Does anyone stream TV online? We're dumping DirecTV after they dumped Newsmax & OANN

[MidnightRide]

Not trying to get political here, but we're conservatives, like a lot of you, and my go-to TV channel while hanging around home used to be One America News (OANN), and then Newsmax. My other favorite networks are primarily History and Discovery. I used to be a FoxNews junky until they went left a few years back. Now I record a couple of their shows, but that's it.

During COVID, several liberal congressmen demanded that DirecTV dump OAN, Newmax, and FoxNews due to 'COVID misinformation'. DirecTV responded by dumping OANN. I was going to dump DirecTV then, but I fell back to Newsmax and that was OK. They had a huge ratings boost after OANN was gone, and their programming and quality improved as a result.

But now AT&T's DirecTV suddenly dropped Newsmax on Tuesday, with virtually no warning. Newsmax wanted $$ due to their ratings boost (#4), but DirecTV refused. Until now they've never received a dime from DirecTV, unlike 22 liberal news stations who have much worse ratings than Newsmax. DirecTV pays CNN $12 per viewer, for example, and Newsmax only wants $1, despite much better ratings.

So now we're not only going to be canceling DirecTV, but I'll be trashing my AT&T cell service, which I've had for 16 years. AT&T owns 70% of DirecTV. We've had DirecTV for more than 20 years.

We're rural, with no cable TV service, and won't go with Dish Network, so it seems streaming is our best option. However we'll likely have to upgrade our internet speed as well, perhaps going to Elon Musk's Starlink. Not cheap.

Someone on Twitter recommended FuboTV while others use Roku. I know there's Hulu and others as well.

I know nothing about this stuff. We DVR (record) a lot of shows. It doesn't appear that these streaming services offer a channel schedule lineup, such as 'Gold Rush' on Friday nights at 6 PM'. And these services are virtually the same price as DirecTV is now, to my shock and surprise. Hulu's pretty cheap in comparison.

Has anyone made the switch, and if so, what's been your experience? I know a lot of people don't or won't pay for any kind of TV. FYI, I'm streaming Newsmax (free) online as I type.

We do have smart TV's that can stream directly, so no need for the phone or computer to stream.

Sorry this is so long, but this is a big change for us. I'm sure we'll adjust pretty quickly.

Your thoughts and recommendations are appreciated!

[YZ18]

We have Hulu. It does a decent job most of the time with Crapcast(Comcast) internet.

[Brad_G]

I dropped Dish a few months back. But finding something that has everything you want to watch is tough. We went with YouTube TV as it provided the ESPN/Big Ten and other things we often watch. It was about half the price of what I was paying for Dish. But your internet speed will dictate how happy you are with streaming. My wireless router is getting long in the tooth and I'll be replacing it soon as I usually have to reboot it every few days.

We also have other streaming subscriptions such as Disney and Hulu. They provide other content such as the children shows when my grandson is visiting. So when all is added up the savings may not be much in the end.

[Lug Nut]

I don't know about good options but I know Dish Network is an absolute piece of shit

[MidnightRide]

Yeah that's why we've always gone with DirecTV. Been hearing that from Dish customers for a couple of decades now. DirecTV has always been an awesome service for us, except when I have to go up on the roof to clear the snow from the dish, LOL.

[Duke]

Dish is a piece of crap! I have it for now, but planning on a change.

[Duke]

I hear you! I had Direct TV for over 15 years, and as the prices went up, I dumped them and went to Dish Network. They do the same thing, and I'm about ready to dump them too. I've ask them, "why can't a person just pick the channels they want without going thru their package deals", and their response is they can't do it. I say, BS! I get 200 channels of CRAP, and about 8 channels that I actually watch. Their full of BS!

[KFallsRider]

I dumped my cable package due to the continuous price increases (Spectrum)
kept my high speed net and stream now for everything..I have a Roku stick and use my Prime acct. for Prime TV.
Im also in a rural area but decided to try the RCA Flat antenna 65 mile range and I can pickup Fox, NBC,CBS PBS MeTV and others…saved me a ton, and plenty to watch

[Engineman]

I dumped my cable package due to the continuous price increases (Spectrum)
kept my high speed net and stream now for everything..I have a Roku stick and use my Prime acct. for Prime TV.
Im also in a rural area but decided to try the RCA Flat antenna 65 mile range and I can pickup Fox, NBC,CBS PBS MeTV and others…saved me a ton, and plenty to watch

I dumped everything from spectrum too except internet. So now I have 2 tv’s that are Roku and stream channels for free because I hate to pay and I also have Amazon fire cube which is not bad either plus I hooked an outside antenna to pick up the locally channels that are over 50 miles away and get over 12 channels from it. Better than paying over $150 before.

[Shores]

Roku

[KFallsRider]

I was Really surprised at the quality of picture I get off the antenna…digital with no loss.I can .pickup all the football games FREE !

