We had YTtv at $50 for about a year when we first cut the cord. Overall we were pleased with the service. When YTtv increased to $65, that's when we decided to cancel. The extra $15 included extra channels but we had no interest in.
Great review Lon, informative and detailed. I’ve been a YTTV user for a long time. I love the service. Some things could be improved, but I am very happy. I have the 4K package, and love the ability to have unlimited streams in the house. I think it also works very well when you’re traveling or abroad. I was a subscriber to PlayStation Vue before YTTV. I actually think that product was superior to YTTV in many ways. I think if Sony would have marketed this as Sony Vue rather than PlayStation Vue it would have been more successful. If you’ve never seen that service or what it looked liked, it would be an interesting retrospective. Very much ahead of it’s time in my opinion. I loved that service.
I had PlayStation Vue as well before RUclips TV came to my market, and it really was a nice service with the only major issues I had with Playstation Vue was as a Linux user I could not use it via any web browser on my computers for like catching a football game on my 2nd monitor while doing some work on the main monitor in my home office, and I also run a Senior Center for a non profit that's about 6 minutes from my home across town in the same zip code, and it locked me out on my Roku express there, but RUclips TV currently does not lock me out on my Roku express, or my ONN Google TV boxes I have there for my clients(I'm paying for it, so I figured I might as well get my money's worth out of it using it at work, and home 😅). So yeah I think if Sony had given it a better name, marketed it better, had not had the restrictions I described, and maybe even integrated it with Crackle they also owned at the time making it exclusive to the Vue service for added value at no extra charge, then I think it would have done much better for sure.
I had a large satellite dish back in the 90's, loved it because I could pay for a basic channel lineup, and add 10 more channels that I liked.... when lightning took it out and I went to cable I hated it! A lot of channels I had to pay for that I never watched. Thanks for this video, it was very helpful. I'm trying to pick a new streaming platform since my Xfinity bill has gone sky high (it's $ 278 for phone, cable, and internet now). So this sounds cheap to me! Now I just have to pick a new internet provider. 😁
A little over 2yrs ago I renegotiate my xfinity bill down to about $230. It progressively went up a few short months after. Over the last yr or so it's been around $280 but I kept paying. I was beyond shocked yesterday when the agent I spoke to told me past due amount is $340😱. I can understand a late fee but surely can't be a $60 jump. I have not changed or added anything in yrs. She even hang up on me as I insisted they explain the increase. That's it, I'm jumping ship!
We don't use RUclips TV but we do pay for RUclips premium, meaning no ads. For me, that subscription is worth more than what we pay for Netflix, Disney+, HBO etc.
I've been with YTTV for 2 years. I like the unlimited DVR and the channel lineup for the most part. I don't like that they don't carry YES, NHL Network or MLB Network. I agree that they aren't much different from traditional cable providers.
For your use case with your mother I might recommend Philo TV if/when you want something similar to RUclips TV, but cheaper. Philo is also the only other streaming service that does infinite DVR, and the only one with MeTV (a classic television reruns channel that's normally only OTA broadcast). It's $25/month and has *most* of the channels people want, with the big exception being that Philo lacks local channels. They also have an app on all the major platforms including Roku, Samsung smart TVs, Android TV, and mobile devices.
I really miss my setup I had in korea. $40 per month, total, for gigabit internet service and 300+ channels of cable. Now I pay google $150 a month for those things.
RUclipsTV is sort of the gateway to that - it's very "cable like" and with something like an Apple TV or AndroidTV / ChromeCast TV you can get some decent stuff for not a lot of money (or for free).
The reason that both RUclips TV and traditional cable are so expensive is because the media companies that own the networks sell all of their networks in packages and force the providers to offer them all. They explicitly ban a la carte options. They're shooting themselves in the foot as linear television gets less and less popular, which is too bad, because I do think it still plays an important role for live broadcasts, which we're making harder and harder to access. I think we'll eventually reach a breaking point, and the price will come down or more a la carte options will be available, but will it be too late that nobody wants them? We shall see!
I had AT&T U-Verse TV since it was bundled with my fiber subscription. I moved and they moved me to AT&T TV (now DIRECTV stream) and it’s served me well. The problem now is that the price has become a bit ridiculous for what you get. They still include a max subscription as well, but it’s not a huge benefit since I was getting that with my AT&T unlimited phone plan before I became a tv/fiber subscriber anyway. At the intro price, DIRECTV stream is a good “cable” service that has given me no issues when compared to my old xfinity service. But the non intro price makes the service hard to recommend
Was going to switch my parents over to RUclips TV, but ended going with DirecTV Stream, as RUclips TV was missing a few channels plus have the option of Purchasing DirecTV Stream boxes for ease of use.
I've tried it off and on. Decided to give it a try again when they got the Tennis channel back. Of course they decided to put it on the sports tier, which they didn't mention when they announced it was coming. No way I'm paying nearly $100 a month after taxes for a cable replacement.
yup its ridiculous and why i never tried it at all and wont. in fact i would even question it IF it was FREE. the data they are collecting and using and selling from the users by far exceeds any one paying for any thing. in fact they should be paying us... but shhhhh dont tell the AI its so smart it might do it ! :)
2:19 History Channel is literally the one channel is actually still watch 😂thanks for letting me know it’s not on there! I signed up for Philo yesterday and it has History 😊 and the rest is history I guess 😂
Yes, it would be nice if you can pick and choose the desired channels, which YT TV could bracket with a cost. I am sure we as consumers have similar desires as far as what channels are needed. They could charge a figure for channels that are appropriate from their side. We can decide if we wish to pay that value, and not worry about any of the unwatced channels we do now. Wasted channels we really don’t watch for sure.
I had Comcast as well and I had the same experience that your mother did with the price that was outrageous... I got rid of Comcast all together and got RUclips TV and T-Mobile home internet and I couldn't be happier.. because in my area T-Mobile home internet works very well
That's what I've done, along with Peacock, and that's worked out really well in my household. $50 a month for T-Mobile is a GOD Send getting over 600mbps down a lot of times vs. the $91 a month after BS taxes, and fees with my own modem I was paying to Breezeline for 160Mbps/25Mbps I just made sure to use my own Mesh WiFi setup, and not the weak WiFi the T-Mobile Gateway has.
