The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: JZinCO on January 27, 2016, 03:40:13 PM
-
Hey Mustachios,
Had a casual discussion with the gf about cable/satellite. She's wouldn't want to cut the cord because of sports. I agreed but was pretty sure there were other non-traditional providers. I've since found Sling. Their basic package has espn and some other channels I like (such as Discovery). I also saw that for $5 extra per month, you can get an extended sports package which would allow us to watch our alma maters.
For those that have Sling, how do you enjoy it? Can you add/remove packages as you please? Maybe we could have the sports package during the fall/spring and get rid of it when we don't want it. We would need to buy a DVR to record shows as well right? Or can the roku do that?
For those that have a different alternative, please share.
Thanks.
-
I use Sling, at least during college football season. There have been lots of threads about this. It depends entirely on what sport you want to watch, and whether you follow the local teams or out of market teams.
Basically, in order of ease of watching without cable:
NFL - Most local and big time games are on free tv, exception being MNF which is on sling. Sling also comes with access to WatchESPN, which can stream content on-demand(but only from ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3, not from the other ESPN channels).
NCAAF - Lots of good games on free tv, and even more on ESPN via sling. You do miss out on some games, but you should rethink your life if you are watching that much football.
MLB - MLB.TV is by far the best sports app. Its ~$25 per month for 6 months. You can watch games live or on-demand via roku, apple tv, fire tv, etc... If you want to watch the local team, you will need to do some shenanigans to fool the app into thinking you are out of market. This is not too difficult, but does require some technical skills.
NBA League Pass - Its like $50 a month for the season for all games(minus local broadcasts), or like $35 for one team(not the local team). If you want to watch the local team, its more difficult than MLB, but it can be done. Sling TV does have ESPN and TNT, which will show 500 Lakers games plus a few others...
NHL/Bull Riding/Golf/Tennis/Whatever - No idea, since I don't watch or follow these.
-
There have been lots of threads about this.
Coulda searched, but besides sling, I don't know what is out there so didn't know what to search for. And I figure this is an evolving and growing niche so I didn't know if there were newer options.
NHL/Bull Riding/Golf/Tennis/Whatever - No idea, since I don't watch or follow these.
Looked it up and Sling includes Altitude for my market which covers 'whatever' pretty well.
-
There have been lots of threads about this.
Coulda searched, but besides sling, I don't know what is out there so didn't know what to search for. And I figure this is an evolving and growing niche so I didn't know if there were newer options.
NHL/Bull Riding/Golf/Tennis/Whatever - No idea, since I don't watch or follow these.
Looked it up and Sling includes Altitude for my market which covers 'whatever' pretty well.
When did Sling add RSN's?
-
agh! No I read wrong.
womp womp
-
Search for peer to peer sports and look for .eu sites.
-
Search for peer to peer sports and look for .eu sites.
Be sure to have good virus/spyware protection, be OK with so-so picture quality, and be OK with morally questionable behavior. This also goes back to what sport do you watch. NFL is great, NBA is OK... MLB... not so good unless you live in a handful of markets.
-
NHL/Bull Riding/Golf/Tennis/Whatever - No idea, since I don't watch or follow these.
For the NHL there's Hockeystreams. For roughly ten bucks a month you get ALL NHL games, no blackouts. You can even watch minor league hockey if that's your thing. If all you care about are the playoffs Hockeystreams offers a playoff package for $25, and again you get all the games. As a Mustachian hockey fan I find HS to be one of the joys of life. :D
-
NHL/Bull Riding/Golf/Tennis/Whatever - No idea, since I don't watch or follow these.
For the NHL there's Hockeystreams. For roughly ten bucks a month you get ALL NHL games, no blackouts. You can even watch minor league hockey if that's your thing. If all you care about are the playoffs Hockeystreams offers a playoff package for $25, and again you get all the games. As a Mustachian hockey fan I find HS to be one of the joys of life. :D
Also morally questionable. The only legal streaming outlets in the USA for the NHL is NHL Gamecenter Live and NBC Sports Extra.
-
I think I've signed up for Sling's free trial at least 3 times, usually when there's a big UNC ball game that's only on ESPN. I wish them luck, but $20 for one or two games per month at most isn't enough for me to leave my payment info on file with them.
There are plenty of interesting NFL/CFB games available every week OTA. Sure sometimes it's not the game I was hoping for, but that keeps me honest about the amount of televised brutality I want to dedicated my time to.
For golf, NBC usually has a few tournaments, and the fine folks at Augusta National somehow manage to dictate very commercial-light terms to CBS year after year. Very enjoyable viewing experience.
Unfortunately, there is very little appetite for tennis in the states, so I tunnel my traffic to Wimbledon's and the French Open's respective local interwebs. #thuglife
-
NHL sells a package that I'm sure you could chromecast or something. Not sure if there is an option to sling NBSCN which carries most of the broadcast hockey games in the US.
Or you could do my cheap-ass version of using Google Chrome Invisible mode to get repeated 5 minute previews of the NHL.com streaming broadcast. (Not recommended if you are a huge hockey fan, because it inevitably cuts out at a key moment and then can take 30 seconds to get a new window up and running.)
-
For the NHL there's Hockeystreams. For roughly ten bucks a month you get ALL NHL games, no blackouts. You can even watch minor league hockey if that's your thing. If all you care about are the playoffs Hockeystreams offers a playoff package for $25, and again you get all the games. As a Mustachian hockey fan I find HS to be one of the joys of life. :D
I had no idea it was that reasonable to pay for the NHL streaming. I may have to rethink my approach.
-
For the NHL there's Hockeystreams. For roughly ten bucks a month you get ALL NHL games, no blackouts. You can even watch minor league hockey if that's your thing. If all you care about are the playoffs Hockeystreams offers a playoff package for $25, and again you get all the games. As a Mustachian hockey fan I find HS to be one of the joys of life. :D
I had no idea it was that reasonable to pay for the NHL streaming. I may have to rethink my approach.
It's not, unless you're okay with dealing with gray market rebroadcasters who stick their servers and banks in jurisdictions that don't adhere to international copyright law.
-
For the NHL there's Hockeystreams. For roughly ten bucks a month you get ALL NHL games, no blackouts. You can even watch minor league hockey if that's your thing. If all you care about are the playoffs Hockeystreams offers a playoff package for $25, and again you get all the games. As a Mustachian hockey fan I find HS to be one of the joys of life. :D
I had no idea it was that reasonable to pay for the NHL streaming. I may have to rethink my approach.
It's not, unless you're okay with dealing with gray market rebroadcasters who stick their servers and banks in jurisdictions that don't adhere to international copyright law.
Ohh, I thought he was quoting the price for the official NHL stream. Nevermind. I'll stick with my own morally questionable repeated use of the official stream's free trial period. (I plead the fifth related to any potential historical use on my part of gray market rebroadcasters)
-
Honestly, by the time you add up all the various streaming packages, you might as well just go with cable.
