Cutting the Cord: Cable TV Replacements

Are you tired of "playing the game" or "doing the dance" with your ISP? Are you annoyed that you have to pay for a bundle with a landline that you do not want, or even use? Do you only watch 10 or so channels out of the hundreds you are paying for? Then you, sir or madam, are the perfect candidate for cutting the cord!

Hulu Live, YouTube TV, DirecTV Now and Sling TV all provide compelling reasons to now stream your TV with a cable replacement service. All include many, but not all, of the major broadcast networks. You will pay for the channels you want, à la carte style with no more bundling and no more outrageously large bills. All these services are scalable with more channels available for those willing to spend a little more.

The Main Players

 

Sling TV provides live cable channels for much less than a cable subscription. The original cable tv replacement service, Sling is definitely the first place you should look on your way to cutting the cord.

Sling TV starts at $20 a month for one streaming device. They offer a wide variety of channel packages across many platforms with a large variety of content. If you are a user who wants to choose from a selection of premium channels mixed in with a variety of live cable channels and a casual interest in sports than Sling is ideal for you.

The main downside to Sling is a less than stellar interface that possesses a steep learning curve. The quality of the app depends on the device. The Roku app is remarkably clean and efficient while the Xbox One app can be a hassle to find the correct functionality. Sling does not have all of the features and functionality of its competitors, but it does have the channels you want starting at the most affordable price and a DVR is in beta and could be announced as early as next year.

Sling TV offers a free trial and with it, every reason to try out life without a $100 + cable bill. 

DirecTV Now, like Sling TV is a standalone, streaming service for those looking to replace their cable subscription. Their basic package includes two simultaneous streams and more than 60 channels, the most of any of its competitors, for $35 per month.

The trouble with DirecTV Now is the terrible user experience: bugs plague most every part of the ecosystem; ranging from annoying to fatal. The on-demand content is sporadic and often times offers only a few episodes to stream, as opposed to entire seasons.

The main weakness of this service is that there is no DVR support. They offset this by including a large selection of movies, but the catalog is not great. Another weakness is that the interface is the same on every platform, which is almost entirely limited (for now) to web browsers. Support is coming for the Roku and game consoles among others. The question then becomes why were these not ready for launch?  

The potential is there for DirecTV Now, but this one is probably not going to give you the best streaming experience. 

YouTube TV offers a free trial and a very competitive new entry into the world of streaming live TV. The basic plan, $35 per month, offers six accounts with three simultaneous streams. 

YouTube TV supports on-demand and DVR features, of which the "killer app" of this generation of live TV streaming services might be the DVR functionality. With it, you can stream your library from any web browser or phone, record all your shows simultaneously and never need to worry about storage as everything is in the expansive cloud.

There is not a huge variety of devices supported at the moment though; to use this service you need a Google Chromecast, no surprise there. Tough luck console viewers or those with a Roku. Even more tough luck if you live in a media market that does not have YouTube TV.

One of the strong points of YouTube TV is the rather large variety of sporting channels it provides. For the modest per month price, YouTube TV is very competitive with other services and it alone has the largest number of live streams from major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, NBC).

The array of programming offered by YouTube is adequate and its features are unmatched. For those of you who love to plan ahead, this service is for you as you can record unlimited numbers of shows simultaneously.

 

Hulu with Live TV is a bit of a mouthful and we will refer to it as Hulu Live. Offering a free trial, plans begin at $39.99 per month. Included in Hulu live is your access to all of Hulu's television and video on-demand content.

Like YouTube TV, Hulu live has a decent amount of sports channels, including most of the ESPN channels and CBS Sports.

Minus The CW, Hulu Live has most of the network TV channels you want. Six profiles are supported per subscription with two simultaneous streams. 

At $40, this service is the most expensive of all the competition. There is good support across many devices, including Xbox One, but now Roku. You have up to 50 hours of DVR storage in the cloud with the basic plan, $15 extra gets you 200 hours of storage. 

Like with YouTube TV, if you want broadcast TV and live sports and a large amount of cloud based DVR storage, Hulu Live is a good place to look for cutting the cord.

Conclusion

We compared the main selling points below to help you decide how to best spend your money.

	Sling TV	Hulu Live	YouTube TV	DirecTV Now
Channels (Basic)	20 +	50 +	40	60 +
DVR	No*	Yes	Yes	No
On-Demand	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Price/month	$20	$40	$35	$35

None of these services offer a complete broadcast TV package, but the channels you most consume are likely to be in most, if not all of the above selections. 

Sling TV has the most content to choose from, DirecTV Now has the most channels in the basic package and newcomers Hulu Live and YouTube TV have impressive features and live streaming capabilities, albeit at increased prices. 

Make sure you have a Chromecast, Xbox One, or Apple TV connected to your TV as this is internet streaming after all. Enjoy the brave new world of live streaming TV and enjoy the significant savings in your wallet.

We here at PC TEC RESCUERS are happy to keep you, the consumer informed. If you have any tech related issues please reach out to us; our friendly techs are available to assist you 24/7!