Internet TV for home?? Tired of paying Direct TV

[pawpawdiv9]

Guys i am tired of paying Direct Tv, thinking of getting rid of it and just use the internet for TV.
I need to know how and whys to it.
Like what channels i will have, as for Live news and sports.
I have been using the YouTube for other stuff.
And to note, if i get rid of AT&T and Direct TV, that will mean no landline phone as well.
Please give me help and idea or whatever to navigate toward this
Thanks ChrisM

[D. Bergin]

Buy a Roku device for 60-80 bucks, connect it to your TV through your internet connection, either direct wired or wirelessly, and then a-la-carte what channels you want. It also comes with an App Store with a bunch of free streaming channels, if you don’t mind watching commercials.

If you want Live TV, you’ll have to pay for some sort of plan for that however.

[bnorth]

I prefer the Amazon Firestick. Live TV is limited but there are 1000s of free channels. You do need a Amazon account. The free one works you don't need a Prime account.

Most of the sports apps have free games. I watch free baseball on the MLB app regularly.

[pawpawdiv9]

I have 3 smart tv's
and was messing around the buttons on the remote...
one was Pluto...which i found is free and has many channels.
and of course there Free TV button on it as well, which does have my local news on it.
but was not live streamed.
Thinking of getting a antenna for the main tv downstairs for my local news.
as thats what we mainly watch after dinner.
So looking at dropping the Direct TV and keeping the AT&T internet and phone

We do watch SportsCenter in the mornings and Nascar races on the weekends and college football when it starts up, so not sure if we be able to get those or not.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

I have 3 smart tv's
and was messing around the buttons on the remote...
one was Pluto...which i found is free and has many channels.
and of course there Free TV button on it as well, which does have my local news on it.
but was not live streamed.
Thinking of getting a antenna for the main tv downstairs for my local news.
as thats what we mainly watch after dinner.
So looking at dropping the Direct TV and keeping the AT&T internet and phone

We do watch SportsCenter in the mornings and Nascar races on the weekends and college football when it starts up, so not sure if we be able to get those or not.

Pluto is nice. They also have stuff on demand. My favorite is 7 years of the SCL. Tubi, Crackle, Freevee, PBS, and Plex are also nice. Plus there are many many more. You can find most anything you want for free. We also use an antenna for local news.

[Schlesinj]

We have HuluLive for around 4 years and never had any issues. Love the fact you can pay for unlimited screens option especially with larger families. Great for college football as well.

I went with Hulu over YouTube. You can also buy Redzone as an add on during football season.

Most people cut the cord to save money, but I doubt that it will save people money in the long run.

[LuckyLarry]

I live out in the country and the only cell service that works is Verizon. They have a tower right down the road. For years the only internet available was through my land-line telephone using Windstream which changed recently to Kinetic. My cell phone bill was about $70 a month and internet was $80 a month.

Then Verizon sent me a card offering $50 a month internet with a $10 a month veterans discount. The only thing holding me back was I was concerned about changing my email address which was ///////@windstream.net for 25 years But I got a Gmail account and took the bait. No real hiccups changing to Gmail.

As soon as I called Kinetic to cancel they immediately offered to reduce my bill which Im thinking why didn't you offer this five years ago. I lost my landline but I never used it anyway only for Kinetic internet.

So now Verizon cell phone and internet is $90 a month. I do not subscribe to any pay TV service. I watch free YouTube

Larry

[MooseDog]

I dumped DISH a year ago when the price kept going up, they kept losing channels and the final straw was when they couldn't reach an agreement to broadcast local sports (owned by Comcast). Looked into Comcast and in order to get similar service was ~$100/month. It's been quite an adventure trying to figure this all out...here's what I suggest.

1) Make a list of the channels that you regularly watch including local sports and whatever networks they are on.

2) Go to CordCutting.com and compare the services there with what you watch. What they have listed there are the streaming equivalents of cable/satellite. Expect to pay $35/75 month for that kind of service. All have free trials so you can test, which I would recommend as they don't have great user interfaces like you might be used to.

Depending on channels, you might be able to piece together a bunch of free apps and cheap services and save a bunch of money, but be aware there is going to be a learning curve. It's no longer "just turn on the TV and watch". Some channels offer free old shows but you have to pay something for the newest content. Some, like History don't let you watch the new content unless you subscribe to a carrier.

As someone mentioned earlier you can get a digital antenna to get local stations. I got a "flattenna" from Channel Master (lightweight and can tape to a window) that works quite well, although I'm in a major metro area, YMMV.

It's a mess, to be honest. I've actually found I watch less TV now and by SO has pretty much gone completely to YouTube for entertainment.