I’m thinking about cutting the cord to my cable service, and I want to see how much content I can replace more cheaply thru online streaming. I know most networks, and many individual programs, have websites where you can go and navigate through a maze of crap to get to whatever actual episodes they make available, but that’s a huge hassle.
I’m more interested in some kind of bundled service, more like a cable or satellite provider that runs channels and offers On Demand programming. I’ve seen ads for a few. As it’s very hard to judge, I love to get some opinions from folks who’ve tried them.
One other question – I’ve tried and failed to find any avenue to get HBO (which I have now) online, without a cable or satellite provider. I know about HBO go, but that requires a cable/sat provider intermediary. Am I missing something – does an online service bundler provide HBO?
Hulu is the only major “bundle” service out there. You can use it to watch shows from most of the major broadcast networks (NBC, Fox, ABC, etc.) There’s a free version but you can only use it on your PC. With the “plus” version, $8/month, you can watch on any number of devices that you can plug into your TV, like game consoles or the Roku. Both versions include some ads, but it’s less than you get with normal TV.
Beyond that, you can purchase a-la-cart episodes of many shows from either Amazon Streaming or Itunes for about $2. That’s how I’m currently watching Mad Men and Mythbusters. Again, you can watch these episodes with devices that plug into your TV, like the Roku, or the Apple TV if you want to stick with Itunes.
Currently, HBO and the other “premium” networks don’t offer any way to stream their shows without a cable subscription. (IMO they’re going to be left behind if they don’t make HBO Go available to people without cable).
There’s also Netflix Streaming, which doesn’t have any current TV shows, but it has a huge back-catalog of old episodes. It’s also $8/month.
Between Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon, I can watch anything I want for $16/month plus another $8-$16/month for a-la-carte episodes. (And you’ll need a good broadband connection, too.)
AFAIK Hulu is the only official, legitimate streaming service out there. It’s backed by a consortium of major networks. The rest of the services that you link are of questionable legitimacy (at best). Basically, they’re based overseas, and re-broadcast a pirated cable or satellite feed over the internet. And none of them (again AFAIK) will play on a Roku or any other common streaming media device.
Um…what? Go to NBC.com - notice the big giant “VIDEO” at the top? Click it. That gives you a big giant list of shows you can watch. Now go to CBS.com. There’s a big giant “Watch” at the top. Click it. At abc.com there’s a big “Watch episode” button at the top. This is not “a huge hassle”, and couldn’t be more simple.
Ok, that’s good to know, though I haven’t looked for a while. Still, I’d much prefer a single consolidated system that has viewing schedule and access to the individual shows on multiple networks to watch on demand.
Hulu is entirely “on demand”. No schedule at all. Usually episodes are available the day after the first broadcast date, and stay available for at least a few weeks. And again, if you want to watch from your PC, it’s free.
Yes, but maybe there are other comparable, and cheaper, options online. Like I said above, there are a bunch of services being advertised, and I’m hoping some folks have tried more than one of them.
Hulu (plus CBS.com) does everything you’ve asked, other than provide HBO Go, which is not available to people who do not have (or know someone who has) HBO as a paid provider.