Who still has cable?

[Jacket05]

I have YouTube TV and enjoy it. Especially since they added multiview last year that allows up to 4 games split. The only challenge is that the multiview options were preselected and while there were many different combinations it didn't always have the games you were interested. However there are reports that they are going to have a selectable multiview that would allow you to pick up to 4 of whatever channels you want. It was really nice when the Tech games were on one cause I would select the Tech game when it was on to watch in full screen then just go back to the multiview during commercials or halftime and was able to make sure I knew when the tech game came back.

 

[orientalnc]

I checked the option above for All year streaming, but that's not quite right. I keep it for football AND basketball seasons. In the past we were gone almost all summer camping, so I suspended it until late August.

That said, streaming is our normal. And sports is the only thing we watch except Netflix (that is my concession to my wife). We together watch Netflix movies and series she selects, then I watch sports on the YouTube TV replay option (that is the hands down best thing about the service) late into the night. The other night I did not begin watching the GT-UNC game until it was over, but I never check the scores, so it might as well be live. That is also the reason I rarely join the chat stream during our games.

Is this the cheapest option? I do not know, but it is the best option for me right now. We also have Amazon Prime, but we rarely use it. The question you posed is really about streaming only services like ESPN+ and would I use it if that was the only way to get GT sports. I don't know. It depends on what else I would get. All ACC football or all college football? Right now YouTube TV gives me close to 200 channels and I watch 10 or 12. And, only for sports.

Right now, Google has YouTube TV set up to record as many things as I want and I can watch the replays as many times as I want for 9 months.

BTW, on Netflix we are currently watching Call My Agent, a French series. (She speaks and understands French and I read the subtitles.) It's a cool series. Before that we watched Lupin (a great series and in dubbed English).

 

[Enuratique]

I have YouTube TV and enjoy it. Especially since they added multiview last year that allows up to 4 games split. The only challenge is that the multiview options were preselected and while there were many different combinations it didn't always have the games you were interested. However there are reports that they are going to have a selectable multiview that would allow you to pick up to 4 of whatever channels you want. It was really nice when the Tech games were on one cause I would select the Tech game when it was on to watch in full screen then just go back to the multiview during commercials or halftime and was able to make sure I knew when the tech game came back.

Yeah I did some research on the multiview being preselected. As it turns out much of the streaming devices out there aren't powerful enough to transcode 4 streams simultaneously. So they have to use analytics to decide what the 2-3 permutations of games will be the most desired, encode them server side and send it down that way. I expect them to launch customizable multiview this upcoming football season but it might require purchasing a beefier streaming device.

 

[Bogey]

Yeah I did some research on the multiview being preselected. As it turns out much of the streaming devices out there aren't powerful enough to transcode 4 streams simultaneously. So they have to use analytics to decide what the 2-3 permutations of games will be the most desired, encode them server side and send it down that way. I expect them to launch customizable multiview this upcoming football season but it might require purchasing a beefier streaming device.

When you say "streaming devices out there aren't powerful enough to transcode 4 streams simultaneously", is this merely a function of internet speed or are there other factors involved? If speed related, do you have an idea of what speed would be required?

 

[Enuratique]

When you say "streaming devices out there aren't powerful enough to transcode 4 streams simultaneously", is this merely a function of internet speed or are there other factors involved? If speed related, do you have an idea of what speed would be required?

The processors specifically that actually do the math to convert the bits to a picture. They're all encoded/compressed to minimize bandwidth but it takes processing power to unpack it. I bet most modern ones can handle two streams together but 4 might be a bit much. That might be another option for Google this year. I'd probably be fine with just 2 custom streams

 

[Bogey]

The processors specifically that actually do the math to convert the bits to a picture. They're all encoded/compressed to minimize bandwidth but it takes processing power to unpack it. I bet most modern ones can handle two streams together but 4 might be a bit much. That might be another option for Google this year. I'd probably be fine with just 2 custom streams

Two would be fine with me, thanks.

 

[orientalnc]

The processors specifically that actually do the math to convert the bits to a picture. They're all encoded/compressed to minimize bandwidth but it takes processing power to unpack it. I bet most modern ones can handle two streams together but 4 might be a bit much. That might be another option for Google this year. I'd probably be fine with just 2 custom streams

YouTube TV does Multiview but they pack them into a separate stream. So, I see the Multiview as a separate option with all four games as individual options. I am not sure, as a viewer that it matters.

