Apple TV coverage (ongoing thread)

Thanks for sharing, I used to have Directv satellite and now with internet and subscription, peacocks, paramount plus, ESPN+ bundle and Apple TV + and MLS season pass, I pay less than Directv
I watch also EPL through peacock or OTA NBC or Telemundo but not on USA channel or Universo,
but if you want to save $, cable is not the best option in my opinion.

 

I don’t think you’re wrong at all. The issue I always have with cable or satellite is I’m paying for a bunch of stuff I don’t watch. I don’t mind paying for something if I get value for it. I bought the Apple MLS deal because I like MLS and will get value for it. Same for Peacock, etc.

But that’s just me. I fully understand why some wouldn’t see the value.

 

A slow buildup is likely the best option for most people. It's definitely what I did. Once Covid hit, and I realized I was going to be home for a year or more, I started figuring out what was on each service and when/if I wanted to use it.

To get the combination of internet speed and channel selection that I want, my local cable company would charge $175 before taxes, with a total bill going over $200/mo. They include no streaming services either free or a discount. Going through DirecTV would be about $10 more before adding in an internet option and taxes would land around the same spot.

What I ended up doing is spending some time putting together spreadsheets that now get updated monthly via the Wikipedia pages for each. One for TV and the other for movies. I've got tabs for each streaming service and then an upcoming tab for things with an announced date (which is where I'll put network TV and theater first movies). The biggest advantage of that system is I realized quickly both which streaming services I would use most and when I would use them. The last one I tried out was Apple TV+ and now it's the one I watch most and would get rid of last.

My current setup is 1GB fiber internet which AT&T charges less for after taxes than the cable company charges for theirs before taxes and includes HBO Max for free. YouTube TV most of the year, but I might turn it off for 2-3 months during the summer. Then it's the streaming services according to what they're showing that month. If I had everything active in a month it would be:

AT&T - $80.42
YTTV - $70.35
Apple+ - $7.57
Paramount + & Showtime - $8.65
Peacock - $5.40
Disney Legacy Bundle - $16.23
Netflix w/ads - $7.57
HBO Max - (free with internet)
Prime Video - (free w/Prime Membership)

Those are listed in order of preference for me. That's $196.10, after taxes, for everything. I don't think I've had more than 1-2 months with everything active. Realistically, I routinely get rid of Netflix for 3-4 monhts at a time, reduce the Disney stuff down to just ESPN+, and have paused Peacock for a while as well. I think my cheapest month was just internet, Apple+, and Paramount+ before it had the Showtime add-on.

I landed there, but it was legitimately 18-24 months of tinkering before figuring out exactly how I was going to do things. If things got to a point financially where I had to tighten up a bit, I'd be confident that having the internet speed, Apple+, Paramount+ (without Showtime), and maybe alternating Peacock and ESPN+ would be plenty.

 

Wow, well done on this analysis. I'm impressed and learned something. I pay my cable company for internet as we don't have AT&T available - at least we didn't a few years ago. Time to check again.

 

Also please don’t forget that if you have TMobile as I do, you can get the MLS Season pass for free for 2023. The promo is still going on through next week. I already am using mine.

 

Forgive me please for quoting your entire post, but I have to again say how I admire people who can do all that research and keep it straight in their heads without getting frustrated and just walking away and reading a book instead.

We had Time Warner cable and internet before, then they were bought by Spectrum. In early 2020, after COVID hit, my then-employer went to a work-from-home business model. I discovered that it was impossible to stay connected to the company network for more than a few minutes. So I called Spectrum and asked what could be done.

They told me we were still on the "Time Warner bundle." To get faster internet, which I needed in order to stay employed, they advised me to switch to the "Spectrum bundle." They told me the internet speed would be many times faster, AND we would still have all the cable channels we had with the Time Warner bundle, AND it would COST LESS.

Well, after getting the new modem and cable box from Spectrum, I discovered that while my internet was much faster, I had FEWER channels than before. And the monthly bill was actually HIGHER. When I called Spectrum to complain, they said the person who had told me before what to expect was incorrect. Sorry!

One of the channels we no longer had was BeIn, which I used to watch every day. They had German soccer, French soccer, rugby, etc. Thanks, Spectrum!

One of my planned projects for this winter was to look for an alternative to Spectrum. Unfortunately, real life things have intervened. Problems with the house, my wife's health problems, etc.

It sucks to get old.

 

Spectrum is notoriously bad. Old school wrestling manager Jim Cornette has a podcast where he's devoted numerous segments to just trashing that company for their incompetence and dishonesty.

When I first moved to Lubbock (December 2017) the only internet options were HughesNet (satellite) or Suddenlink (cable). I went with Suddenlink since it was much cheaper than an unlimited data option from Windstream. At first they only had 400mb as the top speed, they charged over $100/mo for it, and it routinely capped out at about 250mb actual speed. To put a cherry on top I had a stretch of 2-3 days where it wasn't going above 40mb speeds. I called and they finally sent a repairman to fix it. When he left the speed actually got worse, and on top of that he reported it back to the company as there being nothing to fix so they charged me $175 for the service call.

About 18 months after that AT&T came in and started adding fiber with 1GB speeds and the first year deal was something like $68 after taxes. It's now $80.42 after taxes while the cable company, which is now called Optimum (it's gone Suddenlink, Altice, Optimum in 3 years) charges $80 before taxes for that speed. The IT guys at work say the estimate is about 75% of the city has switched to AT&T since they actually get close to advertised speeds.

Traditional cable companies are dying for several reasons, and their approach to being internet providers is definitely part of it. I don't think I would willingly signup for one unless it was Xfinity. I think the biggest key for me is that fiber seems to consistently outperform cable. If you find a good internet option, I'd suggest going with YouTube TV (base plan is $70.35 after taxes in Texas) and there's a $10.99 add on sports package that has Bein, Fox Soccer Plus, and a few other channels.

