Team-BHP - Cutting the cord - Ditching Satellite TV

As of now, My Tata sky has a subscription upto December. I consider to cut-the-chord once the subscription expires due to the following reasons:

1) Netflix, Amazon prime, youtube and similar streaming platform allow you to watch content as per choice.(you can’t tune into your setup box to stream a movie on your mind)
2)long ad. breaks on T.V channels :Frustrati
3)almost every content can be streamed online. (my mom uses netflix,hotstar, zee5,voot etc. for her daily soaps/movies)
4)Signal dropping in bad weather conditions for satellite T.V.
5)The fact that broadband services have come to very reasonable rates.

I have been always against the use of a smart TV., TV boxes, smart TV boxes , android TV OS and all that gibberish ! always wanted an OEM to just give me the LED panel big enough and I will take care of the rest. Wanted to have an android box to support mild gaming but was not happy with the specs. So bought parts of Amazon and assembled a light weight PC with a dedicated GPU. Now I have got dual boot in it with Win10 and Prime OS which is a Linux distro that has Android x86 skinned on. I am a big fan of Kodi. With a Logitech wireless keyboard with trackpad it's more powerful than what I had thought of. Fortunately for me all the family members are tech savvy and very happy with the approach. Everyone loves multitasking on that machine and a big screen now and then. The PC also runs VMs and can individually stream HD content over Chromecast. So a single PC can run 3 TVs ...

For subscriptions we do use the Tatasky/live( regional media consumption for elders) to watch along with few yearly subscription of the regular online multimedia platforms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vijayshouree (Post 4661427)

I'm ready, but the only problem is "Parents are so used to watching Bhakti TV, SVBC, etc. Dad watches the news 24x7" and also they are not that well versed with streaming platforms. Most of the time, my mom, who is a huge movie buff, asks me for a particular movie and I will search for it and stream.

This.
We have 3 TV's in the house hold and all have dth.
I don't watch Tata sky at all except for sports stuff which are now taken care by Sony Liv and Hotstar apps. However, my mother watches her serials and bhakti channels, my father watches news all the time, my wife watches her cooking channels. And it's nearly impossible to teach them all to revert to streaming services. So, for now Tata sky will stay. All I hope is Jio starts its TV services soon which can reduce the DTH bill.

Stopped Airtel DTH subscription 1 year back. Only Netflix, amazon prime and hotstar at home and people are happy about it. Everything though Amazon Fire Stick connected to a high-speed network.

This started once I bought this dual band router and the Fire stick is using the 5GHz mode to get upto 100 mbps. There is no buffering, lag just beautiful pictures at my control.

I still have the Airtel box, only when parents come once or twice in an year - we recharge for the duration. That generation still needs the noise that our news channels make!!

\\hkp

Interesting discussions. I have one query though. What would be the average spend on high speed internet connectivity to cater to these services? I ask this because I am on ACT since 3 years now (approx 12k annual) and with the usage in my house by my son and daughter it almost gets over even before the month ends. At times they consume 15 to 20 gb in a day!

What I have observed is when you stream on a large screen (mine is a 49" sony) the consumption is more (is that a myth?) BTW I have downgraded my TS connection form the annual mega pack (9k annual) to almost 550/month

I really don't mind cutting the chord/cable if I am able to sustain with the existing ACT without having to upgrade to a higher data plan..

Cable is only there for the sake of it. We recharge the Tata sky only when needed - Cricket matches, few movies, Tennis events and most channels are now available online including regional language ones. Since moving to online services, I'm now unable to watch any content on TV which has ads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumathindra (Post 4661538)

At times they consume 15 to 20 gb in a day!

Thats why we have dual internet lines in our home. Daily consumption easily crosses 50 Gb on most days and on days with software updates, new OS, etc. it crossed even 100 Gb. I prefer a slower but non-FUP plans (truly unlimited). My JioFibre is a 100mbps line (free so far) and I-on is on a 40 Mbps line.

I've also faced a lot of problems with too many devices hogging one router, so I now have wired internet for PCs in both bedrooms and hall TV while the mobile devices are split into 2 routers for better bandwidth. You might say this is an overkill, but these days things add up quickly. Just to give you an example I have the following devices - Kindle, PC, laptop, 2 phones, 1 smartwatch and 1 tab connected to home wifi. Dad has similar devices if not more and another 2-3 for mom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumathindra (Post 4661538)

What I have observed is when you stream on a large screen (mine is a 49" sony) the consumption is more (is that a myth?) BTW I have downgraded my TS connection form the annual mega pack (9k annual) to almost 550/month

Its more on the streaming quality than size of screen. According to Netflix, an HD device consumes 3 gb per hr and ultra HD takes 7 gb per hr. Multiply it by no. of devices and hours, you'll see the figure rise quickly.

I had to cut the cord because I moved to Germany in 2015. That change was very welcome change. For my entertainment I am dependent on Netflix, Youtube and Zee5.
Ealier I was subscriber of YuppTV IPTV services with Catchup TV functionality.

This was very welcome change,
1. No Ads. It is very pleasant experience.
2. News nuisance has been reduced. Really keeps your head cool and you can watch core news in few minutes on youtube. You tube live streaming is available for many new channels if you want to go live to catch some action other wise non-live stream of news sections.
3. Watch daily marathi soaps on zee5, 3-4 soaps are finished in 30-40 minutes. Mainly because no ads, and skipping through boring sections.
4. Gives you all the freedom, what to watch and when to watch. It frees lot of time and I am able to spend more quality time, like hobbys, creativity, reading and kids.

Now I am returning to India and I will continue my cord-free life.

I have been living independently (Nashik, Pune, Hyderabad) since 2007.
Never owned a TV since 2006 hand further no connections. My mom is used to a TV and hence the TV connection at my parents home survives.
2006-17 lived life on torrents, DVDs, pen drives, shared movies :D and post that have a netflix, hotstar and prime. Watched my first pay for view movie on youtube last month.

Even if i get a new TV box (for the 55" 4 k experience), i don't think i will get a connection.

I am currently in the process of switching from Tata Sky to Amazon Fire Stick. It was a challenge for me to explain to my wife and Mom that the same content can be watched on a TV online. They are so happy now that they can watch the same TV series without the ads and from 6AM onward anytime on hotstar. My Tata Sky subscription ends sometime next month. I am not going to renew it now.

I had two set-top boxes for two TVs in my house till earlier this year. Recent changes in payment plans meant I was paying more than twice the earlier amount. After reviewing for 3 months, I terminated the connection in living room (primary large screen TV). The second connection is for my parents who consume copious amounts of regional content, which I dare not trifle with.

For past year or more out of habit I go for the Netflix or Prime button on the TV remote - having a fibre broadband and dual channel wifi helps.

So yes, it feels like days of satellite TV are numbered.

As a sports fan, I voted for "Other".

Unfortunately, there are a couple of deal-breakers that prevent me from going all-out for cord-cutting:

1. The video quality of streaming doesn't still match up to the quality of satellite TV, especially on large TVs. I was trying to watch the UEFA Champions league matches a couple of nights ago on my TV, and the quality of the video on the Sony HD channel was much better than via the SonyLiv app.

2. There is still a lag of 15-30 seconds for live TV on almost all apps vs. the set-top satellite TV boxes. This for sports fan like me is a deal-breaker: I dont want to be seen/heard celebrating the fall of a wicket, or a goal , 30 seconds after the guy next door celebrated it :D