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Ixian posted:Viacom still has the heavy hand of the Redstone family dictating major strategic decisions meaning corporate politics there are more complicated than usual. Who knows what the gently caress they are up to in other words. Other than slowly fighting the future instead of trying to find the best path to it. Yeah you have to keep that in mind. CBS and Viacom are both technically public companies but the Sumner and his daughter have supermajority control over them and Sumner may or may not be legally insane, the courts are still trying to sort that out.
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May 4, 2017 21:42
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bull3964 posted:I think the 'skew young' works too their advantage in the short term. Their audience is watching shows on apps that are using provider logins that their parents subscribe to. They are using the kids as a bargaining chip to the parents. "Don't cut the cord or your tween won't be able to watch such and such." Seems a bit of a stretch. I am sure that isn't unheard of, but I am more sure no one in Viacom can even see that as a single blip on their radar. Ixian fucked around with this message at 05:59 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 5, 2017 05:55
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RevKrule posted:If this had been 2 or 3 years ago when they were going through a renaissance but now, it's just a channel I don't get and don't care that I don't get it. Exactly my attitude toward them. At first my way of thinking was that channels and families of channels get hits out of nowhere all the time. AMC wasn't important until Mad Men, The Walking Dead, and Breaking Bad all came out at the same time and now I never look at it. FX always had Sunny, but it wasn't until Fargo that I actually cared about it. SyFy wasn't important to me until The Expanse. What if Viacom has something like that happen? That's when I realized that if they do end up getting good TV in the future I'll never know since I won't ever see it and I won't care.
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May 5, 2017 09:06
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We live in such a television golden age that you aren't going to watch everything you want to see anyway, so why try. I pick my shows now based on what my friends watch so I at least what they're talking about. Okay, so just to check once more. This is the current attic/outdoor antenna that I have for my mom's house: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYMVPVX/ref=twister_B01MT5QBAX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 It's pretty flimsy, but it's an antenna so I don't know if that's a problem or not. If I'm hiring someone to come out and install the antenna on a roof and wire it into her home would I want an outdoor only model like this? https://www.amazon.com/ViewTV-Outdo...r+antenna&psc=1 Or should I just worry about getting a separate amplifier for the non-powered antenna I already have? The remote control rotation sounds nice, but all of the channels she wants are southeast so that'd only be an issue if something pushes the antenna out of alignment. To recap, on a ladder in the backyard she gets PBS (that she really wants) and lovely ABC, CBS, and NBC (that I want her to have but she doesn't care much about). I'm hoping the extra 15 to 20 feet will make the big 3 come in properly. TVfool said I was a fool for trying an indoor antenna and they were right. Does the 150 mile range really mean anything. Would it get better reception than a 70 mile antenna for a TV transmitter that's 27 miles away?
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May 5, 2017 17:24
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If it's 27 miles away that all kinda seems like overkill. Probably worth trying an indoor flat antenna with an amplifier before going to all that trouble.
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May 5, 2017 17:31
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TheScott2K posted:If it's 27 miles away that all kinda seems like overkill. Probably worth trying an indoor flat antenna with an amplifier before going to all that trouble. Already tried. She got like 6 channels and none were any you'd like. Installing that first antenna I posted up into her attic got her 8 channels. So she's not getting poo poo indoors. There's a very large hill directly south of her home. It was only after I hooked her antenna to a ladder and pointed it towards the gap in the hill that she started getting channels she wanted. So outdoor installation it is. I just didn't know whether the technology that makes the antenna go 150 miles (ideal conditions, YMMV) collects more signal at shorter distances than a 70 mile antenna. EDIT: also, since according to your big red text you're a Kodi master, I was curious if I install Kodi on an Amazon Fire Stick can I revert back to Fire OS? I can't find an answer to that online.
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May 5, 2017 17:36
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Not a Kodi master, got this red text after a days long argument over the wisdom of recommending Kodi to normal humans (I was against). Kodi is an app, you're not replacing FireOS with it.
