Which one are you?

[Dannydet]

Cable TV or Streaming TV?
Which one are you and your monthly cost. (please include your total cost, if streaming and internet)

 

[Clementine_3]

Streaming.
Internet is $80.
Disney bundle is $14.99
Paramount+ and Peacock - I bought them each for a year on really good promos so not sure. Probably paid less than $20 each for the year.
MLB.tv for the season - I think it's going to be around $140. but don't remember what they said lol. That's totally worth it to me though.

The Disney is on my phone bill so I get some back from people on my plan. I also 'borrow' HBO max and an occasional YouTubeTV show so I'm set really.

 

[AugieTN]

Dish TV $120 For house and RV
Paramount TV $10
Internet $64

Total $194

 

[olbriar]

DirecTV $185 a month
Prime $139 a year
Shared ESPN+ $5 a month
Internet $90 a month

 

[AugieTN]

I hope we get a couple of UK or European peeps in here. Last time I was in France about 5 years ago for 60 euro ($63.44 usd) you could get cable TV, WiFi, IP phone, and a cell phone.

 

[Dannydet]

Wow! I'm seeing some very high prices for cable TV and streaming here!
Right now I'm streaming TV, using YouTube TV and Wide Open West for internet $65 and $60 respectively, so all in at $125 a month.
My internet speed is 1GB, but I do half of my work from home so I need the speed.
Have any of you still using cable TV ever considered switching to streaming?
I did about 6 years ago and I'll never go back to cable!

 

[ozonetrooper]

Streaming and Terrestrial Antenna.

Using non-conventional streaming sources that are just a bit more in cost than the free terrestrial antenna.

Xfinity high speed internet $96.00 a month.

Monthly total about $106.00.

 

[Hadron]

Well I'm European (the UK is in Europe, even if, for now, not in the EU), but may not help much: I pay precisely nothing. We have a selection of free to view broadcast TV in the UK, including streaming by the major channels. I don't watch enough TV for it to be worth paying for any streaming service, never mind the all of the different services that exist now (in a reversal of the stereotype my daughter has told me her Netflix password, but I probably only use it every few weeks).

Cable penetration was never anything as large here as in the US, and free to view broadcast TV has always been dominant. A quick bit of web research reveals that in 2021 38% of UK households used free broadcast TV only, 30% Sky (pay TV service, originally satellite delivered but mainly internet delivered these days, and they have ceased satellite installations), 14% cable (all of the cable services of the early 90s have consolidated into a single provider), 9% streaming only and the remainder spread between ISP-provided pay services. The trends are towards internet delivery/streaming and away from other services, but everyone expects free to air broadcast to remain the largest for some time (the big channels also deliver their content via free streaming services, though the commercial ones also offer paid versions without ads).

I pay £48/month for phone and internet (we still have friends, some elderly, who use landline phones, so keep and pay for a landline phone service - though as the internet connection is fibre to the premises the phone service is actually delivered over that rather than copper wires). That is about $58/month at current exchange rates, inclusive of taxes (European prices always include taxes, I don't know whether other prices in this thread do). You could get a connection that would suffice for streaming and working from home for a fair bit less than that but as my wife and I both work partially from home I chose not to skimp on bandwidth (also prices for such services change: if my contract were up for renewal today I could get the same for less).

I think the prices for the big streaming services (Netflix, Disney+ etc) are similar on this side of the Pond. I've just looked up the prices of the biggest pay TV service here, and as a stand-alone service (not bundled with internet connection, which they also do) it starts at £26/month ($31) including basic Netflix subscription, with additional services like premium movie channels (£11/month) or sports channel bundles (£20-30/month) as add-ons. So someone taking the base service + movie channel + more expensive sports service would pay a little under $80/month. However as that service is owned by Murdoch hell will freeze over before I pay them a single penny . I could probably get a cheaper pay TV service from as a bundle from my own ISP, but include the above as an example of typical pricing for someone who isn't getting a bundle with their internet connection.

 

[Dannydet]

Thanks Hadron for the information!
Did not know any of this, being in the USA.

 

[Milo Williamson]

Streaming around 100$
Internet around 80$
I do on occasion watch youtube, and tubi,
but to cut down we have Dish and not so sure on how much that one is..
Estimation around 100 or so for the basic package.

 

[nickdalzell]

Physical media isn't an option? I'm ashamed of you...

I have internet and cable both, but am trying to not depend on them so much.

 

[ocnbrze]

i have direct tv at $189 a month. i just got fiber optic internet and unlimited calling from Frontier coming in at $92 a month. i also stream with Netflix, Disney+, Prime, and HBOmax.

 

[Dannydet]

Physical media isn't an option? I'm ashamed of you...

