Crimson Red Sports

DTV just tried to raise me up to $120/month now that my contract if up.  I told them "No Thanks!"  And this time they didn't budge. 

Soo....   I'm looking at going with a streaming service (Hulu, Sling, Youtube, Vue -- these all have ESPN).

Anyone have experience with these services and any recommendations? 

 :popcorn2:

I have Cox cable here in P'cola. They are much worse than that, and since I only live here part time, I need to do the same thing.

I don't know a lot about any of them.  I've had Hulu, but not the live TV version.  I do know that Sling's cost is per device.  I'm not sure if that's any one device at a time, or one particular device at any time.  I think it's the latter.  (i.e. you have to pay for two subscriptions for your living room and bedroom TVs, even if you aren't watching them simultaneously)

We have the Amazon Fire Stick. My wife is a member of Amazon Prime, and as a result, we get a lot of free shows and movies, including the new Jack Ryan series, which is really good.

I know you can download apps from it at a cost per app. I guess I need to learn more about that. Seems it might be the way to go for me.

I've kept DTV at around $60/mo or less over several years.  Since ATT bought them, they've gotten tighter.  Threatening to quit doesn't work as well anymore.  I quit once before for a few months maybe 2 1/2 years ago -- then signed back on as a new customer at their discounted rate. 

I'm leaning towards Hulu right now, though Youtube also is a contender.  Both offer the channels I'm looking for in a $40 package with DVR features.

Sling has two services (Orange and Blue) with weird rules (can't DVR ESPN) and costs extra for ESPNU/SECN and other sports channels included with the other two.

I probably should have waited until after the bowl games to do this.   :facepalm:

Well i am watching to see what turns out the best. I might try some of these if I have the money when I read some of the reports. BTW, thanks for letting me watch these reports before I jump on board. RTR!

I was using Sling for a while. It worked well, and at $55 a month I got the channels I wanted and was generally happy, except for the lack of local networks. I tried buying an indoor antenna, but it only picked up ABC.

When I learned that Hulu offers local channels and has most of the other stations I want I signed up for the free trial. I’ve been happy with it for a month now, and canceled my Sling subscription. At $40 a month with live TV and the Hulu original TV shows and movie options I think it’s a good deal.

We moved into our house in April, and when I looked at Comcast and DirecTV the cheapest options to get the channels I wanted were going to be well over $120 a month for Internet and TV. With Comcast Internet only and Hulu I pay $70.

Another possibility is to sign up with Dish under one of their new customer plans and then switch back to DirecTV if/when Dish starts their crap in a couple of years.  It has always irritated me that a new customer can get such a deep discount while a longtime loyal customer is gouged.  It seems like you could be a perpetual new customer if you toggle back and forth every couple of years when the contract expires.

I will be interested in seeing how this turns out.  There has got to be a better way, but I won't dare risk it during football season.  :lol2:  I would pay for both services for a season first just to have a back up plan in case something goes wrong in the middle of a game.

Yea and people like me who are poor we have to depend on what we can get off the reports here and off ELI when the game is on. RTR!

Thanks for the report, which confirms what my research said, that Hulu probably has the best deal on the channels I want.

We have WOW (Knology) here in Huntsville, which is a cheap cable and internet service, maybe $60 for regular (not basic) cable plus internet 100.  I get internet 100 from them for $29, so I'm also looking at adding Cable -- once I convince them to add me at the new customer price, which they said they would do when I signed up for cable.

So it's that or Hulu if WOW fails to adhere to their verbal promises.

I do have an attic HD antenna which picks up several (30+)  channels, including all the local channels plus their alternate programming (the Networks in Huntsville -- ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX -- each broadcast 3 or 4 channels, including old TV shows, continuous weather coverage, etc.) 

I looked into ESPN+ for $5/month, but best I can tell it does not include all live college games.

That was my next question to Phil; can you get all the ESPN channels?

I actually went back to cable last year after about two years with Sling. I liked it OK, but with no local channels, I could never catch Orioles games. I'm not crazy about the money I'm shelling out, but Fios is not bad, and I rarely have any connection issues. Only problem? No SEC Network.  >:(

Hulu has all the ESPN channels for $40, including ESPNU and SECN, plus ESPN College Extra, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Bases Loaded.  The latter three channels provide additional coverage of college football games and college softball/baseball.

Sling charges extra for ESPN basics like ESPNU and SECN.

I have a questioon men? Can you get Hulu on TV or on commputer? Right now only thing I can watch is our SEC games on cbssports on computer. RTR!

You can on a computer for sure, and depending on your computer, you may be able to cast it from there on to your TV. I think you may have to have a device like a Roku or something similar if you are going straight from your TV.

If you only want ESPN football then Sling might be your best choice because they have a $25 "Orange" package that includes ESPN and ESPN2.

You can watch on your computer, and if you have a Roku or Amazon Fire stick and internet then you can watch on your TV too.

Right now Sling is offering a FREE ROKU STICK if you prepay for one month.

For the record (ricky), I'm trying out Sling for a month.  I went with the Orange package at $25/month, which is the cheapest package I found that would give me live coverage of ESPN bowl games.  Also, with the free Roku Express stick (which normally costs around $25), it was like getting free service for a month.

I have decent internet service, and so far the game coverage on Sling has been fine.  A few very minor glitches, but it would have been much worse with DTV given the weather we have been having.  I cannot DVR any games on ESPN, but I can watch them later on demand.

The channel selection is limited, the guide is from the 1980s, and I can only stream on one TV/device at a time with Orange -- but it got me bowl games and a Roku stick for a month.  (Sling's Orange package is Disney owned channels, including ESPN.  The $25 Blue package is FOX owned channels and gives you three TV/device streams.  Or you can combine the two -- Orange plus Blue -- for $40, then pay another $5 for ESPNU/SECN.)

I'll probably try Hulu next month, which is $40/month but includes more channels, including SECN, ESPNU and the other mentioned ESPN college sports channels, the FOX sports channels, the Olympic Channel and other sports channels that are extra on Sling (these provide coverage of sports I watch in the off-season), more entertainment channels, plus Hulu's library of movies and their TV series, Cloud DVR service and two TV/device streams instead of the one I currently get on Blue.  I might update again after I've tried Hulu.

Please do CP. I am interested in Hulu myself.  Also,  who do you get your interwebs from?

I have Wow (Knology) Internet 100 for $29/month.  It's not quite as fast as that, and my son, the computer guru and heavy gamer, complains about occasional latency issues, but it works well for me.  Before that I used Comcast, which has better internet for gaming but is more expensive, especially after my contract expired.

Since these services reward new customers and not loyal customers, I switch around every few years.

Gotcha.  I live out in the county to your east and the only options I have currently for interweb access is either Charter cable (which we have) and North Alabama Electric Coop.

Gotcha.  I live out in the county to your east and the only options I have currently for interweb access is either Charter cable (which we have) and North Alabama Electric Coop.
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Beautiful country over there, terrible internet apparently.   

Huntsville is such a high tech city that we have lots of choices.  Wow/Knology, Comcast/Xfinity, AT&T Fiber, Google Fiber, Spectrum/Charter, Mediacom, N.AL. Elect. Coop...