Have you cut the cord to cable or fios? I’m considering it.
We have fios tv service, it’s bundled in with our internet and telephone. I’m pleased with the service, and we don’t have outages all the time like when we had Comcast. We have network channels and a bunch of other channels, as well as HBO and Showtime. The package we have is no longer available. We are paying $122.99 a month for our fios service, plus another $60 for the boxes. It’s too much. We’re off contract right now. I spoke with the fios people. I can stay with the package I have. They’d love for me to do another 2-year contract, but their offer for me to renew would actually increase my costs by $37 a month. That’s ridiculous! We need to cut costs to save money and I’m strongly considering cutting the cord to the fios and switching to streaming tv.
If I drop my fios service and just keep my phone and internet, my cost to fios would drop to $99.99 and I’d have the same internet speed that I have right now. Our internet speed is 75/75 and we aren’t capped. Or, I could double my internet speed if I spend $114.99 per month. Either way I would be committing to a 2-year contract for phone and internet, which really doesn’t bother me.
We already have a monthly subscription to Hulu for $5.99 per month, as well as to Netflix for $10.99 per month. I want to keep those.
I have spent the last two months streaming most of what I watch through those two services or through the local networks online. I did this in an effort to see if everything I want from tv could be done without having fios. It seems that I can watch most network shows the next day right on the network site with no charge, which is what I’ve been doing for like 2 months now. Basically I have been letting everything I regularly record on my DVR stay on my DVR until I watched it streaming online. That way I was sure of which shows I watch are available streaming. There are a couple from CBS that don’t go to Hulu that I’ve watched on the network site the next day without a subscription.
My oldest son only streams so it would work for him. My youngest son watches only Universal Kids, Nick Jr and Disney. Hubby watches all sorts of stuff, but yet complains there’s never anything on.
I know if you switch to streaming tv you need a way to control it. We do not have any smart televisions. At this time there’s an Apple TV and PS3 in the living room, an Xbox in my son’s room, an Apple TV in my other son’s room, and an Apple TV in my bedroom. We have no desire to watch only on computer, laptop or cell phone, we want to watch through a television.
I contemplated not getting any live tv package, but that would leave us with no local news. To be honest we don’t watch a ton of news, and there are news channels. We do watch some of the other channels in the packges, so I figured I’d look at entry level live tv streaming packages.
The services I’m considering switching to are Hulu Live, Directv Now and YouTube TV. They’re all about $40 per month. They all say there is no contract and you can cancel anytime.
Hulu Live
Hulu Live would be $39.99 per month. Hulu Live lets you stream 2 tvs at a time. If I wanted to stream 3 tvs at once it would be another $15 per month, and I really don’t want to have to add that because it would really decrease the price advantage of cutting the cord.
Hulu Live does not seem to have The CW channel, which has a few shows I like. I can watch them through the CW’s online site. They also don’t seem to have Nick Jr, which my youngest likes.
Directv Now
Directv Now would be $40 per month for their Live A Little package of 65 channels. You can stream 2 tvs at once with them as well, but for an additional $5 you are able to stream 3 tvs at once.
Directv Now doesn’t seem to have the Universal Kids channel my youngest watches. Directv Now does have TV Land, which hubby sometimes has liked in the past, which neither of the other two have.
YouTube TV
Youtube TV would also be $40 per month. That membership allows for 3 tvs to stream simultaneously.
As is the case with Hulu, YouTube TV does not seem to have The CW channel. I can watch their shows through the CW’s online site. They don’t seem to have Nick Jr that my youngest likes. They also don’t have A&E, which we do watch.
If I drop the fios I save $83 – $23 on the monthly service and $60 on boxes. Two of the options above are $40, the other would be $34. So basically if I give up fios and switch to streaming with a live tv package I’d save $40-$43 per month.
So far I am thinking that Hulu Live makes the most sense as we already subscribe to Hulu. If we switched to Hulu Live what we have would be included, so the monthly fee would be $34, making it slightly less than the others. But, I don’t know for sure if we could get by on 2 streams. With our family’s crazy hours along with having Netflix it’s a possibility. I really don’t want to give up the Universal Kids now channel, which Directv Now doesn’t have so it’s another thing in Hulu Live’s favor.
I could save a lot more by not having a live tv package and just sticking with the monthly subscriptions to Hulu and Netflix, I just don’t know if that’s the way I really want to go or how it would work for us. My other option is to try that first, and if that doesn’t work step up to one of the live tv streaming packages for $40.
Have you “cut the cord” from fios, cable or satellite? What are you using to stream to your tvs? Any regrets, surprises? Upsides, downsides? I’d love to hear about your experience, hoping it will help me think things through and be sure I’m not missing something.