My sister and I are considering dropping cable at the end of next month when our teaser rates are up, but it is more of a time thing not a money thing. We don't want to waste so much time in front of the TV. Substituting streaming doesn't solve the "time suck" problem, at least for me it wouldn't.
-
I'm on a sling trial right now (3 week trial btw - www.sling.com/hrblock/). So far, so good. I'm not into sports so I can't help much with your question. However, I have been impressed with Sling's quality of service (on Roku) and the on-demand options/episodes. I didn't know you got on-demand capability for the channels offered, but maybe everyone else does :)
-
For the NHL there's Hockeystreams. For roughly ten bucks a month you get ALL NHL games, no blackouts. You can even watch minor league hockey if that's your thing. If all you care about are the playoffs Hockeystreams offers a playoff package for $25, and again you get all the games. As a Mustachian hockey fan I find HS to be one of the joys of life. :D
I had no idea it was that reasonable to pay for the NHL streaming. I may have to rethink my approach.
It's not, unless you're okay with dealing with gray market rebroadcasters who stick their servers and banks in jurisdictions that don't adhere to international copyright law.
Ohh, I thought he was quoting the price for the official NHL stream. Nevermind. I'll stick with my own morally questionable repeated use of the official stream's free trial period. (I plead the fifth related to any potential historical use on my part of gray market rebroadcasters)
I'm a she. :D
Hockeystreams is based out of the Netherlands, which per the site operators is not under the jurisdiction of the NHL. It's been around for close to a decade so there's no way in hell Gary Bettman doesn't know about it. If he had a problem with it, he would have shut it down with authority or found a way to profit from it. In other words, don't worry about it. The main difference between HS and Center Ice is that you'll see commercials. I often amuse myself by using the CBC, TSN or RDS (French) feeds to watch Canadian commercials, which can be pretty funny.
-
I've signed up for and cancelled Sling twice, based on the NBA season. It's pretty convenient, there's no contract, and you may even get a free or discounted Roku when signing up. I don't believe you can record Sling content.
One thing I was shocked about - a GS Warriors game was scheduled for ESPN. I live in the SF Bay area and that game was blocked on Sling. They responded to me on Twitter that this was due to local blackouts (I knew local games were blacked out on NBA League Pass, but this was ESPN.) I'm pretty sure any cable network doesn't block out ESPN if it's a local game, but Sling doesn't have an answer for that yet.
-
Honestly, by the time you add up all the various streaming packages, you might as well just go with cable.
I don't know about that; at least where I am the sports and premium packages are absurd. A 20/mo base rate for sling and 5/mo for extra sports is really tempting me and I am willing to do without NFL network, sadly. Obviously I will go shopping around in the end.
As for the eu stuff, yeah I've done that for UFC fights but not everyone is as reckless as I am when it comes to clearly-not-legal viewing.
I'm pretty sold on trying out sling. That we can try it out on a trial basis means I can convince roommates and others to ease into it.
Any other subscription-based over-the-top providers I should consider as a replacement to cable to get my tv shows and sports fixes?
-
Honestly, by the time you add up all the various streaming packages, you might as well just go with cable.
I don't know about that; at least where I am the sports and premium packages are absurd. A 20/mo base rate for sling and 5/mo for extra sports is really tempting me and I am willing to do without NFL network, sadly. Obviously I will go shopping around in the end.
As for the eu stuff, yeah I've done that for UFC fights but not everyone is as reckless as I am when it comes to clearly-not-legal viewing.
I'm pretty sold on trying out sling. That we can try it out on a trial basis means I can convince roommates and others to ease into it.
Any other subscription-based over-the-top providers I should consider as a replacement to cable to get my tv shows and sports fixes?
If sling is good enough, then of course it's mroe cost efficient, but when you start adding MLB.TV, NHL Gamecenter, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, etc...are you really saving $$?
-
Any other subscription-based over-the-top providers I should consider as a replacement to cable to get my tv shows and sports fixes?
We never run out of things to watch with Amazon Instant Video/Prime and Netflix. With Sling added to that, I might finally cut the cord. We still struggle to find good news sources but CBSN, Skynews and Euronews cover the world pretty well.
-
Hockeystreams is based out of the Netherlands, which per the site operators is not under the jurisdiction of the NHL. It's been around for close to a decade so there's no way in hell Gary Bettman doesn't know about it. If he had a problem with it, he would have shut it down with authority or found a way to profit from it. In other words, don't worry about it.
It's not that the NHL doesn't not have a problem with it, they do. They CLEARLY do. The NHL can't legally do anything about it because of the jurisdictions deliberately used by Hockey Streams. With the company being located in the Netherlands, they have no legal recourse to actually take them down due to Dutch copyright law. Legally hamstrung for a decade =/= tacit approval, they've been trying for ways for years. Plus, Hockey Streams ToS basically hoists all legal liability in copyright infringement in your region onto you for using and paying sorry dontating for it. It's clearly theft, but the company is exploiting loopholes in international law to basically rip off the NHL. It's gray market in name only because of the remaining international legal loopholes that let them get away with it, but technically by the letter of domestic law, its users are still breaking the law using the service.
-
Honestly, by the time you add up all the various streaming packages, you might as well just go with cable.
I don't know about that; at least where I am the sports and premium packages are absurd. A 20/mo base rate for sling and 5/mo for extra sports is really tempting me and I am willing to do without NFL network, sadly. Obviously I will go shopping around in the end.
As for the eu stuff, yeah I've done that for UFC fights but not everyone is as reckless as I am when it comes to clearly-not-legal viewing.
I'm pretty sold on trying out sling. That we can try it out on a trial basis means I can convince roommates and others to ease into it.
Any other subscription-based over-the-top providers I should consider as a replacement to cable to get my tv shows and sports fixes?
If sling is good enough, then of course it's mroe cost efficient, but when you start adding MLB.TV, NHL Gamecenter, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, etc...are you really saving $$?
It's not a fair comparison because cable doesn't include many of the aforementioned services so you'd have to pay for those with or without cable.
Here's what I want. Solid want: Basic cable tv shows, access to NFL. Nice to have but not a strong want: NHL, HBO, Showtime, MLB.
The comparison should be based on what my current situation is versus others. I have basic cable (access to all NFL except Thursday games which are on NFL network), Netflix (free, a friend offered for me to drop mine and she would cover it because it doesn't add cost to her)
Sling sounds like a solution for me.
-
For me, Sling has been better than expected. I read alot about issues especially on popular events like Monday Night Football on ESPN or a Presidential Debate on CNN. Users would experience significant pixelation, skipping or jumping, and other issues. While I have had a short lived issue here and there, it has been very rare on popular events and nonexistent shows that lack such broad appeal.
The Sling team has hinted at DVR like services in the future which would be a big functionality boost for many people.
One thing to watch out for is that if you signup for service using one of their promos like $50 off Roku 3, you are committing to 3 months of service. Ok ok you say, I get that. Well the issue that I had is that Sling would not let me add another group of channels in a month-to-month fashion. I could either add that extra channel group for the full 3 month commitment required by the Roku discount or wait until the 3 month commitment ended to then add that extra channel group as month-to-month.
