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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

JCC The Cable, huluplus, netflix discussion thread.

Discussion in 'Community' started by beezel26, Jan 26, 2014.

  1. beezel26

    beezel26 Jedi Master star 7

    Registered:
    May 11, 2003
    My cable bill runs about 80 bucks add in internet and its double my electricity bill. I watch tv but really have been thinking about huluplus. Tried Netflix and didn't really like it. Huluplus has recent stuff on the big networks so I can still watch something.
    So should I get rid of cable or not? I have TimeWarner cable.
    What do you have and what is easier for you.

    Oh and I had medium speed internet. Not game fast but not slow either.
     
  2. heels1785

    heels1785 Skywalker Saga + JCC Manager / Finally Won A Draft star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2003
    I keep cable for ESPN, HBO, and the news networks. Its expensive, and I've once tried without it and replaced with Hulu, but no bueno for me. Live sports is 75% of what I watch, can't cut that out.

    I prefer Netflix to Hulu Plus, no ads and better content. Also like HBO GO and Showtime Anytime internet services, but both require active cable subs. Comcast also has a brilliant on demand service that give access to a massive amount of content.
     
  3. Padawan Fangirl

    Padawan Fangirl Jedi Padawan star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2013
    I think once Mom and I move, and I get a better-paying job, I'm signing up for Hulu. I like the thought of streaming shows that I don't get on my current TV lineup.

    I currently have AT&T U-Verse(300, I believe), but we're thinking of downgrading because it's gone up significantly in price since we started getting 300. What's really going to suck is that when we downgrade, I won't be getting MLB Network any more. Where I'll be moving to, I'll get CSN Chicago, so I'll be able to what more Cubs games(as opposed to just having WGN). Yet I won't have Fox Sports Detroit, so I won't be able to watch the Tigers unless they play the White Sox(and force me to listen to Hawk Harrelson). And the only way I could get YES Network is through signing up for AT&T's Sports package....but I don't need all the other channels that come in the package.

    What I think TV companies should offer is the option of customizing your channel lineup. Obviously local channels come with the package, then you should have a list of popular channels to choose from as part of your deal, then a list of special/premium channels that add on to your bill. I have 300 channels, but a fair amount of it I don't watch because it doesn't interest me; I just wanted MLB Network. But I also want Funimation, which comes in a separate package. And AT&T's on-demand movie selection stinks.

    Basically, I'm unhappy with AT&T's lineup.

    BTW, does anybody know a site to stream MLB Network, YES, and/or FS Detroit?

    Sent from my stupid little astro droid using TapaTalk 2.
     
  4. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    That's why I cancelled cable. I didn't find it worth the cost when I was only interested in a few channels.

    I may end up adding it back depending on what Disney does with future Star Wars content though.

    I have Hulu but I've had to watch it on my iPad because the processor on my TV is slow. I've had no issues with Netflix and few with Amazon Instant Video but for some reason Hulu either doesn't want to load or freezes up.

    I do wish cable companies would allow a customized lineup instead of this tiered bull****.
     
    Jedi Merkurian likes this.
  5. beezel26

    beezel26 Jedi Master star 7

    Registered:
    May 11, 2003
    The scariest thing about cable is they say they have three hundred channels but in reality its only half that because the HD channels. I don't bother with sports and in reality there are really only hundred channels that might interest me.
     
  6. DantheJedi

    DantheJedi Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 2009
    anakinfan and PadawanFangirl, what you are both talking about is cable offering a la carte programming, and I don't see cable companies doing that unless something major happens, like the government coming in and telling them they have to, because they are dead-set against it.
     
  7. DarthIntegral

    DarthIntegral JCC Baseball Draft/SWC Draft Commish star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2005
    I haven't paid for cable in about six years. No desire to go back. I spend $50 bucks - annually - to get MLS Live and all my soccer games. They have a Roku app and I can watch them on television. ToS for similar services for NBA, MLB, and NHL don't expressly prohibit multiple logins, so the price can be split between you and a buddy or two. And, if the billing address is not in the primary broadcast area for your favorite teams, you don't need to worry about blackouts. Just an idea, if you haven't already considered it.