[Father Pobasturd]

T-Mobile.

[Chooch]

I use ROKU blue with the total tv package. Month to month with no contract. Less than half of what I was paying Direct TV. I also live in a rural area and only have DSL. I’m able to stream with an average of 4 mbps. There is so much content available for free on tubi, Pluto, Roku, etc. I wish I had ditched the satellite long ago. I agree with Duke about paying for 60 channels to get the 2 you actually want to watch. Should be able to pick the ones you want and skip the rest.

[MidnightRide]

Did you buy the ROKU hardware to use the package, or is your smart TV already setup for it?

[Chooch]

I purchased the Roku receiver (actually three of them) for $24.95 each. My Sling plan supports up to three devices.

[Jaybo]

We still have Dish, for 20+ years. Refuse to have DirecTV after they screwed my mom out of a bunch of money. Myself, I stream pretty much everything I watch, we have Amazon prime, and I sub to discovery and motor trend on streaming as well. Wife likes Dish for the ease of recording her shows with the hopper. I get that, but I'd be ok with dropping Dish and getting more premium channel subscriptions. I don't watch news on anything anymore be it newsmax, Blaze Fox, etc. I do catch the feeds on my phone apps though and that works for me.

[Ahodge75]

We had Dish for a long time and paid a crap ton for it because to get the channels I wanted and like watching you had to get the biggest plan even though I didn’t watch 90% of the channels.
We dumped them and went with Hulu + live tv. Then of course we added Paramount+, Disney+, HBO Max, Discovery+, Peacock along with Netflix,Fox Nation, and Amazon prime……with that line up and the extra services it’s basically half of what we paid when we had dish.

Don’t regret moving on and doing it this.

[MidnightRide]

Damn! That's a shitload of packages! Does it get confusing trying to figure out where it all is, and what to watch when? I had the early K-band 10' satellite dish years ago, and by the time it moved all of the way across the sky, to see what was offered on each satellite, 20 minutes had passed! Scanning the channels wasn't such an easy process.

[NCB]

I use you tube TV. Has all the local channels with a DVR feature. All the channels that cable offered for $69.00 a month. No Contracts!

[MidnightRide]

I'm tempted to try that, but YouTube, owned by Google (Alphabet) is so big on censoring conservatives that I'm not sure I want to make them a go-to provider while paying them $$ for the privilege. I do watch a lot of YouTube however.

[MidnightRide]

I do want to thank you guys for all of your input. Sounds like there's life beyond DirecTV.

Anne will be the biggest challenge, but I think what we're going to end up with is jamming the satellite and finding out what's available online while working up to it. We have CenturyLink DSL here in our area, no cable broadband, and we pay for around 25 mbs download IIRC. I think we can boost that with them for more $$, but there are a couple of similar providers as well. Not sure if it's offered here, but I've heard that Verizon has a great web package for cheap if you're in a good area. My buddies in Las Vegas absolutely love it.

And as mentioned, Musk's Starlink is available, but it's pricey buying the equipment and such, and I'd probably opt for their portable dish so we could run it up to the cabin and such along the way.

But it really sounds like we just need to adjust a bit, and will have plenty of entertainment. I do follow certain shows, mostly on the History and Discovery channels, but it sounds like I can find some of those if I'm looking for them. Hulu alone may do just fine for us. Anne is gone a LOT so isn't around all that often to channel surf regardless.

DirecTV had gotten into a squabble with the local Fox network one time, so we didn't have that local station for a couple of weeks, and it made me miss NASCAR so I threatened to cancel. They sent us out one of those digital TV antennas to try to pick it up that way (70 miles) but I couldn't make it work. They soon put Fox back up so that ended that.

But I think if we can get locals that way it'll make a big difference. You don't realize what you really watch until it's no longer around to view.

Lots to think about here, but glad to hear so many of you have already tackled it. Saving $$ would be nice, but we just don't want to send any move of it DirecTV's way. Congress is getting into the act now as well since this limits their voices too, they not being able to get out on conservative news channels.

[Ahodge75]

Hulu + live tv really has most of things I watch. However there are certain shows only available on the other services that I mentioned that are really good or started on regular tv but moved to the online streaming service. I too watch a lot of history and discovery. I have discovery+ because only certain shows I am interested in are in it. But some shows I really like are on there but maybe 1 or 2 seasons behind the actual show…..which is my only complaint on that service but with Hulu I can watch them in their current season. Hulu+ live has some Dvr space which is nice but I don’t use it that often because the streaming services have them like the next day if I miss them on live tv….plus I’ve also found a lot more shows on the streaming services available only on them that are really good and I would have never watched them with dish…..

