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I've started to consider what I will do to transition off of DirecTV. We get Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ from my phone plan. I do pay $5 extra per month to get rid of commercials. I am likely to go with YouTube TV for all the rest, it looks like the best deal, but haven't fully decided yet.



HBOMAX can be had with Hulu or directly from HBO. Currently we get it because of DirecTV and I have to do that on Roku as the LG TV is a little too old for HBOMAX app.

We have XFinity for internet as well. We do not use them TV or phone. We use Verizon for mobile and Ooma for home phone (she wanted to keep the house number even though it really isn't important anymore).

I am not sure what is best for us will be best for you. I hope to get our stuff figured out in the next couple weeks, and I can update here when we decide something.

At least we have time to figure it out.

Check out Fubo TV. (streaming) They seem to have reaquired the rights to Balley Sports, even in their $75 package.

Hulu has the history channel.

I think it a given I will drop DirecTV. I think it will be killed off at some point anyway. AT&T tried to unload it already.

AT&T has been pushing for DirectTV to become a streaming service for years, they just weren't very good at it.

YouTube has bought the NFL Ticket rights, so if out of market NFL games is what you will want, you'll want to look toward youtube.tv, although no "packages" have been disclosed, there have been rumors of possible 1 team ticket options, which I think would make a killing. SO many people were turned off by the 300-400 price tag to watch their one team, offer a 1 team package for $99, and they'd probably get 4x the subscribers

I decided to give the Youtube TV a try on the 14 day free gtrial. We shall see how I like it. We realized we don't do a lot of live TV anymore. Some news and she likes the History channel for room background noise.

YouTube unveils NFL Sunday Ticket pricing details; no single-game, team options. https://theathletic.com/4397301/2023/04/11/nfl-sunday-ticket-pricing-youtube/

Guess I’ll be buying the Primetime package before June 6th.
I’ve heard that package doesn’t allow you to record the game… so you have to watch live? Can anyone confirm that?

That would be unfortunate.

While I'm not 100% of the accuracy of this article, it states you can record every game. This is just a part of the overall article concerning the pricing and packaging that pertains to your question.....

The Final Cut

Once subscribed to YouTube TV, viewers can watch NFL action throughout the season from the comfort of their sofa or on-the-go with their favorite device. YouTube TV has NFL fans well covered by enabling them to stream live games on CBS and and Fox, which typically carry broadcasts from the AFC and NFC. Fans can also watch Thursday night games on the NFL Network, Sunday night games on NBC, and Monday Night Football on NBC.

Another option for YouTube TV subscribers is to use an antenna like HDHomeRun to stream sports from their local region. YouTube TV costs $64.99/mo., but new users can sign up for a free trial to test the service. The length of the free trial varies based on the promotions offered at any given time. This enables potential subscribers to try the service over a football weekend to see how many live NFL games they’re able to watch. An added extra is YouTube TV’s cloud DVR feature, which provides unlimited recording space for up to nine months. So, a YouTube TV subscriber could record every game throughout the NFL season and repeatedly watch their favorite ones.

https://cordcuttersnews.com/how-to-watch-the-nfl-on-youtube-tv/

Hard to say if I'll get it or not. I'd just do the more expensive one where I don't also have to subscribe to Youtube TV.

I still use my season tickets but have already found buyers to sell off 3 games. I'll go to at least 4-5 games, so I only have 1 game up in the air.

The deal is there is a group of people who I have watched games with for maybe 20 years at various locations around town. I am not sure I just want to give that up at this point, but watching any game I want at home has appeal.

I guess it just depends on how many games I would actually watch at home v going to the bar or stadium. You would also have to consider how many games might be a national telecast, such as MNF?

I'll have to think this one out for a while.

Who knows, maybe the whole Youtube deals kills bars even showing all the games. Shoot, everybody can get Youtube.

OK...maybe not everybody, but near.

It wouldn't kill it this year, but soon enough if enough people stay home and it isn't profitable enough for bars to pay the bar price for a youtube feed that covers multiple games on multiple TV's. They don't pay what you and I do for a home feed. They don't carry games out of the goodness of their heart. They expect to see a boost in wings and beer sales.

From the way it reads, only the YouTube TV subscribers have the ability to record. It doesn’t seem as though those of us that just want to get the NFL package without subscribing to their full platform can’t. Which kinda sucks. I won’t be able to be home for every Sunday morning game. Meaning I’ll pay for the package but not be able to watch every game.
As much as I hate Direct TV at times, at least it was simple and straight forward. This is not what I was hoping would be the outcome of them losing the Season Ticket. In many ways it’s actually worse. Why can’t the NFL just stream the damn games from their platforms? Why can’t we buy one team? Etc.

