Tom Banjo

We’ve had YoutubeTV for about 15 months now, and my only complaint about it was the lack of the Weather Channel. Glad to see that’s been added.

kahuna

WTF, happen to YouTube? I go to YouTube on 4 different TV's or streaming devices and there is no menu to the left of the videos? It's all blank/ No home screen, no search bar, no subscription bar, nothing. There is no sidebar navigation.
Found this on twitter.
https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/159624032

RichC2

Ah, at least they fixed it relatively quickly.

Dellbeam

I've had YouTube TV for over a year and my only complaint is that they should put in NHL Network and other regional sports networks in their lineup. I know that getting contracts from the RSNs are hard, especially when they prefer to use cable/satellite services, but frankly that shouldn't let them get less money from people who don't want cable anymore.

Deftones

No thanks. Because then I am paying for your RSN and you are paying for mine. Only way this works is if they can create a package where I pay extras for the RSN. As much as I hate not having mine, I am not paying an extra $20/month for the RSNs.

Dellbeam

Well, you don't precisely have to get RSNs through their base plan. I'm just saying that it could've been counted as a premium or extra plan on count of your subscription.

Meathead

5.1 Audio now available on Google TV, Android TV and Roku.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/7/23...ound-5-1-audio

Still waiting on Apple TV, Fire TV, Playstation and Xbox.

seltzer77

If anyone has the add on sports (Red Zone, VSIN, Impact Wrestling, Fight, etc) on Youtube TV, they have a 1 year prepay special for this add on. Usually it's like $11 a month...I think the 1 year prepay for this add on is like $80...huge savings here...not advertised, you have to log in to your account to adjust for this.

Deftones

I only sub during NFL for RZ, so not really a deal. Thanks for heads up, though.

Rob V

Question for those of you using YTTV (or Hulu for that matter)... do any of you have multiple users at the same time in your house? Are you finding any issues with that? I have two kids and at least one of them is likely to have their TV on at the same time at night. I suspect that's not an issue but wanted to confirm.

DirectTV raised their rates on me again. I'm now paying $140/month for a nice (but not awesome) cable package. I'm ready to cut the cord for good this time.

Noonan

Hulu Live allows for 2 screens on at a time by default. I think you can pay extra for unlimited.

E Unit

Yeah, I have the everything package that’s Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+. I added Hulu Live, so that’s $74.99 with like 4 streams. For unlimited, tack on another $9.99. Still less than $100.

Phodg

Just looked at that. Did you remove the $10.99/month and then add the $79.99, or does it automatically switch you when you add the $79.99 option ? Just want to make sure I don't end up paying twice or screwing something up.

Actually - ignore that. Realized I only watch RZ anyway, so I cancelled and I'll re-sub for the NFL season.

RichC2

You can setup profiles for up to 6 people I believe, or just leave it with the primary account, and you can have 3 simultaneous streams (unlimited if you have the 4k package) in or out of house.

When I had Hulu TV you could only change addresses 4 times a year which was a bit odd and negative if you travel a decent amount, YTTV doesn't have that restriction. Hopefully Hulu got rid of that by now.

Deftones

No issues with multiple streams. Sometimes I will have 3 going at a time (multiple sporting events).

Deftones

The way unlimited streams works is this. Unlimited streams within your home (basically your designated area) on wifi. Anything outside of that is limited to 3 streams at a time. You have to pay for that (plus 4k) to get that. If not, the base service is limited to 3 concurrent streams, regardless of where they are.

RichC2

Yeah that makes sense, otherwise you'd have groups of people splitting a 4K package 20 ways.

Rob V

Thanks for the input... did you guys find it easy to use or frustrating at all? Would you prefer YTTV or Hulu after a few years of the both being out?

I've been a lifelong cable or dish person, so switching to pure streaming does give me a bit of anxiety (even though I have almost every other streaming service available).