    Between Netflix. MLS Live, and my TV antennae, I'm covered pretty well. I don't get every live sporting event I want, but it's not worth the cost difference to me. Plus, with SuriusXM, I get radio broadcasts to fill in some of the gaps.
     
  8. heels1785

    heels1785 Skywalker Saga + JCC Manager / Finally Won A Draft star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2003
    DarthIntegral

    Thanks for the heads up. You sound like you're covered pretty well- I have Sirius, but only the online service, so I don't get the NFL or NASCAR.

    My real issue is college football - there's really nowhere to get it, outside of the ESPN3 service, which requires a cable sub. I could share that, most likely- it seems like most people I know have TWC and AT&T down here, even though Comcast is hugely popular. I have NHL Gamecenter and do MLB each year for the Rangers/Yankees because there is no way for me to get YES or MSG through Comcast in SC.
     
  9. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Once I get my own place, I plan on having Netflix, internets, and HBO Go. I don't watch TV unless I'm with people, so I don't see the point in having cable or any of those other fancy shmancy TV deals.
     
  10. Kyle Katarn

    Kyle Katarn Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 1998
    The cable companies aren't against it, I worked for one for over a decade and I know firsthand that they would love to do an ala carte package for customers as it would make a lot of the back end stuff easier to manage. The problem comes from the owners of the channels as this means that they lose revenue. How do they lose revenue? Allow me to explain.

    Disney is one of the largest channel owners in the nation. They own a lot of the major channels and also own all of the ESPN channels. They (along with every other channel owner) cut deals with cable/satellite carriers every couple of years for the rights to carry their channels for them in their respective markets. These contracts require the cable/satellite providers to pay a set rate per subscriber (the rate is anywhere from 50 cents to $2-3 per subscriber) to carry their channels. In turn, the carriers MUST make certain that every subscriber has access to their non-premium channels and absolutely no ala carte. If the carrier refuses their terms then they can kiss those other channels goodbye and lose tons of subscribers. Disney LOVES to do this with ESPN and charges some of the highest carriage rates in the industry for it. They also mandate that up to several ESPN channels are to be shown on every cable/satellite package above a certain tier of service. Disney does not care one bit if you don't watch their channels, they know that enough people will watch them and eyeballs watching their stuff means greater ad revenue which allows them to cover the ever increasing costs of covering all of those sports and pay for the people to do it along with lining the pockets of the guys at the very top.

    Cable/satellite companies HATE this business model, but the federal laws do not forbid it and the FCC often turns a blind eye to it. This is also why you'll see some cities lose access to a certain channel or network(s) every now and then. Usually the cable/satellite carrier for that area is in contract carriage talks with the owner of said channel(s) and the owner is asking for more money than the provider is willing to pay. The owner of the network(s) then plays hardball and yanks access to the channel until the carrier pays up. The network people know that they have the cable/satellite people over a barrel and that the only way out is for them to fork over the dough or go out of business from customer attrition. Eventually a deal is reached and the networks 99% of the time end up getting more money which comes out of the pockets of the customers as there isn't a good way for the cable/satellite companies to raise that money themselves as they are often operating at a loss.

    If you want to know more then ask me. I was in that business for a decade and I know a lot about the ins and outs of the business. It is a terrible industry as the network owners run roughshod over the providers all while knowing that they can blackmail the providers into giving them more money while screwing the customers over. This is also exactly why ala carte packages will never work as it would be the death knell for the network owners and their bottom line.
     
    Obi-Zahn Kenobi likes this.
  11. DantheJedi

    DantheJedi Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 2009
    Makes sense. If cable/satellite companies started offering a la carte programming, the first to go would probably be the home shopping channels (I mean, who REALLY watches them?).
     
