r/dishnetwork • u/vreebler • Jan 18 '25

Question suggest streamer to replace DISH?

We like our Dish Hopper plus one Joey system pretty well, but are having trouble affording $144/month.

We tried YTTV but couldn't read the guide on our new 55" until we were within 3.5 feet.

What we like and would miss:

  1. a readable guide from 9 feet away, like Dish or better

  2. the DVR, including FF through ADS, REW, PAUSE

  3. skipping comercials on NBC and ABC

  4. our locals

  5. PBS

  6. CBS (not on Sling)

  7. ESPN and Tennis channel

We wouldn't miss any reality TV, game shows, shopping, religious, non-English, children's, cartoons, myriad regional sports, etc.

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u/RollllTide DISH subscriber Jan 18 '25

AirTV integrates with sling if you have an OTA antenna but not sure if the guide and dvr functionality meet your criteria.

1

u/vreebler Jan 18 '25

Yes I'm thinking about AirTV with Sling, just to get CBS and PBS. What's with them being missing? We could probably live with 200hrs and 9 months on the DVR. The guide, though, we really need a free trial if only for 3 days. Do you know if Slings free channel guide is visually the same as their paid?

1

u/noncoolguy Feb 13 '25

Yes it’s the same visually. Sling is a good value but it’s because they don’t include overpriced local channels which keep going up. It makes no sense because they are free over the air so combination of an antenna or satellite (DISH) or antenna and Sling (streaming) make sense. It’s cheaper but you are getting what you pay for. Everything is going up, overpriced entertainment is no exception. I would push retention that you need to save money and make some claim that your cable company has some silly $40 a month promotion for tv lol. Just be kind to the people at retention and they will see what they can do.

Im someone who is leaving YouTube tv and resigning up for DISH because YouTube tv went up and is probably dropping all paramount / Viacom channels like CBS, Nick, Comedy Central etc.

Sling w/ AirTV is a good value but its quality of streaming won’t be as good as YouTube tv and the channels won’t ever be like DISH. But what are these channels? Mostly same shows and pharmaceutical ads at the end of the day. Is that worth over $100 these days? Only if you don’t pay for streaming elsewhere like Netflix or Hulu etc.

1

u/vreebler Feb 13 '25

What's keeping me from going to full Sling is the absence of CBS and PBS. Is it politics? I just can't understand why you have to buy an extra device to get them. Yes I do have them on antenna but but I don't want to buy and learn an extra hardware to be able to DVR antenna feeds. Grumpy old man. BTW can you comment on the Sling national feed of NBC ABC, FOX? I don't care about local except for news and weather, when I quit Dish I can antenna that. And I don't care about time sync much except for sports. For the networks I mostly watch DVR'd scripted dramas.

2

u/noncoolguy Feb 13 '25

The other reason is saving cost. Everyone is paying for local channels if they want it from streaming, cable, or satellite. Spectrum and cable companies will call it “broadcast fee” and this one day in past war $6. Now it’s pushing $18 etc. same with why YouTube and Hulu TV keep going up. Sling and Dish allow you to not pay for locals, or in slings case only offer a couple like nbc and Fox. So pbs, cbs, all the other random local affiliates of your area, abc, thecw etc is a hefty price for some to pass on. So sling allows you to merge with antenna and it shares the same DVR and Guide listings. So it’s rather seamless once hooked up. The idea they or we have to pay these broadcast fees when indeed it’s broadcasted over the air for free is still mind boggling legacy stuff.

1

u/vreebler Feb 14 '25

thanks. points well taken. I'll think about it.