Noonan

I'm in the middle of a trial run (paid for a month) of Hulu Live to see if I want to switch. I only picked Hulu since I already had a sub to them for original programming. Few comments:

-Picture quality is amazing and VERY noticeable coming from DirecTV using a 4k display.
-The guide is a bit annoying since it's alphabetical and not grouped like cable would be (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX are not close to each other) and you can't directly input a channel # since there aren't any numbers. You can set a Favorites list though, if you only want to see certain channels in the guide.
-Can't look at DVR content without backing out of Live TV completely. Unlike DTV where I could browse my DVR with a live channel still playing.
-There are no major channels missing that I would care about after adding the package that had Science Channel.
-Price is a great value compared to DTV. Live TV, ESPN+, Hulu proper, and Disney+ all for far less than our DTV bill. Let alone our DTV bill plus the other subscriptions.
-I would like to make the switch at this point. My wife is still a bit hesitant.

tonyc3742

I cut the cord a couple years ago. I was with Hulu for a year or two, now with YTTV for a couple months. I think Hulu went up and YTTV had a couple channels Hulu didn't, that we wanted. We still have basic Hulu for the library,
Their interfaces are a little different and take some getting used to but are both pretty easy to use.
I'm not as enamored as YTTV's "Library" interface as much as I liked Hulu's "My Stuff", but they both do what they need to.
You can customize the Guide on YTTV which is nice.
One weird difference is profiles - with Hulu, there's one account, and multiple profiles. So I have to sign in on each device, but if I recall correctly, Hulu also does the 'activate on your phone' which is nice. For Youtube, you 'invite' someone through Google, and they sign into their own Google account to log in. We haven't done that, I've just signed in with my account on each device. Not sure which is 'better', they're just different ways of doing it. The YTTV way definitely seems to be more 'private' with, in effect, separate YTTV accounts linked to a 'main' account.

My wife was a bit hesitant as well but after a bit of a learning curve (basically, trying something new), she's glad we switched. The one caveat is not necessarily limited to Hulu/YTTV - she often asks, "Where do we watch 'Show X'?" But that's not just Hulu/YTTV vs sat or cable, that's also because we've got other services.

Switching is well worth it. I think the only thing we didn't have was The Weather Channel, and YTTV has that now. Sometimes we don't get the football game she wants, but I think that is network specific, not service specific? (I don't understand sports broadcast rights and limitations).

Even with Hulu, YTTV, and all the other streaming services, we're still paying less than the satellite bill was, and we have access to much more content that we actually want to use.

Edit - I just did some math. Excluding Netflix and Prime, which I've pretty much had forever including when I had cable and satellite, my streaming bill is just over 100 bucks a month (not including taxes) for 12 services. I think the MINIMUM I've paid in the last decade for sat/cable was 120, and the last couple years we had it, it was over 200/month.
Some services, admittedly, are prepaid annual subs with a discount, and I'm getting HBOMax free (for now.)

RichC2

I did Hulu Live TV when it was new-ish and switched to YTTV a couple years ago. It is an adjustment at first - namely the lack of channel numbers - but you adapt pretty quickly. Hulu got on my nerves since I travel a decent amount and had issues with it wanting to limit my access to both standard Hulu as well as Hulu Live/TV/whatever it is now. YTTV is more flexible and has a tremendous amount of content.

I haven't felt like I've missed anything as YTTV has had all the channels I wanted. The only thing that may be a challenge are folks that absolutely must have RSNs (in which case, DirecTV Stream or $20/month directly to Bally's is necessary).

Rob V

The RSN thing is a big bummer for me... In years past I'd watch every Tigers, Pistons or Wings game but since they'll all been trash the last 6-10 years, I only watch parts of games. I just cannot see paying $20/month for that service... $10, yes.

I was thinking of trying to leverage cutting the cord and flat out requesting to cancel DirecTV and see if they flinch. If they don't, I cut the cord, if they do, I save money.

RichC2

On the RSN front - You could always try the DirecTV Stream Choice service, it's $89.99 after the first two months which is high but not absurd I guess, solid selection and a lot of the same features as everyone else.

DJariya

That’s the only thing holding me back from leaving DIRECTV. DIRECTV carries Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA for Dodgers and Lakers. No streaming provider has them except DIRECTV stream. I’m a huge Lakers fan and casual Dodgers fan, but losing both of them would be really tough. I know saving money is a big deal for many now especially with so many other expenses skyrocketing in cost and some things have to be cut back and entertainment is one of them.

Work gave me a 6 month free trial of YouTube TV last year and I thought it was good, but obviously they are handcuffed by the lack of regional sports.

Deftones

I came from DTV to YTTV. I love it. Is it slower? Yeah. But that is because you are initiating a new stream every time you change channels. The PQ isn't the best. But outside of a few issues, it is fantastic. I won't ever go back to cable or satellite.