If you’ve ever wanted to join a revolution, you can sign up right now as many of the channels that customers used to pay a cable TV company for are now available online — for less. We’re not quite at a la carte TV, which would let us pick and pay only for the channels we want. But new live-streaming TV plans and other on-demand video options have forced traditional cable TV services to lower prices or bundle services together to compete.
But who offers the best service? Is it easy to cobble together different plans to get what you really want? We asked readers and they have responded. Nearly every one pays the $9.99 a month for Netflix, but Americans cannot live on Netflix alone.
Readers were happy to share a wide range of options, plans and prices. It was educational for me and hopefully for you, too.
And in the spirit of sharing, here’s what I do:
Tamara Chuang, Denver Post
“I don’t remember when was the last time I watched live TV that wasn’t for work. I just don’t have time to watch TV. But I buy a lot of Blu-ray movies and watch videos on demand.”
TV services: Netflix, Amazon Prime and Comcast’s “Internet Plus” plan, which includes local channels, HBO, internet and streaming HBO, $77.95. This monthly plan is full price — no specials. I hated seeing my bill jump up dramatically once a year when a promotional price expired. Maybe someday, I’ll install a rooftop antenna and drop down to the $65 internet-only plan;
TV equipment: Samsung smart TV, Roku, PlayStation 2, TiVo with lifetime service so DVR costs nothing now
Internet: See TV services
Phone: Vonage, $12.99 a month
Total monthly bill: ~$100 before taxes
Rudy and Carmen G., Denver
“We tried [CenturyLink], Comcast, Dish, Infinity but always got our monthly rates raised too high to tolerate.”
TV services: Netflix
TV equipment: $60 for Roku, $100 TV antenna (“Watching a Bronco game, we cheer touchdowns seconds before neighbors across the street who watch it on cable.”)
Internet: LiveWire Net, at 6 mbps, $40/month
Phone: Ooma, free (after $100 one-time purchase)
Total monthly bill: $49.99
James Colandreo, Clarksburg, Md.
“With a child under two, and another on the way, I was looking to find a way to save money, and this TV/internet/phone bundle was one of the easiest for us to trim. I quickly made a list of the channels my wife and I regularly watched, then searched for which streaming services provided them. In addition to the shows we like, live local television and ESPN were a must, as I’m a huge football fan. Other live sports were not critical for me but could make cutting the cord more difficult/expensive for those who need them.”
TV services: Netflix, Hulu with no commercials, Sling TV Blue plan, HBO Now; Showtime (via Roku), Amazon Prime
TV equipment: Roku 2, free with prepaying Sling for 3 months
Internet: Verizon Fios, $70
Total monthly bill: bill: $137.94
Old cable bill: $223.46
Mike Colbert, Centennial
“And with CenturyLink (internet), I’m at the edge of service area, i.e. signal not so great and this is as good as it will get speed wise. I’ll look at going back to Comcast when my one year is up.”
TV services: Netflix, Amazon, DirecTV Now (canceled Sling, which he liked); tried and hated Hulu Live;
TV equipment: TV antenna for less than $100 (“I get good signal from my location near I25/E470.”); TiVo DVR; tried but hated Chromecast; two Roku’s but they don’t work with DirecTV so uses Amazon Fire TV.
Internet: $30 for 30 mbps from CenturyLink
Phone: Google Voice, free
Total monthly bill: $85
Monthly savings: About $80
Streaming media devices:
John “Retired Geek” Kading, Loveland
“Each of my TVs has an Android PC attached to it using hard-wired Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi in order to conserve available wireless bandwidth for our phones, tablets and laptops. The main TV Android PC is from Beelink running Marshmallow; my phone is Asus running Nougat; bedroom TV PC runs KitKat; tablet is on Marshmallow and all seem to work nicely. Also, on order is a Nvidia Shield TV box for the main TV.”
TV services: TV guide from Schedules Direct, $25 a year.
TV equipment: Was using MythTV software (free) on a HD Homerun with dual tuners ($95) to record TV, and Kodi software (free) to run MythTV on an Android TV box ($30); but recently switched to Plex Media Server with lifetime pass for a one-time $120 (also available starting at $4.99 a month); Winegard rooftop 65-mile range TV antenna plus chimney mount kit
Internet: $36 for CenturyLink
Phone: No landline, mobile only
Total monthly bill: $36
Savings: “We’ve saved ~ $1,200 per year for 10 years now, sweet.”
Richard Beckman, north Thornton
“The main thing we miss is being able to record a program and play it back.”