RUclips TV just keeps going up and up and if you add your internet in with the cost as you have to have the internet cable isn't too much more. I know Sling TV probably doesn't have as much as RUclips TV but it does cost less...
My cable provider (where I had TV, Internet, and local phone) was charging roughly double what I now pay by switching to another ISP and going to RUclipsTV - I definitely know though that the rates will "creep up" and will have to switch again and find a way to keep costs from going crazy... I think Sling is on TV provider that does have an option for little or no sports which I like since we watch little to no sports....
@@Scotty_in_Ohio Yep with Sling you can add sports and I think the orange and blue package together is like 55.00 I think and if you're new the first month is discounted. I like RUclips but with sports it's just getting a bit expensive.
RUclips TV is a great service but it is a little expensive. Thanks for the reminder that SNY is one of the few Regional Sports Networks still available with RUclips TV. Right now MLB Network is showing no signs of returning to RUclips TV. RUclips TV is very similar to cable. Maybe a little too similar.
Hi Lon, does your provider limit bandwidth for the month? Mine has a cap before you have to pay extra. If streaming from RUclips TV, how much bandwidth on average usage would be. I already get halfway my quota with just one person in my house (unless my dogs are watching while I am away 😂) Adding the Live RUclips TV would obviously add to that. Just something I thought of.
18:45 this is always going to be an issue due to those same carriage agreements that are driving up prices. The content owners will never allow an alacarte system to happen, they're why you always have to get bundles because they require that if you carry one channel you must carry specific other channels as well. For example Disney typically requires you to carry ESPN channels if you want to have the Disney Channel.
You are a Mets fan? I knew I liked you! These streaming services are too expensive for me considering we almost never watch anything on cable. A couple of years ago when I had comcast cable, one of my kids unplugged the box to plug in his phone charger and nobody noticed it was unplugged for 3+ weeks! That was the day I decided we should cancel. I have had good luck with an antenna for my local channels and frndly for some cable channels. It costs $90 a year and gets us Lifetime, History, A&E and a bunch of other channels. It doesn’t get sports channels like ESPN but I can usually find ways to watching stuff like MLB tv for watching the hapless Mets which I get free for being a T-Mobile customer.
We found for us the best deal on a streaming service to pair with Channels was Philo, it’s $25/month due to not having sports networks or locals. That paired with an antenna and HDHomeRun gets us pretty much all we care about.
You can get all in-market NFL games with an antenna as the exclusive cable games always get simulcast in local markets. You can get NBA infrequently when your team is on ABC. You can get NHL infrequently when your team is on NBC. You can get MLB infrequently when your team is on FOX. ESPN and RSNs are the last bastion of cable TV. Even though I am a sports fan, I've just decided that I'll stick with just an antenna for now and wait the 1-3 years for there to be affordable direct to consumer streaming options for sports.
Do you have experience with Sling? How does it compare? I use sling, it looks kinda same. Also, do they offer discount or packages with RUclips premium? I’ll have to check that out.
Sling only carries locals in certain markets and does not have CBS in any markets. It also is limited to 1 stream max on all the ESPN channels. The base package price is cheaper than YTTV though.
@@therealbbbb Thanks! I’m a YT premium subscriber- do you know if they sell packaged deals or discounts for YTP subscribers? I couldn’t find anything on their website. I’m guessing not.
I switched to this when PSVue started getting expensive then died...the price ultimately caused me to drop them and go with nothing other than streaming services. Was good when I had it though.
Please tell me I missed the part when you mentioned RUclips TV does not offer resume. If I leave a show and return a day earlier I have to start the show from the beginning and fast forward?
Regarding service how do you watch on your tv? do you download an app for tv? how would I clip or edit a recording like my old Channelmaster dvr would allow me to do? like if I had a dvd recorder record say 5 mins of a newscast vs the whole 30 or 60 mins? what are my options there? Other than channelmaster are there any other free ota dvrs? I may try youtube if no other viable option is avail w/o a sub. After all you know the idea to cut cord was to avoid all not some sub services.
I have a simple question. If I have RUclips TV and have multiple places (only three) where I live, can I watch YT-TV at those three location without issues? Also, when I’m in one of those three locations, will the local channels be related to the location?
Lon, RUclips TV is expensive, but its going up in price virtually the same way Cable is, so the both will likely pace each other as time goes by. The model or paradigm does need to change though when it comes to selecting the channels the users want. I have maybe two dozen channels I would happily discard from my RUclips TV subscription if given the opportunity.
I live in Connecticut as well. So can I set this up on 4 tv’s even though I would only be watching on 2 or 3 tv’s at the most at one time? We have 2 tv’s in 2 bedrooms, 1 in the living room and 1 in the kitchen. On weekends when my wife is making dinner, she watches the tv in the kitchen and the one on the bedroom is off until later in the evening. Overall what I’m asking is I can setup 4 accounts but watch no more than 3 streams at a time? Correct?
If you don't watch a lot of sports like my family does, I can understand why it's hard to justify the cost of something like RUclips TV, or any live cable like streaming service when there are so many free services out there, and cheap ones like Peacock along with free OTA TV.
now imagine someone that has had directv specifically for the nfl sunday ticket for 24 years, and it's now gone, and that someone averages about an hour a day of tv, yet pays $156.50 a month (vs $50 back in the early 2000s). as soon as football season ends, so does my relationship with directv. at least youtube tv allows cancellation anytime, which is very appealing vs directv and their 2 year commitment requirements.
Eh, I think the best way to cut the cable is just not watch TV anymore. I stopped paying for satellite and just slowly stopped watching normal TV. I just watch youtube and movies mainly. It is weird going to someone's house and they have TV. I have youtube premium so I don't see any ads at all and seeing them actually brings back nostalgia but the second time I see the same commercial I'm done watching any commercials.
Even when you switch to RUclipsTV (we did about a week ago) our TV watching habits are MUCH more DELIBERATE. We don't mindlessly channel up and down the way we used to and comment how "there's nothing on to watch" - we still watch about 2 or 3 shows on RUclips TV but mainly it's while they are airing live or after they've been recorded. I think it's like "dosing down" - eventually (and already for me since about 4 years ago) I only watch about 1 or 2 shows on normal "TV" at this point - just about everything else is off of RUclips (not YT TV) or a movie on a streaming service.
