I know this has been brought up before but I'll just start a new thread. Sorry Justin.

Anyone have any pros and cons of Sling vs. Youtube TV vs. Hulu local?  Tired of paying $175 for cable that we barely watch. The only thing that makes me weary of sling is the lack of local channels. Youtube is the most expensive, but seems to be good. Any opinions on the channels, functionality, etc?

Don't apologize for new threads. New threads are always better than super long mega-threads.

I had you tube tv up until last month it was great actually. Just switched to an iptv service through the Firestick and now pay 15$ a month. Total internet and cable now is 105$. I was paying 210 for spectrum before trying you tube for 30 days. I also tried Apple TV but I liked you tube way better. Get the live sports and most of the channels you watch anyway for 40$

You can integrate Antenna into SlingTV very easily and effectively (depending on where you live, signal wise).

AirTV and Sling actually have a dual promotion, and the OTA channels gonright into the channel guide on Sling. It’s fantastic.

Gave up cable 17 months ago.  Only miss live sports now.  

posted by Laley23

You can integrate Antenna into SlingTV very easily and effectively (depending on where you live, signal wise).

AirTV and Sling actually have a dual promotion, and the OTA channels gonright into the channel guide on Sling. It’s fantastic.

I saw they have a current promotion with air tv and an Antenna, just was unsure about its capabilities. 

posted by iclfan2

I saw they have a current promotion with air tv and an Antenna, just was unsure about its capabilities. 

Here is how it works for me (guide screenshot attached). The UI is much better on the Roku or other set top streaming boxes, but the phone version is fine. 

If you have an outside cable distribution (likely) it’s even better. I don’t because our house isn’t wired well and not sure what happened but yeah it sucks, so no existing cable outlets were installed. But if you have them, and the source is outside the house, just get a really solid roof antenna and run cable to the point it enters the house. Then connect the AirTV to an existing wall outlet and bam, GREAT signal. 

Thankfully I’m in a good spot, so I get solid signal regardless, but it’s still a bit choppy during storms. My roof antenna back in Raleigh was 100% all the time.

As you can see, it integrates right into the main guide. The 4 broadcast networks automatically go to the front, but you also get like 50 other channels OTA. You can set them as favorites or search for just the OTA channels within the Sling app. 

That's pretty sweet. DTVnow is starting to annoy me lately, so I might look at this. 

We're going on 9 or so years without cable. We don't watch much current tv so we don't use a tv streaming service and don't have an antenna hooked up at the moment. We do have hulu, and share my mom's netflix. We've done a SlingTV trial and it was fine, but just wasn't worth the price because we were basically only watching Impractical Jokers.

I have Hulu+ ($50 a month or something) it's perfect for us. i'm really considering just dropping to the base hulu plan and getting an HD homerun setup to get live OTA channels.but worry about losing the sports

Bringing this from the depths. We are finally going to get rid of cable. But trying to decide what streaming service to use. 

It appears that Hulu might be our best bet. But haven’t actually pulled the trigger. 

I switched to Hulu Live TV back in March and have been pretty happy with it. The only thing it's missing is NFL Network/Redzone. But it has everything else my wife and I would want for what shows/sports we enjoy. Really hoping they add Disney+ in the future but I dont need worry about that for a few years. I will say sometimes the live sports can be a little behind so if a big play happens you can get an update (fantasy app, text message, Twitter) before seeing it. But overall I would definitely recommend it. I never tried YouTubeTV but I definitely prefer Hulu to Sling.

We have an HD antenna, pay $6 for Hulu, share a Netflix account, and stream live HD sports from Reddit links. Also have the FireTV that allows you to record from the HD antenna. I haven't had any problems watching what I want to watch, and we're now paying $100 less per month than we paid for Comcast.

I have had Sling for about 6 years now (the week in launched, whenever that was). They legit have every channel, minus OTA (NBC and Fox available in Chicago market for me). But if you have a solid antenna, AirTV and Sling integrate them right into the channel guide (see my screengrab above). It’s a great feature.

I think Sling is a little more than the others, but with sports pack and both packages into one I get 4 streams (only 1 for the ESPN channels, unfortunately) for $50.

So is AirTV just a device to stream from? Like a firestick? 

posted by wildcats20

So is AirTV just a device to stream from? Like a firestick? 

It’s basically a way to get all OTA channels (usually antenna picks up like 30) and individually it streams them via WiFi to a device using same WiFi connection — laptop, appletv etc. But you only get those channels and would have to exit and go to whatever service you choose to get any others.

