Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

It seems like a lot if not most people on this forum have "cut the cable" and I will be joining them shortly. It looks like I can save 60 - 80.00 a month and get what I want from the idiot box. My question is this: Is there a comprehensive list of service providers for programming where I can check what shows/programs they offer and the price of their service? I would like to compare Disney with Youtube for instance. I'm not looking for a service provider, just providers of programs. When I try to look this info up on line, I get a listing of cable providers -- not what I want. I know I could probably go to each provider but would like to have a list. There are most likely some that are not mainstream that could fill in a lot of the programming I would like at less than some of the more advertised sites.
Thanks!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I did that back in 2001. After having Direct TV for a year, I totaled the number of hours I watched television. It was about 50. That certainly wasn't worth $29.95/month. So, I unsubscribed. Haven't had a TV since.
--Bob

Kozan Loc: Trenton Tennessee

Pluto TV is free and has about a thousand channels. I got it for the Spanish language programming, but they do have some great movies on there. All free!

anotherview Loc: California

When searching, put the character "-" in the search followed by the term of the search (with no space between the character and term). Omit the quote marks.

This conditional search will screen out terms preceded by the "-" character -- better known as the minus sign.

This character and the search term might look like this "-TERM" (again minus the quote marks).

To minimize if not avoid sales ads returning from your search, note a common term in the ads. Screen it out as described above.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Careful on cutting the cable.
Many companies give a discount for getting both internet and TV (a "package").
Stopping TV may result in a higher price for internet thus cutting the "savings".

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

You have to go to each of their websites and see what programming they offer. For instance, I have YoutubeTV and if you go to their website you'll see what their package has to offer. In addition to the regular YoutubeTV, they can offer add-ons such as HBO and Showtime etc. I started with YoutubeTV which was $50/mo then it went up to $65. So I switched to Hulu which was $50 then they raised their prices to the same. So, I went back to YoutubeTV because I like the virtual DVR better than Hulu. I added MLB (Major League Baseball) to my package so that I can get all the games. That costs something like $25/month during baseball season and during the pre-season. In the off season, they still charge me the same, then a day or two later they refund the fee. Since baseball is not playing yet, they give the refund. I still don't know what is going to happen with baseball.

Over all, I'm not as pleased with how much I save going this route. But I am saving money verses going with DirecTV or Dish which used to cost about $165/mo plus I still had to purchase broad band internet from the cable company. In some areas they have broad band over twisted wire (copper phone lines). I had that and it worked fine, but the cable company was twice as fast for the same money. So I switched back to that . But AT&T tried to charge me for early termination which I refused to pay and they sent it to collections. I don't care. They have not affected my credit.

Since I move to another state, the cable company charges a lot more for broadband. I used to pay $50/mo now it's up to $80/mo. So I pay 80+65+25 for TV entertainment. Ugh!

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

That is about what I expect to pay, but that is a good savings over the 260.00 a month I am currently paying.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

We use YouTube TV because we can get our local stations. We don't have a newspaper worth reading so we rely on the local stations for news and more importantly, weather alerts.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Your Google search should include the words "streaming services."

Click here for a list that compares the most popular

Here is another

And one more

.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

When you compare streaming services, you might find that some offer more of the stations you like. Hulu has a couple of different packages, one with more sports stations than the other. After a brief taste of Hulu, I switched to YouTube TV specifically for the number of channels that offered MLB and college basketball. As someone mentioned, YouTube TV includes local stations; not all do. However, I can get 30 local stations with just a wall antenna.

Disney+ is cheap because very limited, but wonderful if you enjoy Pixar movies and Disney movies, as well as NatGeo.

MLB.tv has its own subscription, $129/year, but 35% off if you're a vet or retired military, like I am. I've lost interest in all other programming, so that's all I have at present. I'm currently in training for the 2,000+ games available from April through September

Another element to consider is whether the online DVR is free (included in the monthly fee) or if that's an additional cost.

The streaming services I've tried don't require more than a month at a time, so you can easily switch to something else if unsatisfied or curious. You will also find some offer 7 or 14-day free trials.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Check out Roku. It has a program guide. Runs off the antenna and internet.

Beowulf Loc: Aquidneck Island, RI

I, too, have had YouTubeTV for about 2+ years. I migrated to it from another streaming service that I had had for about a year, but found that I did not care for the channel selections. I like YouTubeTV, as someone else has mentioned, because it offers our local NBC,ABC, CBS, and Fox affiliates, along with the cable news networks, besides the entertainment channels and sports channels.

