All Things Streaming

Films, TV shows, and books of the 'modern' era
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jimimac71
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All Things Streaming

Post by jimimac71 »

I'm hopeful people are interested in sharing their knowledge and insight to the wonderful world of streaming.
I'm an odd duck. I have HDMI input on my All-In-One PC.
I haven't pulled the trigger on using streaming on the TV.
My Mom would be quick to notice no channel numbers on a streaming device remote.
I experiment with devices and free services on my computer screen.
I also follow a website about cord cutting run by someone who loathes cable TV.
I'm not fond of many free streaming services.
Picture quality can be subpar and occasionally too many commercials.
My favorite bang for the buck service would be Philo.
No news or sports. A lot of channels I would watch but already have on cable.
Favorite streaming device is Roku, except the volume and mute are on the right side of the remote and easy to touch by mistake.
Don't care for the look and feel of the Amazon Fire Stick. It does have a browser but is not easy to use with the remote.
Apple TV is not worth the cost to me. I should not have purchased it.
It is powerful but complicated. The remote is nice and rechargeable.
Roku is easy-peasy.
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Intrepid37
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by Intrepid37 »

I've watched a huge number of complete series on my computer's monitor.

My PC is a Dell - not that that matters, although I've had it for 13 years and it's always run like a charm. Just saying.

I've watched everything for free. Everything. I've never paid a penny for any streaming service.

Some of the free services I've used have been shut down or had their policy changed to eliminate the free, but there's nothing I haven't been able to find elsewhere when that's happened.

Someday, I may find this advantageous situation has ended. But, so far, 10 years of watching for free continues.
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jimimac71
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by jimimac71 »

My first tablet was a 10 inch from Amazon. You get what you pay for.
I actually like their operating system over Android as far as look and feel.
I watched the first season of Lost In Space on The Roku Channel.
The commercials were placed without any planning and were louder than the program.
Season One of Lost In Space was black and white. The other two seasons were in glorious color and the show to a back seat to all the pretty colors.
The free services continue to expand. I grew up with TV and commercials, even with movies.
I'd rather not watch a film with commercials. Guess TCM spoiled me there.
The freevee service from Amazon is heavy with ads.
I congratulate you for 10 years of free TV.
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Intrepid37
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by Intrepid37 »

I've never had to watch a commercial. Not once. I've watched every episode of every series - whether network product, HBO, Showtime - any company at all - without commercial interruptions of any kind.

All for free.

I will admit, however, that 'Lost in Space' is the last thing I'd ever be interested in watching.
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jimimac71
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by jimimac71 »

I started this thread rather than reintroduce one created by EP Millstone.
After a few post exchanges with speedracer5, I figured a proper thread should be started.
I asked inside the thread about the June schedule if anyone subscribed to Max (HBO Max)?
My Xfinity service is hard to calculate in terms of TV and Internet.
I pay for a double play with the TV and Internet. Also have the extra package at $9.99 for TCM.
I can cancel that whenever I want. It is not embedded in another tier.
Xfinity only has 3 tiers now. I'm in the middle one.
At best guess, my TV part of the double play is about $50/month. Then there's another $40 in fees.
That includes the $10 TCM add-on.
I wouldn't save a dime by going to satellite. AT&T does not plan to replace the satellites used for DirecTV when they expire.
Dish Network is no better in price for me and has fewer TV channels that would normally be over-the-air.
That includes 'diginets', or sub-channels like MeTV. Cable is obligated to make them available but can charge for them.
Satellite, and especially streaming, has limited access to channels that would be on cable.
The PBS Create channel is only on cable or over-the -air, and in my case, not the San Francisco PBS (KQED), but a more local PBS channel (KRCB).
In my situation, there are 4 places to get the most cable TV like experience.
A lot of changes at Sling TV, so maybe 5 choices.
Expect to pay $70+ for any of the services: Hulu with Live TV, Direct TV Stream, YouTube TV, or Fubo.
Only Direct TV Stream and YouTube TV have PBS.
Fubo does not have any of the original Turner Networks.
I complain about TCM but it is a deal breaker to not have access to it.
For my TV needs, I'd also need Philo, which is $25/month.
So cable is okay and a better price, but that's just me.
I'm interested in other opinions of services, especially the ones that have ads.
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speedracer5
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by speedracer5 »

I hate watching ads. I do pay for services, in fact, I'll pay a little extra to not have ads. I have Dish and it works well for me. My Dish package also comes with a massive DVR which I use all the time. Sometimes I'll even record the shows I watch that have commercials just so I can fast forward through them, because I'm so sick of watching pharmaceutical ads. The best thing re: streaming services for me is I can watch the shows that I like without commercials. TCM has spoiled me with the movies, because I hate it when cable channels edit the films and add so many commercials that a 1.5 hour movie is suddenly 2.5-3 hours. I have to have TCM as well. TCM, The Food Channel (specifically for "Chopped"), PBS, the Forensic Files channel, FXX, and an occasional other channel are what I watch the most.