@@shackdaddy7106 I have random streaming services. I guess I did elaborate but if you want to cut the cable it is just as much money if you still want all your TV show, news, talk shows, ect. I'm fine with one streaming service at a time, quit it and then get another.
Thanks for the content! Great review, very helpful. Any suggestions on having an account signed in for RUclipsTV on a shared TV like in the living room? Its not tied to a single person in the family, no need for the content to be tailored to what is being watched on that accounts RUclips, etc.
New York Mets and you're from Connecticut? Also, you don't sound like you're from NE lol. Seriously, google wants a lot of payments. Personally, I don't have a reason to purchase RUclips TV because I have all the free entertainment and content that I want, others may disagree and I'm glad that people have options, and that you're presenting good advice.
Insane how someone can expect that much for subscription. Regular format subscription doesn't even require a delivery system, i.e the internet fee and it's about the same cost for more content when you choose a la carte.
A few things. First yes she gets sports channels but you don’t pay regional sports fees like you do on cable. Also Amex had a discount if you used your card to pay for yttv. Not sure if tat is still going on Houthi. Finally remember it’s month to month. So no cancellations charges so if she likes something better she can switch
Hi Lon, I discovered you as I'm considering ditching Comcast internet and cable TV. I am considering switching to T Moblie internet and using that to stream RUclips TV. Does my smart TV need a stick/device for this; or can it just receive the feed similar to any other streaming service? Thank you.
Hi, I was thinking of purchasing a TV antenna to watch local channels. But, then I thought I cannot record any shows/movies. Is this true? No way to record a show if you've cut the cord and use a TV antenna? Appreciate your input
Thank you for this excellent run down,. I recently cut the cord. My husband has dementia and I was worried about his adjusting to a different way to watch TV. I considered keeping Comcast cable. Good news is he is doing fine, we are on Frontier and You Tube TV. Occasionally he gets into a dead end that he doesn't know how to get out of, generally its not big deal. I have all of this on a brand new LG OLED TV and this is my first time using a Smart TV. My question (not sure if this is in your area) but I need to have the TV go back to the last thing my husband watched or back to You Tube TV. when its turned back on. The Advanced settings for the Home page does not solve the problem. The LB TV only wants to go be to its own streaming app which is horrible. Do you know a way to correct this?
I don't think so unfortunately.. What you could do is get a cheap Roku or something but there too you'll need to click through into an app to get it loaded up.
Hi Lon. I’m in Fairfield county as well, Shelton CT. I have internet only service through Comcast and RUclips TV. I can’t find WTNH New Haven News live. Can you suggest how I can get this programming? I can’t put up a big HD antenna because I’m in a condo, but I may be able to mount a modest size antenna on a portion of my roof with approval. Thanks! John
If you get the 4K package, you get unlimited streams in the home and that keeps you from having to log back in at the house. YTTV will want the account that is used outside of the home to log in at your house within 3 months. I currently have a few family members added to YTTV and have them logged in to a device on my network and just randomly login to their profile every once and a while and have had no issue in nearly a year.
It says that the base plan gives you 3 simultaneous screens. That's what my plan says.But the youtube customer service tells me that if I want the three screens, I have to upgrade to 4K. I'm almost about to go back to spectrum.
So, "channel surfing" on RUclips TV looks to be a pain. Perhaps not a viable option for my mom. She currently has Dish Network, and she can easily enter the number of the channel (on the number pad on remote). She pops around from CNN, to Local channels, to TCM etc easily. I can't see her trying to first navigate to the channel guide, then scroll down each time to find her desired channel. Perhaps she could speak into the remote and it would take her there? not sure, but I bought her a $20 onn. Google TV HDTV streaming box (as reviewed by Lon) and she has a devil of a time navigating through it.
I’m very happy with YTTV. Internet is included with my rent, so I just have to pay the YTTV monthly fee. I record a ton of shows, far more than I will ever watch. I don’t pay extra for the 4K service, the basic package is just fine for me. Much cheaper than Comcast!
This entire streaming model is out of control. With everything it's coming out to a car payment. I have it and it's OK, no MSG so no Knicks! No Patriots. You have to spend for the NFL subscription, but then it blacks out the Pats!!! 🤬 The best feature is the DVR. If it wasn't for the Mets I'd throw all these TV streaming in the trash. The absolute worst part is I pay for RUclips premium and I get no discount at all! 🤦🏻♂️ So I'm paying $90 a month, and $80 a month for my internet, so I'm right back to Cable prices. 🙄 All this crap is a rip off.
I appreciate your fair and in depth review -- but there are SO many of us who want a la carte. We want to be charged for WHAT we watch and HOW MUCH OF IT we watch. I don't want to give a dime to Fox News or professional sports but will give bucks to Katy Tur (she rules), TCM (yes!) and the new Trek shows. I don't RUclips should have to pay a nickel in licensing. Put it all on the customers based on what they watch and nothing else.
I agree with others that we should be able to pick and choose channels we want to pay for individually. Force-bundling channels I don't even watch and pay for is not ideal. If I could, I'd get rid of all the main stream news channels. I don't need those or have interest in paying to keep them.
my problem with channel master is they don't support any of their devices. Hardly anyone makes apps for them to become popular. There are glitches galore in everything that eventually after you reset so many times fails you and causes permanent fatal errors.
Hey Lon, why not go with Hulu + Live? I had it because it offered full 4k 5.1 surround and ESPN and NFL network. If all I care about is NFL, I can get that cheaper on Sling + I get the added bonus of the other channels. Once the NFL playoff schedule/networks is announced, depending upon what networks have what, I may cancel it at that time instead of at the end of the season. At least with Sling, I'm not paying getting and thus paying for local channels I already get via antenna on my HDHR Flex 4k.
@@fd4340 Yeah. And they only do 720p for live. To me, I don't really care about that any more because I'd only be using Sling to watch sports (mainly NFL games), which doesn't need to be 4k/5.1 surround.
