DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Streaming Services

I know this is a topic that has been brought up before, but this is a topic that as things develop has changed and is changing quickly.

Better late than never so we've decided to cut the chord. We live far enough away from Nashville that using an antenna for local channels may not be effective. I've watched the local and national news live my entire life. So that's something I feel is needed for my wife and I. We just grew up that way.

You can certainly do your research on these things and I certainly have. But nobody can tell you more than someone who actually uses the products. What I've come up with on my own is this.....

Hulu Live

HBO Plus

Netflix Premium

The Netflix Premium is a no brainer for us.

Most of the services such as Sling TV and Hulu have free previews. So we certainly plan to try it before we buy it. But in saying that, I'm sure a lot of you have ideas and other streaming services that someone such as myself has no idea about.

I would appreciate any insight and suggestions you could provide as to streaming services with a large channel selection and quality streaming.

I have Netflix, what is Netflix premium?

Amazon Prime is okay, nowhere near what Netflix has.

Here's what we have and I swear this list just keeps getting longer because my wife or kids find a new show to watch on various streaming services:

Cable - includes HBO Max and Showtime, Showtime Anytime
Netflix
Amazon Prime
Hulu
Disney+
Apple TV+

Sometimes we'll cancel one service when a particular show has ended, but we mainly subscribe if there is something we want to watch and cancel if nothing of interest. This rarely happens for me though as someone always seems to be watching on one of the platforms.

Amazon Prime we use the least, but have always had it for the free 2-day shipping.

Some free streaming services worth downloading:

Tubi
FilmRise
Pluto TV
Crackle
Peacock (there is a monthly pay service as well)

From my understanding you need Netflix Premium for ultra HD aka 4k.

We've discussed that. We don't have any kids living with us. They're all grown. We love the show Yellowstone. It's only available on Peacock so we will add Peacock during the Yellowstone season and end it when the season is over.

And thanks for the heads up on the free streaming services.

https://www.locast.org/ has legit free streaming local news for many localities. Nothing in Tennessee, but other might find theirs.

Cable news is free at https://www.livenewsnow.com/

We have Netflix, Amazon Prime and Youtube TV. We just cut the cord a couple months ago and I'm ready to dump Youtube TV. A cheap antenna gets us all the local channels, and there's quite a bit offered over the air. Sling TV is about half the price of Youtube TV and gets you the NFL Network and the channels my wife likes. Between these channels and the free ones mentioned by Milk Man (which offer more than you can imagine) We'll be paying less than 1/4 of what our cable bill was once I dump Youtube TV.

If anyone here hasn't cut the cord yet, do it. Cable and satellite are dead in the water. My son's been trying to get me to do it for over a year and I was just stubborn. He bought me a Roku stick Christmas before last and I finally plugged it in.

Thanks. Hulu pretty much has all of the news channels I watch. Too bad they don't have local Nashville news. That would save me some cash.

I appreciate it. Knowing what not to get is as important as knowing what to get. I looked at Youtube TV as well. I wasn't strongly considering it at this time but now I know not to bother with it going into the future.

We love what we have...check your PMs, Pit.

I know I’ve posted this before but for my main tv watching I use Eyestreamtv. I pay $40/month for every channel imaginable. All the movie channels, all the sports nba, nfl, mlb, nhl, most of the ppv events, most local channels, if they don’t have yours just ask and they will usually add it. They have dvr service but you can’t record on every channel. You just have to have bery good internet to use it reliably. I use a 4k firestick, hardwired to my modem. I will have it til it’s not available.

Jailbroken Firestick anyone?

We use it as well, Frenchy and love it! All the Browns games?? How could we not?!

Thanks to you and Frenchy! That sounds like something I would be crazy not to try. I appreciate the information guys!

Used it tonight in quad view (4 screens) to watch college basketball, worked great, march madness should be fun watching.

Thanks Frenchy. I just signed up for the 3 day trial, appears to be as advertised. It plays nice with Roku. What a game changer.

Eyestream works via a referral link. If anyone wants to try it out, please PM Frenchy or me for our link. I didn't use one when we signed up and they threw a fit because of how the structure works. We would also be your go to for help and info instead of having no sponsor.

EyeStream seems like a pretty obvious pyramid scheme. I imagine it will be de-platformed once it continues to grow and gains more attention.

Seems that's the reason someone's service is free after they generate 5 referrals and then they are paid $8 for each referral thereafter.

