The Briefing Room

General Category => Sports/Entertainment/MSM/Social Media => Topic started by: kevindavis007 on December 16, 2016, 02:22:42 am

Title: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 16, 2016, 02:22:42 am

If your New Year's resolution includes cutting the cable cord in favor of internet television, you're not alone.


Fed up with the rising cost of traditional pay TV and emboldened by competitively priced streaming options, a growing number of viewers are expected to turn in their cable boxes and make 2017 the year of the cord cutter.


"We're not in the cable era anymore," said Howard Horowitz, a longtime media researcher whose clients include HBO, Comcast and ABC. "The threshold has been crossed."


Internet television, also known as over the top, bypasses cable and delivers video directly to viewers through a broadband connection. Major players include subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, as well as linear streaming services such as Sling TV and the recently launched DirecTV Now, which air dozens of cable channels in real time.


Cord cutters and cord shavers — subscribers who trim their cable packages — are part of a shifting pay-TV paradigm. Millennials are at the leading edge of the trend, with 89 percent watching internet television, according to Horowitz.


"Streaming has reached critical mass and it's actually the new normal for millennials," Horowitz said.


A wealth of content has turned internet TV from homegrown cat videos into mainstream programming. From Emmy Award-winning original shows such as "House of Cards" on Netflix to broadcast networks and cable staples such as ESPN, choice abounds. Internet TV also gave rise to binge watching, and allows viewers to take the shows wherever they go on portable devices.


Traditional pay-TV remains the norm for nearly 100 million households in the U.S., who pay an average of more than $100 per month to their cable or satellite provider, according to Leichtman Research Group.


While many viewers subscribe to both a traditional pay-TV provider and an internet-TV service, an increasing number are abandoning cable and satellite for "skinnier" internet bundles of programming.


Read More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-cable-cord-cutting-1216-biz-20161215-story.html


I'm a CordCutter myself.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: MajorClay on December 18, 2016, 07:47:24 pm
Bookmark
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 18, 2016, 08:01:12 pm
I'm a CordCutter myself.

Me too - Best thing I ever did... Saved over 70 bucks a month from a fairly basic package. and I am happily no longer supporting programming that I have moral objections to.

Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: ced003 on December 18, 2016, 08:18:13 pm
I cut the cord in June, after 35 (!) years of cable/satellite subscriptions, mostly out of disgust of election coverage. I haven't missed it for a moment.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 18, 2016, 11:43:41 pm
Me too - Best thing I ever did... Saved over 70 bucks a month from a fairly basic package. and I am happily no longer supporting programming that I have moral objections to.


Here is what I have that allowed me to cut the cord.


1. Amazon Fire TV
2. Hulu
3. Amazon Prime
4. Sling


As for Sling, I like it as streaming service, however, in 2017 there are going to be more choices.  Right now there is Direct TV Now, Sling, and Vue.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: Wingnut on December 18, 2016, 11:54:12 pm
BKMK.  Direct tv needs to die    22222frying pan
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 19, 2016, 12:02:53 am
BKMK.  Direct tv needs to die    22222frying pan


The only reason why I'm avoiding DirectTv Now is because I refuse to give money to AT&T..
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: Wingnut on December 19, 2016, 12:05:33 am

The only reason why I'm avoiding DirectTv Now is because I refuse to give money to AT&T..

I'm in a contract with them till this Aug.    Hate them. also.... I have ATT as my cell provider.   
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 19, 2016, 12:08:43 am
I'm in a contract with them till this Aug.    Hate them. also.... I have ATT as my cell provider.


I think in 18 is when my contract with AT&T is over. After my contract is over, I'm go to Verzion or Sprint.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 12:14:18 am

Here is what I have that allowed me to cut the cord.


I just bought an old Vista era pooter... Made sure it had HDMI out and Blu-ray DVD... Found a nice little Acer mini for 25 bucks... Stuffed a 2T drive in it (I have large audio and video libraries), a 25 dollar Wireless KB, Maybe 10 bucks for a USB Wireless NIC... Just recently upgraded the box to Win7/64 So it's using the whole CPU now... Just plugged her into the TV and away we go.