-
Reading this thread makes me very grateful that I have never found any pleasure from watching sports on TV. It made cord cutting so much easier.
-
It's not a fair comparison because cable doesn't include many of the aforementioned services so you'd have to pay for those with or without cable.
My point was that having a regular cable subscription which gives you your local RSNs, FS1, FS2, NBCSN, CBSSN, TNT, TBS, MLBN, NHLN, NBA TV, NFLN and all the ESPNs, you are probably spending as much as if you bypassed cable with all those out of market packages. You wouldn't need to buy all those out of market packages, because you have plenty of sports in the cable subscription. I feel like Hulu wouldn't be needed if you had a tv subscription to CW, NBC, ABC etc which it carries.
Yes, if all you awnt is NFL and shows that are on the networks that Sling carries, then it clearly makes sense. If you watched shows on say USA and FX instead of TNT and TBS, it wouldn't be a solution.
My comment was generally speaking, not for your specific wants. NBA fans in particular would probably have the best luck with Sling because of ESPN and TNT both being included.
The nice thing about NFL is if you live anywhere that gets good service with an antenna, you could a hole bunch of programming for free. No antenna reception out here.
-
Tj, I think you have access to more inclusive cable packages than I do, and possibly fairer pricing.
I guess I countered that the comparison should be about what to do in my situation, because that's what the original post is about.
At any rate, I've learned that Sling is the only provider in their space (providing live cable shows on a non-cable/dish platform). This sounds like the ticket.
-
One thing I refuse to go without is cable/sat. I love sports and if I lived elsewhere I would get the separate packages so I could watch my teams, but since they are all local I need cable/sat to watch them. Plus both my son and I enjoy tennis, golf, racing, etc.
-
Tj, I think you have access to more inclusive cable packages than I do, and possibly fairer pricing.
I guess I countered that the comparison should be about what to do in my situation, because that's what the original post is about.
At any rate, I've learned that Sling is the only provider in their space (providing live cable shows on a non-cable/dish platform). This sounds like the ticket.
We tend to bounce back between Time Warner & AT&T, they both have teaser rates for the first year, and no contract required like the satellite companies., but it also depends on how many tv's you have and what they given carrier charges for equipment and such. Sling can only be used on one TV at a time, so if you're a single dude, no problem, but a family, each person would need their own Sling subscription to access those channels.
-
Klowdtv is a legal site which streams BEIN and Gol channels--so it's a lot of soccer. I pay $7.50 monthly. I watch about 3-5 games a month so I'm not sure if I'll keep the service after this season. I like soccer a lot but don't feel like I should be paying a subscription fee unless I watch many more games.
A friend 'lends' me his cable log-in details so I can watch Premier League games on NBC sports. Again, I average about a game a week.
-
Tj, I think you have access to more inclusive cable packages than I do, and possibly fairer pricing.
I guess I countered that the comparison should be about what to do in my situation, because that's what the original post is about.
At any rate, I've learned that Sling is the only provider in their space (providing live cable shows on a non-cable/dish platform). This sounds like the ticket.
We tend to bounce back between Time Warner & AT&T, they both have teaser rates for the first year, and no contract required like the satellite companies., but it also depends on how many tv's you have and what they given carrier charges for equipment and such. Sling can only be used on one TV at a time, so if you're a single dude, no problem, but a family, each person would need their own Sling subscription to access those channels.
No experience with AT&T. I will have to check them out. Thanks for the headsup on Sling!! I wasn't aware it was one subscription per tv's.
-
Tj, I think you have access to more inclusive cable packages than I do, and possibly fairer pricing.
I guess I countered that the comparison should be about what to do in my situation, because that's what the original post is about.
At any rate, I've learned that Sling is the only provider in their space (providing live cable shows on a non-cable/dish platform). This sounds like the ticket.
We tend to bounce back between Time Warner & AT&T, they both have teaser rates for the first year, and no contract required like the satellite companies., but it also depends on how many tv's you have and what they given carrier charges for equipment and such. Sling can only be used on one TV at a time, so if you're a single dude, no problem, but a family, each person would need their own Sling subscription to access those channels.
No experience with AT&T. I will have to check them out. Thanks for the headsup on Sling!! I wasn't aware it was one subscription per tv's.
You could theoretically use some sort of splitter, my dad has tv's outside that show identical contents from one of his indoor TV's via splitter. My understanding is that you can only have one stream per log-in. I'm not sure if accessing ESPN through WatchESPN or other on-demand programming would be a way around the one stream limitation.
-
It's not that the NHL doesn't not have a problem with it, they do. They CLEARLY do. The NHL can't legally do anything about it because of the jurisdictions deliberately used by Hockey Streams. With the company being located in the Netherlands, they have no legal recourse to actually take them down due to Dutch copyright law. Legally hamstrung for a decade =/= tacit approval, they've been trying for ways for years. Plus, Hockey Streams ToS basically hoists all legal liability in copyright infringement in your region onto you for using and paying sorry dontating for it. It's clearly theft, but the company is exploiting loopholes in international law to basically rip off the NHL. It's gray market in name only because of the remaining international legal loopholes that let them get away with it, but technically by the letter of domestic law, its users are still breaking the law using the service.
I've found that what drives a lot of people to Hockeystreams--myself included--is the NHL playoffs. True, baseball and basketball have some playoff games on cable, but with the exception of the Stanley Cup finals ALL NHL playoff games are on cable. If the NHL was smart--Gary Bettman runs it so it's not, but a girl can dream--it would broadcast all playoff games on Center Ice and do what Hockeystreams does and charge a set amount for access (keep in mind the playoffs run over two months). If it did that, I'd have no problem paying for it. Until then:
Dear Gary Bettman:
Yes, I get Hockeystreams. COME AT ME BRO!
Love,
MandalayVA
-
So you probably know someone with cable right? Since 95% of Americans pay for TV. Just find a friend pay them 5$ a month for their password and boom 5 dollar everything you want. Don't do local cable guys go with DirecTV friend or uverse they usually allow everything thru apps and roku.
-
It's not that the NHL doesn't not have a problem with it, they do. They CLEARLY do. The NHL can't legally do anything about it because of the jurisdictions deliberately used by Hockey Streams. With the company being located in the Netherlands, they have no legal recourse to actually take them down due to Dutch copyright law. Legally hamstrung for a decade =/= tacit approval, they've been trying for ways for years. Plus, Hockey Streams ToS basically hoists all legal liability in copyright infringement in your region onto you for using and paying sorry dontating for it. It's clearly theft, but the company is exploiting loopholes in international law to basically rip off the NHL. It's gray market in name only because of the remaining international legal loopholes that let them get away with it, but technically by the letter of domestic law, its users are still breaking the law using the service.
I've found that what drives a lot of people to Hockeystreams--myself included--is the NHL playoffs. True, baseball and basketball have some playoff games on cable, but with the exception of the Stanley Cup finals ALL NHL playoff games are on cable. If the NHL was smart--Gary Bettman runs it so it's not, but a girl can dream--it would broadcast all playoff games on Center Ice and do what Hockeystreams does and charge a set amount for access (keep in mind the playoffs run over two months). If it did that, I'd have no problem paying for it. Until then:
Dear Gary Bettman:
Yes, I get Hockeystreams. COME AT ME BRO!
