What Makes Directv Stand Out
DirecTV is one of the best options for people who love watching sports. The companys sports tickets can give you the opportunity to watch countless matches of basketball and football teams. You can also use the service to watch live boxing and MMA matches. In addition to special sports tickets, you can get sports channels for watching golf, tennis, soccer and other popular games.
The DVR that comes with your DirecTV subscription also helps the company stand out from other satellite providers. The DirecTV DVR can hold 200 hours of HD content, making it one of the most impressive options in the industry.
Cbs All Access: Alternative To Cable TV
With the CBS All Access application, you will stream over 10k+ CBS, the CBS All Access Originals, as well as live programming, from a streaming-capable device.
Everything on CBS All Access is available on-demand, with two price points for the App, including
- The $5.99 monthly offer with a few commercials
- The $9.99 monthly, non-commercials offer
While you can watch plenty of free shows on the CBS official site, youll also have to deal with a lot of commercials. Therefore, if you love their programs and commercials dont work for you, then consider paying the price.
We recommend this App only for the big CBS programming fans, who need to access the whole library. However, if you are getting it solely for live programming, you should probably consider paying the $5.99 to Hulu with Live TV, for example.
Is Directv For Me
DirecTV isnt the right option for everyone. If you love watching football and other popular sports, then you will probably like the level of access that DirecTV gives you. The football tickets are especially awesome.
The opportunity to watch shows and movies on your mobile device is also a nice feature. If youre watching a movie at home, you can pause it and start watching on your smartphone. Its a great way to avoid disruptions while youre focused on a movie or television show that has grabbed your interest. If that sounds like a cool feature to you, then you should take a closer look at DirecTV to decide whether its the right satellite provider for you.
You should also consider DirecTV if you live in an area that doesnt have access to cable television services. Cable tends to offer a steadier connection than satellites. If you dont live near a cable provider, though, a satellite-based provider is your best option.
About the Author
Jeff Hindenach
Jeff Hindenach is the co-founder of Simple. Thrifty. Living. He graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism. He has a long history of financial journalism, with a background writing for newspapers such as the San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Examiner, as well as writing on personal finance for The Huffington Post, New York Times, Business Insider, CNBC, Newsday and The Street. He believes in giving readers the tools they need to get out of debt.
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Sling TV: Alternative To Cable TV
The company works like the actual satellite or cable TV, which makes it an excellent choice for cord-cutters.
Key Features of Sling TV
- STREAMING OPTIONS: Web browsers, internet-enabled mobile devices
- LOCAL CHANNELS: Available in specific markets
- CHANNELS: 48+
Sling TV provides two main package options, with third being a combination of the two:
- Sling Orange for a monthly fee of $25
- Sling Blue for a monthly cost of $25
- Both Sling Orange + Sling Blue at $40 per month
You can often get a free Roku from Sling if you are initially signing up with a commitment to one of their offerings.
The Sling Orange package comes with the following channels
Screenshot of the Orange package from Slings official site
These are Slings offerings on the Blue package
Screenshot of the Blue package from Slings official site
You can customize your packages if you dont find your favorite channel from their two offers. In this formula, Sling allows you to add specific channels to your setup for an additional monthly premium.
Slings add-ons include
| Library of different movies | $9 |
Sling TVs simple package costs $25 per month, although adding premium packages can increase your fee to over $75 per month.
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What Are Streaming Devices
A streaming device connects your TV to your wired or wireless internet connection and streams the content you love to watch from the internet to your TV.
High-end Smart TVs usually can be connected wirelessly or directly to your WiFi network while streaming devices such as Roku 3, Fire TV box and Apple TV can all be connected via an HDMI cable.
Another option is to plug a dedicated streaming device such as the Chromecast right into your TVs HDMI port and connect wirelessly through your WiFi network.
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What Is The Cheapest TV Provider
The cheapest cable TV provider is RCN, with up to 300+ channels and a cost per channel of $0.21$0.29.
The cheapest satellite TV provider is DIRECTV, with up to 330+ channels and a $0.26$0.35 CPC.
The cheapest livestreaming TV service is YouTube TV, with 70+ channels and a CPC of $0.71.
The cheapest on-demand streaming TV service is Amazon Prime Video, with 22,500 titles for $5.99$12.99 per month or $59.99$119.99 a year.
Is Cutting The Cord Worth It
The first thing to consider is whether your current cable deal is super amazingly cheap. If, by some miracle, youre paying less than $116 per month for everything you want, it may be worth sticking with your current plan. Chances are, since youre reading this piece at this very second, you are notespecially when you factor in those nasty hidden cable costs for things like equipment, broadcast fees, and regional sports fees. In this case, cutting the cord will most probably save you cash.