  12. Kyle Katarn

    Kyle Katarn Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 1998
    Quite a few people actually. While I didn't work directly with the tv side of things, I do know that the home shopping channels had a crapton of viewers and when we had outages, callers asking about those channels were second only in number to the people calling in about ESPN which was and still is the most popular cable channel.
     
  13. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2005
    *raises hand* Though to be honest it's often just certain cooking shows on QVC that have high entertainment value.
     
  14. duende

    duende Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 28, 2006
    never really liked hellupus, personally.
     
  15. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
    Our cable provider presets half the channels in the basic package and lets us choose the other half from a list. Pretty neat. In addition to that, you can add in premium channels a la carte on top of those. However, this is in Norway, and it must be said that the basic package is only 40 channels in total, while your packages seem to contain upwards of 100 channels from my understanding of your posts.
     
  16. Only-One Cannoli

    Only-One Cannoli Ex-Mod star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 20, 2003
    I have nothing. I steal everything. It is readily available at all times.
     
  17. Violent Violet Menace

    Violent Violet Menace Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2004
  18. EHT

    EHT Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2007
    We make do quite nicely with free over-the-air (now all digital, and local networks in HD) antenna TV and a Netflix subscription. That combined with DVDs/Blu-rays covers us for TV viewing. We may go back to a paid TV subscription at some point, but it's not really pressing since what we have works well for us.
     
  19. yankee8255

    yankee8255 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 31, 2005
    Netflix is finally going to expand into continental Europe, specifically Germany, hopefully Austria as well. Big question will be price, there are a few streaming services available here now, but they're a bit over-priced, imo, at €14.99/ month.
     
  20. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Right now, I mooch off of my parent's Netflix, but that's only because they tell me to.
     
    Violent Violet Menace likes this.
  21. MrZAP

    MrZAP Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    How is this not a first world problem? You have access to a hundred channels that you find interesting! How is that not fantastic?

    I've considered this. I have Netflix streaming, and my parents have the full package. They've offered to just let me use theirs but I don't fully understand how that works. I like having all of my customizations because none of us really watch the same things, for the most part. And I don't understand HuluPlus at all. No, I mean it. How does it work?

    I mean, the only channels I really care about are C-SPAN, Comedy Central, NBC, PBS, and the various cartoon channels and some university television. I guess Food Network and AMC sometimes too. I would also pick up BBC America and Boomerang in a heartbeat if I had the money, and maybe HBO and Funimation for some of their stuff. It would really be a lot easier if I could just pay for like twenty channels.
     
  22. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    Netflix recently implemented different "profiles" for multiple users of the same account. You can have your own ratings, viewing history, etc. I'm not sure of the details since I'm the only one who uses my account regularly. I don't know how you can't "understand" Hulu Plus, since it's not all that different than Netflix except it has some exclusives (notably the Criterion Collection) and has (albeit a small amount of) ads. Like its free counterpart, it also has ongoing seasons from NBC/ABC/Fox available for streaming.

    PBS streams all their programs for free on PBS.org, and Netflix/Amazon/Hulu have PBS programs available.
     
  23. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    What's sad though is that my mom is cancelling the DVD plan which stinks since there are so many films I want to see that aren't available for streaming yet.
     
  24. DarthTunick

    DarthTunick SFTC VII + Deadpool BOFF star 10 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2000

    I love it, as me & my brother share a Netflix account. So much on-screen clutter is avoided now.:p
     
  25. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    The major studios will never let Netflix have every movie available to stream, and it would probably be too expensive for Netflix even if the studios were willing to acquiesce. Not to mention that Warner Bros. (I think) has an exclusive 10-year deal with HBO, Viacom hates Netflix's guts, etc.

    And yeah, I keep my disc plan. 1 BD at a time isn't that expensive (that+streaming is like $18 a month) and it gives me access to almost everything I can think of without me having to use Redbox or an expensive on-demand rental.