Love,
MandalayVA
Comcast pays the NHL huge $$ for the cable rights for NBCSN, CNBC and the USA Network. Why would the NHL offer the programming separately directly to the consumer? Same thing with Rogers on the Canadian side. It's not going to happen. BTW, almost all NBA playoff games are on ESPN and TNT. There's a handful on ABC, but no more than the NHL has on NBC.
-
I've found that what drives a lot of people to Hockeystreams--myself included--is the NHL playoffs. True, baseball and basketball have some playoff games on cable, but with the exception of the Stanley Cup finals ALL NHL playoff games are on cable. If the NHL was smart--Gary Bettman runs it so it's not, but a girl can dream--it would broadcast all playoff games on Center Ice and do what Hockeystreams does and charge a set amount for access (keep in mind the playoffs run over two months). If it did that, I'd have no problem paying for it. Until then:
Dear Gary Bettman:
Yes, I get Hockeystreams. COME AT ME BRO!
Love,
MandalayVA
If you hate how Bettman runs the NHL, the only thing that talks is money. Don't like their broadcast policies? Starve them out, and encourage others to do likewise. DON'T give the teams personal or cultural mind share. DON'T spend any money on the NHL. DON'T watch games. DON'T even steal from them. IGNORE THEM. So long as you're still a slave to the puck, they own you and nothing will change.
-
If you hate how Bettman runs the NHL, the only thing that talks is money. Don't like their broadcast policies? Starve them out, and encourage others to do likewise. DON'T give the teams personal or cultural mind share. DON'T spend any money on the NHL. DON'T even steal from them. IGNORE THEM. So long as you're still a slave to the puck, they own you and nothing will change.
Couldn't that be said about any entertainment entity, though? I've heard a ton of people bitch about Disney but they all went thundering to the cineplex when the new Star Wars movie came out.
-
If you hate how Bettman runs the NHL, the only thing that talks is money. Don't like their broadcast policies? Starve them out, and encourage others to do likewise. DON'T give the teams personal or cultural mind share. DON'T spend any money on the NHL. DON'T even steal from them. IGNORE THEM. So long as you're still a slave to the puck, they own you and nothing will change.
Couldn't that be said about any entertainment entity, though? I've heard a ton of people bitch about Disney but they all went thundering to the cineplex when the new Star Wars movie came out.
Absolutely, and they're equally hypocrites for it. You'll note the bulk of my advice in the guide regarding saving money on entertainment is to consume less, and I couch it a heavily anti-TV message. Probably why it's the most ignored section of the guide. Even the majority of people in these forums are still non-negotiable slavish consumers for some of the most worthless BS around. They'll cut to the bone food budgets, medical care, housing... but G-d forbid they give up their bread and circuses. Football? Who gives a shit about the long term health of these horrendously abused young men! I GOTTA PAY FOR CABLE AND WATCH ALL THE GAMES CAUSE YEAH! FOOTBALL!
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
-
Absolutely, and they're equally hypocrites for it. You'll note the bulk of my advice in the guide regarding saving money on entertainment is to consume less, and I couch it a heavily anti-TV message. Probably why it's the most ignored section of the guide. Even the majority of people in these forums are still non-negotiable slavish consumers for some of the most worthless BS around. They'll cut to the bone food budgets, medical care, housing... but G-d forbid they give up their bread and circuses. Football? Who gives a shit about the long term health of these horrendously abused young men! I GOTTA PAY FOR CABLE AND WATCH ALL THE GAMES CAUSE YEAH! FOOTBALL!
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
I hope you don't hurt yourself falling off your moral high horse. ;D
-
I hope you don't hurt yourself falling off your moral high horse. ;D
May you soon receive the intellectual honesty and clarity to see the greater repercussions to your current actions and choices, and the emotional strength to not let that knowledge destroy you.
-
Honestly, by the time you add up all the various streaming packages, you might as well just go with cable.
I don't know about that; at least where I am the sports and premium packages are absurd. A 20/mo base rate for sling and 5/mo for extra sports is really tempting me and I am willing to do without NFL network, sadly. Obviously I will go shopping around in the end.
As for the eu stuff, yeah I've done that for UFC fights but not everyone is as reckless as I am when it comes to clearly-not-legal viewing.
I'm pretty sold on trying out sling. That we can try it out on a trial basis means I can convince roommates and others to ease into it.
Any other subscription-based over-the-top providers I should consider as a replacement to cable to get my tv shows and sports fixes?
If sling is good enough, then of course it's mroe cost efficient, but when you start adding MLB.TV, NHL Gamecenter, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, etc...are you really saving $$?
Cable is like $70 a month. Sling is $20. MLB.TV is $25. The combined save money and offer better services. If you have Sling, MLB.TV, NBALP, Netflix, Hulu, etc... Seriously, you are spending WAY TOO MUCH TIME watching TV. Be selective and choose only what you want.
Also, NBALP does allow you buy individual games(for $4.99), if there is ever a specific game you *have* to see.
-
If you hate how Bettman runs the NHL, the only thing that talks is money. Don't like their broadcast policies? Starve them out, and encourage others to do likewise. DON'T give the teams personal or cultural mind share. DON'T spend any money on the NHL. DON'T even steal from them. IGNORE THEM. So long as you're still a slave to the puck, they own you and nothing will change.
Couldn't that be said about any entertainment entity, though? I've heard a ton of people bitch about Disney but they all went thundering to the cineplex when the new Star Wars movie came out.
Absolutely, and they're equally hypocrites for it. You'll note the bulk of my advice in the guide regarding saving money on entertainment is to consume less, and I couch it a heavily anti-TV message. Probably why it's the most ignored section of the guide. Even the majority of people in these forums are still non-negotiable slavish consumers for some of the most worthless BS around. They'll cut to the bone food budgets, medical care, housing... but G-d forbid they give up their bread and circuses. Football? Who gives a shit about the long term health of these horrendously abused young men! I GOTTA PAY FOR CABLE AND WATCH ALL THE GAMES CAUSE YEAH! FOOTBALL!
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
There is definitely some truth to this, but everyone has their vice. Plus football is a bad example since most games are on free TV.
-
There is definitely some truth to this, but everyone has their vice. Plus football is a bad example since most games are on free TV.
Everyone may have their vice, but actively choosing to overcoming one's vice and denying a destructive habit that comes easy to your personal nature for the sake of the greater good, both personally, and communally, should always be encouraged.
And football is the perfect example, because it's one of the cheapest, most destructive, and most readily available of the tribalism battle drugs.
-
There is definitely some truth to this, but everyone has their vice. Plus football is a bad example since most games are on free TV.
Everyone may have their vice, but actively choosing to overcoming one's vice and denying a destructive habit that comes easy to your personal nature for the sake of the greater good, both personally, and communally, should always be encouraged.
