Critique My Streaming Choices for Game Access

[OrangeTarheel]

I don’t have cable or any live TV streaming option, I subscribe to services based on what content is available. Come football season I need to change that approach in order to get Cuse football games. Every year it’s a PITA as games get assigned to some channel that whatever service I subscribe to doesn’t carry. This thread is my attempt to get all games while subscribing to as few services as possible.

What we know this year so far for TV viewing is games will appear on ACCNX (ESPN+), NBC, ESPN and ESPN2. Is it possible YouTube TV has every I need? It has NBC, ESPN and ESPN2. No ESPN+. It does have ACCN but our first two games are on ESPN+ and not ACCN,right? I would need to buy ESPN+ as well for at least the first two games.

Spectrum gives me all channels and IIRC I can log into the ESPN app with Spectrum and view ESPN+ games. The fine print says I have to subscribe for 12 months though …

Desperation plan - buy ESPN+ for the first month, switch to Sling TV for ESPN and ESPN2. No NBC on Sling so either rabbit ears or find a friend with a better tv plan.

An unknown are the regional network games, what do I do about that? Which plan is the best one for hedging my bets with games in those networks?

 

[upperdeck]

At least with the pac-12 going away maybe it will be possible to more easily watch west coast games again?

and who knows if some games will be on one of the Nexstar channels and not wathcable at all..

I mean right now ABC games wont be on directv and any of the streaming service could lose something pretty quickly these days.

 

[TheHaze315]

I have YoutubeTV and ESPN+ covers everything.

 

[TexanMark]

YoutubeTV

 

[Chris02M]

Hulu live would allow you to have all as if you do the disney plus,hulu and espn plus bundle in addition to hulu live (69.99 total)

 

[qdawgg]

My YTTV app is showing the first game will be on YTTV through ACCNX. So you shouldn’t need the archaic ESPN + for that game.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

At least with the pac-12 going away maybe it will be possible to more easily watch west coast games again?

and who knows if some games will be on one of the Nexstar channels and not wathcable at all..

I mean right now ABC games wont be on directv and any of the streaming service could lose something pretty quickly these days.

You should be raking leaves and picking apples.

 

[texascpa]

I mean right now ABC games wont be on directv...

huh? Can you expand on this?

 

[upperdeck]

nexstar owned channels are not being shown and ABC in syracuse is one of them.

 

[MSOrange]

Now that the RSN issue appears to be resolved, I'd go with YouTubeTV as long as they carry your local CW affiliate.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

Now that the RSN issue appears to be resolved, I'd go with YouTubeTV as long as they carry your local CW affiliate.

Can you explain how it was resolved? I didn’t know that and that’s part of the reason I made this thread - didn’t know if it might still be an issue

 

[MSOrange]

Can you explain how it was resolved? I didn’t know that and that’s part of the reason I made this thread - didn’t know if it might still be an issue

My understanding is RSNs are out of the picture due to their financial issues, so Raycom took those rights and sold them to the CW.

So the weekend games will either be on CW and if they aren't, they will be available on ACC Network Extra like the Colgate game, as long as you have a provider that carries the ACC Network.

Now it doesn't appear the CW contract covers anything on the weekdays. So in basketball season, I expect any games that previously were on RSN to be on one of the ESPNs, ACCN and ACC Network Extra. ESPN will have some additional game slots to fill due to losing the Big 10.

Now I might be wrong, but I felt comfortable enough about what I've said to switch from Spectrum to YouTubeTV. And I basically kept Spectrum for many years specifically for SU sports.

ACC on Regional Sports Networks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"In June 2023, as part of the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, Bally dropped the ACC RSN package.[5] A month later, Raycom announced an agreement with The CW to carry a sub-license package of ACC telecasts produced by Raycom, which will include 13 football games, 28 men's basketball games, and 9 women's basketball games per-season."

 

[texascpa]

nexstar owned channels are not being shown and ABC in syracuse is one of them.

ok, Syracuse ABC, not nationwide.

Edit: Lovely, Nextar owns the CW channel in Houston.

 

[orangecuse]

nexstar owned channels are not being shown and ABC in syracuse is one of them.

Unless you live in a very rural area of Syracuse, etc., one should still be able to access the local ABC affiliate with an over the air antenna, no? If so, then there's that option if the Nexstar issue isn't rectified, at least as it pertains to local broadcasting, etc.

 

[upperdeck]

Unless you live in a very rural area of Syracuse, etc., one should still be able to access the local ABC affiliate with an over the air antenna, no? If so, then there's that option if the Nexstar issue isn't rectified, at least as it pertains to local broadcasting, etc.

I am south of the city 40+ miles.. since it went digital there are no OTA channels available. mostly because all the providers reversed the direction of the towers to the north and not the south anymore.

ABC was always the worst signal, even before the digital cutover.

I can play the game though.. Because I have directv and pay for locals I can use the ABC app and login as a directv customer and it bypasses the blockout. I guess they dont really check the channel isnt actually available.. Its a pain though if trying to change channels on that tv.

