[saisree]

The raise in popularity of Netflix or Amazon Prime or any other Over The Top (OTT) streaming platforms was due to the content. Most of them are straight to the point and less of unnecessary drama.

Now the I&B ministry is looking for censorship on the content played on OTT.

• The I&B ministry is mulling censorship regulations, according to a government official
• Will this be a huge, expensive and time-consuming exercise for the Indian OTT players?
• Karnataka High Court has asked the ministry to speed up the action on online content regulations

Source

Hope they don't come up with censorship and cut the creativity. We will be left with another Saas-Bahu Series

[murillo]

Recently cut our DTH connection. With the new DTH pricing, the prices got expensive. Tried changing packs many times but still ended up with unsatisfactory combos and prices. I watch a variety of content but watching time is less and I don't watch sports. Wife watches serials and movies. Children watch their usual stuff. Hence, we cut our 13-year old DTH connection and bought the Amazon Fire TV stick. Signed up only for Prime Video as we felt that is sufficient for all of us for the limited time we watch TV. Currently, we are adequately served by the below.

Prime Video (Rs. 999 per year)
Prime Music
Hotstar (free version, for serials)
ZEE5 (free version, for serials)
Yupp TV (free version, for some live regional TV channels)
YouTube

So my bill is only Rs. 83.25 per month.

[Inquisitive]

I was on the verge of cutting the cable for my LG WebOS tv in Airtel platform and switch over to Hotstar. My son and myself are the only viewers at home and we both watch sports and movies, that's all. My wife when she is free watches online content in Hotstar (free version) and Hoichoi in her phone.

So, one fine morning, I decide to thoroughly downgrade (Oh..so thankfully on hindsight) my Airtel pack to bare minimum as backup and keeping channels from Sony stable. Surprisingly, even though Hotstar and Zee5 are available on LG app store, Sony Liv is absent. Everything went smoothly, I cut down my DTH subscription from Rs. 700 to Rs. 300 p.m. and all the streaming apps perfectly synced up with tv.
The nasty surprise came in the evening when we tried watching EPL matches on Hotstar live stream. The video was not continuous, sort of moving frame by frame, with no audio. We assumed that Wifi connection could be at fault here but all other streaming apps, including other highlight packages in Hotstar, were running perfectly. Even before switching to Hotstar, I have been a subscriber for Netflix and Amazon Prime for close to a year now and never ever I had this issue with online streaming. As a crosscheck, ran the same live stream of the EPL match on my phone linked through the same Wifi, and there was absolutely no problem. I again assumed that may be Hotstar is profiling against VIP membership and then quite stupidly upgraded the membership to Premium. No sir, the problem remained as usual with the end result being I coughing up some Rs. 680 for something that I would barely watch over the next year. I made sure that the Hotstar app in my LG WebOS tv is up-to-date, so that is not where the problem lies.
Disgruntled, I again brought back the SPP HD pack to Airtel subscription for Rs. 100 odd p.m.

I think this case should be an eye opener for people who are thinking of a complete switchover. The fact that the same Wifi supported live content on phone but not on tv would mean to me that Hotstar is probably profiling devices for their live stream content. While watching on phone does not raise a conflict of source of revenue, the EPL content may have from the end of the DTH operator. I could be wrong in my assumption or belief and would seek your opinion about what could be at play.

[deemash]

Voted "Yes". I have cut the cord due to recent lightning strike on my Airtel DTH dish and spoiling my Android TV.

Approx 40k I spent to recover from the loss. To avoid this I have cut the cord and sticking to Hotstar, Prime and Netflix for now.

[shankar.balan]

I hate Satellite TV. It’s just a big waste because I NEVER watch any programs on it.
And I want to ditch it so badly it is starting to give me a headache..
Am more than happy with Netflix, Prime, Hotstar and HOOQ.
But the trouble is, there are others in the house who like Satellite TV programs.

[motorworks]

Voted Yes! It has been more than 6 months without the Tata Sky Connection and not been missing it at all. I had bought an Apple TV about an year back and was using it now and then to stream movies and content. 6 months ago I disconnected Tata Sky for a trial period of 1 month and found it absolutely seamless. My wife watches Netflix and Hot star primarily, my 7 year old son is also happy with some automotive videos in you tube and few cartoons in Netflix, and as for me, the only program that mattered was F1 and it was fantastic to watch it ad free in hot star! So thats that now, done and dusted, never going back to satellite TV ever again. I think we have all apps like Amazon prime, Netflix, Hot star and even Sun NXT and Zee 5 for the occasional regional content.

[pganapathy]

I cut the cord for a couple of reasons. My wife insisted on Netflix and I decided the cost didn't justify having both. I stuck with Netflix and ditched satellite TV.