But Sling and AirTV have a deal where they actually stream those OTA straight into the Sling app. I think if you sign up for Sling one promo option is a free AirTV. 

Basically, set up antenna, run coax cable from antenna output into AirTV input. From there is broadcasts the signal on your WiFi.

posted by Laley23

It’s basically a way to get all OTA channels (usually antenna picks up like 30) and individually it streams them via WiFi to a device using same WiFi connection — laptop, appletv etc. But you only get those channels and would have to exit and go to whatever service you choose to get any others.

But Sling and AirTV have a deal where they actually stream those OTA straight into the Sling app. I think if you sign up for Sling one promo option is a free AirTV. 

Basically, set up antenna, run coax cable from antenna output into AirTV input. From there is broadcasts the signal on your WiFi.

They have an offer for a free AirTV mini. Which doesn’t appear to have a place to plug anything into. It just has an HDMI to plug into the tv. 

posted by wildcats20

They have an offer for a free AirTV mini. Which doesn’t appear to have a place to plug anything into. It just has an HDMI to plug into the tv. 

Oh yeah, I wouldn’t do that. I’d go for the Roku they are offering (I assume they still offer one) and pony up for the actual AirTV. If you go that route, of course.

posted by Laley23

Oh yeah, I wouldn’t do that. I’d go for the Roku they are offering (I assume they still offer one) and pony up for the actual AirTV. If you go that route, of course.

We have streaming devices, so we’re set on that. They also have an antenna as an option, so if we go with Sling, that’s probably what we would do. 

posted by wildcats20

We have streaming devices, so we’re set on that. They also have an antenna as an option, so if we go with Sling, that’s probably what we would do. 

That works too. Which is what I did for over 3 years. But when the AirTV was integrated I bought one. I got annoyed of having to change inputs for my OTA channels and having them integrated into the same guide was worth the $100 or whatever to me. 

posted by Laley23

That works too. Which is what I did for over 3 years. But when the AirTV was integrated I bought one. I got annoyed of having to change inputs for my OTA channels and having them integrated into the same guide was worth the $100 or whatever to me. 

So now I’m confused. 

I thought I read what you said before as you plug the antenna into the AirTV box? Would I not need an antenna if I bought the AirTV box?

posted by wildcats20

So now I’m confused. 

I thought I read what you said before as you plug the antenna into the AirTV box? Would I not need an antenna if I bought the AirTV box?

You do. But if you don’t go with AirTV, and just the antenna, it works the same way as if you had regular cable (IE you have to switch from an HDMI source to regular TV input to get the OTA antenna channels. That’s what I did for 3 years.

Then when AirTV came around, I looked into it. And while AirTV streams on the same hdmi input as say a roku, it would still be a separate app — so exit Sling/Hulu/etc to go to AirTV and watch those channels.

Then finally AirTV partnered with sling to integrate those channels right into their guide. No exiting the app to get OTA. That’s when I pulled the trigger and bought one. Still use that same antenna, but now plug right into AirTV versus into the TV itself. It also will broadcast those channels to every device on your WiFi versus antenna into tv only going to that specific tv.

posted by Laley23

You do. But if you don’t go with AirTV, and just the antenna, it works the same way as if you had regular cable (IE you have to switch from an HDMI source to regular TV input to get the OTA antenna channels. That’s what I did for 3 years.

Then when AirTV came around, I looked into it. And while AirTV streams on the same hdmi input as say a roku, it would still be a separate app — so exit Sling/Hulu/etc to go to AirTV and watch those channels.

Then finally AirTV partnered with sling to integrate those channels right into their guide. No exiting the app to get OTA. That’s when I pulled the trigger and bought one. Still use that same antenna, but now plug right into AirTV versus into the TV itself. It also will broadcast those channels to every device on your WiFi versus antenna into tv only going to that specific tv.

 

Ok. I got it now. Thanks for dimbing it down for me. 

Still content with DirecTV. Anytime my bill goes up I call, threaten to cancel and they cave. I am at $100 per month for a soild DTV package and internet. Also paying for netflix now and ESPN+. 

posted by Zoltan

Still content with DirecTV. Anytime my bill goes up I call, threaten to cancel and they cave. I am at $100 per month for a soild DTV package and internet. Also paying for netflix now and ESPN+. 

But no internet. And the signal goes out in weather. $100 for cable is a great deal when you are dealing with companies trying to charge $200+, but that’s still shitty. That’s nearly double what my cable is and I get every channel I could ever want.