Hulu Live has dumb restrictions on being able to FF ads in certain situations. Also, they don't have the "Key Plays" feature that YTTV has. And they don't have the ability to add an entire league (NFL, NCAAF) to the DVR. You have to manually add each team or game, unlike YTTV. Those are the 3 reasons I prefer YTTV to Hulu Live as a CFB & NFL fan.
Back when I was a kid still living with my parents we did have cable(this was long before streaming services ever became a thing so think early mid 2000s). Now that I’m living on my own now as of 2013 I gave up cable and went straight to streaming(think Disney Hulu Netflix(or well used to have Netflix) etc). Honestly, I think I could better survive off Internet rather than cable. I know that’s what my friend told me as well(he’s currently on his way to Alaska since he’s now living there and moving his stuff). I wouldn’t think streaming Bill would be extremely high like how the cable bill is when it comes to paying bills like that iirc if anyone can let me know. Don’t get me wrong. I did like cable, but it’s not as interesting as streaming in my opinion.
I had youtubetv up until the recent $8 price hike. I liked it. Had the channels I wanted and unlimited dvr was great. I canceled while the tv season was ending/beginning of the writers strike so don’t feel like im missing anything and I also have Hulu. So can watch a lot the next day shows. In the mean time im saving money and got Plex lifetime for my locals
i have at&t as my phone provider, with 50 gigs of hotspot. since my internet through them died about a year ago with no explanation, i went from $200 a month for internet and phone, to just $90 for both. as soon as football season ends, directv and their $156.50 a month cost is next to go... and them taking away my hbo doesn't sweeten the deal.
YTTV has been great for the last 4 years or so. DirecTV was our service before that and being limited to one TV to watch whatever was recorded on that DVR was not ideal. Also do not prefer to scroll through Netflix attempting to find a show, so for that I chose YTTV. Hands down better interface than a majority of the competitors.
beurocratic jargon relabeling things for their usage. Cord Cutting used to mean not paying anything. Free OTT and fine selection of torrents with sonarr is Cord Cutting.
The DVR feature not having an 'Only New' option is a dealbreaker. I have no interest in weeding through a bunch of additional recordings when all I want to see is the current weeks show.
I believe YTTV is just slightly better than cable. Price has gone up from $45 to $73 in just a few short years, while the channel offerings has gotten somewhat smaller over this period. So I don't really see that switching from Cable is cord cutting, same issues but better platform and experience. But the main driver in our decision to cancel YTTV over the last month is that we just don't watch much TV anymore. We always maintained service for those occasional times we wanted to watch something, but at over a grand a year with tax we no longer do this.
Boils my blood when you showed the RUclips tv pricing from 2017 to 2023 they are so ridiculous in pricing now days ! We need to take a stand against them
@@LonSeidman I understand that it's just crazy lon but yea thanks for the videos you make and show the various things and services you make it easier to make a decision to get it or not
My parents are switching to YTTV and cutting Comcast. It seems to be going OK for them but I’m personally not a fan. I don’t like the interface nor how it’s DVR works. For my own use case, Hulu live TV is probably would be a better option.
Disney is looking to fully buy out Hulu, and combine it with Disney + into one app, and thus raise the price even higher even though they own a good chunk of the cable channels on the live side.
ayyiyi....i never streamed ANYTHING....getting ready to cut WOW cable and switch to wow w/ youtube.... i am extremely stressed.... how to even go to you tube for initial setup.... ayyiyi
I've had RUclips TV for about 6 months and love it. My only complaint is that the algorithms pick up some of what we watch but there's a certain "news" organization that's always front and center on the first screens. I never watch the network and truly believe they participated in trying to eliminate American democracy.
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We had YTtv at $50 for about a year when we first cut the cord. Overall we were pleased with the service. When YTtv increased to $65, that's when we decided to cancel. The extra $15 included extra channels but we had no interest in.
Because they make us subsidize the crap that can't support itself because only 1% of the populace watches.
I'll not pay more than $60 per month for ad supported "live" TV.
Great review Lon, informative and detailed.
I’ve been a YTTV user for a long time. I love the service. Some things could be improved, but I am very happy. I have the 4K package, and love the ability to have unlimited streams in the house.
I think it also works very well when you’re traveling or abroad.
I was a subscriber to PlayStation Vue before YTTV. I actually think that product was superior to YTTV in many ways. I think if Sony would have marketed this as Sony Vue rather than PlayStation Vue it would have been more successful.
If you’ve never seen that service or what it looked liked, it would be an interesting retrospective. Very much ahead of it’s time in my opinion. I loved that service.
I had PlayStation Vue as well before RUclips TV came to my market, and it really was a nice service with the only major issues I had with Playstation Vue was as a Linux user I could not use it via any web browser on my computers for like catching a football game on my 2nd monitor while doing some work on the main monitor in my home office, and I also run a Senior Center for a non profit that's about 6 minutes from my home across town in the same zip code, and it locked me out on my Roku express there, but RUclips TV currently does not lock me out on my Roku express, or my ONN Google TV boxes I have there for my clients(I'm paying for it, so I figured I might as well get my money's worth out of it using it at work, and home 😅).
So yeah I think if Sony had given it a better name, marketed it better, had not had the restrictions I described, and maybe even integrated it with Crackle they also owned at the time making it exclusive to the Vue service for added value at no extra charge, then I think it would have done much better for sure.
If you have the 4k and unlimited streams in the house, can you still have the additional streams out of the house, for example, my office or 2nd home?
Hi! Can you use it when traveling? If you're away from home for an extended period, is that ok?
A fellow Mets fan! I knew I liked you for a reason ;) I've had YTTV since the beginning and have been very happy with the service.
I had a large satellite dish back in the 90's, loved it because I could pay for a basic channel lineup, and add 10 more channels that I liked.... when lightning took it out and I went to cable I hated it! A lot of channels I had to pay for that I never watched.
Thanks for this video, it was very helpful. I'm trying to pick a new streaming platform since my Xfinity bill has gone sky high (it's $ 278 for phone, cable, and internet now).
So this sounds cheap to me! Now I just have to pick a new internet provider. 😁
my infinity bill as well...exploring other options
My Xfinity bill is $320 a month. I’m looking for better options as well.