Of course, this is only practical in urban areas of India. In rural areas, internet isn't good enough to have live streaming. Also, my parents and in-laws wanted the various TV options.

For me, satellite TV will slowly fade away in urban areas as internet improves. Rural areas on the other hand have a long way to go before streaming can be an option, let alone take over

[Simhi]

Voted "Yes". It has been over a year since I ditched Tata Sky DTH and moved to Firestick. Got just 2 subscriptions - PrimeVideo and HotStar premium. Family is happy with various options and don't miss the satellite TV at all.

[Aditya_Bhp]

Due to frequent internet and telecommunications shutdowns by the agencies, people using Internet based TVs are suffering as they are isolated completely from the world, No TV, No E-mails, No calls, No SMS and No Whatsapp.

The only form of communication that works in such situations is DTH, as there are no restrictions. Besides, its simple, and only one connection is needed for all channels.

Internet based TV, subscription is needed for individual channels like Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar and upon that you need to pay for Broadband too. These are good for exclusive releases only, for regular media consumption like News and Sports, nothing beats the convenience of a DTH.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Aditya_Bhp

Due to frequent internet and telecommunications shutdowns by the agencies, people using Internet based TVs are suffering as they are isolated completely from the world, No TV, No E-mails, No calls, No SMS and No Whatsapp.

This part is true, but the rest, once you're on steaming, you won't be able to stand paying 13k a year, and still having to sit through 5 minutes of ads every half hour.
Anything that you can watch on dth is available more goodly on streaming. You ought to give it a shot.

[Aditya_Bhp]

Originally Posted by mayankk

This part is true, but the rest, once you're on steaming, you won't be able to stand paying 13k a year, and still having to sit through 5 minutes of ads every half hour.
Anything that you can watch on dth is available more goodly on streaming. You ought to give it a shot.

Airtel is offering me all the channels including HD channels for 6k per year (it was 4500 before, TRAI intervened and they bumped up the prices) but I have chosen the channels I need and it comes to about ₹300pm or ₹3600pa, hence this is way cheaper. And regarding ads, they are the perfect time to get a break to walk around, grab a snack or a toilet break. Besides I find cricket without ads boring.
I have amazon, JioTV and hotstar subscriptions, but rarely use it at home. They are used while travelling.

[Oxy]

I understand it is easy for people to cut the cord if their entertainment needs are being met by the various streaming services, but is cutting the cord feasible if you have older folks at home who regularly watch live tv channels, especially the paid ones like the Sun TV network?

I would really love to get rid of my DTH connection if an alternative method exists to watch live tv, Tamil/Malayalam channels in particular.

How practical is it to install something like a Jio TV onto an android tv box or a fire stick? Any suggestions would really help.

[raksrules]

Originally Posted by Oxy

I understand it is easy for people to cut the cord if their entertainment needs are being met by the various streaming services, but is cutting the cord feasible if you have older folks at home who regularly watch live tv channels, especially the paid ones like the Sun TV network?

I would really love to get rid of my DTH connection if an alternative method exists to watch live tv, Tamil/Malayalam channels in particular.

How practical is it to install something like a Jio TV onto an android tv box or a fire stick? Any suggestions would really help.

Today, Jio TV provides IPTV and even airtel has Xstream which is free as a part of my prepaid plan but the flip side is, most of these things don't work well on devices like fire stick etc due to them being optimized for touch devices.
I have tried installing Airtel Xstream apk on fire stick and the orientation is all messed up and the app is not remote friendly and needs mouse support which is not practical way to use it.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Oxy

I understand it is easy for people to cut the cord if their entertainment needs are being met by the various streaming services, but is cutting the cord feasible if you have older folks at home who regularly watch live tv channels, especially the paid ones like the Sun TV network?

I would really love to get rid of my DTH connection if an alternative method exists to watch live tv, Tamil/Malayalam channels in particular.

How practical is it to install something like a Jio TV onto an android tv box or a fire stick? Any suggestions would really help.

Sun TV is available through an app, at least on the fire stick, and it’s dirt cheap. So cheap, I can’t even remember what we paid for it.

I think they will have a learning curve transitioning to this model, that’s all. Most of them like just switching on the telly and hearing their favourite ads blare.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Oxy

I understand it is easy for people to cut the cord if their entertainment needs are being met by the various streaming services, but is cutting the cord feasible if you have older folks at home who regularly watch live tv channels, especially the paid ones like the Sun TV network?

Apps like Voot have most regular TV shows on it. My mom is still on cable TV because she finds the whole android experience too alien. However, she can pickup if I am around when she wants to watch TV. For example, she reads every whatsapp message on her smartphone, but not confident to reply. If a relative asks her a question on whatsapp, she called them on mobile and replies.