And football is the perfect example, because it's one of the cheapest, most destructive, and most readily available of the tribalism battle drugs.
I don't like watching sports myself, but geez! I mean the thread is asking for advice about how to watch sports without cable and hopefully keep costs down, not a moralizing sermon about the evil of football and watching sports in general. It would be like me going on the Ptel thread and sermonizing how anyone who spends more than $5 a month on a phone bill needs to overcome their phone vice for the sake of the greater good. To each their own man.
-
I think I.P. Daley has every right to explain why he recommends what he does, especially as people attack his suggestions! He's right...
tribalism battle drugs
is a great descriptor. MMM encourages us to shift from consumer suckas to makers, creators, creatives, people who get things done. Sport watching forms an addiction, a bond to the people playing the sports. You don't say "the Jets won." You say "We won!" And "those other guys suck" and sometimes it escalates to even worse extremes. Of course, that's not what I.P. Daley came here to say. He offers up suggestions to get a reasonable fill of your drug of choice without throwing your hands in the air and saying "I need all the sports" and then paying for a maximum level cable package. You can get a ton for a small amount of money. Efficiency is king. Focus on your favorites, find reasonable channels to enjoy them, and take control of your decision-making, rather than leaving it up to the "tribe."
-
that's not what I.P. Daley came here to say. He offers up suggestions to get a reasonable fill of your drug of choice without throwing your hands in the air and saying "I need all the sports" and then paying for a maximum level cable package. You can get a ton for a small amount of money. Efficiency is king. Focus on your favorites, find reasonable channels to enjoy them, and take control of your decision-making, rather than leaving it up to the "tribe."
Funny, I didn't see any suggestion from IP about getting a reasonable fill. I only saw postings that anyone wanting to save money should just not watch sports.
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution.
-
I don't like watching sports myself, but geez! I mean the thread is asking for advice about how to watch sports without cable and hopefully keep costs down, not a moralizing sermon about the evil of football and watching sports in general. It would be like me going on the Ptel thread and sermonizing how anyone who spends more than $5 a month on a phone bill needs to overcome their phone vice for the sake of the greater good. To each their own man.
Too bad your argument has such a huge hole in it. At least mobile phone service can be used as a tool, and why do you honestly think I advise everyone to only use what they need to begin with?
Sports has no such status.
Also, I'm not the one who brought up illegal streaming sites as a viable method of saving money on getting the fix. This financial independence community is supposed to have a backbone of making ethical choices and striving to make the world a better place, not to let it burn for the sake of our own greed... but that message has been quite lost, and someone needs to remind both the noobs and the old timers of it every once in a while.
Funny, I didn't see any suggestion from IP about getting a reasonable fill. I only saw postings that anyone wanting to save money should just not watch sports.
Which, if you bothered to actually read the entire thread and consider the context, resulted from a discussion about if one is going to pay for the service, not using gray market providers to get their fix and Mandalay's subsequent attempts to justify doing so anyway.
I think I.P. Daley has every right to explain why he recommends what he does, especially as people attack his suggestions!
Thank you.
-
Honestly, by the time you add up all the various streaming packages, you might as well just go with cable.
I don't know about that; at least where I am the sports and premium packages are absurd. A 20/mo base rate for sling and 5/mo for extra sports is really tempting me and I am willing to do without NFL network, sadly. Obviously I will go shopping around in the end.
As for the eu stuff, yeah I've done that for UFC fights but not everyone is as reckless as I am when it comes to clearly-not-legal viewing.
I'm pretty sold on trying out sling. That we can try it out on a trial basis means I can convince roommates and others to ease into it.
Any other subscription-based over-the-top providers I should consider as a replacement to cable to get my tv shows and sports fixes?
If sling is good enough, then of course it's mroe cost efficient, but when you start adding MLB.TV, NHL Gamecenter, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, etc...are you really saving $$?
Cable is like $70 a month. Sling is $20. MLB.TV is $25. The combined save money and offer better services. If you have Sling, MLB.TV, NBALP, Netflix, Hulu, etc... Seriously, you are spending WAY TOO MUCH TIME watching TV. Be selective and choose only what you want.
Also, NBALP does allow you buy individual games(for $4.99), if there is ever a specific game you *have* to see.
When you spend $5 a game enough times, it is cheaper to just buy a season package. The NHL came out with a single team package, but at the amount your saving you might as well get the whole package as it brings down the cost per game. I don't disagree that TV is a time suck which is one reason we plan on dropping it. My logic is the sports will still be there when I'm old. I can't get the time back and I couldn't tell you who won which game a couple days after it happened...so why waste the time? It's not a money thing for me, it's that it's a gigantic time suck that promotes hermit-ism. Now if one had super independent children and were going to be spending time at home by themself anyway, I could see why sports or TV in general would be incredibly appealing to someone.
-
I like baseball and would be tempted by MLB.tv if my favorite team wasn't in the local cable lineup, but honestly, I don't really have time to watch much more than is available from over-the-air broadcasters. It's nice to see that Sling is competing with cable on sports. I don't mind the idea of paying for programing, but there does need to be competition to make paid programing more available to those who want to consume less of it at a reasonable price.
Soccer tends to be cheap in the US because it is more popular with immigrants who generally are at the lower end of the social-economic scale. (If you don't mind spanish broadcasts, you probably get a lot of OTA soccer coverage.) Football seems to bring enough viewers that selling advertising on OTA broadcasts is the way to maximize revenue. (I think of the Super Bowl as an TV advertising event with Football filling in during breaks in the advertisements.) Appearently baseball, basketball, and hockey maximize revenue by selling pay TV to consumer suckas.
-
My wife and I have a basic cable package that includes ABC, CBS, USA and NBC but no ESPN. I can usually get my fill of football and college basketball with those channels, and I haven't missed being able to watch my favorite team every single week. In fact, I like watching different teams--I feel like I have gotten a better sense of the league lately. Plus, NBC/USA usually show a Premier League game or two each weekend, and that is my true love.
In any case, I have also been getting really into Cricket and Rugby recently. The WatchESPN App usually allows you to watch non-US competitions for free, and I have been availing myself of that constantly.
-
I like sports. But I still cut the cord. I would buy the packages for my local baseball and hockey teams if those leagues wanted my money. But, apparently they don't. That is on them, not me. I still go to a bunch of baseball games b/c I split season tickets with friends and resell my extra tickets. For hockey, I no longer attend.
I will glance up at the games if I am out playing poker.
I have found I do not really miss anything from my life by not seeing them anymore.
Again, the loss is on the leagues.
-
I like sports. But I still cut the cord. I would buy the packages for my local baseball and hockey teams if those leagues wanted my money. But, apparently they don't. That is on them, not me. I still go to a bunch of baseball games b/c I split season tickets with friends and resell my extra tickets. For hockey, I no longer attend.
I will glance up at the games if I am out playing poker.
I have found I do not really miss anything from my life by not seeing them anymore.
Again, the loss is on the leagues.