This is just another company monopolizing the ability for fans to watch. Different name. Same, but worse outcome.

Ridiculous.

I can't say that I disagree with your sentiment but at the same time I will say that DirecTV didn't give you the option of only getting the NFL package at all. The only way you get could get the NFL Sunday Ticket was to be a DirecTV subscriber. So while as you pointed out this isn't optimum, it's still at least one step better than DriecTV was.

I tried Youtube TV a while back. As for myself I wasn't crazy about their format. Maybe I just didn't give myself enough time to adapt to it. So as of now I have Hulu rather than Youtube TV. I may be revisiting that choice.

But one thing about it is, I like watching multiple NFL games which are often televised at the same time so not to be able to record them would be a no go for me. Not to mention I hate paying all that money and being forced to watch commercials. I always let the games I plan to watch record ahead some so I can fast forward through the commercials.

I wonder what the limit is for home subscribers, can I watch 4-5 games simultaneously, or will I get limited?

Bars typically pay for the ticket based on max capacity, so it probably isn't changing much for them, except now they need to increase their bandwidth for streaming multiple games, and get the hardware to do so on each TV. Expect to see a spike in prices for streaming devices as every bar in America starts trying to acquire hardware.

That's ridiculous.... I'm going to have to switch to YouTube TV just to be able to record... I've gotten Sunday Ticket for years... but I'm also at every Texans home game, so frequently I'll have to record around 6-8 Browns games each year to be able to watch them...

Really didn't want to pick up YouTube TV but may have to cancel DirectTV and switch to YT just to be able to record football games...

We've canceled DirecTV. Today might be the last day of service.

I have been peeking at the Youtube TV page to see if they have started sign ups but it isn't there yet. I am not really wild about the layout and guide for YTTV but it is what it is. I will likely have to pick up HBO MAX and a couple other things soon too. It will still be cheaper than our DirecTV bill. The offered to cut $80 off the cost if we stayed, I pointed out they could have just done that. "We aren't allowed to call you to offer the discount" they told me. I replied I never asked for a higher rate either and they seemed to be able to raise it.

They were talking about the NFL package going to YouTube earlier today. I think it’s going to be around 350.00 for the package. It’ll be a little less if you are already a YouTube premium subscriber. If you live in the market where your favorite team plays, I don’t see the value. I mean, we already get 3 free games on Sunday, including the Browns games.
However, if I lived out of market, or are a “football addict” I absolutely see the value in the subscription. - Get all of your favorite team’s games, plus all of the games that you’d like to watch while your favorite team isn’t playing. There was a couple times last year where I wish I could flip over to the Steelers games to root against them.
Going forward, I’d like to see them offer an option to pay for access to individual games. It would be great to pay around 20 bucks to to watch a game of choice while the Browns are on a bye.

They probably will go for on demand at some point, but I would bet it will be for more than $20 a game. My guess would be double that.

They aren't going to price things where buying single games is going to be similar in price per game as buying the whole season. My guess is buying single games will cost near double what buying the entire season would.

I already have Youtube TV and I'm seriously trying to decide if I'm a big enough NFL fan to shell out the money for the package. I do get most Browns games locally already.

I’m wondering if I’m just going to try to find online links to the games this season. I’ve had fairly decent luck with that when I’ve traveled away from home during the season.
I like my direct TV. I like its DVR… it has all the local channels… it has all the channels I like… it gives me access to the Big10 network so I can watch Midwest football. I don’t want YouTube tv, and paying $350 to not be able to record games seems steep.
The NFL is a multibillion dollar enterprise. It’s unreal this is the options they leave us. How about they put some money down to run their own damn service? They could keep it all in house. All the revenue too.

While I know this doesn't pertain to the NFL package I suggest you look into Hulu. It has all of the same channels you spoke of as well as a DVR for a lower cost than DirecTV.

j/c:

This is pretty concise:

Agree... would have preferred if they just had their own app/network....

FYI - I tried YT TV a couple years ago, back then at least you could reorganize the guide anyway you wanted. Which I did... Local channels at top, followed by the wife HGTV, Magnolia, etc, followed by sports channels I wanted, followed by remainders WTBS, TNT ETC.

That almost makes no sense.

349 vs 449, when youtube tv is only like $80. So get YTTV and package for 420

To be clear.......YTTV is 72 per month and the package is a one time fee. I think I'm going to pass on the package. I already have YTTV and get enough games on the networks, and the 2-3 weeks per season that the Browns get pre-empted for the Lions, I can get a stream. Also, YTTV has the NFL Network and I have Prime. The only thing I really regret missing out on is Redzone.

ahh yeah my bad.

Same here. Don't have enough interest in "all the games" to pay that price since I have enough football with YTTV and Prime.