I do watch FXX for the new episodes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Archer." Then we watch reruns of "The Simpsons," "Futurama," and "King of the Hill" but more for background noise or as noise for the bird when we leave the house. However, Hulu is an excellent source for me for these shows as they show them without the commercials. Disney+ has the entirety of "The Simpsons" which I appreciate. The con with Hulu is that while they'll have all the episodes of some shows, they'll only have some episodes of others. That's why I have such a huge DVD/Blu Ray collection, so that I can watch what I want, when I want.

I will watch PBS (Portland, OR KOPB) if they're showing something that interests me. On occasion, I will watch "Antiques Roadshow," "American Masters," "Iconic America," "American Experience," "Nature," and "Nova." I will also watch a new Ken Burns documentary if he's covering something that interests me. On occasion, there are some good Oregon-specific programs.

I haven't really explored any of the free streaming channels. I just assume that they have commercials. We did watch the Weird Al movie for free on the free version of Roku and there was only one commercial, so that wasn't too bad. We also watched the truly terrible "Ski School" on Tubi for free, which had commercials, but they definitely did not affect the quality of the film. LOL.
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jimimac71
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by jimimac71 »

I appreciate you coming to this thread speedracer5.
My Android predictive text has committed you to memory.
I don't like commercials when they are poorly placed.
I grew up with commercials on TV, even with movies.
The world of FAST (free advertising supported TV) is huge.
It isn't for everyone.
If I cut out cable TV, I'd go out of my way to have commercial free programming.
Commercial free Hulu, Disney+, Peacock and Paramount Plus come to mind.
But it would mean killing the cable.
For the most part, DVR would not be necessary.
I would pay for Disney+ before Max.
With many films, the first is the best.
Have not seen Star Wars since it was released on home video.
Love the original Muppet Movie and The Love Bug.
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Masha
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by Masha »

speedracer5 wrote: May 25th, 2023, 6:58 pm "Futurama,"
I long believed that I was the only person on the forum who had ever watched that series. I suppose that I should be happy to have been proven wrong but it is tempered by the fact that I know that no sane and sensible person would ever watch it.

We use Roku because it is the only one which we have found which can be hardwired.

We subscribe to Amazon Prime because of the free shipping and so the Prime Video is virtually free.

We have had paid subscriptions over the years to: Disney, Britbox, Paramount, CBS and at least one other whose name escapes me. We dropped each in turn because we had watched all that we wish of their library and we were constantly annoyed at the technical glitches which were well known but never corrected.

We have backed away from using: Freevee because of the increase in commercials and their inconceivably inappropriate placement.

We find: PlutoTV to be a mixed bag. They have good selection of: On Demand series and movies but the frequency of commercials is off-putting. Their live channels are much better and we watch often episodes of: Midsomer Murders, Antiques Roadshow, Stargate SG-1, Num3ers, Jonathan Creek and a few others.

Our main go-to at the moment is: TubiTV. They have a nice selection of live channels which do have commercials but they seem slightly fewer than actual live television. It is not uncommon to see what was originally a thirty-minute broadcast network program shown complete in a twenty-six minute time slot. Their live channels include WB Movies, WB Television, Samuel Goldwyn and other classic studios. Their selection of: On Demand movies seems actually weighted to older movies. Newer movies such as: Ghostbusters (1984) and: Blazing Saddles (1974) rotate in and out of availability. I mention those because I know they both have only a few days left in the menu. It may be months before they return.

The odd thing about commercials on: TubiTV live channels is that there is often a short commercial and then simply a splash screen with a countdown timer. It is as if they set the programs up to have a certain number of commercials but are not able to sell the advertising time. It is easier to have blank air time rather than mess with the scheduling each time they gain or lose a customer.

We like also: Crackle but it is rarely on our home page because the majority of their selection is not to our taste.

It was sad to see: Movieland TV disappear from Roku. They were our go-to for some movies which are normally carried on only one or two paid services. It was an oddment that the release dates they attached to movies was quite recent. I feel relatively safe in assuming they were not observing copyrights. It was only a matter of time before they were taken down especially in light of the number of Disney movies which they carried.
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txfilmfan
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by txfilmfan »

Masha wrote: May 25th, 2023, 10:37 pm
speedracer5 wrote: May 25th, 2023, 6:58 pm "Futurama,"

The odd thing about commercials on: TubiTV live channels is that there is often a short commercial and then simply a splash screen with a countdown timer. It is as if they set the programs up to have a certain number of commercials but are not able to sell the advertising time. It is easier to have blank air time rather than mess with the scheduling each time they gain or lose a customer.
Yes, this is unsold ad time.

You get a similar thing as a YouTubeTV subscriber when an ad-supported cable network, such as TBS, TNT, etc. breaks for a local commercial that would typically be inserted by your cable company. In the "old days", this was signified by a rapid set of in-band DTMF tones (TouchTone signals) sent by the network, which would trigger the cable company's equipment to insert the local content.

