# A Cheaper Alternative to Cable



## Ozarkgal (Mar 6, 2013)

We have not had "TV" since we moved to the hills, because I refuse to pay the high prices for the dish.  In addition, I hate all the commercials and the fact that every time the wind blows the dish goes out.  

 My alternative is having a Roku player which streams movies and content over the internet. The major suppliers of movie and tv content are Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. There are numerous other channels available free and by subscription, with varying degrees of quality. These include special interests, movies, news and weather. The news channels are mostly in podcasts, which is not ideal, but I get most of my news off the internet anyway.

Netflix will be picking up Time Warner content soon, which I'm excited about because I think more suppliers will follow.

The player it's has several models available, with a new one just out, and are reasonably priced.  Check your internet speed as this is important for successful streaming.

The players are easy to set up...I did it myself, and I am at the opposite end of a geek.


Here are a couple of links for those interested:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...ayer-is-here-what-big-improvements-were-made/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...l-with-time-warner-which-is-big-news-for-you/


----------



## SifuPhil (Mar 6, 2013)

I wonder, especially with the recent passage of the "Six Strikes" law, how companies such as Hulu and YouTube can continue to offer free, full-length movies when the people that use sites such as PirateBay are being singled out for punishment.

I don't know about Hulu, but I'm _positive_ that YouTube does not pay royalties on those movies, yet they are watched hundreds of thousands of times. Why aren't THEY being shut down like all the torrent sites?


----------



## Ozarkgal (Mar 6, 2013)

I don't know about YouTube, but Hulu purchases the rights to their content. While Hulu is free, and has limited content, Hulu Plus is a premium channel costing about $8 bucks a month. Both have advertising in their content. 

 All channels available on Roku are either content the distributor has rights to or offered free by the program developer. Some of the channels are free and some have a nominal monthy or one time charge to the viewer. 

I hope I'm explaining this with clarity 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			







This is an explanation pulled from the Hulu website:


> Hulu Plus is an ad-supported service; most shows include advertising.
> We currently don’t have the rights to make all shows on Hulu.com available on all devices; we are working hard to continue clearing shows for TV and mobile access. All shows listed on this page are currently available with a Hulu Plus subscription


.


----------



## Bikeman48088 (Mar 6, 2013)

Ozarkgal said:


> We have not had "TV" since we moved to the hills, because I refuse to pay the high prices for the dish.  In addition, I hate all the commercials and the fact that every time the wind blows the dish goes out.
> 
> My alternative is having a Roku player which streams movies and content over the internet. The major suppliers of movie and tv content are Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. There are numerous other channels available free and by subscription, with varying degrees of quality. These include special interests, movies, news and weather. The news channels are mostly in podcasts, which is not ideal, but I get most of my news off the internet anyway.
> 
> ...



I just recently subscribed to Netflix because the condo we were renting in Tucson had Cox Basic Cable which consisted of about a dozen channels, three in Spanish, two home shopping channels, a local station, ABC and not much else. I picked up a wireless modem from the Cox store and watched the first 4 seasons of Breaking Bad while there. LOL


----------



## Ozarkgal (Mar 6, 2013)

Bikeman48088 said:


> I just recently subscribed to Netflix because the condo we were renting in Tucson had Cox Basic Cable which consisted of about a dozen channels, three in Spanish, two home shopping channels, a local station, ABC and not much else. I picked up a wireless modem from the Cox store and watched the first 4 seasons of Breaking Bad while there. LOL




Love that Breaking Bad..I'm watching House of Cards now.  It's a Netflix own produced series with Kevin Spacey.  He plays  a great role as a manipulative Southern accented senator.


----------



## R. Zimm (Mar 6, 2013)

We use Netflix but also don't forget your local library. Both my wife and I are librarians so if we see a good looking DVD on the shelf at work, we check it out and "check it out!"


