Advice on streaming services?

Hello Everyone,

I currently have TV and internet through my cable company. Internet is OK but I’m about to cut the cord with the TV. I’ve never used any of the streaming services and wonder if any of you had some tips or advice for me. I don’t care for a lot of movies but I do enjoy some of the programs on some local stations.

Thanks,

June

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Weigh the costs before doing it. There are great options out there, but if you end up subscribing to a lot of them just to find the shows or programs you like, you may find you’re paying just as much, if not more, than cable. Plus, you have to keep internet, so it’s not like the cord is ever entirely cut…

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A number of the streaming services offer a trial period before you are charged. I tried a few of them. Sling had a good variety of live news programs and regular channels as opposed to just all movies. Peacock is new from NBC and from what I have experienced is free. Philo gets high marks from consumers though I have never tried it personally. I spent the lockdown entirely streaming and actually paid very little. I only used one service at a time. There is a big portion of the same channels that are offered from multiple providers. Duplication of channels. CBS has a 30 days free offer right now. I prefer Netflix when I want to watch movies though. Hulu offers a lot of movies but now is offering a variety of TV stations.

My favorite and most used service in my series of trial and error was definitely Sling. You can try it for free without even giving them a credit card and at the time they were offering 30 days free. Not sure if that offer still stands.

I ultimately did go back to cable. I did cut back on the number of channels that I subscribe to in order to lower my bill quite a bit. And now that I have cut the cord I know that I can go without but it still felt like I was going without when I was streaming.

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Hi, I have a Samsung smart tv, I only have wireless WIFI hooked up to everything. Samsung has lots of free movie channels, there app is called Samsung Plus. Also I have tons of other apps on the tv too, I only use the free services of Google, Youtube, WWE, CNBC, ABC, CBS, etc. But my favorite app is VUDU, they have over 150,000 movies and tv shows you can watch for free (with ads) or rent or buy, whatever your choosing may be. I just created an account with the above mentioned companies and have NEVER paid for anything except my WIFI bill, which I paid a year in advance fee of $300.00, ( my way of saving money) instead of there monthly charge of $36.00.

So yes you can CUT the CORD.

Good Luck.

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I cut the cable cord in 2015 and never looked back. Well, I did look back–giving up HGTV was hard (but I can still watch some episodes online). I have Amazon Sticks for my TVs and at various times have subscribed to Netflix and Hulu. I also have those wall sticker-type antennas and can pick up local channels if I choose. Note: The reason I cut cable was two-fold–the costs kept going up and I was starting to downsize my budget in preparation for retirement (semi).

Because I like a lot of foreign shows (I was surprised that I didn’t mind the subtitles!), I can subscribe to various channels on Amazon, such as Acorn TV, MHZ, Sundance, etc. (I also like PBS Masterpiece, where I’m currently watching a Finnish series now). I mostly watch mysteries and dramas. OMG, Vera! To save money, I rotate these sub-channels; I roll through one channel, cancel it, and go to the next channel. So, I pay for Amazon Prime monthly, and then within Amazon, I select a sub-channel to watch for a month. I get lots of variety and the total cost is around $20-$25 a month.

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The best way to get almost every service for pretty much FREE or no more than $35 a month is to purchase a firestick. It saves money in the long run.