So that confirms that season 2s are coming for Tokyo Vice, Julia, and Our Flag Means Death, as well as another season of Titans, Doom Patrol and Hacks (all of which seemed in danger for a minute there back when the “HBO Max is cancelling all its Max exclusive shows” rumor was going around.)
I’m a dinosaur of sorts, because I have cable PLUS a few streaming services - Prime, Netflix, Hulu, Discovery+ etc. And to be honest, there’s only like 5 or 6 shows/networks we ever watch. My particular issue is that I like watching Washington Nationals games (I’m a dinosaur AND a masochist!), and the only way to see those is to subscribe to a cable service that carries their network (they do not provide any way to stream the games otherwise - I blame Peter Angelos and the Baltimore Orioles for this).
We just got a new TV and it has a fancy ultimate remote control. But interestingly enough, the remote does not provide the functionality to control the cable set-top box - at least not the timeshifting parts (reverse or fast forward). Other functions are possible but hidden in sub-menus (like the program guide). And this morning it struck me that it’s probably because nobody watches cable any more, they mostly stream content.
So I’m feeling particularly old right now!
That’s us too, but we have DirecTV Stream only because we are getting it at an employee discount of $10 per month. The GF retired but they haven’t removed the discount, probably because DTV is shedding subscribers and they want to prop up their numbers. It’s nice to have for live sports. It gives us HBO too, though not HBO Max. They took that away from us when she retired.
As soon as they raise the price we will drop it. At some point we are going to travel for a few months at a time and we will drop everything.
Menzo
2695
LOL that makes sense because they are owned by AT&T. I still have an employee discount on my AT&T mobile plan from a company I left more than 12 years ago.
Petey
2696
My wife too. She worked there 15 years but left over 10 years ago and still gets the employee discount.
Menzo
2697
I didn’t even work at AT&T. They just had a deal for the company I did work for, and I’ve gotten 40% off my bill every month for 16 years.
Yeah, but they took away our free HBO Max pretty quick. She retired in December and it was gone by February.
She got bored and got back into the job market now. She accepted a job with Spectrum yesterday. I guess we will get discounts on that stuff now.
Regardless, one thing we are not doing is getting cable beyond the one we have already for internet. We don’t want holes in our house and a bunch of wires. If we can’t stream it, forget it.
I’m trying to consolidate my streaming - my wife needs things to be fairly easy to use and consistent between services. She has some short term memory issues related to her medical condition so having to use three or four remotes and using a different UI for each drives her batty. So the fewer remote controls the better. In addition, I like watching Washington Nationals games on the TV and my only choices for that are cable (Xfinity or Fios right here) or DirecTV stream.
To that end, I’ve been looking into ditching my Xfinity cable and switching to DirecTV stream. Been looking into using it with my new LG TV. Unfortunately(?) there’s no native app for LG tvs so I’m trying to figure out how it’ll work. Do you use the app on your iPad or iPhone and then use AirPlay to throw it up on the TV (the tv has AirPlay, I’ve tried it and it seems to work fine)? Is there content that doesn’t work using AirPlay? Seems to me like navigating shows using your iPad or whatever would be a lot easier than trying to use the often terrible UIs with the TV remote.
Any impressions from DirecTV stream users (like @Mark_Asher or anyone else) would be welcome.
Menzo
2700
Not sure why you need multiple remotes for streaming services, but I can say that with an LG OLED and AppleTV 4K I use one single remote (the AppleTV one) and it controls everything. I’m sure that’s the case with every modern streaming device.
DirecTV stream is similar to their satellite service. It will give you local channels and most of the traditional cable channels like ESPN and HGTV, but I believe you will pay traditional cable prices for it.
We use a Fire Stick to access the DTV app. We also have a TV remote that we have to use to switch the reception to HDMI. So we are a two remote household. Have you seen the Fire Stick remote? is a refrain often heard in our house, followed by lifting up couch cushions and sometimes getting down on hands and knees to peer into the dark under the couch.
An extra remote is required for the cable DVR service. The LG remote works for everything on the TV but it doesn’t have rewind or fast-forward on it and I don’t see a way to program those functions. I figured it was because most people using apps on the TV aren’t also using cable.
Regarding the fire stick remote size… I came THIS close to buying an AirTag to put on it because we kept losing it in the cushions or under the chair or whatever
Menzo
2704
I see, yeah, if you want to have a cable box you probably do need either multiple remotes or something programmable like a Harmony (which I used to use).
Have you looked into services like YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, and Sling that would potentially allow you to get rid of the cable box and just use a smart TV device and apps?
I have looked into those services and in fact I tried YouTube TV for a while but it got too expensive for my liking and it had some negative features that really put me off.
One of the most salient issues is that I need either a traditional cable service or DIRECTV stream in order to stream the nationals. It’s a long story but those are my only choices.
I guess this will eventually be Netflix, but the German studio behind Babylon Berlin has released the trailer for Season 4. Season 3 aired only two years ago, but it feels like it’s been MIA longer than that (for obvious reasons).
You know, I’ve never watched that one but probably should. I hear it’s pretty good and I can practice my German comprehension to boot as with Dark.
I could do it with the new Netflix original Kleo too, I suppose, but I think the slapsticky adventures of a Stasi-trained hitwoman might be harder to watch.
EDIT: Having written that, now I just heard a review that makes Kleo sound interesting, if uneven.
4 minutes of ads per hour
That’s a lot of ads to me, but I haven’t had cable for 20 years either.
I was thinking exactly the opposite. Broadcast OTA television gives you 17-19 minutes of ads per hour. Hulu’s ad-supported tier is between 6 and 12 minutes of ads per hour, depending on what you’re watching.
4 minutes at an ad-supported tier isn’t bad. The big question for Netflix is whether people used to ad-free Netflix will make the switch and stay as active users year round…or whether they’ll stay ad-free, but only subscribe for 2-6 months out of th year.
Vesper
2711
I mean, it’s better than 20 minutes an hour like old TV.
