Thanks to a Roku Ultra Streaming Player I purchased, which is attached to a decade-old Pioneer plasma HDTV in my den and connects to Netflix as well as Sling TV, YouTube and other streaming options, we clearly can identify with the findings. Based on price and programming, Netflix makes the most sense for us. And YouTube is, well, YouTube. Great for a myriad of unique programming from anyone around the globe.
On the set in our den, we can enjoyably watch TV with an indoor antenna to get local broadcast stations. That, in combination with Sling TV, Netflix, YouTube or whatever other programming you may want, there is less hassle and lower costs, with a compromise or two along the way.
While we have Netflix and other streaming services on our downstairs 4K UHD TV we purchased last December, I’ve been watching shows upstairs. For instance, while I am no Trekkie, I’m an original series Star Trek fan and liked – but did not watch habitually – The Next Generation, or Voyager. I have caught myself at least two or three times in the past month watching three or four episodes per sitting. (It proved to me why I always liked The Next Generation and why I never became a Voyager fan.) No commercials and a reasonable subscription fee makes Netflix a winner with us.
As for Sling TV, it is not perfect because it does not provide a wide selection of stations. But its cost, reliability and ease of use has made us fans. While Sling TV does not provide all the cable/satellite stations we are accustomed to and only two local New York City broadcast stations – Fox and NBC – it provides plenty of programming. And in buying and installing an indoor antenna just three miles or so from the Empire State Building reminded me again about how much clearer broadcast TV stations look in HD than when they are rebroadcast via cable or satellite carriers.
Sling TV – with an indoor antenna for local stations – makes sense for us because we have DirecTV with a full complement of stations in the living room. But since AT&T purchased DirecTV a couple of years ago this longtime satellite customer noticed a definite drop in performance starting on day one. Spectrum purchased Time Warner this year. Spectrum’s new package of stations based on the old Time Warner deal was fewer stations with a higher price.
While Verizon FiOS has its critics, we are anxiously waiting for it to reach our block to enjoy higher broadband speeds. Eventually we will at least test FiOS and replace DirecTV with it in the living room.
In my experience DirecTV and Spectrum have become the best marketers of online streaming TV services and cord cutting in the U.S. With Sling TV, YouTube’s new paid TV service, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video and other online-based services, cutting the cord and using online services makes more sense than continuing with established paid TV providers.
Twenty years ago, while attending a long gone annual computer conference, I remember speaking with a trade publishing executive after a seminar about how TV programming would be available online via broadband connections instead of cable or satellite providers “in the future.” Well, as the saying goes, “the future is now.” Hopefully, the programming selections will continue to be plentiful and reasonably priced going forward.
