The Ultimate Decision

After all that I blogged about a few weeks ago,  I've decided I'm keeping YouTube TV. I found some free channels on Sling and while they worked well with my high speed data at the beginning of the month, after my high speed was used up (it's still "Unlimited" but my speed is slowed after 15 GB) Sling was buffering constantly. YouTube TV is the only live TV service I've tried that doesn't buffer after I use my high speed data. While I could save a few bucks by watching only on my tablet and switching out plans depending on the channels I need, having all the channels I need in one plan with an unlimited DVR and the ability to watch on the big screen without buffering is worth the extra money. So what now?

My plan was to make February 1st my big change over date as I will get quarterly stock dividend. I pay for Amazon Prime on the yearly plan with my tax refund in order to avoid monthly fees, and I wanted to do the same with another streaming service. If I keep YouTube TV, I will not need Hulu. As much as I'm sure I would enjoy other things on Hulu, I have so much I already watch, I'm not sure I would watch Hulu enough to make a yearly plan worthwhile. The same is true Disney+. I know I would enjoy "The Mandolorian" and other shows, but would I have the time to watch? The other possibility is ESPN+.

I've always questioned whether I would watch it enough. USC Upstate men's and women's basketball games are on ESPN+ and the occasional baseball games, but they often conflict with Gamecock events on the regular ESPN family of networks. There's just not enough to justify subscribing.

The Disney bundle is only available monthly and is going up to $13.99/month. Netflix is a similar story, just too much to watch and not enough time to watch. But there's one streaming service I definitely watch regularly in WWE Network. 

My sisters bought me 6 months (two 3 month gift cards) of WWE Network for my birthday. While Best Buy has 6 month gift cards, it would involve a paper card and envelope to mail it. While that would be easier to keep track of, Walmart has email delivery of 3 month cards, which I what my sisters got me (although printed out). So my plan is to either buy 2-three month email gift cards on Walmart.com or one 6 month card from Best Buy. My current gift card won't expire until the middle of March if my math is right and 6 months would take me through my birthday in August and into September where I might get more gift cards. 

Time for change...or not.

There are many issues I could blog about on my weekend off but i'm going with a non controversial one. My streaming services. 

The new year has me thinking of change and I'm examining my choices of live streaming services and as usual it comes down to YouTube TV and Sling.

I've have YouTube TV and I've tried Sling. While YouTube TV suffers a bit in picture quality when my high speed data is used up in my "unlimited" data plan, my previous trials of Sling resulted in skipping and buffering,  which I rarely get with YouTube TV. Sling also has no live local channels but ABC is really the only issue as I get NBC, CBS and FOX locally as well as PBS (SCETV and UNC-TV) and the many independant subchannels that I often enjoy. 

I watch Days of our Lives on the NBC app and everything else I normally watch is on Amazon Prime or WWE Network. I really only have 3 main requirements for live TV. 

My absolute all time favorite show Doctor Who is a non issue in this battle it is available on YouTube TV and both base packages of Sling. 

For live sports I mainly need the ESPN family of networks as well as the other major sports networks which are only in the "Orange" package. ABC, which I include under the ESPN umbrella,  is not available over-the-air in my location. I never record sporting events to watch later. If i'm at work I'm checking my phone during my break and after work for scores. (Also since Modern Family ended, I no longer watch ABC for anything other than sports). I also need the major sports networks for most college and professional sports. During March madness,  I need TBS and TNT which are available on both base packages but i must also  have TruTV  (the only time I watch that channel but it's only available in Sling's "Orange " package ). I also need the ESPN family of networks during March madness because as a South Carolina Gamecock fan, the women's tournament is very important to me and that on the ESPN family of networks. I would have to have "Orange + Blue" for both, which is $45. SEC Network, ESPNU and MLB Network are among channels i watch often that are only available in "Sports Extra". As I would need "Orange  + Blue", "Sports Extra" would cost $15. That brings us to $60 almost what I pay for YouTube TV.  

As for professional wrestling, Smackdown is not much of an issue as I'm usually home to watch it live on FOX (broadcast) and if I need to watch it later, it's available on multiple FOX platforms. Sling, however , does not have FOX locally and on rare occasions I must record Smackdown to watch later. i have that ability with YouTube TV .TNT, which carries AEW Dynamite is available on both Sling's Orange and blue packages.  USA is a must for Monday Night Raw and NXT. While RAW is available in condensed form the next day on basic Hulu, USA network is the only place to watch it live. USA is only available in the blue package, and as I said above,  I must have Orange for ESPN as well as TruTV.

The main advantage to YouTube TV over Sling is of course the unlimited Cloud DVR at no extra charge which also saves your recordings for 9 months. Sling's base DVR only holds 10 hours and while i usually watch things as soon as i can in order to protect recordings and have 50 hours, you have to pay $5 for their "Cloud Extra" package which would bring us to $65 which is exactly what a pay a month for YouTube TV. 

So when you add it all up, I might save a few bucks here and there by getting my shows from different sources and waiting a day or two to watch things that I would normally watch live, but the convenience of having everything on one service plus the peace of mind of not having your recordings deleted just makes YouTube TV  the obvious choice for me.

Additional: After saying all that I could make the ultimate sacrifice and give up on live TV (including sports) altogether get WWE programming from Hulu, WWE Network and Fox apps....say goodbye to AEW Dynamite and get Doctor Who from HBO Max.

ON SECOND THOUGHT  I have decided to go with Plan B. I've paused my YouTube TV subscription for 24 weeks (or 6 months). I'm giving up watching live sports on "cable". There will still be live sports on NBC, CBS and FOX. Other events will be able to follow on local radio, internet audio and the ESPN app. I will do with Doctor Who what I have done with Star Trek Discovery and Picard, I will wait until the season is complete or almost complete, order a month of the service, cancel it immediately and watch the series within that month. I change my mind quickly but the new year and typing everything out has made me reconsider.