Canary in the Coal Mine?

[GoCuse08]

So, how do you stream just about every Syracuse game you want but not have cable or something like it? Isn't access to ESPN streaming tied to actual subscriptions of cable, dish, and direcTV?

Not sure what he is using but there are a lot of "cable" options these days that don't involve the two obvious ones (spectrum and FIOS). I have Playstation Vue which is great but have also heard great things about YouTube TV, DirectTV NOW (i think thats what it is called), Sling TV, etc.

 

[CuseLegacy]

would you really? and when all the channels become ala carte the money they need to survive will come from netflix rate changes.

and the internet dudes once they lose cable money will have to bump the internet access rates too and if you stream everything you will end up paying the same money for way less

netflix is already raising its rates, next thing they will start enforcing multi user limits and before long it will be $20 a month to watch just old shows and netflix stuff.

cord cutting is a self defeating thing. people better hope everyone has fiber some day to support the stream buffers that will follow

watching sports streams suck compared to having a solid DVR cable/sat feed.

If you don't live in a high density area you may never see fiber. That's why ATT is experimenting with airgig.
How AT&T plans to deliver cheap, high-speed internet over power lines

 

[NYCorange]

So, how do you stream just about every Syracuse game you want but not have cable or something like it? Isn't access to ESPN streaming tied to actual subscriptions of cable, dish, and direcTV?

If you have good internet, there are some really good options out there. I think the best is Youtube TV. You get a pretty good cable package (60-ish channels) for $35 a month. It includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, the Fox Sports channels, and more. You can set shows to record and add to a digital library that lives in the cloud. The streaming quality is EXCELLENT. Best part about it is that you can give 6 OTHER GOOGLE accounts access. Technically, they are all supposed to live at your address, but no one is checking, and i'm not even sure it's possible to check. So I pay for the subscription and I give it to my friends, either as a gift, or they pay me $5 dollars a month. We all can watch concurrently, and it's available wherever there is internet (they have a good phone app etc.) It also comes with membership login on ESPN3, FoxSports, etc.

If I'm coming off as passionate, it's because I'm a software engineer who loves technological disrupters to fat overpriced systems. Youtube tv is definitely that.

 

[upperdeck]

the goal of all these places is to kill cable and then charge the same thing once its gone. its pretty easy for them to check these things but they want customers so why bother.

 

[TheCusian]

So, how do you stream just about every Syracuse game you want but not have cable or something like it? Isn't access to ESPN streaming tied to actual subscriptions of cable, dish, and direcTV?

Sling TV, for now. Been eyeing other services that give me access to ESPN. Usually, it’s the one game a year on CBS sports that’s hard to get.

We have basic cable because they threw it in for free with the internet level we have (for now).

 

[TheCusian]

If you have good internet, there are some really good options out there. I think the best is Youtube TV. You get a pretty good cable package (60-ish channels) for $35 a month. It includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, the Fox Sports channels, and more. You can set shows to record and add to a digital library that lives in the cloud. The streaming quality is EXCELLENT. Best part about it is that you can give 6 OTHER GOOGLE accounts access. Technically, they are all supposed to live at your address, but no one is checking, and i'm not even sure it's possible to check. So I pay for the subscription and I give it to my friends, either as a gift, or they pay me $5 dollars a month. We all can watch concurrently, and it's available wherever there is internet (they have a good phone app etc.) It also comes with membership login on ESPN3, FoxSports, etc.

If I'm coming off as passionate, it's because I'm a software engineer who loves technological disrupters to fat overpriced systems. Youtube tv is definitely that.

That’s the option I might switch to. Heard good things.

That’s the other plus with these services- no contract, pay by the month.

 

[TheCusian]

the goal of all these places is to kill cable and then charge the same thing once its gone. its pretty easy for them to check these things but they want customers so why bother.

No - it’s offering something cable has traditionally been opposed to: small bundles, no contracts or year long commitments.

 

[Orijinal]

GoCuse, NYOrange, and Cusian, thanks so much for your responses. Really helpful here.

 

[texascpa]

unfortunately, where I live I can only get 20GB down, which sucks for streaming multiple devices. Directv is my best bet at the moment.

 

[Orangeman]

No - it’s offering something cable has traditionally been opposed to: small bundles, no contracts or year long commitments.

It's not that simple. The reason the cable companies charge that much, in part, is due to the costs they've agreed to pay the content producers (cable channels, studios, etc) for their content.

So you're talking about a massive re-set, not just competitive pressures.

Your scenario is untenable because ultimately the Cable/Telcos own the "pipe" into our homes...the broadband connection, and if you think they'll let you keep paying them "only" $40 and go with YouTube or whatever for all your needs, that ain't gonna happen...they'll jack the price of the pipe up since they've contracted for all these costs.