I'm in Fort Wayne but declare Cleveland as my home (have a home there and log-in whenever I'm there). I have to wait 'til the Browns game is over (YT reads my IP address) before I can watch if I'm in Fort Wayne. That was irritating at first, but I'm used to it now.

It isn't just the guide. It all feels awkward to me, I will get used to it but you would think Google could hire some people to make it work better. I suppose it feels like someone used the Youtube interface for this and just wedged in different content.

I am signed up for the ticket though.... is it football season yet?

They're all awkward and wonky. Seems like everything is so damned counter-intuitive and nobody really cares. Can't count the times I've fished around a home screen forever... before going to the search menu to find something I was just watching. It's aggravating.

With YTTV, you have to re-order the channel guide endlessly. Every time there is any change in the lineup it seems like YT puts the channels back in a blender and just pours them back onto your screen.

I wouldn't doubt it's intentional. Just like the endless game of hide-and-seek with all the products at Wal-Mart; they figure the more you wander around, the greater chance of an ancillary purchase.

I did remind my sweetie that if she sees the $ symbol that means it costs money. It will take some time to get used to it but we'll get there. It does seem to remember the shows we watched so those percolate up to the top.

I hate when we are watching something "DVR" and it hits the end I can't just stop playback, it wants to play behind the menu. We typically try to not watch the "next time on" stuff.

Yeah, the playing behind the menu is annoying. So is the fact that (starting with Netflix, now ubiquitous) an audible trailer starts for everything you are hovering on. I don't need my senses assaulted while I'm surfing for something to watch -- if I want a trailer, I'll click for one. I've trained myself to hit 'mute' while I surf.

YTTV is pretty easy to get back to what you want, I actually think it's the best UI. Netflix and Prime have been bad lately in terms of getting back to shows. The "recently watched" row on Netflix can show up anywhere from the top to right under "Korean Horror" it seems.

The worst is forgetting the title of what you were watching with the formats that are intent that you're constantly wandering a labyrinth. You find yourself on google asking "what is that show on Netflix about the cute animals?" At which point google brings up ads for organic dog food.

Then you sit there watching puppy commericals don't you?

At that point, why not?

This will definitely be interesting.
The past x amount of years I’ve bought the Ticket on eBay for around 30-50 dollars. I would just stream it off the app. It was nice, I could split the games on my tv and watch multiple. When I was in DC, it wasn’t a big deal because I could watch them on local tv or use ST app.

In Hawaii, the chances of them being on local is almost 0. I really don’t care to get YT, because Spectrum is included in my HOA. I also barely watch tv, so that wouldn’t be worth it.

Not that I have much of a choice, but I’ll just wait and see how this all plays out.

Mayhap i will have a viewing party!

As an extra, I did not get red zone. Never watched it so I thought the added cost wouldn't be worth it.

Do something to slow down your connection so you're not two plays ahead in the game chat!

I did wonder how that is gonna be affected with the new service. For the most part DirecTV was on point with that.

j/c:

Does YouTube carry the Big 10 Network? I think Fate answered this before, but I'm not sure.

Like many of you, I'm not happy w/this marriage of the NFL and YouTube. I was really hoping that Amazon --or even Apple--would get the contract. Watching the Thursday night games on Amazon is a breeze.

I watch a show or two on Amazon and Netflix and a few movies, but I don't watch any other TV that aren't sports. I don't watch the News, sitcoms, game shows, Reality shows, etc, etc. And I mean......NEVER!

I'm so happy it wasn't Apple. Ugh.

Apple would charge 349 for the package, and then create a proprietary stream box that you had to buy for 199, and then you need a special HDMI cable for 29.99, and of course if you want a power adapter for that stream box, another 19.99.

And then next year they will change all the connectors.

I have to say this made me laugh. Thanks for that.

I think I’m going to call Direct Tv and threaten to cancel. If they lower my bill significantly enough to offset the cost of a YoutubeTV subscription I’ll keep it. YouTube is not really how I want to watch tv in my day to day. A big part of the reason is I don’t have a smart TV. It’s an older Sony Bravia 55”. It works fine. I’m not replacing it. So when I want to use YouTube or other such streams I either use my iPad with a direct HDMI to the tv, or my Blu-ray player which is already connected. But it’s also older and at times is a little slow to do its job. I’m not replacing it either… until it dies. Either way, I don’t want to deal with that just to watch the news or whatever. So if I can keep my Direct TV it’d be easiest.