Yep! Outrageously paying $340/mo. Lon is awesome for clarifying all this streaming info. Thanks Lon
A little over 2yrs ago I renegotiate my xfinity bill down to about $230. It progressively went up a few short months after. Over the last yr or so it's been around $280 but I kept paying. I was beyond shocked yesterday when the agent I spoke to told me past due amount is $340😱. I can understand a late fee but surely can't be a $60 jump. I have not changed or added anything in yrs. She even hang up on me as I insisted they explain the increase. That's it, I'm jumping ship!
We don't use RUclips TV but we do pay for RUclips premium, meaning no ads.
For me, that subscription is worth more than what we pay for Netflix, Disney+, HBO etc.
I agree completely - I get a ton of value out of my RUclips premium subscription.
I've been with YTTV for 2 years. I like the unlimited DVR and the channel lineup for the most part. I don't like that they don't carry YES, NHL Network or MLB Network. I agree that they aren't much different from traditional cable providers.
For your use case with your mother I might recommend Philo TV if/when you want something similar to RUclips TV, but cheaper. Philo is also the only other streaming service that does infinite DVR, and the only one with MeTV (a classic television reruns channel that's normally only OTA broadcast). It's $25/month and has *most* of the channels people want, with the big exception being that Philo lacks local channels. They also have an app on all the major platforms including Roku, Samsung smart TVs, Android TV, and mobile devices.
We use Philo with an ota antenna. We use an air tv device to record. It's a really good and inexpensive way to get those cable channels.
As you ne Phio does not have locals, so antenna wud be needed.
Lon TV is all I need.
I really miss my setup I had in korea. $40 per month, total, for gigabit internet service and 300+ channels of cable. Now I pay google $150 a month for those things.
The antenna or using a free service like Pluto TV is the way to go.
RUclipsTV is sort of the gateway to that - it's very "cable like" and with something like an Apple TV or AndroidTV / ChromeCast TV you can get some decent stuff for not a lot of money (or for free).
Why not antenna + Pluto + Tubi + Roku Channel ... Total cost $0.00
The reason that both RUclips TV and traditional cable are so expensive is because the media companies that own the networks sell all of their networks in packages and force the providers to offer them all. They explicitly ban a la carte options. They're shooting themselves in the foot as linear television gets less and less popular, which is too bad, because I do think it still plays an important role for live broadcasts, which we're making harder and harder to access. I think we'll eventually reach a breaking point, and the price will come down or more a la carte options will be available, but will it be too late that nobody wants them? We shall see!
I had AT&T U-Verse TV since it was bundled with my fiber subscription. I moved and they moved me to AT&T TV (now DIRECTV stream) and it’s served me well. The problem now is that the price has become a bit ridiculous for what you get. They still include a max subscription as well, but it’s not a huge benefit since I was getting that with my AT&T unlimited phone plan before I became a tv/fiber subscriber anyway. At the intro price, DIRECTV stream is a good “cable” service that has given me no issues when compared to my old xfinity service. But the non intro price makes the service hard to recommend
I went from xfinity x1 to u-verse and then AT&T TV/DIRECTV stream.
Was going to switch my parents over to RUclips TV, but ended going with DirecTV Stream, as RUclips TV was missing a few channels plus have the option of Purchasing DirecTV Stream boxes for ease of use.
I've tried it off and on. Decided to give it a try again when they got the Tennis channel back. Of course they decided to put it on the sports tier, which they didn't mention when they announced it was coming. No way I'm paying nearly $100 a month after taxes for a cable replacement.
yup its ridiculous and why i never tried it at all and wont. in fact i would even question it IF it was FREE. the data they are collecting and using and selling from the users by far exceeds any one paying for any thing. in fact they should be paying us... but shhhhh dont tell the AI its so smart it might do it ! :)
2:19 History Channel is literally the one channel is actually still watch 😂thanks for letting me know it’s not on there!
I signed up for Philo yesterday and it has History 😊 and the rest is history I guess 😂
Yes, it would be nice if you can pick and choose the desired channels, which YT TV could bracket with a cost. I am sure we as consumers have similar desires as far as what channels are needed. They could charge a figure for channels that are appropriate from their side. We can decide if we wish to pay that value, and not worry about any of the unwatced channels we do now. Wasted channels we really don’t watch for sure.
I had Comcast as well and I had the same experience that your mother did with the price that was outrageous... I got rid of Comcast all together and got RUclips TV and T-Mobile home internet and I couldn't be happier.. because in my area T-Mobile home internet works very well
@D M $50 a month without phone service.
That's what I've done, along with Peacock, and that's worked out really well in my household. $50 a month for T-Mobile is a GOD Send getting over 600mbps down a lot of times vs. the $91 a month after BS taxes, and fees with my own modem I was paying to Breezeline for 160Mbps/25Mbps I just made sure to use my own Mesh WiFi setup, and not the weak WiFi the T-Mobile Gateway has.
RUclips TV just keeps going up and up and if you add your internet in with the cost as you have to have the internet cable isn't too much more. I know Sling TV probably doesn't have as much as RUclips TV but it does cost less...
My cable provider (where I had TV, Internet, and local phone) was charging roughly double what I now pay by switching to another ISP and going to RUclipsTV - I definitely know though that the rates will "creep up" and will have to switch again and find a way to keep costs from going crazy...
I think Sling is on TV provider that does have an option for little or no sports which I like since we watch little to no sports....
@@Scotty_in_Ohio Yep with Sling you can add sports and I think the orange and blue package together is like 55.00 I think and if you're new the first month is discounted. I like RUclips but with sports it's just getting a bit expensive.
RUclips TV is a great service but it is a little expensive. Thanks for the reminder that SNY is one of the few Regional Sports Networks still available with RUclips TV. Right now MLB Network is showing no signs of returning to RUclips TV. RUclips TV is very similar to cable. Maybe a little too similar.
Since I don't watch sports, it isn't cost effective for me. The service has gotten too expensive so I cancelled in March of last year.
thanks for doing this one LON i enjoyed seeing what inevitably prolly in my future.
Very interesting review Lon. I have been also thinking about either jumping on this or using a small antenna.
Hi Lon, does your provider limit bandwidth for the month? Mine has a cap before you have to pay extra. If streaming from RUclips TV, how much bandwidth on average usage would be. I already get halfway my quota with just one person in my house (unless my dogs are watching while I am away 😂) Adding the Live RUclips TV would obviously add to that. Just something I thought of.