These local blocks are often unsold by YouTubeTV (at least in my area), so they put up a "zen" screen during this timeframe - typically a waterfall, stream or other bucolic scene with a tag line that says something like "Enjoy the zen..."
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jimimac71
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by jimimac71 »

I will start by saying my weather is quite foggy.
So it is TV weather.
TCM is going to play their war movies for 84 hours.
That drives me nuts.
So other things to watch are important.
I think only one Roku has Ethernet. The really good one.
I have the lower priced version.
Again, I regret buying Apple TV. It has Ethernet.
My Wi-Fi works well.
My TV is getting a little old in TV years. Maybe 2015.
It is 39 inch and came from Walmart. The 42 was noticably more expensive.
It is a dumb TV and is naturally not 4K, but is a Vizio.
I have read where Tubi is possibly the most popular free service.
One of my favorite things is on Xumo, now called Xumo Play.
It's called eScapes and combines wonderful videos and Jazz music.
Very nice post Masha.
Kind of like The Unsinkable Molly Brown, where they threw a party and nobody came, I am thankful for anyone who comes here.
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movieman1957
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by movieman1957 »

If you don’t mind free services (you will get commercials) and looking for older TV, TUBI and Pluto are hard to beat. Their commercials vary in length. Some are blessedly short. Live streaming channels all carry more or less the same stuff and isn’t all that interesting to me. Roku and Freevee are similar but seem to have less content.

Ad supported pay channels like Paramount+ and particularly Hulu are loaded with lots of commercials and I find not that different from regular tv.

I make do with Max for TCM. At $10 for Comcast as an add on the $15 for HBO isn’t a bad deal if you are looking to cut cable.
Chris

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LiamCasey
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by LiamCasey »

Not adding much to this thread myself. Pay to stream, I have access to Amazon Prime Video (mainly for the free shipping), Disney+ and Max. Free to stream, I have Crackle, Freevee, Pluto and Tubi installed. But the latter of those four gets way more use than the other three. I also had Movieland TV installed and didn't even realize it went away until after I read Masha's posting. I stream via Roku (via a smart television in our main room and via a Roku Express on non-smart televisions in two other rooms). And I also hate the fact that the volume and mute are on the right side of the Roku smart television remote! I still have cable. But in name only since even that comes through an app nowadays like everything else.
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txfilmfan
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by txfilmfan »

LiamCasey wrote: May 28th, 2023, 12:51 pm Not adding much to this thread myself. Pay to stream, I have access to Amazon Prime Video (mainly for the free shipping), Disney+ and Max. Free to stream, I have Crackle, Freevee, Pluto and Tubi installed. But the latter of those four gets way more use than the other three. I also had Movieland TV installed and didn't even realize it went away until after I read Masha's posting. I stream via Roku (via a smart television in our main room and via a Roku Express on non-smart televisions in two other rooms). And I also hate the fact that the volume and mute are on the right side of the Roku smart television remote! I still have cable. But in name only since even that comes through an app nowadays like everything else.
My former TV provider was Frontier FiOS (and Verizon FiOS before they sold to Frontier, and GTE Southwest before that, when it was just a phone company). I still get my internet from them, but I dropped TV service a few years back. Prior to that, in the mid-2000s, I was a cable subscriber - I think it was Comcast back then, but it started out as a local company, with dual coax strung to every subscriber home.

At any rate, I noticed on Frontier's website that they are no longer providing television service to new customers in this area (using a "cable box"). If you want TV over a wired connection with Frontier, they apparently have discount agreements with YouTubeTV.

I tend to use the Roku app on my phone as the remote. The remote sensor for the Roku TV in my bedroom is partially blocked by a soundbar, so the phone is more reliable.
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LiamCasey
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by LiamCasey »

txfilmfan wrote: May 28th, 2023, 1:25 pm I tend to use the Roku app on my phone as the remote. The remote sensor for the Roku TV in my bedroom is partially blocked by a soundbar, so the phone is more reliable.
I have that app on my phone also. But primarily to avoid those "Where the hell did I put the remote?!?" moments. :D
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jimimac71
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Re: All Things Streaming

Post by jimimac71 »

I've been employed by both Storer Cable TV and Viacom Cablevision.
Both companies are only memories but good ones.
I worked at a cable system in Fairfield, CA. that used dual cable.
12 channels on the A side, and 12 on the B side.
It does puzzle me why Roku has the remote the way they do.
I think the preprogrammed buttons are silly.
Both Amazon and Apple have all the buttons on the front.
With Apple, the Siri button is on the right side, but you must press and hold it.
I looked on the Internet to see if the Indy 500 was available commercial free.
Of course not, but many, many complaints about NBC's coverage being overrun with ads.
Some say the Peacock coverage is lagging.
Not sure what is lagging. A perfect opportunity for the good old Pay Per View.
Our TV is small by today's standards at 39 inches. I has a pedestal base.
I have it elevated as the soundbar blocks the TV sensor.
Picture a number of really big phone books.
Amazon has an app for their Fire TV devices too.
In true Apple fashion, it is possible to use an iPhone or iPad as the Apple TV remote.
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