Nobody in the food chain is gonna say, OK! you're right! here's same/more for less!

Ultimately wireless could upend all this, and that's coming, but I'm not even sure 5G will get us there, maybe 6G, whatever and whenever that will be.

 

[CuseLegacy]

unfortunately, where I live I can only get 20GB down, which sucks for streaming multiple devices. Directv is my best bet at the moment.

20GB for us would be amazing. Fiber doesn't extend to where I live. Our internet is still over the copper phone line. I was told by someone in corporate never, ever to get rid of my satellite dish. Streaming/cord cutting is fine for folks living in cities or other high density areas but not for the rest of the population.

 

[upperdeck]

fiber coming soon to us in cayuga county. the ner verizon settlement is huge as well. even copper dsl has solid answers for much faster speeds if the telcos wanted to install the right equipment.

20gb isnt needed really, 3-5 gb supports HD. the main problem is that some sites like netflix/espn over buffer so the bandwidth looks used even when it really isnt.. you can watch multiple HD streams on Amazon video on DSL but you cant on netflix and thats all a coding issue. Same thing for ESPN. we have 1000 gb speed at work and still have buffering issues with ESPN at times so speed isnt the problem

 

[texascpa]

fiber coming soon to us in cayuga county. the ner verizon settlement is huge as well. even copper dsl has solid answers for much faster speeds if the telcos wanted to install the right equipment.

20gb isnt needed really, 3-5 gb supports HD. the main problem is that some sites like netflix/espn over buffer so the bandwidth looks used even when it really isnt.. you can watch multiple HD streams on Amazon video on DSL but you cant on netflix and thats all a coding issue. Same thing for ESPN. we have 1000 gb speed at work and still have buffering issues with ESPN at times so speed isnt the problem

Interesting. I have DSL. Everything new around us is being wired with fiber optic, bit because our subdivision is small, the company that serves us won't install it.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Interesting. I have DSL. Everything new around us is being wired with fiber optic, bit because our subdivision is small, the company that serves us won't install it.

ATT switched us from DSL to a form of UVerse that is still carried over copper lines. The internet stopped crashing and increased our speed...but our fast is still really slow compared to y'all.

 

[NYCorange]

the goal of all these places is to kill cable and then charge the same thing once its gone. its pretty easy for them to check these things but they want customers so why bother.

I don't really think that's true. To add to what others have rightly said about packaging, a company like Google which owns YouTube tv is often less interested in a new technology vertical for the purpose of charging the traditional customers, as much as they are interested in acquiring customers and really data about the customers. If you think about it, Google already has enormous amounts of data via its search engine, Youtube, maps, drive, photos, etc that can be used to target ads, to drive adoption of their hardware, and sold to third parties, etc. For them acquiring and controlling tv market share is just another area to do the same.

The old adage is certainly somewhat applicable here: 'If you're not the customer (or if you're paying way less than you should be), you're the product".

Also, it's not really possible for google to really check address when people are intentionally deceptive. Tell your 6 buddies to create burner google accounts and either don't put in an address, or all put in your address. Google can't rely on location services because you have to be able to use YouTube.tv on the go and while traveling, and besides, location spoofing and proxies exist if you REALLY care about this (and $35 for 7 cable accounts is a lot of savings). I'm sure google could develop an AI to identify suspicious location patterns, but it's not going to be right 100% of the time. if it's wrong 2% of the time, the service becomes nearly unusable, because NO one wants to get locked out of their account because of some stupid algorithm.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

In my town here in Jersey, there is Fios in about 1/3 of the town. The rest of us have to deal with the regular Verizon service or Optimum. They both suck. As far as my TV, I've had DirecTV for years and that works fine for my wife, kids and I.I'm looking to see if more options open up for us as a result of the recent merger with AT&T and Time Warner. My wife is an employee of the latter, and I'm hoping there's a discount of some sort!

 

[MSOrange]

In my town here in Jersey, there is Fios in about 1/3 of the town. The rest of us have to deal with the regular Verizon service or Optimum. They both suck. As far as my TV, I've had DirecTV for years and that works fine for my wife, kids and I.I'm looking to see if more options open up for us as a result of the recent merger with AT&T and Time Warner. My wife is an employee of the latter, and I'm hoping there's a discount of some sort!

I would think you would get a discount for sure. My brother worked for Comcast for years and always got his cable/internet for free. Actually he kept getting it for free for almost two years after he stopped working there :rolling:

 

[TheCusian]

It's not that simple. The reason the cable companies charge that much, in part, is due to the costs they've agreed to pay the content producers (cable channels, studios, etc) for their content.