Thanks for all the detail👍
18:45 this is always going to be an issue due to those same carriage agreements that are driving up prices. The content owners will never allow an alacarte system to happen, they're why you always have to get bundles because they require that if you carry one channel you must carry specific other channels as well. For example Disney typically requires you to carry ESPN channels if you want to have the Disney Channel.
Not available in Australia ?
Currently it's US only.
@@CommodoreFan64 Thanks
@@Sydney2217 You're welcome
You are a Mets fan? I knew I liked you! These streaming services are too expensive for me considering we almost never watch anything on cable. A couple of years ago when I had comcast cable, one of my kids unplugged the box to plug in his phone charger and nobody noticed it was unplugged for 3+ weeks! That was the day I decided we should cancel.
I have had good luck with an antenna for my local channels and frndly for some cable channels. It costs $90 a year and gets us Lifetime, History, A&E and a bunch of other channels. It doesn’t get sports channels like ESPN but I can usually find ways to watching stuff like MLB tv for watching the hapless Mets which I get free for being a T-Mobile customer.
We found for us the best deal on a streaming service to pair with Channels was Philo, it’s $25/month due to not having sports networks or locals. That paired with an antenna and HDHomeRun gets us pretty much all we care about.
Very informative. Great video!
You can get all in-market NFL games with an antenna as the exclusive cable games always get simulcast in local markets. You can get NBA infrequently when your team is on ABC. You can get NHL infrequently when your team is on NBC. You can get MLB infrequently when your team is on FOX. ESPN and RSNs are the last bastion of cable TV. Even though I am a sports fan, I've just decided that I'll stick with just an antenna for now and wait the 1-3 years for there to be affordable direct to consumer streaming options for sports.
NBC doesn't carry NHL anymore. They're now on ABC + ESPN channels and TNT.
Just got YTTV so far no complaints
Do you have experience with Sling? How does it compare? I use sling, it looks kinda same.
Also, do they offer discount or packages with RUclips premium? I’ll have to check that out.
Sling only carries locals in certain markets and does not have CBS in any markets. It also is limited to 1 stream max on all the ESPN channels. The base package price is cheaper than YTTV though.
@@therealbbbb Thanks! I’m a YT premium subscriber- do you know if they sell packaged deals or discounts for YTP subscribers? I couldn’t find anything on their website. I’m guessing not.
Do you have to have Wi-Fi from a cable co to have yttv?
I switched to this when PSVue started getting expensive then died...the price ultimately caused me to drop them and go with nothing other than streaming services. Was good when I had it though.
Please tell me I missed the part when you mentioned RUclips TV does not offer resume. If I leave a show and return a day earlier I have to start the show from the beginning and fast forward?
Regarding service how do you watch on your tv? do you download an app for tv? how would I clip or edit a recording like my old Channelmaster dvr would allow me to do? like if I had a dvd recorder record say 5 mins of a newscast vs the whole 30 or 60 mins? what are my options there? Other than channelmaster are there any other free ota dvrs? I may try youtube if no other viable option is avail w/o a sub. After all you know the idea to cut cord was to avoid all not some sub services.
Thanks for this explanation on youtube! Very helpful!
In the settings menu can I set this service to Standard HD so I don't burn through a lot of data while I'm using a hot spot camping on the weekends ?
I have a simple question. If I have RUclips TV and have multiple places (only three) where I live, can I watch YT-TV at those three location without issues? Also, when I’m in one of those three locations, will the local channels be related to the location?
Lon, RUclips TV is expensive, but its going up in price virtually the same way Cable is, so the both will likely pace each other as time goes by. The model or paradigm does need to change though when it comes to selecting the channels the users want. I have maybe two dozen channels I would happily discard from my RUclips TV subscription if given the opportunity.
But, if you want to do away with RUclips TV you are not under contract and can stop at any time with no penalty!
.
@@leahfean4937 Correct, but that was not the focus of my commentary.
How are my comments getting on here when I am not making comments????@@Mike-In-O-Town
I live in Connecticut as well. So can I set this up on 4 tv’s even though I would only be watching on 2 or 3 tv’s at the most at one time? We have 2 tv’s in 2 bedrooms, 1 in the living room and 1 in the kitchen. On weekends when my wife is making dinner, she watches the tv in the kitchen and the one on the bedroom is off until later in the evening. Overall what I’m asking is I can setup 4 accounts but watch no more than 3 streams at a time? Correct?
Just how much each year are they going to stick it to their customers?
I just cannot justify the price. I had it for a long time, but didn’t feel like I was watching it enough for the cost.
If you don't watch a lot of sports like my family does, I can understand why it's hard to justify the cost of something like RUclips TV, or any live cable like streaming service when there are so many free services out there, and cheap ones like Peacock along with free OTA TV.
now imagine someone that has had directv specifically for the nfl sunday ticket for 24 years, and it's now gone, and that someone averages about an hour a day of tv, yet pays $156.50 a month (vs $50 back in the early 2000s).
as soon as football season ends, so does my relationship with directv.
at least youtube tv allows cancellation anytime, which is very appealing vs directv and their 2 year commitment requirements.
What are you using to make selections? Provided remote?
Is there a way to bring RUclips TV into PLEX and use RUclips as a tuner?
Do the VOD movies on RUclips TV cost extra? And how do you navigate to the rent/buy section? Thanks
We have an LG smart TV, do you control RUclips via the remote?
Eh, I think the best way to cut the cable is just not watch TV anymore. I stopped paying for satellite and just slowly stopped watching normal TV. I just watch youtube and movies mainly. It is weird going to someone's house and they have TV. I have youtube premium so I don't see any ads at all and seeing them actually brings back nostalgia but the second time I see the same commercial I'm done watching any commercials.
So how do you watch your movies. Do you have a big DVD collection? Or are you watching Netflix, Max or Hulu or maybe prime video?