TV services: Netflix, Sling TV Orange
TV equipment: TV antenna in attic with amplifier, two Roku’s
Internet: $45 at CenturyLink
Phone: Google Voice (free) on a $40 Obihai OBI200 telephone adapter (“I used Magic Jack in the past. It was poor quality.”)
Total monthly bill: $73
Estimated monthly savings: $130
Gerald Vargo, Lakewood
“My wife and I mostly watch broadcast TV. …I would be willing to pay a ‘consultant’/installer to put up an antenna (ensure it’s adequate for my neighborhood), set up a TiVo recorder and make sure I can record all that I want to. Does this person/outfit exist?”
Bill Everard, Westminster
“If we wanted, we can cancel any or all of the streaming services whenever we want and restart them again later if we wanted them back. No contracts, no install fees, not even a call to our friendly Comcast rep who will try to talk us in to adding a land line (a what?) or security monitoring. Just a click of a mouse and we are back on the air.
“As an added bonus, our son can piggyback on our streaming service which saves him money (doesn’t do us any good, but what the heck). We could also piggyback on my wife’s father’s Comcast account if we want and get access to any of the content that we don’t already get (which isn’t much). We have more content that we know what to do with at a fraction of the old world cable cost.”
TV services: Tablo Guide Data ($49.99/year), Amazon Prime, Netflix and HBO Now, “So we could finally see what all the fuss was about for Game of Thrones, WestWorld, and others. Not sure if we will keep this long term or not.”
TV equipment: $100 TV antenna (gets 40-50 local channels); Tablo DVR plus hard drive to record TV, $375; Amazon Fire TV sticks ($40 each)
Internet: $40 for 100 mbps from Comcast
Phone: Skype, free mostly
Total monthly bill: $70
Brian Garrett
“My wife is a HUGE baseball fan – but I (with her permission) refuse to pay for the MLB Live package and not be able to get the local sports team. I’d gladly pay the same amount for ONLY the local sports team – and even leave the commercials in it for all I care.”
Previously, when Garrett paid for MLB.TV, he used Unlocator, a Danish service that masks his location so he and his wife could watch local Rockies games live that are typically blacked out in the local market. But Unlocator, he adds, does not work with devices that are location aware like Amazon Fire TV. He used it with a 3rd generation Apple TV to stream live Rockies games to his TV.
TV services: Netflix; TabloTV’s programming guide, $4.60; Amazon Prime; YouTube (free), Unlocator, $4.95
TV equipment: Amazon Fire TVs, Tablo TV DVR with 1 terabyte hard drive, AmazonBasics indoor HDTV antenna,
Total monthly bill: $52.43 (with MLB)
Estimated savings: $958.74/year
Craig (last name withheld), Lakewood
“We have found that the single best TV access point is free Over-the-Air. In Lakewood, we get 55 stations over the air, including, of course, all the major networks, which, as you mentioned, are not all easy to get from internet services.”
TV services: DirecTV Now, Tablo program guide, Netflix; Amazon Prime
TV equipment: Mohu Leaf 30 TV antenna, TabloTV DVR plus hard drive; Amazon Fire TV Stick
Internet: $50 for 25 mbps from Comcast (“The 25 mbps seems to be plenty adequate.”)
Total monthly bill: $100
Estimated monthly savings: $108
Mary Ann Rose, Erie
“I am a person who does not have cable or satellite TV at all, mainly because I do not watch TV. However, I am outraged that local sports programming which has traditionally been free on local channels is now (in the case of Rockies baseball) ONLY available on Root Sports!!!”
TV services: Amazon Prime, Netflix, used to pay for Yoga TV but it had technical issues with Roku; considering PBS Passport, which is a minimum of $5 per month
TV equipment: Roku
Internet: CenturyLink, $38 for 12 mbps
Phone: No landline, mobile only
Total monthly bill: $48
Bill Eastman, Austin, Texas
“Some of us were lucky enough to get DirecTV. Now for $35 when it launched and price will remain as long as you don’t drop. Also got free year of HBO. Prepaid 3 months and got free AppleTV. Still not on Roku (there’s a hack on AndroidTV).”
TV services: DirecTV Now, PlutoTV, Newsy, YouTube, CBSN
TV equipment: TabloTV DVR with four tuners (added lifetime program guide for $150), Winegard FL5500A TV antenna
Internet: 100 mbps for $50 from Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable)
Total monthly bill: $85
Thanks to all the readers who shared their TV plans and prices. If I overlooked yours or you’d like to share as well, please leave a comment below. To ask a tech question or sign up for the weekly Tech+ newsletter, visit the Tech+ page at dpo.st/mailbag.
