Streaming - July 2019 edition

iclfan2 Reppin' the 330/216/843
9,465 posts 98 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Jul 10, 2019 4:48 PM

I know this has been brought up before but I'll just start a new thread. Sorry Justin.

Anyone have any pros and cons of Sling vs. Youtube TV vs. Hulu local?  Tired of paying $175 for cable that we barely watch. The only thing that makes me weary of sling is the lack of local channels. Youtube is the most expensive, but seems to be good. Any opinions on the channels, functionality, etc?


justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Jul 10, 2019 5:17 PM

Don't apologize for new threads. New threads are always better than super long mega-threads.

geeblock Member
1,123 posts 0 reps Joined May 2018
Wed, Jul 10, 2019 6:43 PM

I had you tube tv up until last month it was great actually. Just switched to an iptv service through the Firestick and now pay 15$ a month. Total internet and cable now is 105$. I was paying 210 for spectrum before trying you tube for 30 days. I also tried Apple TV but I liked you tube way better. Get the live sports and most of the channels you watch anyway for 40$

33,369 posts 132 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Jul 10, 2019 7:50 PM

You can integrate Antenna into SlingTV very easily and effectively (depending on where you live, signal wise).

AirTV and Sling actually have a dual promotion, and the OTA channels gonright into the channel guide on Sling. It’s fantastic.

Verbal Kint Senior Member
1,062 posts 16 reps Joined Jul 2017
Wed, Jul 10, 2019 10:20 PM

Gave up cable 17 months ago.  Only miss live sports now.  

iclfan2 Reppin' the 330/216/843
9,465 posts 98 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Jul 10, 2019 10:27 PM
posted by Laley23

You can integrate Antenna into SlingTV very easily and effectively (depending on where you live, signal wise).

AirTV and Sling actually have a dual promotion, and the OTA channels gonright into the channel guide on Sling. It’s fantastic.

I saw they have a current promotion with air tv and an Antenna, just was unsure about its capabilities. 

33,369 posts 132 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Jul 11, 2019 12:15 AM
posted by iclfan2

I saw they have a current promotion with air tv and an Antenna, just was unsure about its capabilities. 

Here is how it works for me (guide screenshot attached). The UI is much better on the Roku or other set top streaming boxes, but the phone version is fine. 

If you have an outside cable distribution (likely) it’s even better. I don’t because our house isn’t wired well and not sure what happened but yeah it sucks, so no existing cable outlets were installed. But if you have them, and the source is outside the house, just get a really solid roof antenna and run cable to the point it enters the house. Then connect the AirTV to an existing wall outlet and bam, GREAT signal. 

Thankfully I’m in a good spot, so I get solid signal regardless, but it’s still a bit choppy during storms. My roof antenna back in Raleigh was 100% all the time.

33,369 posts 132 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Jul 11, 2019 12:17 AM

As you can see, it integrates right into the main guide. The 4 broadcast networks automatically go to the front, but you also get like 50 other channels OTA. You can set them as favorites or search for just the OTA channels within the Sling app. 

fish82 Senior Member
4,402 posts 36 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Jul 11, 2019 6:57 AM

That's pretty sweet. DTVnow is starting to annoy me lately, so I might look at this. 

justincredible Honorable Admin
37,969 posts 246 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Jul 11, 2019 8:43 AM

We're going on 9 or so years without cable. We don't watch much current tv so we don't use a tv streaming service and don't have an antenna hooked up at the moment. We do have hulu, and share my mom's netflix. We've done a SlingTV trial and it was fine, but just wasn't worth the price because we were basically only watching Impractical Jokers.

j_crazy 7 gram rocks. how i roll.
8,623 posts 30 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Jul 11, 2019 9:39 AM

I have Hulu+ ($50 a month or something) it's perfect for us. i'm really considering just dropping to the base hulu plan and getting an HD homerun setup to get live OTA channels.but worry about losing the sports

wildcats20 In ROY I Trust!!
29,653 posts 76 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 6:35 AM

Bringing this from the depths. We are finally going to get rid of cable. But trying to decide what streaming service to use. 

It appears that Hulu might be our best bet. But haven’t actually pulled the trigger. 

