Thinking about cutting the cord? Is cutting the cord right for me?

Home > Thinking about cutting the cord? Is cutting the cord right for me?

Intro

There is no one size that fits all, if you choose to cut the cable from your cable or satellite provider by making the switch to IPTV here are a few things you should take into consideration:

You will still need to be subscribed to your cable or satellite provider's internet service preferably with high speed internet otherwise you may experience buffering in which you will not be able to get the full potential that IP TV has to offer.

Streaming services

There are a lot of streaming services out there, it is strongly recommended that you do shop around, some of them offer free trials, so if you decide to take a vantage of the free trial that is offered be sure to cancel prior to the free trial ending otherwise you will automatically be charged for the service until you cancel. I'm going to start with free working my way up to I think personally the most expensive so far that I have found.

Pluto TV Plus is a free streaming service that offers a wide verity of entertainment. Live TV and EPG (No credit card required.)
Tubi is a free streaming service that allows you to watch free movies and TV shows (VOD). (No credit card required.)
VUDU is a free streaming service that allows you to watch free movies and TV shows (VOD, New TV shows, and movies and classic shows, no credit card required but you can upgrade to a paid version.)
IMDbTV (Internet Movie Database TV) is a free streaming service that allows you to watch free movies and TV shows (VOD, New TV shows, and movies and classic shows, no credit card required but you can upgrade to a paid version.)
Peacock TV is a free streaming service that allows you to watch free movies and TV shows (VOD, New TV shows, and movies and classic shows, no credit card required but you can upgrade to a paid version.)
Amazon Prime Video, if you already are subscribe to Amazon Prime then you can watch most TV shows and movies from there video on-demand library although some TV shows and movies are not included with Amazon prime. Credit card is required, discounts are available if you are a student, receive government assistance.
Hulu is a paid subscription service with a different subscription tears. While Hulu does not offer live TV they do have pretty up-to-date TV shows and movies from the networks along with original programming. (Credit card required)
Netflix more focuses on its original programming although they do have shows and movies from the networks. (Credit card required)
Discovery + Plus is owned by Discovery Networks, which is part of the Magnolia Family. If you are considering to subscribe to anything, you certainly should check out Discovery + Plus is it on quite a bit of the other networks such as but not limited to Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, Destination America, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Animal Planet, HGTV (Home and Garden Television) and more. (Credit card required)
Friendly TV as of right now cost $6.99 per month, they seem to be adding new channels, on their website they just added A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, LMN (lifetime movie network), FYI, Military History, some of the other channels they already have is upTV, I NSP which stands for the inspiration network, GSN stands for Game Show Network, get TV, recipe TV, Curiosity Stream and Weather Channel along with several other channels and the video on demand library. You can record pause and rewind live TV. (Credit card required)
YouTube TV - This one is certainly going to sound like a personal review because that’s pretty much what it is. YouTube TV is pretty much like subscribing to a cable or satellite providers package, really the only difference is you don’t have to have a cable box, you can cancel at any time with no cancellation fee but considering how big Google/YouTube is I think for what they’re charging is quite expensive. They also pretty much dominate the video entertainment besides Hulu and Netflix.

What device should I chose?

NOTE: If there is a specific app that you are wanting to use then you need to make sure you get a device that runs that operating system i.e. iOS for Apple or Android. Most of the popular apps such as but not limited to Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and so on will be available for iOS and Android however newer apps they may be only specific for iOS or Android.

TiVO Stream 4K uses Android

The Apps

There are several apps that you can choose from however the specific app that I use for IPTV is TiviMate. (This is only available for Android from the Google App/Play store).

The Lists

Before you choose to cut the cable consider making a list of all of the TV shows you currently watch, figure out which network or channels the air on and see if they are available on other platforms i.e. Peacock, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Netflx, and so on.

Do not always assume if they aired on ABC for example that an older TV shows is going to be in ABC's streaming app, TV shows can have the rights/licenses sold, rented to another network. For example the TV show “Desperate Housewives” first aired on ABC, now it is available on Peacock.

If majority of the TV shows or movies it's a one platform and maybe consider subscribing to that platform for a while and the windows nothing else that you're interested in you can cancel and use a different platform

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