They want to make a bunch of money fast before it gets shut down.

After reading their Privacy Policy and date collection and how it will be used is quite sketchy.

Maybe it works out, but doesn't seem like a long term solution.

It's just an illegal iptv service from overseas. Anytime you have to pay for some 'item' instead of the service, it's shady. BUT that doesn't mean it's not a good service as far as delivering the channels, it just means it's the same as using some kodi third party script to get live tv and the content creators/stations are not getting paid.

I used iptv providers like this several years ago now, and they tend to get shut down fast and replaced by another even faster. And it seems like the only place anyone gets into real legal trouble is if the seller is US based and operating under our laws. The headache comes when you pay and their channels go down then they don't have alternative sources to replace them... Or the site just disappears overnight. That sucks when the big PPV is coming up.

I use YoutubeTV and it is essentially a cable service for $60 per month. It includes local channels. It was better and more stable than Hulu TV. I had play station vue, until it was discontinued.

I will never go back.

The only difference is that you have to navigate to change channels, no numeric channel changer. Not a big deal for what I save.

I set up the guide/menu so that the most common channels are at the top. I rarely go below the top 10 or so.

It is available for every TV in the house and on computers and tablets as well.

I but NFL Sunday ticket separately through an app for Browns games.

I also use Netflix and Disney and Amazon Prime. But 80 percent of the time we use YoutubeTV.

It seems I get a lot of mixed revues in regards to Youtube TV. I'm quite certain I will never go back from streaming services but matching all of your viewing needs, budget and stability of the service is quite a chore.

The good thing about that is that most all of them have free trials to get an idea of what you'll be getting before you decide which ones to buy.

While budget is something I certainly consider, it seems it will be very easy to get all of the conveniences and content I want well below what I've been paying.

We had PSVue, then YTTV, and now Eyestream. Like Frenchy, we will use Eyestream until it dies. Here's the gist of what my affiliate partner says about it when I inquired about leaglity:

"We are in the google play store, and Roku tv store. If we were an illegal app neither would let us upload the app onto their systems. Also, we charge tax (other iptv “companies” don’t charge tax for their services) which is monitored and regulated by both state and federal authorities. We are us based. Our headquarters are in Atlanta GA and our panels are in Houston Tx. We are a service, not an item as they described. The license to rebroadcast comes from the fcc and is fully legal. We have our own app, it’s not a third party build like in Kodi, which is absolute trash btw. Roku and Google would have absolutely nothing to do with us if we were illegal. The hoops (the owner) had to jump through for all the legal stuff is CRAZY!"

That's all I feel like getting in to this, but do with that info what you like. Also, I don't make money so this isn't a true pyramid scheme.

Don't take that as a knock on you, I was going by the system they use to collect payment. Buy a banner? I would think a truly legit company would just have the tiers of service listed when you select a package. That's what makes me think it's not legal. Google and Roku both have the kodi app too, and it's legal until you load a plugin that pirates tv or shows. So for the sake of argument, I wouldn't use that as a basis for being legal. And I'm not in the market at the moment but I would have zero issues using this service.

I'm not arguing, just researching as this isn't the first time I've heard they are bogus. But, what do you mean how they collect payment? They have two tiers of service and you select one. Banner?

My bad, I just found this when looking:

https://store.eyestreamtv.net/products/1-month-subscription

But I thought they were having people place orders for these to get their package:

https://buffalo21.minutemanpress.com/customer-login/welcome.html

I didn't see the package prices on the main page and clicked into the promo store. Saw a $40 Banner and assumed that's what they have you buying. Had other services that made it look like you were buying a hosting package to get their IPTV. I feel better about them being legit.

For broadcast/OTA stuff, use the following map to see what will be available to you.

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

With a powered/amplified aerial, you can likely still pull in stations marked as 'weak'. Put the aerial on a little tower atop your roof and it'll be even better.

Living south of Medina, I have no trouble pulling in everything from the Cleveland, Akron, and Mansfield markets with my rooftop antenna. Geography plays a large role here.
This may address much of your needs for news and such.

For streaming, I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. I had Disney+, but canceled it.

For me, between MeTV for the old shows, and then Netflix & Prime for newer content, I don't need anything else. I'm perfectly content watching Andy Griffith, Hogan's Heroes, M*A*S*H, Carol Burnett, Perry Mason, and Dick Van Dyke. When I need something else, Netflix & Prime have that base covered plenty well.