 

[Dman374]

My in-laws have YouTube TV, and the only issue I've seen from it was only allowing 3 simultaneous streams. Could be the tier they're on, idk the specifics I've never used it, but I agree the multi-view is awesome. We thought we were getting a deal with Sling this past year. They had a package for $274 up front for 5 months of service. Literally had every single game I ever wanted. I was also familiar with Sling, set it up at a relatives house and bought an airtv 2 that connects to an antenna to her router so she could get the local channels, (It's literally the same concept as the Tablo, but heads up it only displays at 720p, even if the network signal is 1080i, and also only broadcast in stereo not 5.1, but if you're curious I can elaborate on that later), but that's the reason Sling is so much cheaper than all the other streaming services. They don't pay rebroadcast fees for the local channels. What I didn't know when I pulled the trigger on that package was it only allows 1 stream of ESPN/Disney networks. During football season we'll bring out an old tv my wife had before we got married to watch more than one game at a time. Here's where I ran into my issue with Sling. I think it was a noon game the first month of the season, but I had the Auburn/A&M game on the main TV, and I tried to watch the FSU/Clemson game on the small TV. When I turned that game on, kicked the Auburn game off and vice versa. Was nice Sling included the ABC games, and it's nice you can hit an option to see the scores and click on that game to watch, but had we not had the Tablo to watch the ABC game I was about to throw the TV out the window. Absolutely maddening. Like I said in the original post, we had Hulu the year before, and it's great for sports, especially college football, I just don't think it's worth the price you pay if you only care about sports.

One other thing... we're in this weird transition from traditional cable/streaming to direct to consumer and I find it interesting regardless if you pay for cable or streaming, you're going to be forced to subscribe to a streaming service to watch certain football games. I didn't sign up for peacock to watch that NFL playoff game, but it's going to happen sooner rather than later where I'll sign up just to immediately cancel. My assumption is over time, the more and more people cut cable will force that transition sooner rather than later. I just don't know what the cost delta is going to end up at if it eventually transitions to direct to consumer.

 

[orientalnc]

My in-laws have YouTube TV, and the only issue I've seen from it was only allowing 3 simultaneous streams. Could be the tier they're on, idk the specifics I've never used it, but I agree the multi-view is awesome. We thought we were getting a deal with Sling this past year. They had a package for $274 up front for 5 months of service. Literally had every single game I ever wanted. I was also familiar with Sling, set it up at a relatives house and bought an airtv 2 that connects to an antenna to her router so she could get the local channels, (It's literally the same concept as the Tablo, but heads up it only displays at 720p, even if the network signal is 1080i, and also only broadcast in stereo not 5.1, but if you're curious I can elaborate on that later), but that's the reason Sling is so much cheaper than all the other streaming services. They don't pay rebroadcast fees for the local channels. What I didn't know when I pulled the trigger on that package was it only allows 1 stream of ESPN/Disney networks. During football season we'll bring out an old tv my wife had before we got married to watch more than one game at a time. Here's where I ran into my issue with Sling. I think it was a noon game the first month of the season, but I had the Auburn/A&M game on the main TV, and I tried to watch the FSU/Clemson game on the small TV. When I turned that game on, kicked the Auburn game off and vice versa. Was nice Sling included the ABC games, and it's nice you can hit an option to see the scores and click on that game to watch, but had we not had the Tablo to watch the ABC game I was about to throw the TV out the window. Absolutely maddening. Like I said in the original post, we had Hulu the year before, and it's great for sports, especially college football, I just don't think it's worth the price you pay if you only care about sports.

One other thing... we're in this weird transition from traditional cable/streaming to direct to consumer and I find it interesting regardless if you pay for cable or streaming, you're going to be forced to subscribe to a streaming service to watch certain football games. I didn't sign up for peacock to watch that NFL playoff game, but it's going to happen sooner rather than later where I'll sign up just to immediately cancel. My assumption is over time, the more and more people cut cable will force that transition sooner rather than later. I just don't know what the cost delta is going to end up at if it eventually transitions to direct to consumer.

I tried Sling for one season, then switched to YouTube TV for just the reasons you stated.

 

[RonJohn]

YouTube TV does Multiview but they pack them into a separate stream. So, I see the Multiview as a separate option with all four games as individual options. I am not sure, as a viewer that it matters.

The issue he is describing is that the four games in Multiview are selected by YTTV and encoded as a single channel for the player. It isn't four separate streams being shown in one window. It is one stream with four corners. The encoding process all happens at the YTTV servers and it only broadcasts one stream to you. What they are working on is a system where you get to select any four games to put on your TV at the same time. Instead of watching four games that seem important to YTTV, you could watch any four games that are important to you.

 

[LongforDodd]

I still pay for Uverse. It has become quite expensive but as long as I'm working I'll still pay for it. That may change sometime later this year when I retire.

We also pay for some streaming such as Apple TV and something else that I don't know the name of. My wife takes care of that. I prefer the cable because of the immediate gratification I get when wanting to change channels. As long as I am working, I'll pay for that immediate gratification.

 

[orientalnc]

The issue he is describing is that the four games in Multiview are selected by YTTV and encoded as a single channel for the player. It isn't four separate streams being shown in one window. It is one stream with four corners. The encoding process all happens at the YTTV servers and it only broadcasts one stream to you. What they are working on is a system where you get to select any four games to put on your TV at the same time. Instead of watching four games that seem important to YTTV, you could watch any four games that are important to you.

I understand that. The reality is that I have been pretty satisfied with the choices YTTV has chosen. But I don't watch the Multiview for very long. It's mostly to catchup with other games. I have my phone, tablet, and PC all going at once while I am watching a game on TV. I can stream on Watch ESPN without using my YTTV app, so it all works nicely. Thanks to Spectrum for really good quality internet.