And that's it... Float around a bit, and you can find anything you want for free...
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: DB on December 19, 2016, 12:16:07 am
When people say "they're cutting the cable" they really aren't. They still use cable for their Internet connection. And if you want to do all that streaming in HD then you must have a high bandwidth connection which is - essentially only cable.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: Elderberry on December 19, 2016, 12:25:56 am
I just bought an old Vista era pooter... Made sure it had HDMI out and Blu-ray DVD... Found a nice little Acer mini for 25 bucks... Stuffed a 2T drive in it (I have large audio and video libraries), a 25 dollar Wireless KB, Maybe 10 bucks for a USB Wireless NIC... Just recently upgraded the box to Win7/64 So it's using the whole CPU now... Just plugged her into the TV and away we go.

And that's it... Float around a bit, and you can find anything you want for free...

I just got thru copying my music/video server onto another box for my son I helped move to Va. 150GB music and 2TB Movies and old TV programs.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 12:30:39 am
When people say "they're cutting the cable" they really aren't. They still use cable for their Internet connection. And if you want to do all that streaming in HD then you must have a high bandwidth connection which is - essentially only cable.

Right... sorta... My buddy is on a crappy DSL connection out at the end of the road... It works... He just has to start a stream and pause it, and then wait for it to DL half or better before actually beginning to watch.

I have serious cable anyway, since as a computer tech, I DL and UPL a ton of stuff, not to mention stupid geek tricks... But the service and a VOIP phone is around 70/mo (compared to 140/mo before)... I literally paid for my switch-out with the savings in the first month...

I have been saving 70 bucks a month for almost 2 yrs now, and that's alright with me... That's nearing 1500 bucks in savings, and I watch exactly what I want, without supporting '250 channels and nothing on'

i am a happy guy.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 19, 2016, 12:35:45 am
Right... sorta... My buddy is on a crappy DSL connection out at the end of the road... It works... He just has to start a stream and pause it, and then wait for it to DL half or better before actually beginning to watch.

I have serious cable anyway, since as a computer tech, I DL and UPL a ton of stuff, not to mention stupid geek tricks... But the service and a VOIP phone is around 70/mo (compared to 140/mo before)... I literally paid for my switch-out with the savings in the first month...

I have been saving 70 bucks a month for almost 2 yrs now, and that's alright with me... That's nearing 1500 bucks in savings, and I watch exactly what I want, without supporting '250 channels and nothing on'

i am a happy guy.


I'm just hoping Google Fiber shows up in my neighborhood soon. So I can tell Comcast to f yourself.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 12:41:20 am
I just got thru copying my music/video server onto another box for my son I helped move to Va. 150GB music and 2TB Movies and old TV programs.

I don't really know what I have anymore... Pretty sure music is over 80g in mp3 and ogg vorbis... Well over a T in movies... It's really pretty dumb... Especially music... Since the media server is hooked to a TV, I prefer to find a good playlist on Youtube and get the vids too... I don't think I have cracked open my music lib in over a year.

Same with movies... They're all online. The only reason to keep some around is for if the web is down, which happens from time to time. My router bit it a couple months ago, and I spent an evening watching movies from my lib, but otherwise, I never use it.

Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 12:48:53 am

I'm just hoping Google Fiber shows up in my neighborhood soon. So I can tell Comcast to f yourself.

We've got Charter/Spectrum for cable here in town, and Centurylink DSL... I carry both, though the DSL is mainly for testing machines that are on that (and several other) service... pretty cheesy, but I don't need much more than their low end stuff for testing client machines...

The Charter line is big (60), though I am lucky to get 45 due to line hardware... and they are throttling a bit on the weekends. Even so, I very rarely have to wait for streams.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 19, 2016, 12:55:11 am
We've got Charter/Spectrum for cable here in town, and Centurylink DSL... I carry both, though the DSL is mainly for testing machines that are on that (and several other) service... pretty cheesy, but I don't need much more than their low end stuff for testing client machines...

The Charter line is big (60), though I am lucky to get 45 due to line hardware... and they are throttling a bit on the weekends. Even so, I very rarely have to wait for streams.


The bad part is that the antiquated cable monopolies law setup by local municipalities limits my choice. I think there is other out there so I'm looking around.. 
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 01:19:52 am

The bad part is that the antiquated cable monopolies law setup by local municipalities limits my choice. I think there is other out there so I'm looking around..