----------



## SifuPhil (Mar 6, 2013)

Ozarkgal said:


> I don't know about YouTube, but Hulu purchases the rights to their content. While Hulu is free, and has limited content, Hulu Plus is a premium channel costing about $8 bucks a month. Both have advertising in their content.
> 
> All channels available on Roku are either content the distributor has rights to or offered free by the program developer. Some of the channels are free and some have a nominal monthy or one time charge to the viewer.
> 
> ...



Thank you for the explanation - that clears up a lot for me. I've only been on the Hulu site once or twice, so I wasn't sure about how they operate. I guess that explains why these sites aren't being hassled - because they're following the "rules", such as they are.


----------



## Bikeman48088 (Mar 7, 2013)

Ozarkgal said:


> Love that Breaking Bad..I'm watching House of Cards now.  It's a Netflix own produced series with Kevin Spacey.  He plays  a great role as a manipulative Southern accented senator.



I'll check it out, thanks.



R. Zimm said:


> We use Netflix but also don't forget your local library. Both my wife and I are librarians so if we see a good looking DVD on the shelf at work, we check it out and "check it out!"



I used to get audiobooks from the library every week to listen to on my weekly trips from Detroit to Cleveland. Robert Ludlum books were a favorite of mine. I should start seeing what is available there now. The last time I checked out a video, it was a VHS tape. Thanks


----------



## R. Zimm (Mar 8, 2013)

Speaking of libraries, don't count them out for entertainment because you can always just sit and watch the "human drama" unfold before your eyes. Yesterday was really weird, all kinds of odd questions and people kept getting upset even though we were giving them what they asked for. 

These days larger public libraries have a regular cast of characters that hang out there and watching them interact is "mildly" entertaining.


----------



## Bikeman48088 (Mar 8, 2013)

R. Zimm said:


> Speaking of libraries, don't count them out for entertainment because you can always just sit and watch the "human drama" unfold before your eyes. Yesterday was really weird, all kinds of odd questions and people kept getting upset even though we were giving them what they asked for.
> 
> These days larger public libraries have a regular cast of characters that hang out there and watching them interact is "mildly" entertaining.



I'm a hunter/gatherer. I go to a store, or in this instance, the library, get want I want and don't linger long enough to notice anyone else's behavior.


----------



## SifuPhil (Mar 8, 2013)

Bikeman48088 said:


> I'm a hunter/gatherer. I go to a store, or in this instance, the library, get want I want and don't linger long enough to notice anyone else's behavior.



LOL - excellent!

I'm the same way EXCEPT when it used to come to libraries. Growing up in an Internet-less world the library was my Mecca, my retreat. I thought nothing of spending several hours browsing through the stacks, then going home under the crushing weight of a dozen or so mighty tomes.

In other words, I liked books. 

In fact, I liked them so much I started KEEPING them. I got to the end of the 400's in the Dewey Decimal System before they posted my picture all over the county. As a result, I am well-versed in languages, philosophy and general works, but am a complete imbecile when it comes to history, science and the arts.


----------



## annagoryun (Apr 11, 2013)

Netflix is my first choice of all the other channels. you can watch it off your computer and most kids already have it, so you can just use their account. As for free internet version it would be http://www.1channel.ch/?tv. Just make sure you close all the pop up advertisements, and stream videos off putlocker or sockshare websites.


----------



## Happyflowerlady (Apr 26, 2013)

We have an Apple TV , and that has Netflix and Hulu plus , as well as all the Apple movies, on it. It also has YouTube , but we do not get amazon movies on it.
In order to get any local news, we have to subscribe to the basic cable, so we have the weather and news from those channels.
I really would like to be able to get the amazon movies also, but you can't watch them with Apple TV . I can watch on my iPad, or the computer, but that is all.
I really love the documentaries on YouTube , like the Oliver Stone History of the United States series, and I also like that you can find a tutorial for just about anything you want to learn, from sprouting a mango seed, to the latest way to apply foiled makeup . I really enjoy Green Dean, and his Eat the Weeds channel, and the Four Minute News guy.
There is just a lot of good stuff on YouTube , if you search around for it.


----------

