When we decided to get rid of DirecTV, we were paying over $100 every month. Lots of times we would flip through hundreds of channels and find nothing interesting to watch. We talked about it for months and eventually, of course, we cancelled DirecTV right before the Rockies were in the World Series, but who would have thought they’d get that far?!
Since then, we’ve found that there are a number of different websites and applications that allow you to watch movies, news shows, and weekly or nightly TV shows without having to subscribe to a cable or satellite service. All of these services come with a free trial.
Netflix – Starts at $7.99 for one viewer/ $9.99 for 2 / $11.99 for 4 viewers – Netflix is what we primarily use at our house and we’re pretty happy with it. Downsides? There are times when it “thinks” and we watch the little red circle spin round and round for minutes on end. They also don’t seem to like when you watch two many movies back-to-back-to-back.
Amazon Prime – $99 per year – Not just movies, Amazon Prime includes free two day shipping, streamed music, Kindle books, etc.
Hulu – $7.99/month, $11.99/month without commercials – You can watch current episodes and entire seasons of TV shows. The fine print says that some of the more popular shows still have commercials, but they are limited to the beginning and end of the show as opposed to interrupting the show two or three times with commercials.
YouTube has always been free, but there is the time hassle of finding what you want. Increasingly, there are commercials either before or during the video. Commercial shows are generally not available on YouTube.
HBO Now – $14.99/month – You no longer need to subscribe to a cable or satellite service to get Home Box Office!
Acorn TV – $4.99/month with first month free – For folks who like British shows. A friend of mine has been streaming Acorn for quite a while now. She and her husband really like it.
A lot of news and comedy shows are available online the day after they’ve been broadcast live. Shows like:
- The Rachel Maddow Show
- The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – This is an HBO show, but video clips are available on YouTube
- Real Time with Bill Maher – Also an HBO show with its own YouTube channel
- Comedy Central has shows like South Park, Drunk History, Comedy Underground and Tosh.0
Some news stations provide taped videos and live streaming of their news programs. Some of these include:
- ABC News –
- CNN – you can watch various videos. Live CNN news is only available to cable or satellite subscribers.
- MSNBC – has a number of regular programs that you can watch the day after they have been aired. Like CNN, you can only watch MSNBC Live as a subscriber to cable/satellite.
- CBC -Canadian news
- BBC -British news
And finally….
Roku – works with your existing TV to stream whatever apps you’ve signed up for. In this case the cost is for the hardware – $50 – $130 plus the cost of streaming apps. Roku works with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, PBS, Acorn TV, and many others.
Apple TV – Works like a Roku or Amazon Fire TV, where it needs an internet network connection to retrieve content, and has an HDMI jack which contains video and audio which outputs to an HDMI-input port on your television. It has a small and narrow shaver-like remote control and can display video from apps such as Netflix and Hulu. The differentiator of Apple TV is that it can be used to remotely display the content of your Apple computer. But the computer must be within about 10-15 feet of your high-end WiFi router, or else the video artifacts will make the display look very blocky.
Which of these services do you use? Are there others that you use that I didn’t include? Let me know your favorites in the comments below!
Information about Geek For Hire, Inc.
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PCs for the past eighteen years. Angie’s List and the BBB rate Geek For Hire very highly. You can find more on our website, or give us a call 303-618-0154. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3 support) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area as well as remote service throughout North America.
We’ve been using Amazon Prime for the past few years. We like the free and fast shipping. With Prime, we have access to online streaming too. Prime is usually $119/year, but you can get a free 30-day trial by clicking on this link: Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
I fully agree with you on this one, I’ve done it every year until i came to an relzoaatiin last year when i found myself deciding between paying my bills or throwing Aiyannah an extravagant party. I decided not to, thank god i did because she ended up having an asthma attack and having to stay in the house for almost her whole party. Learned my lesson,I just hope some women wake up and get their priorities straight.
Glad this article helped you!