Hi! If you read my article last week about cutting the cord with Tampa area cable companies, you'll know that I decided to give it a shot by exploring a few online services. I had already been using Netflix and Amazon Prime to watch movies and shows but I was looking for alternatives to watch live TV so I could catch news and other shows live.
I ruled out Sling TV because their channel line-up was limited (the kids need Disney Junior!) and had initially ruled out PlayStation Vue because I was under the (now corrected) impression Vue didn't have an AppleTV app. This left me with DirecTV NOW and I took advantage of pre-paying for three months to get the free AppleTV they were offering.
One week later...
So it's been almost a week and I don't miss my Frontier FiOS TV at all. DirecTV NOW took a little getting used to but the family was able to figure it out. The kids' channels, such as Disney Junior, have AppleTV apps available so my older AppleTV units can still watch live TV using those apps. The apps also support the DirecTV NOW provider for activation.
I also tried installing the PlayStation Vue app on a couple of the newer AppleTVs I have (one that was so generously provided by DirecTV NOW). I tried PlayStation VUE and, while I do not like the channel navigation as much as I like DirecTV NOW's, I love the DVR functionality and I find that it is faster at startup and changing channels than DirecTV NOW.
What Did We Give Up?
I was bummed that PlayStation Vue does not have the History Channel but I might be able to live with that. PlayStation Vue does offer some local TV stations (we're in Tampa, so we get limited local channels. The Vue website lists local areas and their coverage)
The Geeky Stuff
On one of my TVs, I was able to fully integrate volume control via the AppleTV as well as automatically powering the TV on and off. This essentially eliminated the need for a separate remote. As a bonus, this is often an automatic process that doesn't require any programming on the user's part.
My living room TV still needs a Logitech Harmony remote because there's an A/V receiver involved. I could integrate volume control, though.
Where Are We Now?
Dissatisfaction is still pretty high in our local Tampa market with our previous cable provider. So far, I'm happy with my choice to cut cable and now I have to decide which service to keep. I am leaning towards PlayStation Vue because of the DVR, however, the navigation and interface needs some work. I think DirecTV NOW has some catch-up to do but it is a fine product.
The best news came from sharing the last blog post with one of our clients at DataCorps. He took the information we presented and between his home and his commercial locations around the Tampa area, he was able to save over $6,000 for the year!
We love hearing success stories like that from our clients! Have you been able to save money by cutting the cord? Let us know your victory stories below!
