of 41
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    horvatic said:
    None of the above. They all charge to much and only offer bundles which are the same as your lousy cable providers. People that want to cut the cord want an ale-cart system that the customer can choose what channels specifically they want and at a fair price. None of the choices from Sling, Directv, or Playstation Vue offer this. Same old expensive packaged deals with channels that not everyone wants or needs and cable pricing.

    I'm really not sure what a "fair price" really is. To the extent you mean people want "choices" I agree. For example, you can buy a season NHL pass for like $150. Presuming you follow one team, and watch all 82 of their games, that's about $2 a game. Show me where I can buy a game for $2 and I'm in. IIRC, iTunes used to offer TV show rentals for $.99. That disappeared. Now you can buy for about $3 or a season pass for maybe $50 or less. YYMV. I don't use hulu or others, but I think these are subscription services you pay for whether you're actually watching. Not for me, and again YMMV.

    What does still astound me is the commercials embedded in pay-for services. It is so ingrained, we even build the content around it. Most TV is written in "acts" to provide breaks for commercials. The NFL has designed the game around "TV time outs" extending a 60 minute timed game into 3 hour ordeals.  
  • Reply 29 of 41
    herbert68 said:
    I won't subscribe to any of these three – and any other – services until they drop the expensive "bundle" model. I just want to pay for channels I will actually watch. Imagine you are in a restaurant and you're asked to choose from "bundles" in the menu, including items you can't or won't like to eat – would anyone actually want to do that?
    the problem is cost. buying one thing is much more expensive than buying many of a thing. beer, muffins, channels -- same principle. it's why cable packages can bundle the channels for less than if you were to buy a bunch of channels solo. 
  • Reply 30 of 41
    carnegiecarnegie Posts: 1,077member
    I'm getting close to the end of my prepaid 3 months of DirecTV Now. At this point it's likely that I'll return to PlayStation Vue when those 3 months are up.

    DVR functionality would be nice, but for me the dealbreaker is the ability to sign into channel apps with my, e.g. DirecTV Now, credentials. They haven't made much progress on that front so their service doesn't represent a good value to me.

    Once I leave, there's little chance I'd go back to DirecTV Now at the regular price ($60) for the package I currently have. Even with the ability to sign into most channel apps and DVR functionality, that wouldn't represent as good a value to me as PlayStation Vue currently does.
    edited February 2017
  • Reply 31 of 41
    AppleBumAppleBum Posts: 37unconfirmed, member

    I'm using DIRECTV NOW mainly for the unlimited streaming on the AT&T wireless network. I installed an Apple TV in my travel trailer and use my phone's mobile hot spot for Internet access so that I'm not dependent on over-the-air or satellite programming. Granted, I may get stuck in places with insufficient cellular coverage, but that's becoming less and less frequent.


    For home, I use a combination of over-the-air with a HDHomeRun Extend, Spectrum cable, and DIRECTV NOW.

    eightzero
  • Reply 32 of 41
    I'm on a SlingTV 3 month subscription and I can't be sure I'll keep the service. It is just too weird and customer hostile. I only picked it up to watch 3 shows: Taboo on FX, The Expanse and The Magicians on Syfy. I did binge watch HBO's Westworld series during their recent free weekend promotion but I don't really watch anything else. Even with just a few series, it would be worthwhile except the service is so painful to use in comparison to Netflix for example.

    With Netflix, you have on demand and it is truly on demand. You can start a show, fast forward it, rewind all without any hinderance. But with SlingTV, most of the on demand shows will not let you fast forward. Even worse, it frequently forgets what you've already watched and doesn't share that information consistently across devices. This means that you can watch part of an episode, stop it and come back the next day and there is no way to continue where you've left off. I could forgive the service forgetting the location in the stream if I could just fast forward back again but nope, you have to start over. It is ridiculous and completely user hostile.

    I don't know if these problems are because of Sling or the owners of the content but I really don't care, it reduces the value of the service to such a degree that I probably won't continue subscribing once the Apple TV 3 month subscription expires.
  • Reply 33 of 41
    Two personal observations.

    SlingTV was disappointing for its lack of a streaming catalogue for many shows.  You could watch a new show like Atlanta on FX the next day which was great, but TBS shows could mostly only be watched live.  If you missed a show there was no way to then watch it.

