Cut the cord, now what to watch? Netflix, Amazon, Youtube, Crackle, Antenna

[masfonos]

Finally "cut the cable" since they offer a garbage product for ridiculous prices. About the only thing I ever watched on regular TV was news, LivePD and a handful of shows (mostly AMC stuff like Better Call Saul). It's easy to get news. I don't miss LivePD that much and I guess there's a Live First Responders show on regular TV now, and LivePD reruns if you can catch them on. The other shows eventually end up on streaming, even if it's delayed by almost a season, which I can deal with.

I live near enough to a city that I get a good number of HD channels over the air with an inside antenna: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ION, MyNetworkTV, ION, Bounce, AntennaTV, CW, CourtTV, and a dozen or so more. It would probably double with a higher antenna outside. Use the TV Fool report tool at https://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29 to see what channels you should be able to get at your location.

Also kept fast internet for gaming and streaming and I'm back to a similar problem to having 1000 channels on cable: choosing what to watch. Amazon has some good shows that I watch like Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, a bunch of random movies, they're supposed to do a Jack Reacher show and, thanks to that thread, I got back into their original Jack Ryan series.

Netflix has some ok material too like a lot of MCU movies and shows, Wind River, Gran Torino, they just added Book of Eli, and that's where I can stream Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, and other shows that I'm missing from cable. Sony Crackle does OK with turning over fresh content, but it has ads. Apparently that's a thing and something people are willing to deal with even on paid services since I gather that Hulu (never tried it) has ads.

So what are other cord cutters watching? Worthwhile shows, services, networks, etc.

[JamesCollins]

Go with them all then cancel the ones you don’t use that much when new stuff is not on there

[LivingDeadGirl]

I looked into SlingTV not too long ago.  By the time I got to a package that had channels I would actually use, it was the same price as the cable TV I just cut myself.

Maybe if you have family or a friend that uses a service you’re considering, you can check it out for a few days.  I don’t know anyone with Hulu. A few I know people tried YouTube TV and it ends up being the same price as cable TV.  A couple of people at my work place cut cable to go with ATT, and they only pay for the internet and the DirectTV Now (which Sounds like it is still about the price of cable internet and TV since it isn’t an available bundle at ATT right now).

PlutoTV has been nice, if you like shows in binge format (one episode after another) and it expanded its movie lineup to include “On Demand” options, which appear to line up with Crackle and other free services. Like Vudu (it has ads, but way less than Crackle) and PopcornFlix. Ads don’t bother me a great deal, but they tend to be oddly placed.


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[masfonos]

Yeah, some of them can cost as much as cable. I think the benefit is no contract and you can get it a la carte so you don't get a bunch of crap you don't want.

I found the ReelGood app that is pretty good. You can browse and search on everything from netflix, hulu, prime, hbo, starz, showtime, and all the free services. It tells you if the show/movie is available or will alert you when it becomes available. A lot better than searching through each one individually.

iOS app for sure, and it looks like you can do it online. Not sure if they have android app https://reelgood.com/

[masfonos]

PS a lot of the paid ones have a free trial, usually a month so you can try it out. Netflix and Hulu do for sure. I might do the trial of Hulu to see if it's any good.

[MutantMaker]

Some people I know switched from Spectrum to ATT just because of Spectrums customer service. My area apparently has a lot of service glitches and outages, and they aren’t really in a hurry to fix any of them. For instance, I had to call in and troubleshoot my internet multiple times because I was supposed to be getting 100 Mbps but barely getting 50. Never got it fixed. When I called in after my last price hike to get a better deal, I was essentially told “you have the lowest internet package and a tv package that doesn’t exist anymore. If you change anything, it’s going increase another $40 a month or stay exactly the same if you drop TV, but you can add home phone for only $20 more a month”.

I switched. My area now has ATT Fiber. I pay for 300 Mbps and I get 300 Mbps.

[masfonos]

Finally got around to watching SOLO and Last Jedi (netflix) recently. They were just OK.

Rewatched Total Recall (netflix) again. It's aged pretty well and I still think the whole thing was just a part of the Rekall dream/experience.

