I have cracked the code, and jumped in the pool of the Scary Unknown and I am so excited that I thought I would share. Yesterday, I cut the cord….and still have SNY!
My Fios bill had crept up to $232 over the years. That’s insane. $90 of that was taxes, fees, and “rental charges” on things like the boxes. Stop. Come on.
Fios didn’t seem very interested in retaining me after a decade and half. I played the “threaten to cancel” game several times and never got more than $20 off….so I’m out.
I got rid of the landline (a little scary for an old timer like me, and I liked my old number but not $60 a month liked, and you can call me on one of the five cell-phones in my house.) I dropped to internet only, for $45 a month. 45 down from $232.
Now we have $190 or so to play with. Think about that.
I went and bought 4 Roku sticks (Wal-Mart) for $30 each, and connected them to the TVs. You can also add your Netflix and Amazon Prime Video accounts to the Roku if you chose. I don’t love the Roku interface nor remotes – Amazon Sticks are way better – but at this time Amazon Sticks don’t offer YouTube TV, nor does my older Apple TV. So Roku.
I subscribed to Youtube TV which in the metro NYC area (in NJ anyway) has SNY. It comes with an unlimited DVR and costs $40. SNY is included. It is 1080p.
To keep the wife happy I bought the $6 a month Hallmark Movies channel which so far she’s ecstatic about.
New “bill” – $45+40+6 = $91.
Now there’s $130 or so left over for things I have yet to realize. But my attitude is I can buy $130 worth of episodes on Apple, or $130 worth of Blu-Rays every month. I think I’ll wind up OK, and I will use January’s $130 to “pay for” the 4 Rokus as a one time investment.
YOU WANT TO KNOW IF YOU CAN WATCH SPORTS:
It has SNY. It has CBS-2, NBC-4, FOX-5, and ESPN so you’re good on NFL. It has ESPN2, FS1, FS2 and NBCN so you’re good there. It has MLBN. It has YES. It DOES NOT HAVE MSG. (Correction: I had earlier said it included NFL Network, it does not.)
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS:
- YouTube TV does not have WPIX which is weird. I haven’t played around with the WPIX App to see if you need to Cable System Authenticate, I bet it does. So for the Mets games on Channel 11 I may have to go to my buddy Redd T to get those games the way I did the Harvey games last summer. Redd T has some good hookups if you don’t mind the shady neighborhood Redd T lives in.
2. I canna change the laws of physics so there’s gonna be a delay. I haven’t done tests yet, but the internet works the way the internet works…and I heard fireworks last night about 20 seconds before Seacrest told me it was 2019, so I may have to deal with some internet spoilers – but the GD Mets Account spoils things half the time anyway, plus Twitter for Mac no longer live scrolls, so I will just deal with it.
3. I don’t care but no MSG. Rangers suck. I don’t care about the NBA. I haven’t watched a hockey game since I went to Goon’s house in 1994. There are enough Red Bulls games on ESPN/FS1 that I will get my fill. This may be a problem for you but I don’t care.
4. No Viacom channels. YouTube TV doesn’t have things like Comedy Central or Lifetime, but I don’t care. You might. It has SNY and enough live TV so I can watch the Super Bowl and my wife isn’t mad I cut the cord. Do your own research….but again, if something is missing, you could spend money the next day on AppleTV. We do have the Turner stations and the FX suite…and AMC…and the news channels. I’m good.
5. I don’t have HBO right now. I really like Oliver’s show. I guess I will want to see the last season of Thrones. But in January, I don’t need it. Maybe I’ll do months where I get HBO Now for $15 (remember that $130 budget I created) and some months where I don’t. But I still refuse to give CBS All Access any money and will be over at Redd T’s for that.
I don’t know if this will work for you in Florida or elsewhere. I mean Youtube TV will, but I don’t know if you can get SNY. But you should be able to get MLB TV plus or minus their asinine archaic blackout rules.
I don’t know what other bugs there may be. I did this 12/31/18.
Will we get annoyed when four of us try to sign in and one three can? Maybe. I’m the dad so I win those arguments.
Will I see lags when everyone is streaming plus there’s Fortnite Happening? Maybe. Again I am the dad and I will kick you off the router (I use advanced device blocking Mwahahahaha) so I will be OK.
I no longer need my beloved Slingboxes as I can just watch on the laptop now.
Feel encouraged to ask Qs on the Facebook page, but maybe give me a few days to test drive it.