Been up on the new Google configuration for about a week. All I can say that I like about it is that the cable bill has gone from $195 a month to $70. We're still resisting paying for anything while we sort out what we can get for free, and what might drive us to going with one of the streaming services like YouTubeTV, FUBO, or the likes.

We have four TVs, only one is a true "Smart" TV, all now have the Chromecast dongle, two have the Firesticks that we already owned, and all are being fed by the digital antenna.

Perhaps I've created a monster, but "loading Apps" is getting old. Yeah, $125 a month is worth some pain, and maybe we'll figure out how to watch what we want among all the options, but we'll see how things go as (if) the MLB season starts, and next season for the NFL.

I might buy that this is better because it's cheaper, but it sure as hell is more complex as you sort through options.
[Reply]

All these streaming sites and new cable sucks. There are no scrambled channels like the 90s when I could listen to soft porn on Cinnamax and occasionally see a titty for a half a second. Those were the good days.
[Reply]

Agree. And it's having to decide which service you want to go with that 'most generally' gets you what you want. Add local sports blackout possibilities to the mix (hence the digital antenna) and it's all the worse.

I'm a tech guy, I do it all day every day (hell I'm on a call as I type (FUCK CISCO!!!)), so I guess I'm officially getting closer to being a luddite, I just want what I want without so many options and clicks. NOT that Google Fiber TV had everything I wanted, not that TimeWarner did before we have GF, but you didn't have to go through a bunch of shit to find you wife her favorite shows she uses as background noise while she works...
[Reply]

Well I almost signed up for the trial of YouTube TV yesterday so we could watch the Royals game, but did enough digging to find out that they (Bally's) doesn't stream on stream on YouTube TV. It seems like buying the MLB package or going back to Spectrum (which was Time Warner when we left for Google) are my two most realistic options.

Reading Bally's complaints about a few of the companies that have told them to pack sand was pretty funny...

This new à la carte paradigm we're all getting forced into pretty much sucks IMO. Nothing is perfect, but this sucks...
[Reply]

DirectTV Stream is your option for the Royals. Its about $20 bucks more than YouTubeTV but they are similar. I have had both.
[Reply]

The MLB.tv deal blacks out local games. I'm not sure where you live but if you're in the KC area, the royals games will be blacked out.
[Reply]

So, before the cowards at Google decided to get out of the TV provider business our bill was ~$190, now it's $70 because we only get Internet. But, as is so often the case, nothing ends up being as awesome as you think or were told..

We simply decided to not do the YouTube TV trial and we'll look into Spectrum in a few months after we get back from Bonaire. Nothing is perfect, but right now Spectrum seems to offer the most of what we'd want, the simplicity we want, and pretty-much without all the à la carte bullshit. At least until they start doing the same shit and we find out what THEY weren't telling us. :-)
[Reply]

The only thing a la carte sucks for is sports. Blame the leagues and the teams for the exclusive contract bullshit. Ask Avs fans in Denver who haven't been able to watch a record breaking season without going to a game or a bar.
[Reply]

Oh, I get it. And with a digital antenna that I've back-wired into the whole house, TUBI, and Pluto, there's very little the wife and I need/want to justify $20 a month, much less $70 - $90 a month.

Honestly, short of the potential for Spectrum's reliability to SUCK and their WiFi option being one where I'd have to rebuild good coverage around the house, At $99 a month for Cable (400Mbps) and TV (125 channels), that's $30 a month more than Google, but we'd be back to a scenario that's less stupid than the à la carte bullshit we suffer today because with Spectrum we'd just turn the TV on and it's pretty-much all there; none of this "fire up this App to get this program/game, and fire up that App to get that program/game" bullshit.

Like I said, I'll stop by the Spectrum store later in June to see what they say, but as of right now, we'll just have to skip watching the Royals.

And I agree, the leagues and the teams are to blame.
[Reply]

I love youtube TV
[Reply]

Price going up again. Email I received today.......


[Reply]

I got it too.

Contemplating cancelling after the tournament until September when the Chiefs start.
[Reply]

It's been interesting for the last year. Google provides a Chromecast dongle for each TV now that they don't provide TV. We had two Amazon FireSticks, access to a Netflix account, the main TV has the "Samsung TV Plus" offering, and I have a digital antenna that I'm feeding through the house's coax plant for all the TVs; so our TV life has become a hodgepodge to say the least. MLB and Hockey are pretty-much non-existent, that SUPER sucks, my beloved Science channels have been reduced to "The Magellan" channel on the TV with Samsung TV Plus, but free offerings like Tubi and Pluto offer some B-level shows.

I never pulled the trigger on YTTV, Hulu, Sling, and any of those offerings that truly offer local TV channels, and I may never, but this a'la cart TV way of life sort of sucks, but it's how things are done now.
[Reply]

Huh. We get local channels on YouTubeTV...
[Reply]

Even with the price hike still way cheaper than what I was paying with Direct TV. I believe Hulu and Fubo also recently raised prices
[Reply]