We have streaming via Hulu and Paramount Plus. I am not aware of any ability to record but I don't think you need it because you can generally go back and watch anything that has aired. Local channels have been a challenge but we usually only care if there is a tornado warning going on in which case we've hit the internet on our phone or ipad.

The only thing I don't like and I was talking to guys at work about this the other day. When a game is over, it doesn't go on to the next game, it just says your event is over. Not a huge deal but if I take a nap during a game I always like waking up to another game being on. Oh well I'm saving lots of money over Dish or DirecTV.

I think we're going on a year since turning off Dish after they tried to hike our monthly rate up to the moon.  Funny we switched to them after DirectTv did the same thing after being with them over 20 years.  So far I don't feel we are missing ANYTHING.  But in fairness, watching TV doesn't rank the highest in my priorities.

We’ve got Charter network and it’s expensive. I also have Prime TV included with my Amazon Prime. I would like to dump Charter, but want the local channels as NBC, CBS, ABC, Food network, Fox.
I bought an indoor antenna that got great reviews for our smart tv, but couldn’t get any real channels and only 3 crappy ones.
I’m no TV guru, but there has to be a better solution!!!
Bill, sounds like we’re in the same boat. Remember the good l days when we got 3 channels if we were lucky and didn’t have to rotate the antenna?
Slammer!!!

Slammer I forgot about that. I did get an HD Antenna for something like 45 bucks that gets us all the local channels plus 20 others that we never watch. Dang I forgot we had it. No monthly fee and great picture. I think the only time I use it is when there's a game I can't find streaming.

I have ROKU and that gives me lots of different channels and a great list of everything from movies to sit-coms. I can also get the streaming services like Paramount, Hulu, Disney, etc., if I want to pay for them (which I don't). As far as local channels, I have an outdoor antennae that gets most of my local channels.

My daughter has something she bought off of Amazon which gives her literally hundreds of different channels from about anywhere. She says it takes a while to get used to finding the ones you want but after a little trial and effort, you can find what you want fairly easily. It has no local channels.

I also have Dish which is expensive but easy to use and gives me most of the channels I want to watch. Seems like I go to Dish less and less and Roku more and more. I like the older programs more than some of the new stuff they're spewing out.

The biggest difference you will notice is that it becomes "slightly" more challenging to find what you're looking for. The advantage is that there is even more variety in programming.

Its not for everyone. My dad just turned 82 and he's starting to lose it, so streaming is way too complicated for him. Just put on Gunsmoke and make him a sandwich.

Of course, he's getting to where his problem is "Every time I change the channel the ceiling fan comes on!"

Have not had a tv for years now...

Much better off for it..too..imo

We "cut the cord" in the 1980s. We get local stations via OTA and a good antenna. And stream the rest with a roku box and ATT. We do subscribe to Sling and a couple of other streamers.
> The biggest issue I tell friends who want to cancel cable and dish etc. is the navigation of channels and stations. it is slow and cumbersome. If you are a frequent channel surfer, bouncing from a game to a show to another game etc. you may have a tough time getting used to what I described. Brad

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Originally posted by Bill Rogers

I get my tv via Xfinity cable. Not cheap, but it gives me the channels I want at a cost I can afford. But it seems more and more tv delivery is moving to streaming outlets. From what I know (which is not much) streaming would be a pain for me, offering fewer channels and more difficulty in switching among them. I assume a number of BHO members get your television via streaming, so I hope you all can answer some of my questions.

One thing my service offers is the ability to simultaneously record multiple channels for later playback. I don’t think I can do that with streaming. Is that correct? I also can quickly switch among the 200+ channels I get. Again, I assume that’s not possible with streaming. How do you handle local over-the-air channels with a streaming service? Are there ever internet-capacity issues when streaming? Are there streaming services that carry many channels? Those are the questions I can quickly think of, but others may arise. I’m looking to understand the workings o streaming; I’m not out to save money. If you have streaming and have some thoughts and answers for me, I’d appreciate hearing them. My thanks in advance.

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Bill .... I am certainly no expert, but we cut the chord (Spectrum) about 2 years ago and it is the best thing we have ever done ...... TV entertainment-wise.  It wound up saving us almost $100 per month and our channel selection is better than ever ..... including local stations, we went with YoutubeTV.  Since it is streaming, if your internet goes out, so does your TV, but it was the same with Spectrum.  As a matter of fact, we still have Spectrum internet and phone service (for my business phone).  I also pay for Amazon Prime, mostly which we use for ordering products on-line, but also great additional TV programs.  There are also a number of other Apps, like FreeTV, HULU, etc that you can add as well as some that cost extra, like Paramount Plus.  I don't think you will be sorry and the l;earning curve is not hard.

Incidentally, you can record as many different programs, at the same time or whenever, as you want and they will be in your "library" for playback anytime.

We get internet service, a phone land-line and cable TV from a single provider. It's very expensive and the content is not very good, but we get all of the games played by our local MLB and NFL teams, which is very important to me. I record all the sporting events and watch them later, so I can fast forward through the commercials. Recording is easy, and for me, that's the most important benefit I get with cable TV. We have hundreds of cable channels, but I doubt that we watch more than about 20 of them.

We bought a new TV that includes the Amazon Fire streaming service, but we haven't found much of interest there. My wife has Prime with her Amazon account, so occasionally there's content there that has value for us.

It appears that any content of value is now provided only on the premium streaming services. I'm already paying more than I want for cable, so I'm unwilling to pay for those additional premium services. It seems that the more choices we get, the more we have to pay for less customer satisfaction.

Roku here, DirectTV has all my locals, and I use the same VERY OVERPRICED account on multiple TV's at my main home, and also at our other retirement home. I get my money back that way. I'm still on what they call the live a little plan, which they're overpricing to try and get rid of that plan tier. I use my Amazon account to get at Prime movies and series, and added Peacock and other things I have subscriptions for. When I add a new item, it shows up on all Roku devices at all locations.

We use all the free stuff on our smart TV, with the wi-fi. YouTube backing tracks will keep me busy for the next 200 years. For the local channels, we have an antenna. I was quite surprised how good the antenna really is, it gets around 50 channels including all the local channels. And the price (free) is right.

With streaming services I find it difficult to just channel surf to watch whatever I may find. It works better if you want to watch just a particular show and that's it.

we too have spectrum and its a monopoly around here.. they are the only ones that offer speeds enough to stream and right now our bill is 280 bucks a month for 200 worthless channels,, 15 of that we watch and internet and land line. we gotta do something soon !

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Originally posted by 1935tb-11

we too have spectrum and its a monopoly around here.. they are the only ones that offer speeds enough to stream and right now our bill is 280 bucks a month for 200 worthless channels,, 15 of that we watch and internet and land line. we gotta do something soon !

Get a Roku and a sub to DTV. It's not a monopoly unlesss you let it be.

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