We have Dish Network, Hulu, and Netflix. We recently cut our package down with Dish Network because it was so expensive and there were so many channels we never watched. We haven’t cut the cord but it is definitely something to think about.
I called to see if there was a lower package, the loest package now would cost me more!
That Hulu looks like a great service and has everything anybody would need. I am a faithful Fios fan but if I change this would be the reason.
I’m not unhappy with fios service, it’s certainly reliable. It’s the pricing that’s killing us, we have to cut some costs.
Definitely something to think about! However where we live, we get a huge discount on cable because our services are bundled with internet and phone. But I’ve definitely thought about sitting down and crunching the numbers. The Hulu service looks awesome!
We’re bundled now, the boxes alone are $60, it’s nuts.
We cut the cord to cable a few years ago. We rely on Apple TV and love it. We have the apps we like, too, Netflix and Hulu plus the regular channels.
Can I ask how you’re accessing the regular channels? Is through their site enough, or did you go with one of the live streaming packages?
Long long ago we had rabbit ears. Thankfully they were replaced by an outside antenna eventually a rotating variety. Time brought us cable UGH–too many issues so when DirectTv came in the area, hallelluah! Then Fios arrived on the scene–we enjoy it esp. me for its no switching convenience and options.
I remember having the rabbit ears on my first little black and white tv. I hate Comcast so will never go back to cable. Fios is great just so expensive.
My husband wants to. I’m the hold out lol I love my TV!
These are really helpful tips. I cut the cord with cable a couple of years ago and I haven’t looked back since.
Do you have a live package or are you streaming with a service like Netflix? I’m so curious how everyone does it hoping what works for others might help me decide.
We still have SkyTV, I think we are a bit behind you when it comes to streaming services, though I would absolutely love to do it one day as we seem to pay for it all at the moment, plus the wonderful TV licenses on top!
It always fascinates me how different countries do things. That sounds a bit complicated. Semirelated, I have been binging British crime shows like crazy lately, you have some good ones!
We cut cable, and then jumped to satellite…then we dropped then when Directv come out with Directv Now. We love it, and are super satisfied with our price, channel line up, and service.
Is Directv Now easy to use? It’s one of my two top contenders.
I’ll be cutting the cord soon. Our bill with ATT raised after two years, which is dumb, because I’m a loyal customer. That’s apparently how cable companies like to treat us, which is why many people are leaving. I told them if they can’t lower my bill by the end of the year, I’m out.
I hear you! I called and talked to the fios people telling them I needed to cut costs and they told me to go to a more expensive package!
Yes, we cut the cord to cable about a year ago. We have ROKU and Sling TV. We save so much each month and get EVEN MORE channels. WIN WIN!
I know someone that has Sling and is very happy with it as well.
With all the streaming services right now, I think it’s more practical to cut the cable and just go with those other services especially since cable is quite expensive if you have multiple televisions around the house. Looks like Hulu has so much to offer!
Exactly!
We have gone back and forth between different plans. It’s hard to find just the right one and we always seem to pay a lot. We switched cable companies, then got rid of cable (but kept internet). Then we tried just Netflix, now are trying DirectTV Now (but it’s a bit slow). Hard to find a happy medium.
Is it the Directv Now that’s slow, or the internet connection buffering?
We have different services over here, we have Virgin which I guess is like cable and then sky too. We are actually ditching both and going with a subscription service as they are SO expensive!
I REALLY want to cut the cord. My cable company is ridiculous. I watch like 95% of shows on streaming services anyway. My son hasn’t watched a single show on regular cable in years. My mom lives with me, though, and watching TV is her main way to relax. She really isn’t ready to let go of her cable. Maybe I can transition over to something like DirectNow.
That’s very kind of you to be considerate of your mother that way. I’ve spent the last month or so watching everything streaming and I think I’m going to do it!
We use Netflix and we have Amazon Prime so we watch shows through our Fire stick as well. I think we stopped paying for cable over 5 years ago and never looked back! We save so much money by not paying for cable. I think it’s worth it!
Love to hear this! My whole family will be spending the next three days watching only through streaming, not touching the fios, seeing how the interent speed and connection hold up andto make sure everyone has what they want within reason. I think we’re going to do it!
We cut the cord this year, wohooo! We are saving a lot and we don’t even miss having one .
My husband and I love to travel so it’s not really that practical to keep paying for monthly cable. I think streaming services are a better alternative because you can also use it when you travel. Honestly wasn’t aware about YouTube TV! Thanks for all the info!
I havne’t had cable in a couple of years now and I love it! I currently subscribe to Amazon Prime, Netflix and HULU!
That’s what I think we’re going to do, we’re Amazon Prime members and the monthly for Huly and Netflix.
We sure have cut the cord! It’s the best decision we’ve made for so many reasons. Check out all of those channels! Wow, that’s awesome.