Team-BHP - Cutting the cord - Ditching Satellite TV

Quote:

Originally Posted by racer_ash (Post 4661596)

I also think its a matter of time before these streaming services too introduce Ads in their platforms. YouTube already annoys us with ad after ad especially when I am watching Autocar and other car shows. So these guys aren't saints either.

You-Tube shows ads as we watch You-Tube for free. Any ads on Prime or Netflix? Or YouTube music app?

We pay to watch ads on DTH.

As most homes where elders stay with kids, its between cricket/news and cartoon channels.

I personally don't watch TV, save for Moto-GP on some odd weekends. No smart tv either, we had a conventional Sony Wega till an year back and had a LED panel lying around which we fixed post Wega went (after 18+ years of use).

Using Dish TV from '04 IIRC.

Sticking with just one TV for home and hope to continue it this way. A TV in the dining area, no kind of gadgets in any bedrooms.

Not cutting the cord as yet. My parents are not tech savvy so for them, changing the channel is easier than browsing for content on the internet. Though the biggest relief is that they've stopped watching SaaS bahu shows and spend most of the time on news or Infotainment channels. So if there's an easy way for them to switch to apps, would be more than happy to cut the cord.

PS: Sometimes I wish we could go back to Doordarshan days; no over the top drama, specific time for news, cartoons and movies and yes, the quality of content was way better than today.

Voted no. Reason being the launch of Jio Fiber which has mouthwatering tv+internet plans. Fingers crossed on its consistency, reliability & stability of prices.
Satellite operators like Tata Sky have definitely become unreasonably expensive (a std sports pack costs north of 600 Rs/month). Been looking for its replacement for a long time. Ambani has come to the rescue.

I had already cut the chord last year when I decided to ditch my TV+DTH and replaced it with Projector+Amazon Firestick. It has not only saved me money, but gave a whole new experience of Home Entertainment.

My current setup includes an EPSON projector (Model: W05), Tower Speakers (Brand: Fenda) and an Amazon firestick. Needless to say that I am an Amazon prime member. On top of it, I took an annual subscription of HOTSTAR that cost me 999/- bucks. My Airtel Fibre Broadband offers me free NETFLIX subscription. At an expense of 2000/- per annum (Amazon prime+ Hotstar) along with monthly expense of 1000/- per month for Airtel Broadband, all my entertainment needs get fulfilled. I haven't been to cinema hall for last 11 months.

PS: Amazon Prime membership is also offered complimentary with Airtel Fibre Broadband. I realised it after I had already subscribed to it through Amazon app.stupid:

Its been almost 2 years since I cut the cord, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar cover most of the spectrum. TV is my favourite pastime and am glued to it for at least 2hrs each weekday and average of 14 hours in weekends. Before finally settling into paying mode for all these, was relying on Kodi running on a Pi which was enough to live with, for streaming. Thereafter came the android tv and fire tv. Chromecast was never deemed of much use and despite purchases twice had to let go of it. Reason primarily being, user experience felt not so great for handling two devices to switch between stuff to watch. With a 40mbps 300gigs per month, I really dont see the point of paying 700 to tata sky for something i barely used. And if at all i still have the urge to livestream a channel, post the departure of JioTv for android tv, we still got apps that have all the channels including premium. As easy as Google and easily sideload onto firetv/android tv ecosystem.

I had cut the cord last year after moving to Netflix + Prime Video + Youtube. Added Hotstar to the list this year thanks to Chernobyl series.

However, I had to re-connect cable TV (delivered over Fiber) since my mother moved in with me in Udupi. She finds the Internet based options too difficult to navigate. She is comfortable only with flipping channels using the remote. Also, she is hooked to Kannada soap operas that are only available in TV channels.

Initially I had put up HD box, but she didn't like that much clarity. :) Besides, SD channels have better content than HD channels, I don't know why they do that. So she is happy watching SD content from TV channels on 4K TV.

Just waiting to get Jio fibre and the tata sky is gone. With a Monthly recharge of 190 it is already a gone in spirit. Most of the channels are available on jioTV set top box(Just in case). We hardly spend 30 min to 60 min on TV. Fire TV stick takes care of rest(Netflix/Hotstar all other streaming apps are available though).

I haven't renewed any of my 3 tata sky boxes at home as my other 2 additional set top boxes now count as a full subscription each compared to 250 each before. Usage wasn't much anyway and have Netflix/Hotstar/Prime subscribed. Premier League can be seen on Hotstar and i think UCL is available on Sony Liv for free.

Animal planet HD, NatGeo HD, Sony BBC Earth HD, Discovery channel HD are the channels we (my wife, son and I) see in my TV 90% of the time. I pay Rs.230 to DishTV for these HD channels plus basic regional pack.
I would love to cut the cord, but I have not explored my options. Hotstar, Amazon prime & Netflix users- is there any way for me to see these channels live (or their contents) and HD?

Woosh! what a co-incidence. This thread goes live just within a week after I factually cut the cord.:)

The recent administrative policy for choosing the contents a-la-carte (leading to higher subscription cost for same content) coupled with unofficial monopoly of a cable operator in my region with questionable quality of services, has forced me to cut cords.

Before leaping off from something to which I was once fascinated (about getting it in the 90's) and grew with it over last 25 years, I was skeptical about the reliability and quality of the playback. Having taken the leap, enjoying full freedom of entertainment has grown upon me in no time. Besides having access to all daily Indian soaps via Hotstar, Zee 5, Voot, Epic and Sony Liv, I get access to plethora of online contents vide Netflix, and Amazon prime.

Myself and family have come to admire the recent adaption with full heart.

Cut the chord last December and have moved full time to Netflix, Prime, Hotstar and YouTube. SonyLiv is a occasional addon depending on whether the cricket stream is on Hotstar or SonyLiv. I have a pair of dumb LCD/LED TV's at home. One each plugged into a Mi Box3 and FireTV stick. I must say the SonyLiv app is terribly laggy to use on the Mi Box3. I wonder why as they seem to use the same app framework as HotStar.

One problem with going streaming only is that when my son is online, gaming, there is a shouting match at home. The kid wants everyone off the broadband link because his games see increased latency when a video stream is playing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arwin07 (Post 4662141)

I would love to cut the cord, but I have not explored my options. Hotstar, Amazon prime & Netflix users- is there any way for me to see these channels live (or their contents) and HD?

There are plenty of Options available. Along with Hotstar, Sony Liv app also offers plenty of Infotainment channels. EPIC has recently launched its own app too. You can either watch live content or later, as per your choice.

Interesting thread. I myself have never subscribed to cable television since I moved out of home some 7 years ago. However, I would say it has been my achievement of sorts where I successfully convinced my parents as well to move to the digital ecosystem last year.

My mother, who used to be a religious cable television user till pretty recently has now seen the upside of digital content consumption. It sure was a difficult switch for her in the initial days, but she's now full of praise for the freedom that app based platforms provide over conventional cable television.

For my dad, it was an easy switch since he has been long disenchanted with the extra masala that Indian media and entertainment industry adds to their content, and international content on netflix et al was, therefore, a welcome change for him. In fact, he's now my go to person to test the waters before binging on a new series.

Voted a resounding yes!