[Brad_G]

If you've currently got 25MB download speed you should be just find. I have DSL here and initially only had 10MB due to technical distance of runs and we could stream to one TV. Although it would buffer (spinning wheel) every now and then. We were able to switch to a bonded modem where they take your primary wire and your backup and tie them together for 20MB download. Streaming has never buffered unless I had an issue with things inside my house.

[MidnightRide]

Just wanted to update, and thank you all again for your input.

It took a while to get this done because DirecTV won't prorate the service, so my next billing cycle ended on March 5th, which was Sunday. My AT&T phone expired a day earlier, on the 4th, and AT&T owns DirecTV so I wanted to dump them as well.

We ended up upgrading one of our TV's as a result of this, just to have another smart TV that'll stream directly from the internet. It comes preloaded with a bunch of streaming services, including tons of free stuff, and that just about covers it for us. I'd recorded a bunch of my favorite shows and then unplugged my DirecTV receiver from the dish so DirecTV couldn't kill the unit until I'd watched all the shows I'd DVR'd. Spent most of the weekend catching up, LOL, and half of Monday. Once I plugged the dish back into the receiver, it worked fine for about an hour and then the system killed it. Time to box it all up.

Anne is gone more than half the time and she already streams a bunch of stuff, so though she'll miss some of her regular shows, she'll adapt to the new ones.

Pretty much the same for me, and my news shows are available free from a number of sources. We also have a family Netflix that we can use anytime.

For phone I went to the new 'Mint Mobile'. I hooked that up today, a total PITA to switch over and keep my #, but it works fine. I'd suggest you all have a look at that because they offer a starting package at only $15 a month, unlimited talk and text with 4 gigs of data (online surfing). I went with their unlimited data package of 35 gigs before throttling down, which is more than double what I had before, though I could have gone with less, but this is $30 a month, $10 less than what I was paying with AT&T. If not for using my phone as my primary online access up at the cabin in Ione, I could have just gone with the $15 package and left it at that! Normally 4 gigs of data is way more than I'll ever use in a month with my phone. $15 bucks. OMG.

We are now saving well over $100 a month in fees we've been paying the two.

I may end up adding Discovery+ and History+ to keep up with some of my shows, but HULU may have those already. Haven't checked into any of that stuff yet.

But stream quality has been excellent so no worries there! Should have done this years ago.

Anyone need a couple of satellite dishes?

https://www.mintmobile.com

[Shores]

Good deal. I'm sure you know that you can also stream off the internet with a non-smart TV just by using a roku.

[Brad_G]

+1 on the Roku. I picked up a couple of them a few years back for the non-smart TVs we had. To be honest the interface for them is better than the smart TVs we have. So my wife still uses it even though we have a smart TV.....go figure.....

[MidnightRide]

Yeah but we went with a much bigger screen as well and didn't want to be limited to a single service, though we do have ROKU built into the new TV and it's great. Anne just used that as a good excuse to upgrade. We also were given a new Firestick which I've yet to plug in. That's probably awesome as well, and I may plug it into the old TV and use it upstairs or at the cabin, for example.

In the past I just hooked my laptop directly to my TV via an HDMI cable to stream from the web or even play a DVD from my laptop. Works great. I'll still go with that at times when it's quicker or more convenient than trying to stream directly from the TV. For example, I still haven't figured out how to punch in a direct URL to my TV so I can surf the web like I would on my laptop or phone. But it's only been a day and I've had tons to watch otherwise.

Currently watching a 5-hour nonstop stream of 'Friday Night Poker' via one of the services that came with my older smart TV.

No complaints!!!

[Shores]

Ron to get to a specific URL you just need to open the internet app on your TV or roku. If you don't have the app you can just install it. That will allow you to type in the url. I have a wireless keyboard from Best Buy that was real cheap that helps speed that up.

[davej]

You can also get a voice activated Rocu remote for about $30 the specs says it will work with any Roku device. I'm going to get one at Best Buy today for the TV

[MidnightRide]

It would seem I don't have a direct internet app on my primary TV, nor do I have the option of downloading anything other than pre-installed apps. It goes online and streams just fine, but only with the apps that came with the television.

I dumped DirecTV after they dumped Newsmax, which followed their dumping of OAN, and I now get that free on XUMO, one of the apps that came with the TV's system.

No worries, I can use my HDMI port for my computer, plus my laptop will somehow do some kind of direct wireless connection to my set, something I've only tried with YouTube in the past.

I'll try the Firestick and maybe that'll get me where I want to go. Right now I've got to make another airport run to pickup the family cook...

[Shores]

You can also get a voice activated Rocu remote for about $30 the specs says it will work with any Roku device. I'm going to get one at Best Buy today for the TV

When I bought my two Roku's, they had them priced from $25 to $100. I bought the $50 ones which are great because you can just push the microphone button and talk into them to find what you want.

[davej]

my TV already had roku just not voice control. I went today and bought the voice control remote for $30 and it works great..This thread reminded me to go purchase it.lol