 

Comcast/Xfinity just pulled this on me. Ping them on Chat for a tech issue, "hey while you're here I see we could change you to this package and save you money", I ask multiple times about not losing channels/services and am explicitly told I won't lose things, only to lose things the minute they switch me.

Took 9 different contacts through chat, Twitter DMs, and phone to get back to what I had at the price I had. The final contact, and the only one who was actually apologetic and up front that they had screwed me, was a woman working from a call center in the Philippines. She was up front and said "yeah, we keep getting these calls about people being told one thing by the reps and then not getting it. I'm going to use your experience as another example of why its not helping the company". In the end she got me back to what I should have been on with no change in my bill. And by submitting my story (I assume) I ended up with something like $350 of credit on my account. But it was 2 days of constant frustration to get there.

 

My parents have Spectrum (formerly Time Warner), and they are constantly complaining about the service.

Windstream.....thanks for the nightmares!!! I used to deal with them at my last job...........don't wish that on my worst enemy, lol.

I agree, if you can get Verizon FiOS (or equivalent) and then Youtube TV, I so far after nearly 3 months have zero complaints or issues.

Comcast/Xfinity is the worst. Constantly raising prices, and their equipment, DVR, and local content and RSN fees.....are ridiculous. Of course I'm sure the Billion dollar deal they have with the Phillies doesn't help the RSN fee any.....

My January bill (they send the invoice a month before they charge you) was the last straw. I switched three days later and haven't looked back. Surprisingly my prorated bill for January with them was only like $60 for 10-14 days I still used them. My January invoice was originally for north of $260 after taxes and fees. If I changed my internet speed and downgraded packages....I would have lost all of the channels I actually do watch!!!

 

Funny story, recently we figured out that despite living in Denver, our X1 box is registered as being in Philly (I'm assuming its defaulted to company HQ in Philly). That means none of the Colorado teams are blacked out if I use the ESPN+ app on the Xfinity X1 box, but the Philly teams are.

 

I like how the Fox games feel old school already.

 

I know this has been brought up in other threads, but Apple having the final score on the thumbnail kills watching games after the fact. I can rarely watch these games live, but this “feature” ruins my ability to watch games the next day without immediately knowing the outcome.

 

This is a pet peeve of mine because it is such a 20th century approach. In the old days, it would be difficult to know the scores of other games. Even if you didn’t live in the states, and lived somewhere where the newspapers reported soccer scores, you would still have to wait for the next day’s edition. Or at least until the evening news came on that night.

But now, everybody has a phone at arms reach that will instantly provide them the scores of any games they are interested in. No need for the archaic updates in the corner of a screen. This is a tradition that needs to end.

 

Totally agree. Apple and MLS should REMOVE the spoiler game results. All of them! Last night I went to watch LAFC and New England on a slightly delayed basis. First thing I see on my MLS Season Pass is the game’s final score. I’m wondering if I’ve wasted $99.

 

So I’m trying to watch the full 90’ replay of games and all I’m getting is the 7’ recap. Gone to past matches scrolled down to how to watch, and all I get is the recap. When I hold for three seconds I should get the choice of the English version or Spanish version fill 90’, but all I get is the recap. It does say I’m subscribed. I have been able to watch full matches the past three weeks. What is going on?

 

You need to turn off live scores in settings.

 

Your local MLS team should be free on the app. Its ridiculous that i cant watch the quakes without paying $15 a month for it. How does this help MLS growth locally??

 

You paid a lot more than $15 for cable, and if you pay the yearly fee it's not $15 month, it's $8.25 and it's more than just the games.

Why are so many people incapable of understanding something as simple as CABLE ISN'T FREE?

 

Don't know about other companies but Apple has never been the same without Jobs.

 

Same for me. https://www.bigsoccer.com/index.php?posts/41260539

 

This is a dumb argument. Yeah cable isnt free but i get 100+ other channels with it, not just soccer. Also, 70% of the Bay Area Market has cable. Why is it i can watch USL Oakland roots on cable but not the Quakes?? How does this help the casual fan??

 

It's only a dumb argument if you don't understand how money works. Getting 100+ channels of mostly crap that nobody watches isn't a deal. That's not a selling point and it's exhibit A for why cable is way too expensive and traditional cable/satellite companies are bleeding customers. I spend less per month for 1 GB internet, YouTube TV, and 5 streaming services than I did for 400mb internet and the cable package required to get all the sports channels I wanted. The only thing lost in that is the RSNs which are all going bankrupt anyways.

70% of the Bay Area being dumb enough to still have cable doesn't change the basic math.

You can watch 17 Oakland Roots games on KTVU+ (only available on AT&T, Comcast, DISH, and DirecTV), but that's only the away games. To watch their home games you either have to go to the games or get an ESPN+ subscription which has an annual price that's the same as the MLS Season Pass annual subscription. If you've seen how bad the broadcast quality is on much of what ESPN+ broadcasts, you know you're typically not getting your money's worth.

Oh, and there's 6 free MLS games this week and 5-6 free games each week for most of the season. The only thing missing from the subscription options is a single team purchase for a discounted price, like MLB and NBA do, but that's it.

 

Jobs-era Apple would charge people 1 dollar per song.

 

And this is the point. I dont want to watch the dynamo vs austin or redbulls vs colorado. I want to watch the quakes only. Why do i have to pay for a full league subscription to watch one team? And the streaming plan you have works for YOU. You are not me and we have different TV viewing habits. I dont have to pay extra to watch the giants or the niners or the warriors but i have to pay extra to watch 2nd rate soccer?? Apple TV only works for the die hard fans like yourself, not the casual fan