It's the cost of shoving new wire in the ground... Nobody likes laying new hardware... Centurylink made the mistake of renting out bandwidth to several bandit ISPs So of course they have to guarantee them (x), so they wind up throttling their own customers when it gets busy... It's a mess, which is why I am all for Charter keeping their own lines to themselves.

Don't shortchange DSL... They are getting pretty remarkable speeds out of it anymore, providing you're in town.

Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 19, 2016, 01:28:06 am
It's the cost of shoving new wire in the ground... Nobody likes laying new hardware... Centurylink made the mistake of renting out bandwidth to several bandit ISPs So of course they have to guarantee them (x), so they wind up throttling their own customers when it gets busy... It's a mess, which is why I am all for Charter keeping their own lines to themselves.

Don't shortchange DSL... They are getting pretty remarkable speeds out of it anymore, providing you're in town.


I understand, but for me DSL is slow and 25 mps is fine..
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 01:47:20 am

I understand, but for me DSL is slow and 25 mps is fine..

Around here i think DSL is getting pretty consistent 40's... But that's in town... The problem is switches... the further you get from town, the older the switches are... I am only a mile out, but I can;t get anywhere near that here.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: kevindavis007 on December 19, 2016, 01:50:30 am
Around here i think DSL is getting pretty consistent 40's... But that's in town... The problem is switches... the further you get from town, the older the switches are... I am only a mile out, but I can;t get anywhere near that here.


Towards the end of me using DSL, it was slow..
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: DB on December 19, 2016, 05:52:41 am
Around here i think DSL is getting pretty consistent 40's... But that's in town... The problem is switches... the further you get from town, the older the switches are... I am only a mile out, but I can;t get anywhere near that here.

A DSL speed of 40 Mbps is very rare. Typical DSL speeds are closer to a few megabits per second. Cable on the other hand is typically much faster. 30 Mbps is pretty much basic service these days. I live in the hills and have a 100 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload connection via cable. If your household has multiple people who stream Netflix or the like it takes a high speed cable connection period (or fiber but that is a very rare option for now).
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 06:15:33 am
A DSL speed of 40 Mbps is very rare. Typical DSL speeds are closer to a few megabits per second. Cable on the other hand is typically much faster. 30 Mbps is pretty much basic service these days. I live in the hills and have a 100 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload connection via cable. If your household has multiple people who stream Netflix or the like it takes a high speed cable connection period (or fiber but that is a very rare option for now).

From Centurylink's site ( http://www.centurylink.com/home/internet/ ):

'Speeds up to 40 Mbps – may not be available in your area.
Requires 12‐month contract and AutoPay enrollment.'


It ain't cable, to be sure, but 40mbps is pretty doable. Now, like I said that's in town... Out here, just a mile out, I couldn't get 12. And throttling is common, as I explained upthread... But like I said, in town, 40 is pretty likely...

You have it pretty good if you're getting 100 out in the sticks - That sure doesn't work like that here. I;m behind the first switch going up the canyon, and I speedtest at 40/45... Once they finally replace that switch, I can expect double.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: DB on December 19, 2016, 06:43:51 am
From Centurylink's site ( http://www.centurylink.com/home/internet/ ):

'Speeds up to 40 Mbps – may not be available in your area.
Requires 12‐month contract and AutoPay enrollment.'


It ain't cable, to be sure, but 40mbps is pretty doable. Now, like I said that's in town... Out here, just a mile out, I couldn't get 12. And throttling is common, as I explained upthread... But like I said, in town, 40 is pretty likely...

You have it pretty good if you're getting 100 out in the sticks - That sure doesn't work like that here. I;m behind the first switch going up the canyon, and I speedtest at 40/45... Once they finally replace that switch, I can expect double.

I'm not arguing with what you have. I'm just pointing out that VERY few people across the country get access to 40 Mbps DSL. Take a poll here, that would be interesting. DSL at my home location barely does 2 Mbps. The people I know with DSL who live in town get around 6 Mbps which is iffy for HD quality video. I have DSL for automatic backup (I use a dual WAN port router with automatic rollover) because I work at home and require Internet access to move work data around.