Youll still need a home Internet connection, which may now be part of the cable bundle, so figuring out how much it will cost as a standalone service is also important. Many times, the broadband Internet service is at least half of what youre paying for cable as a wholeso lets say youre paying $120 per month, it may be just $60, and you can spend the rest of those savings on the specific streaming TV services you want. You can also shop around for other broadband dealsbut make sure to check if youre under contract for your current plan before you do so.
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Do You Need The Internet To Use The Best Alternatives To Cable TV
This depends on what do you want to watch. If local channels like CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC are your thing, you can survive without the Internet. The best course of action in this scenario would be to invest in an HD antenna. Just set it up, scan for channels, and enjoy your free television.
If you own a DVD player, you can always watch movies on it without needing a connection to the Internet. This, however, wont do the trick for people who enjoy watching the news or the latest TV shows.
As for the best cable TV alternatives in 2020 like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime they all require the Internet. Still, with the average price for Internet Americans pay monthly ranging from $35 to $60, thats not too bad.
Plus, most US households already have some kind of Internet subscription. With a strong connection, you can always try that home-based business idea youve always had your mind on. Meaning, this wont hurt their budget significantly.
Life Without Satellite TV Or Cable
Television has come a long way in the past several decades, and it seems impossible to go without cable or satellite these days. Some people younger than 40 may have trouble believing it, but there was a time not so long ago when most homes only got the three main networks, and maybe public broadcasting.
There was no cable TV, and the signal came via an antenna mounted on top of your house. Sometimes if you wanted to change the channel, you had to move the antenna too!
Then came cable, and suddenly we had dozens of channels instead of four. It seemed to snowball from there, to the present day where most homes get hundreds of channels via a satellite or complicated cable setup.
This is great for some people, especially families with kids of different ages who are all interested in different channels. But for others it might be a little overwhelming.
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Enter Your Zip Code To Compare TV Providers In Your Area
Data as of 05/04/20. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
TV used to be as simple as switching on a box and drooling. Now we have cable, satellite, two types of streaming services, and even indoor TV antennas.
Well explore each service individually, but lets start with a quick overview.
If you want a quick recommendation, heres a peek at our picks:
- Best cable TV provider: Spectrum
- Best satellite TV provider: DIRECTV
- Cheapest cable service: Verizon FiOS
How did we arrive at our top picks? Research.
We asked customers of 11 cable and satellite TV providers, four livestreaming services, and five on-demand streaming services to rate their TV service in eight categories .
And, of course, we supplemented that data with our own hands-on testing and expert opinions.
Sling TV Internet Speed: How Fast Does It Need To Be
Sling TV has internet speed recommendations based on the device you’re using to watch programming.
So, if you’re watching Sling TV on a mobile device such as an iPhone or iPad, you’ll need at least 3 Mbps for good-quality video. When you move to a TV, PC or Mac, expect to need 5 Mbps to get the video quality you desire.
Sling recommends getting internet speeds of at least 25 Mbps through your internet service provider in order to get the best-quality streaming.
MORE: How Much Internet Speed Should You Really Pay For?
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Do You Need Internet To Use The Best Alternatives To Cable
Mostly, you do need the internet to use TV alternatives to cable and satellite TV.
The only exceptions on this list are using an HDTV antenna or heading to your library, both of which give you the ability to watch movies and television shows while cutting the cord entirely.
However, there are free and cheap internet options available, and you can save a ton by ditching your television service subscription for a TV streaming service.
Just be aware that cable and satellite companies will tout their service bundles to try and convince you to commit to multiple services when all you want is streaming TV.
While the promo or introductory prices may look attractive, they will go up when the initial period ends, so think long and hard about the potential consequences, especially if you have to sign a contract.
The Ultimate Guide To Cable TV Alternatives
Published By Dennis Restauro
Cable TV is expensive. Recent studies have shown that people are spending over $200 per month on their cable TV bundle. With all the TV and movies available through more affordable streaming services online, dropping cable TV is a great way to save thousands.
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Amazon Instant Video: Best Alternative To Cable TV
The Amazon Instant Video is an on-demand streaming service that comes free after you buy Amazon Prime. Alternatively, you can get it separately, at $8.99 per month. However, it wouldnt make a lot of economic sense buying it separately, when you can get Amazon Prime at just $9.92 every month with the Instant Video option.
Regardless, Amazon Instant Video packs various options for watching TV in different categories, including
- Sports shows
- Documentaries
- Classic films
Moreover, you can get other genres like Family and Faith films plus Award Winning Short recordings. Currently, the app boasts more than 2k TV shows with over 18k movies. It is a huge offering when stacked up against Netflixs total 10k movies + TV shows.
