Streaming TV advice

Redux said:
The downside to YouTubeTV is the lack of some Viacom channels like NickJr and Comedy Central for example.  The NickJr is especially important for a household like mine that requires Paw Patrol, Blaze and the god forsaken Peppa Pig.  
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Sounds like a golden opportunity to put an end to that $h!t

 
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Redux said:
Yeah but it's the only time I get to distract them for 10 minutes if ya catch me
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There's a ton of kids programming on Netflix. Took me a while to finally ween the kids off Nick Jr. Amazon Prime has some free kids stuff from Nick, but the only one my kids watch now is Bubble Guppies.

 
For Nickelodeon, your options are Philo and DirectTV Now. Sling TV has options for the secondary Nick channels (Nick Jr, Nicktoons, and Teen Nick), but not the main Nickelodeon channel.

Redux said:
But since I have to order Roku's to replace my FireSticks to support YouTubeTV I'll probably stick with my cruddy Sling for another month.
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Or just wait until the official app comes out for FireTV, probably a few months from now.

 
Toe said:
For Nickelodeon, your options are Philo and DirectTV Now. Sling TV has options for the secondary Nick channels (Nick Jr, Nicktoons, and Teen Nick), but not the main Nickelodeon channel.

Or just wait until the official app comes out for FireTV, probably a few months from now.
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I've got Sling Blue, but the channels you get for the price seems high compared to Philo.  I would have switched  already but I want the equipment in place before I do otherwise what's the point?  Has YouTube made any agreements to get on Fire?

 
Our household currently does YTTV + Philo. It's $54.13 for YTTV a month ($50 + 8.25% sales tax in Texass), and $21.65 for Philo ($20 + Texass sales tax). So that's $75.78/mo, but we get a better package than what anyone else can offer, including DirecTV. 

Some other tidbits of info I didn't see discussed re: streaming services:

  • YouTube TV and Viacom have been in discussions to bring their channels to YTTV. Their discussions started well after the Discovery channel discussions, and since YTTV just updated a month ago to add many (but not all of) the Discovery channels, the thought is we may see movement this summer on this front. 



  • There's a group of local CW channels owned by one media conglomerate that aren't on YTTV yet, though you can still stream CW shows via YTTV because they're free on the CW app and YTTV just goes out and automatically gets the available shows from the CW app and integrates them into YTTV. This, too, was supposedly going to change this Spring or Summer, with the actual local CW channel being available (read: you can DVR shows and skip commercials). 



  • Philo just changed their pricing right after YTTV changed theirs--Philo only has one bundle now at $20+tax (unless you're grandfathered in), so the $16 bundle is no longer available to new subscribers. 



  • DirecTV is going to announce this summer or fall they're moving off satellite dishes and using broadband internet (when available). They even said in their last stockholder meeting they're not launching any more satellites. Instead, DirecTV has special versions of the Genie that stream television over the internet, use a local DVR, and an interface similar to the current DirecTV interface for DVR and Channel surfing. Pricing tiers are supposedly going to be slightly lower cost than what's available now--just the way the channels will be delivered to you will change (and be cheaper for AT&T). And when this happens, DirecTV Now subscriptions will likely be rolled up into DirecTV proper or the service will just be shuttered (it is AT&T, after all).



  • Local PBS stations should be coming to all streaming services (that provide local television channels) this summer or fall. PBS had held off because of funding concerns and fees, but I think their concerns have been resolved since they're now actively working with various streaming providers to get local PBS access. 



  • NFL Network isn't on YTTV currently. Supposedly a deal is in place and it will appear this fall, just in time for the football season to start. No word if NFL Redzone or similar MLB/NHL channels will eventually show up.



I highly suggest whichever service you sign up for, that you go to Reddit and sign up for that services' subreddit, as they're very informative and often have the engineers or product owners in the forums themselves discussing upcoming features, issues/outages, and more. YTTV has a few engineers that are very helpful and responsive (especially when YTTV was having issues with Apple TV players due to an unannounced Apple API change). 

 
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Thanks for the link to best free streaming stations TOE.   I did not have Hoopla.

A couple of things I have found out about my ROKU.  

I wasn't having any buffering issues until I hit prime time and then for about an hour my movie kept dropping out and reloading.   I found advice on the internet to reposition the router to be 4-6 feet off the floor.   I think that helped quite a bit.   I also switched my router channel from auto  to a specific channel.    I am hoping my neighbors won't be using this particular broadband channel.   So far so good. 

When using the voice option be  careful not to give it too many instructions otherwise you can lock up the unit!   It took me awhile to get it unlocked. 

 
Redux said:
If DirecTV would be willing to actually work with customers, especially loyal ones, and eliminate contracts they wouldn't be losing so many people.
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AT&T only wants the carrier agreements--they don't want the infrastructure or satellites or long-term customers that are happy. 

Their long-term play is to bring full DirecTV to TV over IP (read: not DirecTV NOW), and use the internet more as a utility and their infrastructure instead of building their own. Higher profits that way, though they'll be disenfranchising a lot of folks along the way, especially the elderly, the internet adverse, and rural customers (among others). Though in theory, AT&T's customer base isn't limited by physical restrictions to the horizon or by carrier agreements within an apartment/multi-family complex--if you have internet, you can have DirecTV.

 
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