And just a note, typical wired home routers won't do much over 50 Mbps (at least that was the case not long ago). I had to replace my router with a higher performance small business router to realize 100 Mbps+ cable modem performance. You should find the specs for your router and see if it is up for the job. It really mattered for me.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: Weird Tolkienish Figure on December 19, 2016, 01:53:43 pm
Would like to do this. Not just streaming but also with OTA TV as well. If I put an antenna on my roof I can get substantial amount of stations.
Title: Re: Ditching cable in 2017? What you need to know about streaming TV
Post by: roamer_1 on December 19, 2016, 09:56:12 pm
Would like to do this. Not just streaming but also with OTA TV as well. If I put an antenna on my roof I can get substantial amount of stations.

It is SO dang easy... Just find an old computer - A med-to-high-end dual core is plenty for power... That puts you in late WinVista to early Win7 machines (or better of course)... I went for a mini-tower for ascetic reasons, but really, anything will do... BTW, I AM going to a mid-tower - Since the media server is always on, it is a good back-up device, so I am going to be backing up my main server onto the media server (and visa-versa)... I'll have a nice cabinet for it to live in by then, but I digress...

Optimal bang-for-buck would be

a win7/64 based system (Win32 can't utilize multi-core processors properly). If the machine you harvest is not a 64bit system, it isn't a deal killer... Mine ran in Vista32 for almost two years. But I did run into a set of numbers for win7/64 recently (form another machine I junked), and it is well worth the reload.

an HDMI-out -  Obviously necessary to connect to a modern TV - If you don't have a flat screen with hdmi ports by now, You can still do this (tougher, but ask how), but most folks do... If the machine you harvest doesn't have hdmi out, still not a deal killer, but you'll have to buy a vid card in order for things to work. Note that a large flat screen would benefit from a vid card upgrade anyway... Std onboard vid will run well on somewhere close to a 42/48" TV... Above that, a modest card (say around a 2g [around 30 bucks for a decent re-branded card]) will probably be needed. If you're a gamer, you already have a bomber card, so not to worry.

a Blu-ray DVD - throw out your DVD player and let the pooter do it. One of the BEST things I found out about this jump was the elimination of most all of my set-top stuff. I now have ONE clicker, and ONE keyboard... If the machine you harvested doesn't have blue-ray, still not a deal killer - If you don't do movie rentals, or play PC games, it doesn't matter at all, but otherwise, you'd have to buy the DVD component - Maybe $45.

a Wireless NIC - If you have a LAN wire close to your TV, disregard this (wire is always better than air). Most boxen, especially the cheap used machines available, are not going to have wireless onboard. You'll need it to get to your router and the internet. I bought a bunch of crappy lot-end 'N' series usb2 wireless devices for literally nothing (I think I am in them under 5 bucks) so I really don't know what to tell you for cost... maybe 15-25...

a Wireless Keyboard w/ glidepad - Wallyworld has a Logitech for $25. Not an absolute necessity, but if you plan to veg in your chair and surf, obviously a must. Another option that I also use is a VNC client, where you can control the TV box from a laptop or tablet. It's almost necessary too - A lot of times you can't see the lettering on the TV from across the room, or maybe you want to fire a movie from your lib... Any real navigation is going to be easier with a VNC connection instead of the keyboard... But for normal navigation inside a browser (90%) the keyboard is awesome.

A big hard drive - An option, to be sure, but if you have a video or audio library, you'll want to have the room... This box WILL wind up being your media server. ..

That's really about it. Other than that, you'll have to find the sites that carry TV series and movies, but I guarantee you'll be able to watch just about anything. The only thing I can't find so far are NASCAR events (which you can pay for to access) and One News Network (which you can pay for to access).

You might like a digital antenna too - It would be nice to get at local news... I haven't gone down that road yet, but even so, I can tell you that you'll need a good mid-range to high end antenna for decent success. Here I will only get 8 channels anyway, but in the city, I hear there are a lot more.

And lastly, I'd like to say that I kept my cableTV for about 3 months after I had my media server functioning and in good trim... Your TV can do both (just switch HDMI inputs), and it is nice to ease the transition. But after the first month (wherein I made myself do streaming), I soon found I was using the cable less and less, to the point that I was happy to cut the cord by the time I did.