I would say they aren't losing anything. You still go to games. The teams get huge revenue from the regional sports networks. To cut out the RSNs, they'd have to charge the consumer directly substantially higher figures to maintain the revenue stream which is subsidized by a lot of cable subscribers who don't care about sports.
-
I don't like watching sports myself, but geez! I mean the thread is asking for advice about how to watch sports without cable and hopefully keep costs down, not a moralizing sermon about the evil of football and watching sports in general. It would be like me going on the Ptel thread and sermonizing how anyone who spends more than $5 a month on a phone bill needs to overcome their phone vice for the sake of the greater good. To each their own man.
Too bad your argument has such a huge hole in it. At least mobile phone service can be used as a tool, and why do you honestly think I advise everyone to only use what they need to begin with?
Sports has no such status.
Also, I'm not the one who brought up illegal streaming sites as a viable method of saving money on getting the fix. This financial independence community is supposed to have a backbone of making ethical choices and striving to make the world a better place, not to let it burn for the sake of our own greed... but that message has been quite lost, and someone needs to remind both the noobs and the old timers of it every once in a while.
Funny, I didn't see any suggestion from IP about getting a reasonable fill. I only saw postings that anyone wanting to save money should just not watch sports.
Which, if you bothered to actually read the entire thread and consider the context, resulted from a discussion about if one is going to pay for the service, not using gray market providers to get their fix and Mandalay's subsequent attempts to justify doing so anyway.
I think I.P. Daley has every right to explain why he recommends what he does, especially as people attack his suggestions!
Thank you.
The ptel point wasn't an argument. It was an analogy. Imperfect? Yes. But the two situations also share similarities in terms of the money spent and the different attitudes people may have regarding just how much people really need to consume.
I understood the context of your original response regarding the use of sources that are legally and ethically dubious. I had no problem with that. Unfortunately it devolved into a heavy handed condemnation of watching ANY sports at all, which seemed inappropriate in a thread for sports enthusiasts sharing ideas about how to minimize the cost of their preferred entertainment. Unless your ascribe to an monastic lifestyle devoid of ANY entertainment, your advice is based on your own personal entertainment preferences which are obviously at odds with the main folks contributing to this thread. And that's ignoring the fact that some people get more than entertainment value from watching sports. They also derive social benefits from watching it with friends and family. I don't like to watch sports myself, but even I can recognize that these are social events and I miss out on something when I don't participate in the viewing.
Anyway, that's all I really have to add. I don't want to derail the main purpose of the thread any longer.
-
And that's ignoring the fact that some people get more than entertainment value from watching sports. They also derive social benefits from watching it with friends and family.
Which is why I didn't just condemn as you state, but even offered an alternative even at this end of the discussion.
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
Emphasis added.
-
And that's ignoring the fact that some people get more than entertainment value from watching sports. They also derive social benefits from watching it with friends and family.
Which is why I didn't just condemn as you state, but even offered an alternative even at this end of the discussion.
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
Emphasis added.
Arrgh. You pulled me back in ;)
Whatever, call me, crazy but I can't see how what you write is anything other than "I hate watching sports and you should be like me" advice, which is kind of nonsensical advice for people who aren't like you and who do like watching sports and will in all likelihood continue watching sports.
-
To be clear, I never intended to suggest that others shouldn't watch sports. I watch a lot of sports, I've noticed it takes up a lot of time and I question the value it adds to *MY* own life. Anyone else is obviously free to do as they wish with their time. I'd rather play various sports than watch them, even if it costs more $$ for what ends up being far less of a time commitment.
-
Whatever, call me, crazy but I can't see how what you write is anything other than "I hate watching sports and you should be like me" advice, which is kind of nonsensical advice for people who aren't like you and who do like watching sports and will in all likelihood continue watching sports.
DramaMan indeed :) There are tons of threads where people say "I love <insert thing> so I can justify spendypants mcBedPan, right?!" and lots of MMM people say "well, hold on a minute, we all enjoy a little <insert thing> but you have to make some tough decisions." That's very different from saying "I hate it, you should hate it, too!" I love driving exotic cars, and no one has told me to hate it! But they'll certainly tell me that to work an extra 20 years so I can drive a fancy car to my doldrums office job... is stupid! Likewise, here we're saying "if you're succumbing to massive monthly (the worst) cable bills so you can watch ALL THE SPORTS, consider whether or not it's a healthy outlet for entertainment, or a weakness that's grown to excess." So again, when the conversation descends into "gray area" morals or justifications, it becomes time to bring out a little philosophy and say "hey... maybe the problem isn't how to get Everything I Want at a lower cost, maybe you need to adjust what you want a little. maybe you don't need to see 21 sports games a week. Maybe 7 of your favorite sport's broadcasts will scratch your itch and save you a few thousand dollars in the long run."
-
Absolutely, and they're equally hypocrites for it. You'll note the bulk of my advice in the guide regarding saving money on entertainment is to consume less, and I couch it a heavily anti-TV message. Probably why it's the most ignored section of the guide. Even the majority of people in these forums are still non-negotiable slavish consumers for some of the most worthless BS around. They'll cut to the bone food budgets, medical care, housing... but G-d forbid they give up their bread and circuses. Football? Who gives a shit about the long term health of these horrendously abused young men! I GOTTA PAY FOR CABLE AND WATCH ALL THE GAMES CAUSE YEAH! FOOTBALL!
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
Almost typed a long response to this, but I'll just shrug my shoulders and walk away. College football is fucking awesome and worth all $91.00/month in cable every year for the rest of my life. If you think differently, great, but to couch it as oversimplistically and incorrectly as you have is incredibly naive.
Go Bucks. Beat Michigan.
-
Absolutely, and they're equally hypocrites for it. You'll note the bulk of my advice in the guide regarding saving money on entertainment is to consume less, and I couch it a heavily anti-TV message. Probably why it's the most ignored section of the guide. Even the majority of people in these forums are still non-negotiable slavish consumers for some of the most worthless BS around. They'll cut to the bone food budgets, medical care, housing... but G-d forbid they give up their bread and circuses. Football? Who gives a shit about the long term health of these horrendously abused young men! I GOTTA PAY FOR CABLE AND WATCH ALL THE GAMES CAUSE YEAH! FOOTBALL!
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
Almost typed a long response to this, but I'll just shrug my shoulders and walk away. College football is fucking awesome and worth all $91.00/month in cable every year for the rest of my life. If you think differently, great, but to couch it as oversimplistically and incorrectly as you have is incredibly naive.
Go Bucks. Beat Michigan.
everything even sports can be obtained with less money or even free. did you read MMM's latest article. If you love something so much then optimize it. This isnt about cutting out things that you love but at 91 a month for an entire year to watch a sport only played for 4-5 months of that is far from optimized. there are many ways to optimize cable and still watch it. i cut the cord i still watch USA FX ESPN etc.
-
Plus, NBC/USA usually show a Premier League game or two each weekend, and that is my true love.
I have absolutely no idea why the Premier League doesn't offer an online package in the U.S. I know NBC Sports Network Extra shows the games, but cable is required. If it did something like MLB TV it would be a license to print money.
