As viewers enjoy the “Second Golden Age of Television”, viewing options have dramatically increased. This guide will save time and, most importantly, increase entertainment as the new seasons in television and sports quickly approach.
The right technology equipment makes the biggest difference in watching television, sports and other media, which can be viewed on phones, tablets, computer, televisions (be careful when you mount) and other screen devices. HD antennas lets viewers watch broadcast shows at their original airtime while various services (with varied equipment) provide shows through broadcast (cable or satellite) and/or streaming, which offers flexibility when shows are viewed. Cable and satellite subscriptions services also re-air their most popular episodes and offer other viewing options through official apps and websites to give viewers more flexibility.
Sling TV, which also has an app, streams specific entertainment channel groups without a cable/satellite subscription. Starting at $20 a month with a free 7-day trial, viewers can try the $5 a month Sports Extra, Deportes, Kids, Peliculas & Novelas, Hollywood, World News, and Lifestyle packages plus Espana and Columbia for $7 a month. SlingTV compatible devices include the Amazon Fire TV, Roku Player, Xbox One and Nexus Player. SlingTV also has limited time offers on the Roku Streaming Stick like HBO NOW in a la carte single-network service.
Digital video recorders (DVRs) also give viewers even more flexible viewing times with varying memory capabilities.
So now we’re nice and limber with ways to view entertainment…let’s navigate through advantages and services. Here are the basic options:
- Using a third-party service like Hulu with a subscription to the service (which often means shows are available pretty quickly after air).
- Using a third-party service like Hulu that separately allows side subscriptions to particular premium channels for an extra cost – Hulu has just debuted this model in a partnership with Showtime.
- Purchasing the episode or the full season through a third-party seller and watching it on a set-top box like Apple TV or Roku.
- Purchasing the episode or the full season through a third-party seller and watching it on your phone or your tablet, either via download or streaming.
- Purchasing the episode or the full season through a third-party seller like Amazon, Google or Apple and watching it on your computer.
- Using a third-party service like Hulu without a subscription to the service (which sometimes means a longer delay before the episode is available).
- Borrowing media from your local library.
Of course, if you’re a sports fan, you want to see your favorite football teams in action. In part 2 of this article, we look at your sports viewing options.
~ Mike
And here I thought the purpose of “cutting the cord” was to eliminate those monthly cable charges; not find new ways of throwing my money away.
With cable or satellite service, you pay each month. With Roku (and other similar devices}, once you pay for the device, there are no more expenses each month. Roku has several free channels. Both Hulu 2 & Netflixs start at $7.99/month – a lot cheaper than cable or satellite service. In my case, Internet & Netflix cost me $42.00/month.
Can you watch any channel on this systems. Like the animal, syfi Chanel???
The channels offered depends on the system.
My brother & sister-in-law have the Roku box. But if they want to watch A&E or the History Channel or many, many others they have to buy a subscription to those channels. Since I have DirecTV I can sign in with my account for them to access these channels. BUT, they have to enter a password e-a-c-h month to continue viewing these channels so they opted to not bother jumping through those hoops all the time. So no, ‘cutting the cable’ does not free you from still paying and jumping through hoops to view cable/satellite channels.