Even when you switch to RUclipsTV (we did about a week ago) our TV watching habits are MUCH more DELIBERATE. We don't mindlessly channel up and down the way we used to and comment how "there's nothing on to watch" - we still watch about 2 or 3 shows on RUclips TV but mainly it's while they are airing live or after they've been recorded. I think it's like "dosing down" - eventually (and already for me since about 4 years ago) I only watch about 1 or 2 shows on normal "TV" at this point - just about everything else is off of RUclips (not YT TV) or a movie on a streaming service.
@@shackdaddy7106 I have random streaming services. I guess I did elaborate but if you want to cut the cable it is just as much money if you still want all your TV show, news, talk shows, ect. I'm fine with one streaming service at a time, quit it and then get another.
Thanks for the content! Great review, very helpful. Any suggestions on having an account signed in for RUclipsTV on a shared TV like in the living room? Its not tied to a single person in the family, no need for the content to be tailored to what is being watched on that accounts RUclips, etc.
New York Mets and you're from Connecticut? Also, you don't sound like you're from NE lol. Seriously, google wants a lot of payments. Personally, I don't have a reason to purchase RUclips TV because I have all the free entertainment and content that I want, others may disagree and I'm glad that people have options, and that you're presenting good advice.
How long will shows remain on the resume watching shelf?
Any updates, is she still using it?
Insane how someone can expect that much for subscription. Regular format subscription doesn't even require a delivery system, i.e the internet fee and it's about the same cost for more content when you choose a la carte.
How good does your WiFi have to be to stream you tube tv with out buffering?
From what I've read, at least a 20 Mbps connection should be sufficient.
Great explanation of RUclips TV, very informative, very helpful. Thank you! How would you compare RUclips TV to SlingTV?
It has more of the local broadcasters.. haven't looked at Sling recently but might do so soon.
A few things. First yes she gets sports channels but you don’t pay regional sports fees like you do on cable. Also Amex had a discount if you used your card to pay for yttv. Not sure if tat is still going on Houthi. Finally remember it’s month to month. So no cancellations charges so if she likes something better she can switch
Hi Lon, I discovered you as I'm considering ditching Comcast internet and cable TV. I am considering switching to T Moblie internet and using that to stream RUclips TV. Does my smart TV need a stick/device for this; or can it just receive the feed similar to any other streaming service?
Thank you.
Love yttv. Simple and easy to navigate
Hi, I was thinking of purchasing a TV antenna to watch local channels. But, then I thought I cannot record any shows/movies. Is this true? No way to record a show if you've cut the cord and use a TV antenna? Appreciate your input
When my parents had a TV antenna for Xfinity they were able to record shows. What kind of service were you going for? Xfinity? DIRECTV?
Thank you for this excellent run down,. I recently cut the cord. My husband has dementia and I was worried about his adjusting to a different way to watch TV. I considered keeping Comcast cable. Good news is he is doing fine, we are on Frontier and You Tube TV. Occasionally he gets into a dead end that he doesn't know how to get out of, generally its not big deal. I have all of this on a brand new LG OLED TV and this is my first time using a Smart TV. My question (not sure if this is in your area) but I need to have the TV go back to the last thing my husband watched or back to You Tube TV. when its turned back on.
The Advanced settings for the Home page does not solve the problem. The LB TV only wants to go be to its own streaming app which is horrible. Do you know a way to correct this?
I don't think so unfortunately.. What you could do is get a cheap Roku or something but there too you'll need to click through into an app to get it loaded up.
Hi Lon. I’m in Fairfield county as well, Shelton CT. I have internet only service through Comcast and RUclips TV. I can’t find WTNH New Haven News live. Can you suggest how I can get this programming? I can’t put up a big HD antenna because I’m in a condo, but I may be able to mount a modest size antenna on a portion of my roof with approval. Thanks! John
The antenna man can help! www.antennamanpa.com/index.html
If you get the 4K package, you get unlimited streams in the home and that keeps you from having to log back in at the house. YTTV will want the account that is used outside of the home to log in at your house within 3 months. I currently have a few family members added to YTTV and have them logged in to a device on my network and just randomly login to their profile every once and a while and have had no issue in nearly a year.
What speed internet did you get from Frontier. Is the base 500 MBS good enough for streaming?
That's what my Mom got - it should work great for streaming.
It says that the base plan gives you 3 simultaneous screens. That's what my plan says.But the youtube customer service tells me that if I want the three screens, I have to upgrade to 4K. I'm almost about to go back to spectrum.
So, "channel surfing" on RUclips TV looks to be a pain. Perhaps not a viable option for my mom. She currently has Dish Network, and she can easily enter the number of the channel (on the number pad on remote). She pops around from CNN, to Local channels, to TCM etc easily. I can't see her trying to first navigate to the channel guide, then scroll down each time to find her desired channel. Perhaps she could speak into the remote and it would take her there? not sure, but I bought her a $20 onn. Google TV HDTV streaming box (as reviewed by Lon) and she has a devil of a time navigating through it.
Is there a keyboard that will work with a smart tv?
I’m very happy with YTTV. Internet is included with my rent, so I just have to pay the YTTV monthly fee. I record a ton of shows, far more than I will ever watch. I don’t pay extra for the 4K service, the basic package is just fine for me. Much cheaper than Comcast!
This entire streaming model is out of control. With everything it's coming out to a car payment. I have it and it's OK, no MSG so no Knicks! No Patriots. You have to spend for the NFL subscription, but then it blacks out the Pats!!! 🤬
The best feature is the DVR.
If it wasn't for the Mets I'd throw all these TV streaming in the trash.
The absolute worst part is I pay for RUclips premium and I get no discount at all! 🤦🏻♂️
So I'm paying $90 a month, and $80 a month for my internet, so I'm right back to Cable prices. 🙄
All this crap is a rip off.
Thanks Lon.
thanks, very informative
When you setup your own server do the recordings still expire?
No on Channels they're stored on the local server.
Do they got mlb baseball back if I may ask
Is Lon a nXt fan !?
does it get OPBS ? public broadcasting channel
Did RUclips TV ever fix the 24 hour look ahead limit on the grid?
I appreciate your fair and in depth review -- but there are SO many of us who want a la carte. We want to be charged for WHAT we watch and HOW MUCH OF IT we watch.
I don't want to give a dime to Fox News or professional sports but will give bucks to Katy Tur (she rules), TCM (yes!) and the new Trek shows.