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May 5, 2017 17:51
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He loving loves Kodi. As for as reading "60 mile" or "2000 mile" in an antenna's description is mostly BS. Don't go by anything you read on amazon. I got this http://a.co/gPR39jA and it's pretty great for the price. If I had the effort and cash I would have gotten the 70 mile version of this http://a.co/6jbnSUR
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May 5, 2017 18:58
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Croatoan posted:He loving loves Kodi. I've got the 35 mile version of that, which works great, but the local transmitter for all of the stations is within my sight range, so I don't need a whole lot more.
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May 5, 2017 19:09
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Croatoan posted:He loving loves Kodi. Plex is for sex havers, Kodi is for forever alones.
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May 5, 2017 19:09
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TheScott2K posted:Plex is for sex havers, Kodi is for forever alones. But I use both?
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May 5, 2017 19:14
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Croatoan posted:But I use both? Ridiculous. That's ridiculous.
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May 5, 2017 19:17
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https://arstechnica.com/apple/2017/05/report-amazon-is-making-an-apple-tv-app-almost-2-years-after-it-said-it-would/quote:At long last, Amazon will release an official Prime Video app for the Apple TV—at least, if a new report from Recode is to be believed. Citing "people familiar with the two companies," the report indicates that Amazon and Apple are "close to an agreement" that would bring Amazon's app to Apple's box sometime over the summer. CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM MODE ENGAGED
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May 5, 2017 19:39
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I'll believe it when I see it in the App Store.
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May 5, 2017 19:49
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I would totally buy an Apple TV if they had an Amazon app. I think someone may have already gone over this, but I can't find it. If I stick with my GE 70 mile antenna, what should I use to amplify it? I know amplifying garbage just gives you more garbage, but if it improves a decent signal then it's still worth it.
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May 5, 2017 22:27
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Krispy Kareem posted:I would totally buy an Apple TV if they had an Amazon app. What aren't you getting that you want to get and what is the signal loss currently? That will tell you if an amp will help. Don't just plug and pray.
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May 5, 2017 22:43
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Ixian posted:What aren't you getting that you want to get and what is the signal loss currently? That will tell you if an amp will help. Don't just plug and pray. We're not getting much. At about 6 or 7 feet we get 5% signal on the big 3 channels. I'm hoping it's 30% on the roof pointed in the right direction. 30% appears to be the magic number for a decent signal. If I can add an amp later then I'll just wait and see what kind of reception I get.
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May 5, 2017 22:52
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Krispy Kareem posted:We're not getting much. At about 6 or 7 feet we get 5% signal on the big 3 channels. I'm hoping it's 30% on the roof pointed in the right direction. 30% appears to be the magic number for a decent signal. I don't know what standard the signal is being measured by at your house but generally speaking even 30% would be terrible. Atmospherics alone will play havoc that far on the edge. An amp isn't going help you with that weak a signal. You may need one if you are running a long, or patched, coax from the antenna on the roof. Have you actually tried it on the roof yet? Checked your signal directions and all that? How far away are you? You may need a different antenna. Ixian fucked around with this message at 01:13 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 01:10
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Krispy Kareem posted:Does the 150 mile range really mean anything. Would it get better reception than a 70 mile antenna for a TV transmitter that's 27 miles away? You mention having to aim between hills before to get any signal leaking by, so you have some really bad occlusion going on and no amount of amp is going to fix that. Are the hills on the property, or are we talking not-really-mountains-but-they're-drat-big kind of hills? Your problem may be solved by mounting the antenna on the roof if the hills are simply fold of the land close to the house. Just remember metal poo poo and cables on your roof need to be grounded.
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May 6, 2017 01:26
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Ixian posted:I don't know what standard the signal is being measured by at your house but generally speaking even 30% would be terrible. Atmospherics alone will play havoc that far on the edge. We tried it in the attic and the nearest antenna, an ION channel in the opposite direction came up with 90% signal strength (of course). I'm going with 30% as my baseline because that's what her PBS station came through as and the quality was good. I want better than that, but it looks like her antenna/tuner does okay with that reading.
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May 6, 2017 01:42
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So the OP hasn't been updated since 2012. What's the best resource for getting started on this?
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May 6, 2017 03:54
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Getting started on a new OP or getting started cutting cable?