Iliketurtles Senior Member
8,507 posts 37 reps Joined Aug 2010
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 7:50 AM

I switched to Hulu Live TV back in March and have been pretty happy with it. The only thing it's missing is NFL Network/Redzone. But it has everything else my wife and I would want for what shows/sports we enjoy. Really hoping they add Disney+ in the future but I dont need worry about that for a few years. I will say sometimes the live sports can be a little behind so if a big play happens you can get an update (fantasy app, text message, Twitter) before seeing it. But overall I would definitely recommend it. I never tried YouTubeTV but I definitely prefer Hulu to Sling.

GOONx19 An exceptional poster.
7,413 posts 94 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 9:53 AM

We have an HD antenna, pay $6 for Hulu, share a Netflix account, and stream live HD sports from Reddit links. Also have the FireTV that allows you to record from the HD antenna. I haven't had any problems watching what I want to watch, and we're now paying $100 less per month than we paid for Comcast.

33,369 posts 132 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 3:54 PM

I have had Sling for about 6 years now (the week in launched, whenever that was). They legit have every channel, minus OTA (NBC and Fox available in Chicago market for me). But if you have a solid antenna, AirTV and Sling integrate them right into the channel guide (see my screengrab above). It’s a great feature.

I think Sling is a little more than the others, but with sports pack and both packages into one I get 4 streams (only 1 for the ESPN channels, unfortunately) for $50.

wildcats20 In ROY I Trust!!
29,653 posts 76 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 4:52 PM

So is AirTV just a device to stream from? Like a firestick? 

33,369 posts 132 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 5:28 PM
posted by wildcats20

So is AirTV just a device to stream from? Like a firestick? 

It’s basically a way to get all OTA channels (usually antenna picks up like 30) and individually it streams them via WiFi to a device using same WiFi connection — laptop, appletv etc. But you only get those channels and would have to exit and go to whatever service you choose to get any others.

But Sling and AirTV have a deal where they actually stream those OTA straight into the Sling app. I think if you sign up for Sling one promo option is a free AirTV. 

Basically, set up antenna, run coax cable from antenna output into AirTV input. From there is broadcasts the signal on your WiFi.

wildcats20 In ROY I Trust!!
29,653 posts 76 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 6:22 PM
posted by Laley23

It’s basically a way to get all OTA channels (usually antenna picks up like 30) and individually it streams them via WiFi to a device using same WiFi connection — laptop, appletv etc. But you only get those channels and would have to exit and go to whatever service you choose to get any others.

But Sling and AirTV have a deal where they actually stream those OTA straight into the Sling app. I think if you sign up for Sling one promo option is a free AirTV. 

Basically, set up antenna, run coax cable from antenna output into AirTV input. From there is broadcasts the signal on your WiFi.

They have an offer for a free AirTV mini. Which doesn’t appear to have a place to plug anything into. It just has an HDMI to plug into the tv. 

33,369 posts 132 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 10:11 PM
posted by wildcats20

They have an offer for a free AirTV mini. Which doesn’t appear to have a place to plug anything into. It just has an HDMI to plug into the tv. 

Oh yeah, I wouldn’t do that. I’d go for the Roku they are offering (I assume they still offer one) and pony up for the actual AirTV. If you go that route, of course.

wildcats20 In ROY I Trust!!
29,653 posts 76 reps Joined Nov 2009
Wed, Sep 18, 2019 10:25 PM
posted by Laley23

Oh yeah, I wouldn’t do that. I’d go for the Roku they are offering (I assume they still offer one) and pony up for the actual AirTV. If you go that route, of course.

We have streaming devices, so we’re set on that. They also have an antenna as an option, so if we go with Sling, that’s probably what we would do. 

33,369 posts 132 reps Joined Nov 2009
Thu, Sep 19, 2019 9:46 AM
posted by wildcats20

We have streaming devices, so we’re set on that. They also have an antenna as an option, so if we go with Sling, that’s probably what we would do. 

That works too. Which is what I did for over 3 years. But when the AirTV was integrated I bought one. I got annoyed of having to change inputs for my OTA channels and having them integrated into the same guide was worth the $100 or whatever to me. 

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