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skinny bundle cable TV has arrived

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  • skinny bundle cable TV has arrived

    Spectrum has a new ala carte service called TV Choice. It's a streaming TV option that's available if you have their Internet. $21.95/month for 24 months, no contract, no cable box required. You get all the local channels, then you pick 10 channels to add such as CNBC, CNN, MSNB, Fox News, Food Network, Lifetime, ESPN, TNT, Disney, Discovery, Historey, etc. I'm currently paying $45 a month for PlayStation Vue and should I switch to Spectrum TV Choice it would cut my TV bill in half. Pretty exciting to me.


    This seems to be a great service but the only problem I see with this service is that it can only be viewed from your laptop/computer or mobile device. This service doesn't seem compatible with streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire device, Google's Chromecast, etc. I would have to "hardwire" my TV set to my computer via an SVGA cable or other cable. Not sure if a "smart TV" would be compatible.


    Anyone familiar with this new service or other similar services from other providers?

  • #2
    Not familiar, but you have peaked my interest in checking into how it might work for us.
    My other blog is Your Organized Friend.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by QuarterMillionMan View Post
      This seems to be a great service but the only problem I see with this service is that it can only be viewed from your laptop/computer or mobile device. This service doesn't seem compatible with streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire device, Google's Chromecast, etc. I would have to "hardwire" my TV set to my computer via an SVGA cable or other cable. Not sure if a "smart TV" would be compatible.
      I can stream whatever is on my phone to my TV via AppleTV. I can watch whatever is on my laptop on a TV with an HDMI cable. We often do that when we're traveling so that we can watch Netflix in the hotel. The fact that you can't go directly to the TV is only a very minor inconvenience at this point.
      Steve

      * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
      * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
      * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by QuarterMillionMan View Post
        I would have to "hardwire" my TV set to my computer via an SVGA cable or other cable. Not sure if a "smart TV" would be compatible.
        I may be completely wrong on this, but I'm highly doubting a smart TV that's already been bought an installed will have anything for this. I say that because a smart TV is what it is at the time of purchase, whereas the peripherals (roku, AppleTV, etc) can update and add apps.

        I've found that 5 years without cable...I just don't miss it. So this "a la carte" thing does not really interest me. I guess it interested me enough to read and respond to this thread though....

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        • #5
          Oh I will have to check this out! In my neck of the woods, Spectrum just took over TW. If you don't have boxes on all tvs you get nothing but a black tv. We had a box on the family room tv but I refused to pay the monthly rental fee for one on the bedroom tv, so I got a Roku stick. The agent was kind enough to tell me if we had spectrum cable and either a smart tv or roku stick we could stream to the other tvs without the box. It is a few more steps to get the upstairs tv on but for as much as it gets watched it'll do. They never mentioned this skinny package when I was doing my, "it's too expensive, I can't afford it, speel. There was nothing cheaper than what I had, and this was just in December.

          I'm not sure if my DH will go for streaming on the main tv? Our kids when home all stream netflix and gaming on their devices so I'm not sure if we'd get any kind of lag, that would be a no go for DH. Think I'll do some poking around the site to see if I can find this in our area. Maybe in the future? Thanks!!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Thrif-t View Post
            I'm not sure if my DH will go for streaming on the main tv
            I would say that 90% or more of my "TV" watching is actually streaming, primarily Netflix. We watch it on the family room TV via AppleTV. On occasion when there is something we want to see that isn't on Netflix, we will stream to the TV from my phone or my wife's iPad.

            I would love to slash the cable bill but I have to get the rest of the family onboard with that.
            Steve

            * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
            * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
            * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

            Comment


            • #7
              I'd be fine with it Steve, but DH is technology challenged. He just wants to hit the button for it to go on, any more than that and he is yapping! I tell ya he's such an old man already. If I didn't have him I'd get rid of the cable in an instant!

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Thrif-t View Post
                I'd be fine with it Steve, but DH is technology challenged. He just wants to hit the button for it to go on, any more than that and he is yapping! I tell ya he's such an old man already. If I didn't have him I'd get rid of the cable in an instant!
                Our problem is that there are a few things we watch that aren't easily available through streaming (unless you include the not-so-legal sites). BBC America is one channel we all like to have and it's only included in the more expensive cable packages.
                Steve

                * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
                * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
                * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

                Comment


                • #9



                  I'm trying to post an image of the Spectrum TV Choice flyer (using imgur). Any advice welcomed with instructions of how to do so. I used to use Photobucket but not familiar with imgur.

                  This is the link.
                  Last edited by QuarterMillionMan; 02-15-2018, 07:10 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.


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                    • #11
                      I found a discussion about it on Reddit with more info https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters...ottom-comments

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                      • #12
                        Ok I'm not sure if this is available in my area? I found this page, put in my address, picked my 10 channels but there is no submit or anything? Which makes me think it might not be available in my area? Wonder if anybody else tries this and gets anything different? Like a submit button?

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                        • #13
                          Hubby downloaded some TV shows that I like and I haven't had the TV on in weeks. I watch on my laptop that I can carry around the house if I want to watch/listen and do something else besides. His efforts for doing the downloading was his Christmas gift to me since he had no money.

                          I don't even understand streaming, but I have a new cell phone coming to use and review. Can these streaming things be seen on cell phones? If so I will probably have some questions once I get it. It has a 5.5" screen, so I don't know it if is big enough to want to watch something on it. Compared to my Tracfone that thinks it is perpetually 75 degrees, it will be interesting to see what this one can do.

                          This probably sounds stupid, but how do all you guys figure this stuff out? I never see instructions for any of these various ways to get TV. We are happy with our foil wrapped rabbit ears, but I think as part of Amazon Prime we are supposed to be able to download movies. I would like to take advantage of something I am paying for besides the free book every month.
                          Gailete
                          http://www.MoonwishesSewingandCrafts.com

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Thrif-t View Post
                            Ok I'm not sure if this is available in my area? I found this page, put in my address, picked my 10 channels but there is no submit or anything? Which makes me think it might not be available in my area? Wonder if anybody else tries this and gets anything different? Like a submit button?

                            https://www.spectrumtvchoice.com/#
                            Hum it looks like you’re right Thrif-t, I too picked my 10 channels but unable to submit. It must not be available yet.

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                            • #15
                              Gailete streaming is just a fancy word for watching something over the internet. In this case with spectrum you would watch tv thru the internet instead of thru cable. So yes, you could watch on your phone thru the internet, but you would want to be sure to be on wifi and not getting the internet thru your phone data because that would cost you money if you pay for data.

                              Wifi is just the internet thru your home provider or sometimes when you are out and about different establishments let you get on their wifi for free to access the internet. I have a tracfone and also a home phone so I keep my data off on my tracfone and only use the internet over my home or work wifi, so it doesn't cost me any $$.

                              Also if you have Amazon prime then when you go to the amazon site you can access the Prime Video(look for it in the dropdown menu) and watch all kinds of things for free on their site, thru the internet on a device/phone/ computer what have you. Right now I'm on a kick watching all the old Family Affair episodes; they have a bunch of old time shows on Amazon prime, that I just love watching.

                              How did I learn? Oh reading, talking to people, and some trendy things I learn from my kids. Let me know if you have any other questions, I'll try to help.

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