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May 6, 2017 04:44
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:Getting started on a new OP or getting started cutting cable? Cutting cable.
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May 6, 2017 12:37
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Cutting cable. What are your needs? Do you need sports? Do you watch a bunch of shows or just a few? Do you need live tv or does on demand work?
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May 6, 2017 16:23
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Cutting cable. Here's a great place to start to be honest. https://www.cutcabletoday.com/
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May 6, 2017 17:04
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Burden posted:What are your needs? Do you need sports? Do you watch a bunch of shows or just a few? Do you need live tv or does on demand work? Hulu and OTA could probably handle our network TV needs. For me the big one is the NFL.
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May 6, 2017 17:39
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Hulu and OTA could probably handle our network TV needs. For me the big one is the NFL. You can get most NFL games OTA. Amazon just signed a deal that they will have Thursday night games so if you have Amazon prime you're all set for that. Some of us use our friends our families cable logins for apps like ESPN so you can get Monday night games that way. The whole thing about cable cutting is that it's extremely customizable. It really depends on what you want and what you want to spend.
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May 6, 2017 17:48
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Hulu and OTA could probably handle our network TV needs. For me the big one is the NFL. Sling has the NFL Network in the $25 Blue package. Also, it has RedZone for $10 in the sports package.
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May 6, 2017 17:57
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Silly Burrito posted:Sling has the NFL Network in the $25 Blue package. Also, it has RedZone for $10 in the sports package. These are wonderful things to hear. I assume Sling requires the SlingBox? What other services should I consider?
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May 6, 2017 18:20
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:These are wonderful things to hear. I assume Sling requires the SlingBox? What other services should I consider? That link Croatoan posted seems to have a good rundown of streaming services, both of the "big library" type and the "streaming cable package" type. And now apparently Hulu is going for both. E: and all the streaming services will have a 7-30 day free trial. WithoutTheFezOn fucked around with this message at 18:36 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 18:32
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:These are wonderful things to hear. I assume Sling requires the SlingBox? What other services should I consider? If you want ESPN, you will probably want the Sling Orange+Blue, which gets you ESPN. Otherwise, Blue gives you the Fox Sports. You can access Sling on a Roku, Android TV, PC, and other devices. If you search their site, they have deals on their AirTV player and Roku with 1-3 months of prepaid service. I'll probably reup for Blue once the season rolls around. It was the easiest way to get RedZone without a contract and without resorting to DNS and Gamepass shenanigans. There are also other services like DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, and Hulu's new service that will give you live sports too. You just have to see what channels you want.
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May 6, 2017 20:35
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:These are wonderful things to hear. I assume Sling requires the SlingBox? What other services should I consider? The basics (note I am assuming you are in the US, though many of the below options still apply overseas in some places): Pick a live streaming service. Go for what has the channel combo you want - thanks to industry wheeling and dealing they all offer a similar set of channels with a few significant differences. Read the fine print. Vue is a good one and popular here, so is Sling. DTV Now has a lot of channels but can be hit or miss. Hulu and Youtube TV are rolling their stuff out now as well. If you like "live" TV and sports you'll most likely want one of these. Most of them also offer some form of limited on-demand and DVR capabilities (Vue is the best at the latter). Pick a content streaming service. Your Netflix, your Amazon, your (first gen) Hulu, etc. Or, pick more than one. If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber you get Prime Video for free so that is a good start. Pick an OTA solution. If you live outside a major market like NYC or San Fran, etc. there is a decent chance that none of the live streaming services are going to be able to offer you all your local networks - NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, Uni, etc. It's hit or miss. If you are in this situation you'll want to go with an OTA solution, which outside the intitial investment is free and your birthright as a red-blooded American who leases the public airwaves to those broadcasters god-dammit. OTA can be tricky depending on the antenna/signal situation where you live but the easiest way is to get an antenna, (visit https://www.tvfool.com to determine what kind and where to point it) and hook it up to your TV assuming it has a digital tuner which most do. Slightly more advanced is to invest in a network TV tuner like the HDHomeRun Extend, hook the antenna up to that, then use an OTA app like Google Live Channels (Free on Android TV) or the Channels app (not free, on Apple TV) to view them. The better ones also offer DVR and timeshifting. I prefer Live Channels myself. Pick a streaming box. Lots of choices here, and no shortage of opinions. Since I am writing this post I'll give you mine, which is the Nvidia Shield TV (base model is usually fine). Cons: At $200 it is pricier than other options. Pros: It is awesome and works well, generally speaking, with most of the options I describe above. Thanks to exclusives and the newness of it all not all apps/solutions are available on all streaming boxes, but the Shield manages to tick off most if not all of the important ones. It's also one of the only truly great boxes for 4k TVs if you have one of those (you can get some VOD content in 4k these days, like Netflix Originals). All in, you'll probably spend around $60/month for a pretty extensive package that will offer more content then you or anyone you know could possibly watch in your lifetime. If you are really in to Football (Pro? Collegiate? Both?) pick a live streamer that has the best packages for your interests. Goes without saying you will need decent, reliable internet. Doesn't have to be the fastest package - even 4k content from Netflix doesn't really need more than 25Mbp/s, though that does need to be consistent.