It offers about 80+ channel offerings, but allows you to delete those of little interest. You can re-add them at a later time if your viewing tastes change. Also, their virtual DVR is limitless, keeping your choices recorded for 9 months, I believe.

For three TVs, I purchased Roku devices which along with the one router/modem connected to the internet provide great coverage in both levels of a split level home of 1900 sq. ft.

When I dropped Comcast TV four years ago, we were paying $145 for expanded basic which included internet connection. It seems that every six months the bill would rise by about $5-8 and added fees. More than half the offered channels were of little interest to us. As was mentioned in a previous posting, Comcast upped the cost of the internet connection from $30 to $50 when we dropped their TV. YouTubeTV costs $65. In addition, we added a few free streaming channels (free with ads), and because we are crime, mystery,, and thriller buffs, we added Acorn TV ($5.99) and BritBox ($5.99). So for a total of $127 monthly, we have hundreds of choices of programs. We will drop the two British channels when we have exhausted all that we want to view from them. And all of these can be cancelled at any time; there is no yearly contract.

I hope this has been helpful information for the OP.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Thanks! Your suggestions are exactly what I was looking for. I don't watch much TV but do like college basketball, NFL games when they have two top tier teams like Green Bay and Kansas City playing against each other. Golf and MLB are the other things I enjoy. Other than those I only watch local news with an occasional movie. I'm glad you mentioned the vet discount since that applies. I'm not planning to DVR anything so it doesn't matter on that score.

jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

We cut our cable a couple years ago. I tried everything from DIRECTV to cable. I ended up using YouTube TV and love it some of my friends use sling and it’s cheaper than U2 TV with both of them you get a lot of channels YouTube I get sports I’m not sure about sling but you probably do. I will cut cable soon as you can.

Red6

My experience with "cutting the cable" has been mixed.

First, unless you are just going to receive free broadcast TV over an antenna, you do not really "cut the cable" since you need internet service to stream. This option is pretty limited in my experience, but if you are only interested in local channels and basic network programs, this could be a cheap option.

Second, since you need the internet to stream content providers, you must pay for an internet connection either through your local cable providers, such as ATT, Comcast, Spectrum, and other providers. The cable companies caught on to this "cutting the cable" practice pretty quickly and the cost of the internet alone climbed significantly once people started moving away from their content and subscribed to the internet only. You can also connect through various cell service providers but this could be expensive and may not be fast enough for streaming.

Third, once you have your internet connection, you have your choice of multiple content providers to stream such as Hulu, Fubu TV, YouTube, Apple TV, Disney, Discovery+, Roku, Netflix, HBO, and others. They all have various options on what they provide and associated costs.

Fourth, now that you have your internet connection and your providers signed up, you will find that you have access to dozens if not hundreds of "channels" of various entertainment. Some of these "channels" are very good and some are terrible and worthless. The problem is that there is NO comprehensive catalog or listing as to what is on these channels and their times. You can spend hours flipping through these various content providers to find something to watch. Unlike cable content which usually has a menu listing of their provided content, along with times and dates, streamed content is mostly dependent upon you finding it on your own or just selecting a few of your favorite channels and watching what they offer, much like one does with cable. Some of the streaming services do have listings and time for their "live" streaming but nothing for the recorded or stored content other than just brute force searches. Streaming is not that convenient and easy to use and can be confusing to swap between providers since you are essentially changing between websites on the internet, which we all know can be challenging at times, especially if you have slow internet at times.

Fifth, once you get your internet and your desired content providers all set up, do not be surprised that it is almost as expensive as cable and at the same time more difficult to use and find what you want. A comparison of my previous cable bill with Comcast to my streaming bill now with equivalent programming indicates a savings of less than $5. However, instead of one bill payment to Comcast, I now have several bills (4) to manage and the whole system is more complex and is more difficult to navigate and find things we want to watch.

Cable cutting was probably a great thing in the early days when people first started doing it. But, the internet providers along with the content providers were pretty quick to switch their business models to take advantage of people switching. Everyone thinks they are "putting it" to the cable company by "cutting the cord" but in reality, the cable company has just found different and more subtle ways to get their money.

Just like we learned in Economics 101, there is no such thing as a free lunch.