I have internet and cable both, but am trying to not depend on them so much.

Sorry, I never thought of it.
I'm just curious as to how much we're shelling out per month.

 

[Dannydet]

i have direct tv at $189 a month. i just got fiber optic internet and unlimited calling from Frontier coming in at $92 a month. i also stream with Netflix, Disney+, Prime, and HBOmax.

I don't even want to ask what your grand total is!!

 

[mikedt]

I have IPTV which has CCTV1(China Central TV 1), CCTV2, CCTV3, CCTV4, CCTV5, CCTV6, etc., that I don't pay for, but I rarely watch it.

 

[ocnbrze]

I don't even want to ask what your grand total is!!

Neither do i......lol

 

[AugieTN]

We were getting ready to dump Dish TV and go with OTA channels. A few places that we camp have -0- OTA TV or just PBS if you're lucky. So I bought a mobile Dish TV unit and it was only $5 a month to add it to my Dish account, so I stayed with Dish

 

[olbriar]

DirecTV allows two receivers per subscription. I thought about putting a second one at my cabin. I can watch TV at home and at the cabin I'm escaping all of that.

 

[ozonetrooper]

I receive my locals from Houston on the OTA antenna for free and they are HD with full EPG (menu). OTA also offers many other channels for free, only issue is with the radiation influence on the signal, some channels fade or freeze with the afternoon sun strength.

 

[nickdalzell]

Neither do i......lol

Once I added my own list up it was scary enough to cancel all of them. That's how they get ya. There's plenty of people who are incapable of factoring in cost over time and only see a small $5 here, another $10 there, and don't think nothing of it. I deal with it all the time, as many customers ask for the crappy $150 battery charger they'll have to replace 3 years later when it inevitably fails (and is not repairable, only disposable) over the $450 charger that has a 2-year warranty and is repairable. They see that $150 vs. $450 and think the cheaper option is worth it. They don't see how that $150 adds up over time as they buy replacements over and over and over again.

That's how subscription models trap people. It's another reason I oppose them and ditched 'em all and went Physical Media. All the 'future' wants is to make everyone's life a miserably frustrating stress-inducing mess instead of enjoyable and it turns my stomach. I mean come on, a subscription for heated seats that are already installed in your car?

 

[ocnbrze]

But if I am enjoying my $150 charger, that's all that matters to me........right? I would not give 2 cents on if you think the $450 charger is better for me. It's all about what makes me happy.

And everything that I pay for in terms of streaming services, I thoroughly enjoy. There is no frustration or misery for me. I just finished watching the season 3, episode 1 of the Mandalorian on my Disney+ and freaking loved it. I just wish they dump the whole thing all at once and let us binge watch the whole season.......lol

So whatever floats your boat as they say.

 

[nickdalzell]

That's another problem with subscription services. part of a show, most missing the last two seasons, or sequels to movies not being available, disappearing shows before you finish them, etc.

Then there's the censorship. Disney+ is notorious for censoring a lot of their old content, especially a good 1/3 of Bambi (though to be fair, that happened in the early VHS days as well--the only version that wasn't edited out was an old U-Matic movie that was shown to me in 2nd grade) as well as a lot of the scenes of the crows in Dumbo. I know why they do it, but it was part of the movie and should be left intact.

Then of course, if you rely 100% on streaming, and your internet gets knocked out in a storm or for whatever reason what then? You look at a blank TV screen waiting impatiently for the internet to return? Meanwhile I'm enjoying my movies and TV shows on disc/tape without that issue at all.

The charger argument had more to do with the price they see. They don't care about happiness here. They see a simple comparison. $150 looks way, way cheaper than $450, but when factoring in the cost over time, which they seem incapable of doing so, that $150 quickly adds up. Same thing subscription services use to trap people. Oh, it's just $5/mo? that's great. They don't see how multiple subs add up and put folks into financial crisis. Worst yet, they fail to understand why it happens--after all, it was just $5 here, and $9 there, right? Why is their credit card bill showing $900 suddenly?!

 

[Michael0999]

There are always problems with the subscription. That's why I don't buy it at all.

 

[ozonetrooper]

Until the internet provider you use starts buffering you or blocking you ... even when using a VPN. Take my word for it, xfinity can see around a VPN in the USA, I have had doubts about some foreign country hooks, but do know that there a a few they can not see !

 

[nickdalzell]

PlutoTV is a good option for anyone who doesn't want to pay a monthly fee. It was quite unstable in the past but as of a year ago it's much better, and they got a Weather Channel (WeatherNation) that is more like the Weather Channel of the 1990s vs. the mess it is today.

They also got 24/7 channels of many shows. However, like with Cable, Satellite, and IPTV, it's got tons of channels with not much on.