ME TV and Inspiration give me all of my favorite oldies. I'm a huge Perry Mason, Gunsmoke and Alfred Hitchcock Presents fan. Inspiration shows some good westerns and is currently showing the mini series Centennial.

Thanks for the heads up. The thing about it is, the Eyestream service will add your local channels for free and man, if you get a chance check out what you get for 40 bucks!

I actually think I can get Eyestream with DVR on Cloud along with Netflix Premium which will give me 4k content all for a little over 70 bucks a month and the NFL Ticket is included. It also includes every premium move channel I can think of.

That's one helluva deal right there.

If MeTV is on a sub-channel in your area, make sure Eyestream carries your sub-channels when they say you get all your locals. Lots of services only carry the base channel... for example, in Cleveland, MeTV is channel 19-2. Most services here only carry the base channel 19 and non of the subs.

For me, I have Prime already because I do enough shopping on Amazon to warrant it. So, the only things extra I'm paying for are Netflix & Hulu. I have the 4k package on Netflix, but just the basics on Hulu, and that's good enough. If ever I can't find something to watch among all of that, I just go read a book

Things like DVR and NFL Ticket don't appeal to me... .but, that's the important difference. You find out what matters to you and you find the inexpensive solutions to cover your needs, and that does sound like a really solid deal!

Eyestream does have MeTV.

Then they are dead to me.

Just an FYI update on locast.org (s) free (over air) local streaming channels:

Columbus' and Cleveland's locast locals are now live for free. Columbus gets 52 channels.

https://www.locast.org/

We have way too much streaming here. My wife is into tv shows. I take advantage but I feel like so much money is wasted on these

I think HBO Max and Netflix are a must. There's good content all over the place and tons get added.

We have amazon prime anyway because of the amount of shopping on amazon we do, it was just worth it

Hulu is ok. I haven't done a deep dive into it.

I love crime documentaries. I did the trial for discovery + and i gotta say i am a bit underwhelmed. I would pass on that.

I like the streaming services cause you can just do a month for a few bucks more. If you're a netflix guy, you can just buy a month of hulu if there is a show you are dying to watch. and that way youre only out a few bucks. I love that angle to the whole thing.

My cousin does YoutubeTV and swears by it, but I have not done the research on what you get.

the only channel i need is whatever has football and hockey lol

IMO, since we cut the cord on cable (which is generally ~$100/month), we can sign up for pretty much any amount of streaming services and come out ahead.

Netflix and Hulu are necessities (Hulu because it has Curious George for the toddler, and Brooklyn 9-9 for me... plus they usually nail a special or two a year). Disney+ is also an easy one to spend on as they have a bunch of content for everyone in the family. Also, there's some weird voodoo billing magic that happens when you have Disney+, Hulu, and HBOmax. It comes out to like $20/month for the whole thing for me.

I recently got YouTubeTV to try the process of cutting the cord, but my wife is as non-tech as you can get. She just struggles with the concept.

I even got an Alexa Cube to make the voice functions work like our voice remote from Xfinity, but alas, her favorite station is ABC, and when she tells Alexa "ABC", we get William Shattner reciting the ABCs (I am not kidding).

No matter how many times I tell her to say "Tune To, ABC" she just doesn't get do it. Then gets frustrated and goes back to cable.

I still have cable because of the sports channels.

I also have netflix, but watch just as much on free apps like imdb and tubi.

I'm pretty pissed about YTTV. When I subscribed, your "home tier" of channels was based on location... which was only accessed when you opened the app on your phone or PC. As long as I opened the app once within every 90 days, while actually in Ohio, all was good. Now it reads location from the router so I lost all my Cleveland channels.

Hopefully most Browns away games will be televised nationally, home games I'm in my seat on the lake.

Just hit me up on game days if you need a link to watch. That goes for any DTer.

Right on. You saved me once in '18 when I moved to the STL. Much appreciated.

Re: tubi

I've been watching a lot of it lately. There's several dozen of the original Mystery Science Theater episodes on there. Quite a few good documentaries as well (especially science and music). It's a decent channel if you get nostalgic for some 70's and 80s tv shows too.

You're welcome. After I struggled to find the game a few times way back when, I decided that will never happen again. So I found a small online niche that shares that crap and I try to make sure I always have links in case the game is not on locally. Even though I watch most games on regular TV, there are always a couple a year I would miss without those links or paying for NFL Ticket.