Pay For Only The Content You Watch
If you watch only a few favorite shows, it may be cheaper to purchase and download seasons of the shows you like from Amazon, Google, or iTunes. This strategy works especially well if you dont need to watch particular shows immediately, if you prefer to binge-watch, or you buy, rent, or borrow the DVD or Blu-ray box set when available. For example, a full season of Game of Thrones at the Google Play store was $30 at the time we checked, while season two of Mr. Robot was only $20.
Even if you watch a dozen or so shows a year, buying those seasons may be less expensive than paying for a cable subscriptionand youll be able to watch on your TV, computer, phone, or tablet. We looked at 16 of the most popular TV shows across different networks back in 2016 , and the average price for a full season of these shows from the Google Play store was just under $25. On iTunes they were just under $32 a season, while on Amazon they were just about $29. Given that the average monthly cable bill at the start of that year was $99 per household, you could afford to buy between 38 and 48 TV-show seasons a year, depending on where you buy them, for the same price as cable, and have more flexibility in watching them.
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Single Screened Vs Double Screened Coax Cable
I already touched upon this is a section above but if you come across the terms single screened and double screened coaxial cable, always opt for the latter as it is much better. The difference between the two is whether or not the cable has a screen and braid or just a braid. Single screened cable will lose far more signal over distance than double screened and it is also more susceptible to pick up interference. It is actually quite difficult to purchase single screened coaxial cable for TV systems nowadays, but it used to be very common. Single screened cable is only ever âsuitableâ, and I use that term loosely for radio and TV aerial signals. It is completely unsuitable for satellite signals which use higher frequencies and the signal losses on the cable will be astronomical.
If you ever come across a single screened cable called âLow Lossâ cable, donât be fooled by it. It most certainly isnât.
Youtube TV For Cable Alternatives
YouTube now has their own live YouTube TV service, and you can watch shows from 70+ different networks including ESPN, Bravo, Animal Planet, TLC, National Geographic, FX, and more.
YouTube TV costs $49.99 a month, and there are some add-ons available, like:
- Showtime $7 month
- Fox Soccer Plus $15 month
- AMC $5 a month
- Starz $9 a month
- NBA League Pass $40 a month
While YouTube TV alone is nearly half the cost of the average cable bill, adding too many extras on YouTube TV can easily make this alternative cost almost the same as cable.
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Final Thoughts On Cutting The Cord
Are you ready to ditch that cable bill forever?
Great! I hope the information we have provided you in this article has you inspired to save money and excited to try all the great streaming services available to you.
Here are a few things to remember as you go forward on your quest to cut the cord:
- Good internet service is key for streaming. Most people are already paying for high-speed home internet whether theyre cable subscribers or not, but its important to remember that youll need at least 10 Mbps to stream most services without buffering interruptions.
- Take advantage of free trials. I talked a lot about video streaming services and live TV streaming services that charge monthly fees, but heres some additional good news: Many of them offer 7 or 14-day free trials. Use those as a streaming test drive before you say goodbye to cable TV.
- You can quit at any time. The beauty of streaming TV is that the majority of these services bill you on a month-by-month basis. If you cant afford a certain service any longer or it stops carrying the content you like, all you have to do is cancel, and youll owe nothing beyond your current months bill.
- Even a little bit of savings is a win. We talked about some pretty extreme content changes that could save you thousands of dollars over the next few years. But even the small savings you get by switching from cable to YouTube TV, for example, is still a big move in the right direction. That money adds up!
Netflix The Best Cord Cutting Service
Netflix is probably one of the most popular options to cable TV as you can watch both movies and TV shows. Netflix makes it easy to get rid of cable or satellite as it is also ad free.
Netflix is what weve been using to watch TV mostly, and its one of my favorite alternatives to cable TV on this list. Its probably one of the most popular and best tv service. Thats because Netflix has some of our favorite TV shows that we could watch over and over again.
Netflix has been putting a lot of money into creating their own content, including popular favorites like Stranger Things, Black Mirror, Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, Arrested Development, and more.
They constantly adds more titles too, which keeps this alternative feeling fresh. Its also very good at learning the types of shows you watch and making recommendations.
There are three different Netflix plans:
- Basic $8.99/month- You can watch unlimited movies and shows on one streaming device only.
- Standard $12.99/month- Same as Basic, with HD level picture quality, and you can watch on up to two screens at a time.
- Premium $15.99/month- This has HD and Ultra HD and you can watch unlimited Netflix on up to four devices at a time.
Netflix also offers your first month free. The monthly price is quite affordable with Netflix.
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