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May 6, 2017 20:41
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Ixian posted:
One thing I"ll note is that Amazon's streaming content seems to have been getting worse over the last year or so. I'm seeing fewer and fewer real shows/movies and more and more of the bottom of the barrel poo poo tier - stuff like low budget direct to video horror and sci fi that even the Sci Fi channel at its lowest wouldn't have touched. Their Amazon produced stuff is also very hit or miss, much more so that Netflix. They have a couple of stand outs but most of it is firmly meh. If you're getting Prime anyways it's a cool extra thing to have and it's really convenient as a way to rent digital copies of movies. There's no way I'd grab it just for streaming, though.
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May 6, 2017 20:57
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Sounds great. We already use Netflix and Amazon, so tacking on a package and a good box shouldn't be a problem. In terms of service I read that owning my modem is a better option; what brand do people recommend, and will I need to do anything to make sure it's compatible with FIOS? Also what other boxes do people like, and why?
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May 6, 2017 20:58
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DirecTV continues to call me and ask me why we cancelled. This is probably the 5th time in the last 10 months. Every time I mention it was too expensive for what we actually watched and I would come back when they offer a la carte (not happening). Then I stick the dagger in and tell them I switched to PSVue. In all honesty, if DirecTV offered the exact same package of programming for the exact same price I'd switch back in a heartbeat. Too bad they want to charge box fees and HD access fees and DVR fees. They will never get close to the $30 a month I'm paying with Vue
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May 6, 2017 21:08
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Sounds great. We already use Netflix and Amazon, so tacking on a package and a good box shouldn't be a problem. In terms of service I read that owning my modem is a better option; what brand do people recommend, and will I need to do anything to make sure it's compatible with FIOS? As Cyrano essentially says, with Prime Video you get what you pay for. There's some decent stuff on there and some good originals. Man in the High Castle is probably their best original series at the moment. If you use Prime anyway it is a no brainer. If you have cable and the option is rent vs. own yes, always own. I don't know that with a true FIOS service (Verizon, ATT Gigapower) you can do that though. Generally speaking for cable internet a good DOCSIS 3 modem will work - read Amazon reviews, get one that can match the bandwidth your service provides. If your provider supports it it is usually as easily as calling them and giving them the id number of the modem. Tons of options on streaming boxes. The Shield is a great "pay a little more and don't worry about it" solution. Amazon's FTV series has been slowly improving but some folks hate them. Roku's are decent but aging. Apple TV is also good, but aging, and is really useful only if you are already invested in the iTunes ecosystem. Streaming sticks can be hit or miss, both Roku and Amazon offer decent ones, though if it were me (and in my case it is :  : ) I'd just get a Shield and not fuss about.
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May 6, 2017 21:12
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I think "DirecTV Now is hit or miss" is a little stale. I have 0 functionality issues with it (Root sports would make it perfect). Full disclosure: I have gigabit internet, but I seriously doubt it's anywhere close to necessary for a smooth experience. I really like that sling TV box that merges OTA and their service. What a genius idea. Is it pretty seamless? Can you just "flip channels" between ota content and sling content? I wish the DirecTV now app let you customize the guide. I know you can mark favorites, but I'd like to group them by category rather than alphabetical.