I don't condemn anyone for his/her choice of time waster. Even the most pious Mustachian has one, and if he/she says otherwise it's a lie. :D Considering that at one time I had the second-highest tier for DirecTV so I could get NHL Network and NBC Sports Network AND NFL Sunday Ticket AND MLB TV, which altogether cost about $150 a month, ten bucks a month for Hockeystreams, the only sport for which I pay, is positively frugal.
/let's go Pens!
-
I occassionally borrow a password to watch some football. I am a cord-cutter and have a Roku, but for some reason NBC just doesn't work on my TV. For some reason this also prohibited me from streaming on NBC's site for Sunday Night Football. So instead I just used a friend's password.
-
Absolutely, and they're equally hypocrites for it. You'll note the bulk of my advice in the guide regarding saving money on entertainment is to consume less, and I couch it a heavily anti-TV message. Probably why it's the most ignored section of the guide. Even the majority of people in these forums are still non-negotiable slavish consumers for some of the most worthless BS around. They'll cut to the bone food budgets, medical care, housing... but G-d forbid they give up their bread and circuses. Football? Who gives a shit about the long term health of these horrendously abused young men! I GOTTA PAY FOR CABLE AND WATCH ALL THE GAMES CAUSE YEAH! FOOTBALL!
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
Almost typed a long response to this, but I'll just shrug my shoulders and walk away. College football is fucking awesome and worth all $91.00/month in cable every year for the rest of my life. If you think differently, great, but to couch it as oversimplistically and incorrectly as you have is incredibly naive.
Go Bucks. Beat Michigan.
everything even sports can be obtained with less money or even free. did you read MMM's latest article. If you love something so much then optimize it. This isnt about cutting out things that you love but at 91 a month for an entire year to watch a sport only played for 4-5 months of that is far from optimized. there are many ways to optimize cable and still watch it. i cut the cord i still watch USA FX ESPN etc.
How do you get USA and FX without free-loading off soemone else's paid subscription?
-
Almost typed a long response to this, but I'll just shrug my shoulders and walk away. College football is fucking awesome and worth all $91.00/month in cable every year for the rest of my life. If you think differently, great, but to couch it as oversimplistically and incorrectly as you have is incredibly naive.
Go Bucks. Beat Michigan.
I'm glad you like college footbal enough to work an extra few years just to pay the cable bill. I'm even more glad that I don't.
-
I like good coffee, but I don't like paying so much for good beans, a good grinder, and a good coffee-maker. However, it is easy to steal, so I steal it. Is there another way to get it cheaply?
Answers
--Stealing is wrong.
--OK, that's true. Is there a cheaper way to get my coffee without stealing?
-- Drinking coffee is wrong. By drinking coffee, you are making the world a worse place. Coffee cartels terrorize the innocent and suck the blood of society. For god's sake, get off the addiction to dangerous, corrupting drugs and be coffee-free FOR THE CHILDRUN.
-
Almost typed a long response to this, but I'll just shrug my shoulders and walk away. College football is fucking awesome and worth all $91.00/month in cable every year for the rest of my life. If you think differently, great, but to couch it as oversimplistically and incorrectly as you have is incredibly naive.
Go Bucks. Beat Michigan.
I'm glad you like college footbal enough to work an extra few years just to pay the cable bill. I'm even more glad that I don't.
This thread has gone from helpful to just shit.
If anyone wants to refer to my original post or the discussions that directly stemmed from the original question, please lend your thoughts.
If anyone wants to talk about how they judge others for spending according to their values or wants to convince others why they should change their priorities, please start a new thread.
Mods can decide if this thread has reached a lock-worthy point.
edit: This is a good reminder http://affordanything.com/2012/02/20/you-can-afford-anything-but-not-everything/
-
To go back to the original question, I don't think that a DVR would be required as a subscription to Sling should also give you access to the app's /websites that have the shows on-demand. I don't even know that Sling is compatible with a DVR, but it certainly could be.
-
Sadly Sling is not recordable and only ESPN allows you to use the app.
To get back to the OP's question, yes you can watch some sports without cable. Football on Sunday and some Thursday nights, Baseball on the weekend, Golf on the weekend, Nascar for a good amount of the season and other sports, all* available with an antenna. As others mentioned, you can get a subscription for Baseball, Hockey, Basketball and Soccer if you're a really big fan of those sports.
*Depending where you live and what is available OTA. Head over to either TVFool or antennaweb and plug in your address to see what you can get and what kind of antenna you'd need.
-
Sadly Sling is not recordable and only ESPN allows you to use the app.
Can you answer the previous question asking if one can view more than one stream on Sling or do you need a subscription for each device?
-
Sling is one stream only. Each person would need their own account if they wanted to use the service at the same time.
-
Absolutely, and they're equally hypocrites for it. You'll note the bulk of my advice in the guide regarding saving money on entertainment is to consume less, and I couch it a heavily anti-TV message. Probably why it's the most ignored section of the guide. Even the majority of people in these forums are still non-negotiable slavish consumers for some of the most worthless BS around. They'll cut to the bone food budgets, medical care, housing... but G-d forbid they give up their bread and circuses. Football? Who gives a shit about the long term health of these horrendously abused young men! I GOTTA PAY FOR CABLE AND WATCH ALL THE GAMES CAUSE YEAH! FOOTBALL!
Everyone in this thread: you want to save money on sports? Stop watching, and stop spending money on a morally bankrupt institution. Try spending time and playing with your friends and family instead.
Morally bankrupt? If you're talking about football, given the health concerns, sure. Not sure how you get to that sweeping generalization for all sports. I guess it's a shame the way they take advantage of those professional golfers. Made them travel out to San Diego for a tournament this week... brutal.
To the OP - don't let sports stop you from cutting the cord. I have an antenna + a friend's cable login for WatchESPN. The antenna will get you almost all NFL games, quite a bit of major college football and basketball games, baseball playoffs, occasional English Premier League games, all major golf tournaments. That's a lot. I mostly just use the cable login to watch my favorite college basketball team.
Honestly, now that I don't have cable I find myself watching fewer games. I just don't care as much. If I really want to watch something I can almost always get it though. I say you try cutting the cord and see how you like it. I bet you'll miss it less than you think.
-
Almost typed a long response to this, but I'll just shrug my shoulders and walk away. College football is fucking awesome and worth all $91.00/month in cable every year for the rest of my life. If you think differently, great, but to couch it as oversimplistically and incorrectly as you have is incredibly naive.
Go Bucks. Beat Michigan.
I'm glad you like college footbal enough to work an extra few years just to pay the cable bill. I'm even more glad that I don't.
Would work an extra ten years. I'll also add that I plan to spend $5k per year for traveling and attending college football games in retirement.
OP: I'll respond to your question tomorrow morning.
-
Sadly Sling is not recordable and only ESPN allows you to use the app.
I think it may be possible to strip out the hdmi drm on the sling device so that a recorder could record from the unprotected hdmi signal.
-
Sadly Sling is not recordable and only ESPN allows you to use the app.