    The biggest game changer for me was adding the Channels app - combined with an OTA antenna wired to an HDHomeRun Connect that I wired to my router.  Setup was a breeze and the whole setup was just over $100 in one-time costs.  Cannot DVR OTA TV but I can time-shift it with about a 90 minute buffer.  If you watch so many sports that you need ESPN or a regional sports network this won't do, but if you just want to catch the NFL or other major network-TV games, this is the slickest setup.  I could pull up a game, pause it for 60 minutes and go about doing stuff, then watch the game and skip commercials and catch up to live near the end of the game.  You also get better quality from the OTA signal.


    eightzero
  • Reply 34 of 41
    Can someone tell me if any or all of these services allow login to the individual channels' apps, like a cable subscription does? Watching through, for example, Sling would be fine, but I'd also like to login to the SyFy app or whatever and watch using that. I haven't' been able to find anything definitive on app logins. (Still making my way through comments here, but thought I would ask as well.)
    edited February 2017
  • Reply 35 of 41
    carnegiecarnegie Posts: 1,077member
    Can someone tell me if any or all of these services allow login to the individual channels' apps, like a cable subscription does? Watching through, for example, Sling would be fine, but I'd also like to login to the SyFy app or whatever and watch using that. I haven't' been able to find anything definitive on app logins. (Still making my way through comments here, but thought I would ask as well.)
    PlayStation Vue service provides access to most all of the apps for channels included in your package. DirecTV Now service provides login access for some of them, but not many yet - last I checked, it was just for the ABC family of channels (i.e. ABC, Freeform, ESPN, and the Disney channels), HBO, Cinemax, NBC Sports and NBC Golf.  I don't know about Sling TV.
    edited February 2017 dementuschikan
  • Reply 36 of 41
    carnegie said:
    Can someone tell me if any or all of these services allow login to the individual channels' apps, like a cable subscription does? Watching through, for example, Sling would be fine, but I'd also like to login to the SyFy app or whatever and watch using that. I haven't' been able to find anything definitive on app logins. (Still making my way through comments here, but thought I would ask as well.)
    PlayStation Vue service provides access to most all of the apps for channels included in your package. DirecTV Now service provides login access for some of them, but not many yet - last I checked, it was just for the ABC family of channels (i.e. ABC, Freeform, ESPN, and the Disney channels), HBO, Cinemax, NBC Sports and NBC Golf.  I don't know about Sling TV.
    I dropped Sling months ago but at the time it couldn't be used to log in to anything.  Was a major contributor to leaving.
  • Reply 37 of 41
    Direct tv now has basically fixed the little annoyances. I like the fact that they cover a broad range of programming. If I want movies i rent from .  No local channels in my area yet.  Sling is biased in that they do not carry Fox News or Fox Business. Total fail IMO.
  • Reply 38 of 41
    Had slingTV for the baseball playoffs. Big lag between audio and video much of the time. Sometimes unwatchable. Cancelled it as soon as we got to the world series, which was available over the air. Sling was Better than nothing, but not much...

    like a lot of other posters here, I have become so accustomed to video on demand that "live tv" is an add-on, not first choice. vOd is hard to beat.  Improved over the air antennaes are a real plus now. 
  • Reply 39 of 41
    Also signed up for a year long subscription to SelectTV through a promotion. It is an aggregator of a multitude of livestreams and VOD sources around the web. Pretty clunky interface, but an incredible array of choices. A decent supplement to other services whenever you just don't feel like doing Netflix again. Lots of variety.  Includes Many classic shows, apparently from Hulu, which found their way into some nostalgia viewing. Way fun and actually prompted me to buy some old shows on dvd and iTunes for VOD. (I forgot how truly cool and interesting the original Mission Impossible tv show actually was...having fun with that for now.)

    if SelectTV commits to upgrading interface and sticks with what works, they may find a way forward. They may succeed where PlutoTV tried -- and failed badly.   I find it worth the low price right now. But it is a fallback usually with Netflix, Youtube getting the bulk of attention in our house. Youtube's live platform sounds interesting. Waiting on that and may also take a look at Hulu when its live option arrives. Youtube Red is also adding more live streams, including sports and news events, so it bears watching. 



  • Reply 40 of 41
    Dugan1010Dugan1010 Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    When I disconnected, I did so because we were mostly watching either a) over the air programs or b) programs available on Hulu/AmazonPrime/Netflix.  For over the air, I've been very satisfied with the ChannelMaster/DVR setup.  This is infrequently mentioned in conversations about "cutting the cord", but gives great organization (via a free tv guide) and allows DVR of their programs including setting up for regular series recording.  While a significant up front cost, once you own the set up the guide is free.  I find most of the stuff I need with SlingTV (alternating between Orange during basketball season and Blue (FS1 has the Reds) during Baseball season and March Madness (Blue has TruTV, and cable basketball during March).  I'm not a fan of recording live sports (if I can't watch it live, I just miss it!
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