I did find a gem - a Simon Pegg movie I'd never even heard of. Absolutely Anything (Amazon Prime).  As a test to see whether or not they should blow up Earth, some aliens give Pegg the power to do anything at all with the wave of his hand. Kind of like Bruce Almighty but with less Jim Carey. 👍

Also got around to watching Thor Ragnarok. I'm already a fan of most of the Marvel movies and this one was great! Hilarious parts, action parts. 👍

Been burning through Penn & Teller Fool US on the CW Roku app too.  Good stuff but it starts to get kind of repetitive and they're phoning in some of the episodes.

[marktucker]

I hate to admit it but I don't know how any of this works. My smart tv has apps but I never used them. How do I "stream" movies?

[LivingDeadGirl]

Anything you “stream” is just through a service like YouTube or Netflix. Basically it means you’re using the internet t watch a movie.


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[masfonos]

I hate to admit it but I don't know how any of this works. My smart tv has apps but I never used them. How do I "stream" movies?

There are different ways to stream movies and shows. For the most part, it's as simple as just opening the app and picking what you want to watch. Some services cost money like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc. but there are also lots of free ones like Crackle, TubiTV, Pluto, etc. I use a Roku or Firestick that has access to a lot of different apps, I think some of the smart TVs are kind of limited in the available apps mostly the big name pay services. The streaming devices only cost about $20-40. To watch in HD, you have to have a decent internet connection.

Most of them are on-demand services where you pick what you want to watch, start it when you want, pause it like watching a DVD, and all that. Pluto is more like regular cable TV where there are a bunch of channels and what's on those channels at the time is what's available. I think they also have on-demand movies and shows, but I usually just surf it like regular TV. Most of the free ones have ads that will occasionally interrupt the show, but much less than on live TV.

Prime requires an Amazon Prime membership and gets you lots of included movie and show content, but also has a huge library of stuff that you can rent or buy also. Vudu is kind of the same way, it has a bunch of free on-demand content that you can watch with ads, but also has the option to rent or buy new content or stuff that just isn't available for free. That's also where movies show up when you buy a DVD or blueray that includes a digital download copy.

[masfonos]

https://www.hulu.com/welcome has the basic package (with commercials) for $1.99/mo for a year. Normally $5.99/mo. Good Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

[JamesCollins]

Hulu is free if you have sprint and amazon needs to up theirs game. Netflix is worth the money!

[LivingDeadGirl]

Hulu is free if you have sprint and amazon needs to up theirs game. Netflix is worth the money!

Sprint is offering Hulu with ads.  Verizon is offering Apple Music and Disney+ on select plans, T-Mobile includes Netflix, and ATT is doing HBOnow. MetroPCS offers Amazon Prime I’m certain plans


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[masfonos]

Watching “6 Underground” on Netflix and spotted the SiCo Maxim 9. IMFDB says it’s the first time it’s been on screen.

[TheHarleyB]

So this is a thing that exists...

The VelociPastor:  After losing his parents, a priest travels to China, where he inherits a mysterious ability that allows him to turn into a dinosaur. At first horrified by this new power, a hooker convinces him to use it to fight crime. And ninjas.

High quality cinematic masterpiece right here! 

[LivingDeadGirl]

So this is a thing that exists...

The VelociPastor:  After losing his parents, a priest travels to China, where he inherits a mysterious ability that allows him to turn into a dinosaur. At first horrified by this new power, a hooker convinces him to use it to fight crime. And ninjas.

High quality cinematic masterpiece right here! 

So. I saw this earlier and after I spent like 5 minutes laughing at the description...I watched it. It’s obviously a low budget Indie film with almost zero special effects - i laughed so hard for most of the 70 minute long movie. It’s Captain Kirk style over acting and fight scenes. I enjoyed myself.

Pretty sure there’s going to be sequel.


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[masfonos]

We've added HBO Max to our services too. It's good for new movies as they come out in theaters. I don't know if that's because of covid or if that's just what they do, but it's pretty nice. Most recent one we watched like that was The Suicide Squad. It was better than Birds of Prey and almost as good as the first Suicide Squad. Those are some of the few DC Universe flicks that are worth while.

I just got a new phone and got a trial offer for 3 months of Apple TV+. Anyone use that? I keep seeing ads for Ted Lasso but I haven't heard much about it. It doesn't look like there's nearly as much good content there as on other services.


Anyone got more recommendations of what to watch?

[JamesCollins]

We just finished ozark and it was a B- for a finale. I now need to find something else to watch and so any recc are aprocaited