I think it may be possible to strip out the hdmi drm on the sling device so that a recorder could record from the unprotected hdmi signal.
There is no device. Sling TV is a web streaming subscription.
-
Sadly Sling is not recordable and only ESPN allows you to use the app.
I think it may be possible to strip out the hdmi drm on the sling device so that a recorder could record from the unprotected hdmi signal.
There is no device. Sling TV is a web streaming subscription.
Yes, and Sling TV can be streamed using a chromecast, Roku and other devices that output a hdmi signal from which the drm can be stripped.
https://www.sling.com/devices (https://www.sling.com/devices)
-
Sadly Sling is not recordable and only ESPN allows you to use the app.
I think it may be possible to strip out the hdmi drm on the sling device so that a recorder could record from the unprotected hdmi signal.
There is no device. Sling TV is a web streaming subscription.
Yes, and Sling TV can be streamed using a chromecast, Roku and other devices that output a hdmi signal from which the drm can be stripped.
https://www.sling.com/devices (https://www.sling.com/devices)
Would there be an easy way to automate / schedule the recording when you are away though? And to change the channels? My understanding was that Sling had to be manually operated, though admittedly I've never used it myself.
-
Sadly Sling is not recordable and only ESPN allows you to use the app.
I think it may be possible to strip out the hdmi drm on the sling device so that a recorder could record from the unprotected hdmi signal.
There is no device. Sling TV is a web streaming subscription.
Yes, and Sling TV can be streamed using a chromecast, Roku and other devices that output a hdmi signal from which the drm can be stripped.
https://www.sling.com/devices (https://www.sling.com/devices)
Would there be an easy way to automate / schedule the recording when you are away though? And to change the channels? My understanding was that Sling had to be manually operated, though admittedly I've never used it myself.
Some recorders are able to be programmed to send IR signals to devices from which they are recording. Theoretically it should be possible to program the recorder to turn on the device on which sling tv operates and start the streaming. The devil obviously is in the details. Someone would likely need to be very technical minded to pull it off. Of course they would also need to be fairly technical minded to bypass the hdmi drm as well. The obstacles are such that for the average non-technical person Sling TV is effectively unrecordable. But for a techie who really wants to record, it should be possible.
-
Not sure the legality of it all but I use batmanstream (if you use it, make sure you use ublock origin)
Quality is meh, but I don't care. Only sport I follow these days is Tennis (almost never televised in Canada anyway) and they got tons of matches which is fantastic... even Challenger circuit stuff.
Yes I cut cable years back... haven't had it for over 15yrs now.
-
Not sure the legality of it all but I use batmanstream (if you use it, make sure you use ublock origin)
Quality is meh, but I don't care. Only sport I follow these days is Tennis (almost never televised in Canada anyway) and they got tons of matches which is fantastic... even Challenger circuit stuff.
Yes I cut cable years back... haven't had it for over 15yrs now.
Pretty sure all the grand slams are on TV in Canada.
-
I'm curious how many folks who have cut the cord can receive a decent quality and quantity of channels via antenna or have even tried. I have an antenna in my attic and get decent reception for all the major broadcasters in the U.S., plus a number of independent stations. Combined with my homebrew mythtv recorder, netflix and a good public library, I have way more stuff to watch than I have time for. Fortunately, I'm not into sports so not having espn is no big deal.
-
They do but coverage is generally terrible compared to the Euro channels.
I cannot stand 'loud' players (Sharapova, Azarenka, etc) and they always seem to put their coverage matches on. I also like to watch up-and-comers play and coverage sucks on them as well (Dimitrov, Tomic, Coric, Chung, Zerev, etc). So online streams it is.
Not sure the legality of it all but I use batmanstream (if you use it, make sure you use ublock origin)
Quality is meh, but I don't care. Only sport I follow these days is Tennis (almost never televised in Canada anyway) and they got tons of matches which is fantastic... even Challenger circuit stuff.
Yes I cut cable years back... haven't had it for over 15yrs now.
Pretty sure all the grand slams are on TV in Canada.
-
I'm curious how many folks who have cut the cord can receive a decent quality and quantity of channels via antenna or have even tried. I have an antenna in my attic and get decent reception for all the major broadcasters in the U.S., plus a number of independent stations.
The answer is...it depends. Before the switch to digital, you could easily put up an antenna and with a few tweaks get some channels, no matter if there were building, trees, etc. in the way. Now with digital, if you have those kinds of obstacles in your LOS (line of sight) there's a good chance you might not pick up much. Even with an antenna mounted outside as high as I am allowed, I can't pick up a couple of major ones reliably.
-
I'm curious how many folks who have cut the cord can receive a decent quality and quantity of channels via antenna or have even tried. I have an antenna in my attic and get decent reception for all the major broadcasters in the U.S., plus a number of independent stations. Combined with my homebrew mythtv recorder, netflix and a good public library, I have way more stuff to watch than I have time for. Fortunately, I'm not into sports so not having espn is no big deal.
All of Richmond's local network affiliates broadcast in HD, but we get some strange channels--MeTV, which is like TV Land except the shows are pretty old--the other day I caught Mr. Mandalay watching "The Rifleman" and it runs stuff like "Twilight Zone" marathons. There's also a movie channel, don't know the name but it shows uncut movies. MyTV is HD, the movie channel isn't. We also get a fuzzy Spanish station and a slightly less fuzzy Christian station. On the rare occasion I want non-sports boob tube there's usually something to watch.
-
Antenna reception is a disaster for us apartment dwellers, especially on the lower floors.
The channels we get depend heavily on the temperature outside, the time of day, the number of leaves on the trees, and the wind. It's so unreliable it's comical.
-
I'm curious how many folks who have cut the cord can receive a decent quality and quantity of channels via antenna or have even tried. I have an antenna in my attic and get decent reception for all the major broadcasters in the U.S., plus a number of independent stations. Combined with my homebrew mythtv recorder, netflix and a good public library, I have way more stuff to watch than I have time for. Fortunately, I'm not into sports so not having espn is no big deal.
It really depends on where you live. In a house in Arizona I get all the major stations and like 35-40 channels I had no idea existed. In an apartment in San Diego, I got CBS and maybe a handful of other stations. Reception was terrible.
-
Generally anntennas that got good analog reception get perfect ditital reception. Unfortunately with ditital poor signal is no better than no signal, so those on the fringes of analog reception did not benefit from the ditital transition. For those who do get good reception, the ditital transition has been a boon - nearly every station added one or more subchannels offering alternate programing. Most fill these subchannels with cheap content, often old TV and movie classics. Generally the main channel is broadcast in HD (sometimes better HD than the pay TV providers provide) and any subchannels are in SD.
The free OTA TV offering are not likely to expand beyond what is currently available. Mobile data provides want more bandwidth, so the FCC is in the process of repacking TV spectrum which could cause new interferrence problems for recievers near the fringe and may even provide financial incentives for some broadcasters to shutdown. I hear about it from people in the theater industry worried about bandwidth for their wireless microphones (most currently operate in unused TV bandwidth).