I hate how modern tech moves so fast that perfectly good electronics, such as my TV, get rendered obsolete well before they run out their lifespan. I don’t buy into the consumer culture. I loathe planned obsolescence. There’s a reason why my 401k looks different than many of my peers. They have a new phone every year, a new fancy tv every time something new comes about (curved screens, etc)… I’m like my old man. Buy quality. Use it till it dies. Do it again. I still use my iPod nano in my car. The battery can’t hold a charge over night, but as long as it’s plugged in to my car’s port, it works fine to play my podcasts all day… which I download off my ancient MacBook Pro.

Now, can someone come program my VCR clock for me?

When considering YTTV all you need is a $30 Roku and your Sony is good to go.

I've used Roku for over 15 years. Used in my restaurant, my bar, my home,,, and never, ever had a problem with a freestanding unit. In fact, last year they sent me an email telling me one of my units (bedroom, older TV) would soon be obsolete... they offered their $40 unit for 10 bucks shipped. The old one still worked great with a mfg date of 2008.

Like Fate said, get a Roku, or Firestick. They are cheap, and they tend to be quicker and better responding than most smart TVs.

Thanks. That actually sounds like a good plan.
I had a Roku a bunch of years back. Never seemed to work right. Maybe it’ll be better this time around.

I have a Roku for the downstairs TV specially for HBOMAX (soon to be MAX). The LG WebOS supports HBOMAX in the newer models but not the 2016. Oh well, it was $30ish for the 4K Express model and that supports the Harmony remote.

Don't get me started on LogiTech and deprecating the Harmony.

I got a Roku yesterday. Seems to be working well.
Next move is to call Direct TV after work and threaten to cancel to see if they’ll drop my bill significantly enough to warrant keeping it. Hopefully it’ll be enough to completely offset the cost of a YTTV subscription.
Wish me luck.

Just checking in to see this. I’m not loving having to do the whole YouTube thing, but I guess Ill probably end up shelling out the 250 for whatever

They will drop it in a heart beat. You will need to keep an eye on the creep though, it will go back up. And you don't even need to call them to do that for you.

The only way you can avoid tht is get them to agree that the price you negotiate will be in place for a year. And even then be watching your calendar.

I saw an announcement that DirecTV isn't completely out of this. They will deliver games for a third party to bars and restaurants. It makes sense since streaming 10 games will consume a lot of bandwidth and businesses typically pay more for less.

I guess I never came back here to update.

I called Direct TV. They lowered my bill almost enough to completely offset the cost of YouTubeTV. So at the end of the season I’ll cancel that and save $60 each month during the off-season. I also got in on the $249 Season Ticket. That saved me money over last year’s costs too. Worked out well.
So far I kinda hate YouTubeTV. The interface sucks. The guide is slow to move through. I’ve also accidentally hit the ‘back’ button on my Roku remote. Which takes you completely away from YouTubeTV. Forcing you to start all over to get the app open again. Do that at the wrong part of a game and you’ll potentially miss important plays while getting back on. I’m also wondering how much buffering will occur when switching between games. Etc.

As to the future. I’ll deal with next season next season. I know I’m covered for 2023.

No sense worrying about next year, this year. Especially over something fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

As long as I keep paying for season tickets, I won't be getting YTTV since I go to 5-6-7 games a year. That makes paying for the TV a little overpriced for as much as i would watch. Not to mention the game or 3 that would be on a local type channel anyway. It's getting to the point where I might drop the season tickets. The travel isn't as easy as it once was. I can always go back to stub hubbing my way up to watch 2-3 games a season. In the mean time I will continue to go to the bar to watch. I assume one will still be able to do that.

It will be interesting to see what the reviews on here are once the season starts.

On a side note: It's mind-numbing how complicated watching TV has become. You have to have this or that service, this or that device, etc.

I'm not thrilled with the Youtube TV interface either. I did find some things on the yttv tricks and tips videos online, but I don't remember which ones were most helpful.

I didn't see that anyone answered so in case they haven't I have Youtube TV and yes, it has Big Ten network, at least in SW Ohio so I assume it is available everywhere. I do know if "follows" me when I take my laptop along when staying in hotels out of state. It does change my local network channels, but all others follow, and I can also watch what I have recorded.

Sometimes I just miss the simplicity of going to local Browns backer bar and watching it on the 10 ft satellite dish. Too much ancillary crap with TV packages and streaming services.

How is it any more of a rip off now than when DirecTV had it?

The thing about NFL Sunday ticket that never seemed fair, if you paid for it, they still blacked it out in your viewing area if not a sellout. I just paid a few hundred dollars but can't watch because not enough tickets were sold?

You can always buy a ticket and go to the game.

No doubt that blackout rules still apply.

That was my only real beef with Art Model. Browns home games were never broadcast locally. No matter how many tickets were sold, the guy always managed to set up several hundred folding chairs or fence off various areas of the stadium for standing room only just before the sellout window to keep the games off air locally.