I don't RUclips should have to pay a nickel in licensing. Put it all on the customers based on what they watch and nothing else.
Does not have local stations,only the major networds
I agree with others that we should be able to pick and choose channels we want to pay for individually. Force-bundling channels I don't even watch and pay for is not ideal. If I could, I'd get rid of all the main stream news channels. I don't need those or have interest in paying to keep them.
can you cancel at anytime and start your account up again whenever?
yes
I used to use YTTV.... loved it, but the way the organize the DVR could be approved.
my problem with channel master is they don't support any of their devices. Hardly anyone makes apps for them to become popular. There are glitches galore in everything that eventually after you reset so many times fails you and causes permanent fatal errors.
Does RUclips TV have ads?
Hey Lon, why not go with Hulu + Live? I had it because it offered full 4k 5.1 surround and ESPN and NFL network. If all I care about is NFL, I can get that cheaper on Sling + I get the added bonus of the other channels. Once the NFL playoff schedule/networks is announced, depending upon what networks have what, I may cancel it at that time instead of at the end of the season. At least with Sling, I'm not paying getting and thus paying for local channels I already get via antenna on my HDHR Flex 4k.
They didn’t offer all of my local channels
I don’t believe sling gives you 5.1 sound. Sling sound is pretty basic.
@@fd4340 Yeah. And they only do 720p for live. To me, I don't really care about that any more because I'd only be using Sling to watch sports (mainly NFL games), which doesn't need to be 4k/5.1 surround.
4k is just a sales gimmick,not much available yet.
Hulu Live has dumb restrictions on being able to FF ads in certain situations. Also, they don't have the "Key Plays" feature that YTTV has. And they don't have the ability to add an entire league (NFL, NCAAF) to the DVR. You have to manually add each team or game, unlike YTTV. Those are the 3 reasons I prefer YTTV to Hulu Live as a CFB & NFL fan.
Back when I was a kid still living with my parents we did have cable(this was long before streaming services ever became a thing so think early mid 2000s). Now that I’m living on my own now as of 2013 I gave up cable and went straight to streaming(think Disney Hulu Netflix(or well used to have Netflix) etc). Honestly, I think I could better survive off Internet rather than cable. I know that’s what my friend told me as well(he’s currently on his way to Alaska since he’s now living there and moving his stuff). I wouldn’t think streaming Bill would be extremely high like how the cable bill is when it comes to paying bills like that iirc if anyone can let me know. Don’t get me wrong. I did like cable, but it’s not as interesting as streaming in my opinion.
I had youtubetv up until the recent $8 price hike. I liked it. Had the channels I wanted and unlimited dvr was great. I canceled while the tv season was ending/beginning of the writers strike so don’t feel like im missing anything and I also have Hulu. So can watch a lot the next day shows. In the mean time im saving money and got Plex lifetime for my locals
Plex for locals please tell me
Plex down the road may not have local atsc 3.0 support if your stations get the dreaded drm preventing you from streaming on the go.
Finally got rid of xfinity internet, they were charging $118 a month! Switched to At&t for $55 a month. Slower speeds but works for me!
i have at&t as my phone provider, with 50 gigs of hotspot. since my internet through them died about a year ago with no explanation, i went from $200 a month for internet and phone, to just $90 for both.
as soon as football season ends, directv and their $156.50 a month cost is next to go... and them taking away my hbo doesn't sweeten the deal.
How many devices can use it?
Three on the base plan, but you can pay more for six.
YTTV has been great for the last 4 years or so. DirecTV was our service before that and being limited to one TV to watch whatever was recorded on that DVR was not ideal. Also do not prefer to scroll through Netflix attempting to find a show, so for that I chose YTTV. Hands down better interface than a majority of the competitors.
Netflix ftw
U Tube please increase font on discription of show
Will a Apple lightning hdmi work for RUclips tv to a tv? I know RUclips works but not sure about RUclips tv. Thank you
beurocratic jargon relabeling things for their usage. Cord Cutting used to mean not paying anything. Free OTT and fine selection of torrents with sonarr is Cord Cutting.
The DVR feature not having an 'Only New' option is a dealbreaker. I have no interest in weeding through a bunch of additional recordings when all I want to see is the current weeks show.
I loved RUclips TV at $40 and even at $50, but I cancelled when they went to $65.
I believe YTTV is just slightly better than cable. Price has gone up from $45 to $73 in just a few short years, while the channel offerings has gotten somewhat smaller over this period. So I don't really see that switching from Cable is cord cutting, same issues but better platform and experience. But the main driver in our decision to cancel YTTV over the last month is that we just don't watch much TV anymore. We always maintained service for those occasional times we wanted to watch something, but at over a grand a year with tax we no longer do this.
Can you watch this on a actual TV as well?
@@roycegrissett3580 duh
sounds to me like a case of the devil u know to the devil u dun haha
This might be palatable if there was no advertising. Otherwise, paying this much per month is out of the question.
Boils my blood when you showed the RUclips tv pricing from 2017 to 2023 they are so ridiculous in pricing now days ! We need to take a stand against them
It's the broadcasters / cable networks driving the price increases.
@@LonSeidman I understand that it's just crazy lon but yea thanks for the videos you make and show the various things and services you make it easier to make a decision to get it or not
My parents are switching to YTTV and cutting Comcast. It seems to be going OK for them but I’m personally not a fan. I don’t like the interface nor how it’s DVR works. For my own use case, Hulu live TV is probably would be a better option.
Disney is looking to fully buy out Hulu, and combine it with Disney + into one app, and thus raise the price even higher even though they own a good chunk of the cable channels on the live side.
ayyiyi....i never streamed ANYTHING....getting ready to cut WOW cable and switch to wow w/ youtube....
i am extremely stressed.... how to even go to you tube for initial setup....
ayyiyi
Btw, the base plan doesn't allow downloads... that's part of the 4k package for an additional $10 a month.
isn't it lovely that no one gives a flying F about us consumers, except for extracting our money?
I've had RUclips TV for about 6 months and love it. My only complaint is that the algorithms pick up some of what we watch but there's a certain "news" organization that's always front and center on the first screens. I never watch the network and truly believe they participated in trying to eliminate American democracy.