 

[007]

I am south of the city 40+ miles.. since it went digital there are no OTA channels available. mostly because all the providers reversed the direction of the towers to the north and not the south anymore.

I'm way out of my element here (apparently that's a board prerequisite for posting stuff), but I'm going to guess that OTA towers are omnidirectional.

 

[upperdeck]

I'm way out of my element here (apparently that's a board prerequisite for posting stuff), but I'm going to guess that OTA towers are omnidirectional.

not really but kinda.. they are aimed in a general direction and then offer some signal in other directions.. Not a big deal if you live in Syracuse within the 5-10 miles. But worse, if you live in the opposite directions.. the older signals also bounced much better so you could get signals farther away.

When the new towers went up there were issues with the location on the towers so they were forced to locate the signals differently and they never fixed the issue by repointing them when they got done.

Some of the towers have multiple channels they send out.


the 2nd big issue is that digital is pretty much a there or not thing, much harder to tune and you cant get the partial signals like you used to.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

My understanding is RSNs are out of the picture due to their financial issues, so Raycom took those rights and sold them to the CW.

So the weekend games will either be on CW and if they aren't, they will be available on ACC Network Extra like the Colgate game, as long as you have a provider that carries the ACC Network.

Now it doesn't appear the CW contract covers anything on the weekdays. So in basketball season, I expect any games that previously were on RSN to be on one of the ESPNs, ACCN and ACC Network Extra. ESPN will have some additional game slots to fill due to losing the Big 10.

Now I might be wrong, but I felt comfortable enough about what I've said to switch from Spectrum to YouTubeTV. And I basically kept Spectrum for many years specifically for SU sports.

ACC on Regional Sports Networks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"In June 2023, as part of the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, Bally dropped the ACC RSN package.[5] A month later, Raycom announced an agreement with The CW to carry a sub-license package of ACC telecasts produced by Raycom, which will include 13 football games, 28 men's basketball games, and 9 women's basketball games per-season."

Thank you that’s a great explanation and adds a lot of detail I wasn’t aware of - I completely missed Raycom’s agreement with CW.

I think I’m going with Hulu live tv - it has all the channels (inc CW) and access to ESPN+ via the ESPN app. I’ve had YouTube TV in the past and it’s great but ESPN+ will be extra. Plus Only Murders in the Building just had a new season release on Hulu …

 

[MSOrange]

Thank you that’s a great explanation and adds a lot of detail I wasn’t aware of - I completely missed Raycom’s agreement with CW.

I think I’m going with Hulu live tv - it has all the channels (inc CW) and access to ESPN+ via the ESPN app. I’ve had YouTube TV in the past and it’s great but ESPN+ will be extra. Plus Only Murders in the Building just had a new season release on Hulu …

Glad I could help. Hulu is a good choice. I actually only read today about the access to ESPN+ that goes with Hulu Live, That's a nice addition.

 

[qdawgg]

My understanding is RSNs are out of the picture due to their financial issues, so Raycom took those rights and sold them to the CW.

So the weekend games will either be on CW and if they aren't, they will be available on ACC Network Extra like the Colgate game, as long as you have a provider that carries the ACC Network.

Now it doesn't appear the CW contract covers anything on the weekdays. So in basketball season, I expect any games that previously were on RSN to be on one of the ESPNs, ACCN and ACC Network Extra. ESPN will have some additional game slots to fill due to losing the Big 10.

Now I might be wrong, but I felt comfortable enough about what I've said to switch from Spectrum to YouTubeTV. And I basically kept Spectrum for many years specifically for SU sports.

ACC on Regional Sports Networks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"In June 2023, as part of the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, Bally dropped the ACC RSN package.[5] A month later, Raycom announced an agreement with The CW to carry a sub-license package of ACC telecasts produced by Raycom, which will include 13 football games, 28 men's basketball games, and 9 women's basketball games per-season."

That sounds like it’ll fix a lot of my “missed game” situations. Thanks for that info.

 

[OrangeFreek]

I use Hulu live and i get everything except YES network

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Just get a private jet so you don’t have to worry about which channels you get.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

Bumping this thread - looks so far like all our games are covered by YouTube TV. How do I access ESPN+? Just log into the ESPN app and select YouTube TV as my provider? Can’t miss that sweet sweet Holy Cross matchup

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Bumping this thread - looks so far like all our games are covered by YouTube TV. How do I access ESPN+? Just log into the ESPN app and select YouTube TV as my provider? Can’t miss that sweet sweet Holy Cross matchup

Yep, that's it.

Edit - actually, I don't think it's ESPN+ you access, exactly. But there will be games you can access via the app and your YouTubeTV credentials.

 

[RCDICK44]

Yep, that's it.

Edit - actually, I don't think it's ESPN+ you access, exactly. But there will be games you can access via the app and your YouTubeTV credentials.

I live in Fla so when a game is on ACCNX I just go to ESPN+ on my laptop and pick up ACCNX than I plug my laptop into my 75 inch Samsun TV and watch the game. Works Fine. I have Dish Network so they carry ACC Network and all the other sports cannels for the other games.