 

[RonJohn]

I understand that. The reality is that I have been pretty satisfied with the choices YTTV has chosen. But I don't watch the Multiview for very long. It's mostly to catchup with other games. I have my phone, tablet, and PC all going at once while I am watching a game on TV. I can stream on Watch ESPN without using my YTTV app, so it all works nicely. Thanks to Spectrum for really good quality internet.

I never use it. It would be good to have set-up-your-own in a circumstance where three or four games will decide if GT makes the ACC championship game.

I am pretty certain the biggest use is for people who play fantasy football. I am sure that fantasy players would want to watch games with their fantasy players, and rotate games around frequently depending on circumstances.

 

[bobongo]

I still pay for Uverse. It has become quite expensive but as long as I'm working I'll still pay for it. That may change sometime later this year when I retire.

We also pay for some streaming such as Apple TV and something else that I don't know the name of. My wife takes care of that. I prefer the cable because of the immediate gratification I get when wanting to change channels. As long as I am working, I'll pay for that immediate gratification.

Man, you are grandfathered in with Uverse. As you probably know, they discontinued it some years back for new subscribers.
I had it until I got fed up with outages & pixelations, and went to Spectrum. I got the impression they wanted to run me off.

 

[roadkill]

Man, you are grandfathered in with Uverse. As you probably know, they discontinued it some years back for new subscribers.
I had it until I got fed up with outages & pixelations, and went to Spectrum. I got the impression they wanted to run me off.

I had U-verse when it first came out (trial customer). Worked well for me, but it was a dead man walking as soon as ATT bought DirecTV. Then I got a multi-year deal for DirecTV from Costco.

Of course, ATT finally realized that they wasted their money buying DirecTV just as streaming was taking off, so they spun it off. Full disclosure, I am a retired ATT employee, and think a lot of their senior management decisions have been head-scratchers.

 

[L41k18]

Whose line are you referring to?

Amazon takes minority stake in Bally Sports networks, will stream games on Amazon Prime

The move is a significant one for fans who subscribe to a TV service that doesn't have a deal with Bally.

sports.yahoo.com

I saw an AJC article online that said any deal would not include Braves games. The article you linked doesn't mention the Braves, and I can't find cinfirmation anywhere else.
I hope you are right.

 

[awbuzz]

...
At any rate, we’re cable. My wife is harder to program than the remotes and electronics so I try to keep operating procedures consistent. Change causes much frustration.

, because too many of us understand 100%!

 

[LongforDodd]

Man, you are grandfathered in with Uverse. As you probably know, they discontinued it some years back for new subscribers.
I had it until I got fed up with outages & pixelations, and went to Spectrum. I got the impression they wanted to run me off.

That's what my wife says...about them wanting to get rid of us.

We live real close to a box that's about a 6 foot cube made of lightweight concrete that Bellsouth installed when fiber started getting really pushed out. I was told by a technician that because of our closeness to that box our cable and internet have been virtually flawless.

 

[boger2337]

We use HULU Live plus (No Ads). It is $99.99 a month. Comes with ESPN+ and Disney+ no ads.
We also have:
Paramount+
Netflix
HBO MAX ( Comes with our AT&T Fiber Internet)
Amazon Prime Video ( Come with Amazon Prime)

Hulu has been fine. My only issue is they advertise "Hulu has live sports". This is BS. No streaming service has live sports. They carry 45 second delay sports. I have signed a class action lawsuit against Hulu due to false advertising of their product. My ESPN app will update the score way ahead of what HULU provides. Any game I watch it is usually 45 seconds to a full minute behind. This can be infuriating when you get a notification on your phone that GT scored a TD and you still see them on the 40 yard line and that TD doesn't happen for 2 more plays on your TV.
I have checked about it being my internet speed and used different devices. None matter. My download speeds are anywhere from 650mbps to 975mbps download and 400mbps to 650mbps upload with 0% latency. It is squarely on HULU. I have heard and seen many complain the same issue with Youtube TV as well.

We are likely going back to cable due to this. It drives me up the freaking wall. Especially as an avid live sports bettor. The live odds are not the game I am watching so it is hard to even attempt to live bet a game because of the delay.


My advice is stick with satellite or cable. Streaming is perfect if you don't want to watch LIVE sports. I got HULU because of the live sports option

 

[orientalnc]

That's what my wife says...about them wanting to get rid of us.

We live real close to a box that's about a 6 foot cube made of lightweight concrete that Bellsouth installed when fiber started getting really pushed out. I was told by a technician that because of our closeness to that box our cable and internet have been virtually flawless.

When we (BellSouth) started installing fiber out into the suburbs, we had a plan called Fiber to the Curb. That was supposed to do away with that requirement that you be close to the switch box. There is also a feature (requirement) in the 1934 Telecommunications Act that required the phone companies to grandfather in outdated technology as long as customers were using it. There could still be customers out there using rotary dial phones. Until I cut my land line a few years ago I still had a Princess phone I could plug in during storms if the power went out. I guess the CO still sends out that 24 volt surge to ring those phones.

Don't move and you will likely be able to keep Uverse.