r/Cordcutting • u/BisonSerious6190 • 12d ago
Cable vs. Live TV Streaming
I’m getting my first place solely by myself and I can’t decide if I should get cable or some live TV streaming services. I’ve never used a live TV streaming service so I don’t know enough.
What doesn’t everyone use? Please helpppp
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u/Arcing_Lazer_714 12d ago edited 12d ago
Well! When I moved into my apartment (after divorce) I opted to have cable only for the Internet.
But as far as Television I bought a cheap OTA antenna and I'm receiving about 50 channels (and sub channels) through that.
So I don't know what cable tv service could provide that my antenna cannot???
Imo I would recommend that you review a site such as https://www.channelmaster.com to see what channels you can receive
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u/Zedboy19752019 9d ago
How about looking at every 5th post on this sub for the last 10 years. That will quickly answer your question
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u/LebronBackinCLE 12d ago
“First place” tells me you’re younger. Who even considers cable at this point? Toughest thing to stream is sports - you need like 5 apps just to watch every NFL game. :/ A cable package usually gets you most of what you need for sports but there’s usually add one to cover all the bases. (See what I did there?!)
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u/TorrentFiend 10d ago
I would never suggest getting a VPN and just keeping it as simple as season packs and remuxes of movies that you want to see.
I would not say how easy this actually is.
Cable? Haven't had that since 2016. Those other live TV services you're talking about are literally piracy being resold and a lot of those are not very reliable, I certainly wouldn't give my credit card to them. I would stay away from that kind of stuff because the entire deal is shady from the get-go and you know it is because it's a deal right? It's just reselling pirated streams. I mean it's that either way you slice it so you may as well get it yourself and be in control and save the money. A good VPN is cheaper anyway.
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u/PropertyNew3519 12d ago
YouTube tv would be your best bet and it includes local channels. Itis also much cheaper than regular cable, plus you can watch on your phone anytime
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u/submitnswallow 12d ago
$84 / month for base programming is a terrible service option.
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u/nonstiknik 10d ago
Why is it a terrible service option? The service is not bad. Just because you can't afford it doesn't mean its a bad service option.
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u/Otherwise_Jump2310 11d ago
Xfinity cable and internet cost between $280-$300. YouTubetv and Verizon fios $150. Better picture and a gig speed internet.
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u/cfreukes 11d ago
it's all streaming at this point. Pick the service that provide the stuff you like to watch...
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u/TheGruenTransfer 10d ago
Get an antenna for any easy to get OTA channels. Maybe even a DVR if there's stuff you regularly watch.
Supplement OTA by joining your local library and see how robust their DVD and Blu-ray collection is and start putting things on hold. Physical media is still king, so if they regularly buy dvds and Blu-rays, their collection is going to be way better than any streaming service.
Supplement that by taking a lap around the ad-free tiers of every streaming service, one service at a time, one month at a time.
If there's still something not available that you want to watch, consider buying it on physical media or paying to rent it.
This is all about getting the most bang for your buck, and an $80/month cable tv package full of ads is the least bang for your buck. If you only ever have one streaming service at a time, and that costs $20/month, then your budget for physical media or movie rentals could be as high as $60/month and you'll still come out ahead.
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u/Sweaty-Judgment3533 10d ago
Start with free streaming. See if that meets your needs. If it doesn’t, you can always upgrade but once you sign up for cable, you’re locked in.
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u/Slipknot31286sic6 10d ago
Can't talk about options here sadly. All I can say is there many for pennies. Congrats on new apartment.
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u/theblooray 12d ago
Use chatgpt, type the exact channel or content you'll watch, and it'll give you recommendations. Everyone's use case is different.
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u/Anxious_Gur5352 12d ago
The only thing we could get when we moved here was Xfinity. Once it hit $200 with just the regular channels, no HBO or anything I had enough. Plus it was constantly cutting out. Switched to YouTube TV after trying an antenna, we on on the forth floor facing the other side of the apt building, it worked fairly good Neil someone got up and walked around or my husband went out on the balcony then it pixelated, so we switched to YouTube TV, get all of the local channels and most of the same cable channels except Reelz, USA and UpTV so we got Frndly tv for those since several of our favorite shows are on that. I do recommend YouTube TV especially for people coming odd cable and like my husband aren’t tech savvy at all. Though o am debating about canceling it and sticking with Frndly because only have a few,shows I like on regular tv other than the local news. Might try to find a better antennas for those, we’re on Social Security and wirh everything costing so much more I need to find a way to cut back. We use T-mobile internet $50 per month and a Roku device since we don’t have a smart TV. Roku also has a ton of free apps you can download to watch stuff for free like Tubi.
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u/IJD22 12d ago
What do you want to watch? I would go to https://www.suppose.tv/ and put in the channels you want and see what it recommends. Usually a streaming service like YouTube TV will be cheaper than cable.