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May 6, 2017 21:32
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RZA Encryption posted:I think "DirecTV Now is hit or miss" is a little stale. I have 0 functionality issues with it (Root sports would make it perfect). That's nice. Some of us had problems. I have no problem actively steering people away from a service can't deliver it's product. I held onto the $35 Go Big until I finally gave up on it in April. Had nothing but problems with freezing channels and the regional sports channels were guaranteed to be all messed up more often than showing the correct teams. I have 75 Mbps connection and have zero issue with video delivery for Vue, Sling, and even Hulu TV (although I don't like Sling's UI and Hulu's UI and guide make it completely unusable). My recommendation is going to be to do trials of each of the service and pick the one that works best.
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May 6, 2017 22:48
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Doing the trials is a good idea. The problems are not universal.
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May 6, 2017 23:25
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I was taking this opportunity this rainy weekend to play around and compare services. I still can't fully get rid of my FiOS tv since I'm under agreement, but I can drop down to just the locals if I really wanted to which makes it a very marginal addition over my internet. I already resolved this week to start purchasing my "top tier" shows from Vudu as they air because the quality is so much better than you get anywhere right now outside of blu-ray. However, if I do drop down to locals on FiOS (or ultimately get rid of TV altogether), I want to have a service that fills the gap and gives me stuff like Adult Swim, Syfy, or TBS so I don't have to purchase EVERYTHING. I mean, I enjoy watching Angie Tribeca, but I don't really want to own it. I started out with the Hulu service earlier this week. It was a natural add on since I already sub to Hulu Commercial Free. It shows promise, but it's a 30fps service so the framerate isn't what I would call "smooth" with 24fps material (which is the vast majority of dramas out there.) Next, this afternoon, I added SlingTV to the mix. I would call the quality a tiny bit below Hulu and it exhibits the same framerate issues. No included DVR at all. It's the cheapest of the services and still included Comedy Central which would be good for The Daily Show. The framerate issues like Hulu make it unusable really IMO for anything outside of talking head shows. Next up with Playstation Vue. This is a 60fps service which is the framerate that most TVs are accustomed to coping with when it comes to 24fps material. So, motion on it was no worse than any 720p60 TV station which means it's head and shoulders above the others. Decent streaming quality for live TV, included DVR (and I queued up a bunch of stuff to record.) Easy interface as well when coupled with the ShieldTV's Voice Remote. I'll probably give DIrecTV now a try before the weekend is up and see what that's like. At the end of the day though, I'm unlikely to keep any of these services as none of them seem demonstrably better than negotiating a decent double play deal with your cable provider and their quality just still isn't quite there. My two goals with this outing were quality first and finding the most optimal channel distribution for the money. At the moment, I'm paying $122 /month out the door for a FiOS double play with one of their custom TV bundles and 75/75 internet. That includes HBO and a cablecard for my TiVo. So, including TiVo service that I pay annually, that brings things up to $134/month. PSVue Slim with HBO takes me to about $54 after taxes. So, essentially, I would need internet to be no more than about $80 to break even That's doable without a doubt, but the savings aren't going to be huge. So, I'm more or less back to square one. At this point, the only way I'm doing minimum cost with maximum quality is selectively purchasing just as much as I have time to watch at any one point in time and leaving the rest to show up on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon at a future date. If I want any live/linear channels at all with any sort of DVR functionality, it's almost always going to be more or less a wash (and for now) higher quality to keep some level of FiOS TV service. After 9 months and my agreement is up, we'll see how things shake out then. If I can get super cheap internet service above the 50mbps tier or if they are going to jump the cost of my package significantly, then I'll re-evaluate the services. So, in summary: Video quality similar between all I've tried. Playstation Vue has both the superior UI and the best motion out of all of them. None of these OTT linear services are going to be much of a deal over a normal double play internet/tv bundle. It's good to have choices, but all are pretty much smelling the same now and I wouldn't really call any of these services cutting the cord. bull3964 fucked around with this message at 23:37 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 23:34
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