So you're talking about a massive re-set, not just competitive pressures.

Your scenario is untenable because ultimately the Cable/Telcos own the "pipe" into our homes...the broadband connection, and if you think they'll let you keep paying them "only" $40 and go with YouTube or whatever for all your needs, that ain't gonna happen...they'll jack the price of the pipe up since they've contracted for all these costs.

Nobody in the food chain is gonna say, OK! you're right! here's same/more for less!

Ultimately wireless could upend all this, and that's coming, but I'm not even sure 5G will get us there, maybe 6G, whatever and whenever that will be.

These discussions always end up here. “The cable companies will get their money” as if the only market pressure is them exerting their will on the customer. On this very message board I was told there would never be a way to get ESPN outside of cable because it’s too valuable to both ESPN and the providers.

Things change. Customers have leverage too. No one really knows how this stuff will shake out long term.

 

[CuseLegacy]

I would think you would get a discount for sure. My brother worked for Comcast for years and always got his cable/internet for free. Actually he kept getting it for free for almost two years after he stopped working there also :rolling:

Once upon a time, back in the dark ages, I worked for Time Warner and received free cable. The good old days.

 

[Pearl309]

Not sure what he is using but there are a lot of "cable" options these days that don't involve the two obvious ones (spectrum and FIOS). I have Playstation Vue which is great but have also heard great things about YouTube TV, DirectTV NOW (i think thats what it is called), Sling TV, etc.

I have slingtv, and a friend was watching it who has yotubetv at home and he was laughing how bad sling was comparatively.
For what it’s worth. It’s glitchy but gets the job done, plus somehow I’m able to watch literally every SU game, which is my main objective being out of the area.

 

[GoCuse08]

I have slingtv, and a friend was watching it who has yotubetv at home and he was laughing how bad sling was comparatively.
For what it’s worth. It’s glitchy but gets the job done, plus somehow I’m able to watch literally every SU game, which is my main objective being out of the area.

I will have to try YouTube tv when it comes available in my area. So far Playstation Vue has been great...can't tell the difference between that and my old FIOS Cable when watching TV.

 

[HtownOrange]

the internet dudes once they lose cable money will have to bump the internet access rates .

Already happening where I live. My internet access is triple what it was a few years ago. The cable is essentially at cost, I pay now what I pad 20 years ago, with far more channels and many premium channels and the 2nd tier sports thrown in.

 

[qdawgg]

Sling TV, for now. Been eyeing other services that give me access to ESPN. Usually, it’s the one game a year on CBS sports that’s hard to get.

We have basic cable because they threw it in for free with the internet level we have (for now).

This is why I haven't cut the cord yet. I live a county over from the greater capital district "area". I get every single football game b/c sometimes TW/Spectrum will throw a game on one of their local channels that originally wasn't going to be available. So I fear missing 2 -3 games a year potentially.

Anyone live in the greater Albany area that has cut the cord and doesn't miss any games? My wife was literally just pestering me this morning b/c I haven't called Spectrum to inquire about lowering our monthly charge or dropping them completely.

 

[upperdeck]

I don't really think that's true. To add to what others have rightly said about packaging, a company like Google which owns YouTube tv is often less interested in a new technology vertical for the purpose of charging the traditional customers, as much as they are interested in acquiring customers and really data about the customers. If you think about it, Google already has enormous amounts of data via its search engine, Youtube, maps, drive, photos, etc that can be used to target ads, to drive adoption of their hardware, and sold to third parties, etc. For them acquiring and controlling tv market share is just another area to do the same.

The old adage is certainly somewhat applicable here: 'If you're not the customer (or if you're paying way less than you should be), you're the product".

Also, it's not really possible for google to really check address when people are intentionally deceptive. Tell your 6 buddies to create burner google accounts and either don't put in an address, or all put in your address. Google can't rely on location services because you have to be able to use YouTube.tv on the go and while traveling, and besides, location spoofing and proxies exist if you REALLY care about this (and $35 for 7 cable accounts is a lot of savings). I'm sure google could develop an AI to identify suspicious location patterns, but it's not going to be right 100% of the time. if it's wrong 2% of the time, the service becomes nearly unusable, because NO one wants to get locked out of their account because of some stupid algorithm.

they can tell if you are using an app that wants to know. your browser knows the path you are taking but mostly it doesnt care.. but if roku/apple/firestick wants to pass that data to the vendor providing the feed they can.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

The biggest and only issue for me to go completely streaming (whether it be Sling or You Tube TV) is no Sunday Ticket. I wish the NFL would create a model where some of these streaming services could offer Sunday Ticket. I know that would potentially kill DirecTV though.