Streaming Service Guide
Cut the cord: How to ditch cable TV for good
There are more and more streaming services for live TV out there, and finding the one that fits your needs is hard. I want to help make it easy. That is why I built a page where people can pick your channels, how many simultaneous streams they need, and if they want a DVR, and our algorithm will find the two cheapest options that have all you want unless there is none or only one that has everything you want. So I think that is a good place to start. However, I want to help you even more by putting the audience each service is catering to. So if you fit in a certain audience, you can be sure the service will be catered to your needs.
Best Streaming Service For Saving Money
The Number 1 Reason People cut the cord is to save money. So if you are in that group, then there are 2 services that especially cater to you and help you save big! Unsurprisingly, these are the two most popular Live TV streaming services: Sling TV and AT&T TV Now.
How do they cater to that audience?
Sling is obvious, it has the lowest base price of the main live TV streaming services, which starts at $20 a month. The next cheapest services (AT&T TV Now, and YouTube TV) start at $35 a month. Which compared to the average cable bill of $100 a month, it still saves a ton of money. Not only that, but it also has great promotions, like a free Roku Express for 2 months of prepaid service or $50 off a Roku Ultra with 3 months of prepaid service. It also has a ton of add-ons, like a DVR, or sports, or news add-ons. So you only pay for what you want. They are generally $5, so you can pay for up to 3 extras and still be as cheap or cheaper than the next cheapest option out there.
AT&T TV Now has the best promotions of any service. For example, right now, you can get 3 months for $30 total. Or you can get a brand new Apple TV for free (regularly around $170) for 3 months of prepaid service, which starts at $105. So that is by far the cheapest way to get an Apple TV. After the 3 or 4 months are over, you can cancel without any consequences. There are no contracts! So yes, as far as promotions, nothing compares to AT&T TV Now. Also here is a cool little hint, if you cancel your service and wait a month or 2, they will give you another promotion, like come back and you will get the first 2 months for 50% off. So if you find 2 services you like and one of them is AT&T TV Now, have fun going back and forth and saving money.
Best Streaming Services For Families
If you have a family of 4 or more, then there are 2 streaming services that cater to your needs. They are YouTube TV and Sling TV. These two services are the only services that have the ability to create separate profiles (YouTube TV allows for 6, and PS Vue allows for 5). And an equal number of simultaneous streams. My family is trying out YouTube TV now, and it is awesome. Each person gets their own DVR, we have never had too many streams at once, and ad block plus works on all the on-demand content. So you don’t need to watch ads on previously recorded shows. Woot Woot. So that is the pros of YouTube TV. The main con is there is next to no customization.
Whereas Sling TV has different packages to choose from, its guide is just like a normal cable TV guide, so is user-friendly, and it is the most credentialed of all the services, which means you can use its credentials to log into most different TV channels apps and get more content. So that is the pros of YouTube TV. Its main downside is that it only allows for streams outside the home network from a smartphone. So this is great for families that live together. But if you live apart, like my family, then YouTube TV is better.
Best Streaming Services For Sports Fans
There is really only 1 streaming service that goes all out to cater to sports fans, and that is Fubo TV. It has tons of sports channels, its menu lets you pick a sport, and you can see all that is life, and upcoming for that sport. It allows for recording events and is just all-around a sports fan paradise. Fubo has added more channels, and its price has gone up. It is $45 a month after the first-month promotion of $20, so it is a bit more pricey than the average TV streaming service. But it has by far the most sports channels, and most sports-friendly service out there. So if you are a sports fan, this one was made for you.
Hulu vs. Sling TV
Although Sling TV revolutionized the way we watch TV, there are other streaming services out there with similar attributes (read Sling TV vs. Hulu packages). One streaming service to keep an eye on that will challenge Sling’s dominance in the online streaming industry is Hulu.
Hulu started as a free service but has since added much more customized viewing packages for cord-cutters. Hulu’s channel list and TV Show collection isn’t up to par with Sling’s, but competition is just heating up. I would wager that Hulu will probably mirror Sling TV’s database in the near future, but it is hard to project when this will happen. In the meantime, enjoy Sling’s entry-level package for only twenty bucks.
Other Streaming Service
There are 2 other streaming services that as far as I can tell, have a smaller target audience. They both are new to the market so I haven’t written much about them. One is Hulu Live TV, and the other is Philo TV. Philo TV Caters to the opposite of sports fans, it doesn’t have any sports channels. But because of that, it starts at only $16 a month. So it caters to money savers who are not sports fans. Hulu caters to Hulu fans, but that is about it. Its channel lineup isn’t as robust as others, and prices start at $40 a month. However, it comes with a subscription to Hulu. So if you are already a subscriber, then it really only is $31 a month, which is pretty cheap for that service.
Final Word
If you want to save money, then Sling and AT&T TV Now are your best bets. If you have a large family, then YouTube TV and Fubo are for you. If you are a big sports fan, then Sling TV is your best bet. And if you don’t like sports and don’t want to pay for sports, Philo is good, and if you’re a Hulu subscriber, they have their own live TV service now that comes with a subscription. Let me know which one you choose!