Hulu + Live vs. Cable

guywhofishes

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In Bismarck if you get internet from Midco, you can use your Midco account info to get ESPN, TNT, TBS, HGTV, etc through your Roku box for free. That includes live ESPN. So I get Monday Night Football on ESPN and all the other football games through antenna.

Holy cow... really? That is pretty good deal.
 


SerchforPerch

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We dropped Midco about 1.5 years ago because of the outrageous cost associated with them. Currently my wife and I are Slingers, but finding the Hulu to be a little more catered to our show liking's.
 

Sluggo

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How much do you guys that dropped Midco think you are saving a month?
 

Platinum

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How much do you guys that dropped Midco think you are saving a month?

I have not made the switch yet, but from the research so far, roughly be $60-$70 per month. Going from about $120 a month down to around $50 per month the way it is looking.
 


Zogman

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Have Rocu at the Angle. Netflix and Amazon. There is nothing local in GF except 1310 Radio. Channel 8 gone, GF Hearld is now the Fargo Foolum. We are now part of the Metro. ;:;barf
 

Vollmer

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We dropped Midco about 1.5 years ago because of the outrageous cost associated with them. Currently my wife and I are Slingers, but finding the Hulu to be a little more catered to our show liking's.

Those Slinger commercials are hilarious.
 

Mushballer

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I made the switch from BEK tv to Hulu live 3 weeks ago and it’s been great. Have all the local channels, the only thing I miss is the outdoor channel and sportsman channel however I am getting my hunting show fix through YouTube. Currently watching the Born and Raised guys land of the free project and I am liking this more than the cookie cutter hunting shows.
 

zoops

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Was actually thinking about adding my experience before seeing this thread. I switched to Hulu live 2 weeks ago. Midco basic cable + internet was $145/month with no DVR, no extra channels, etc. Hulu live is $45/month and Midco internet (they had a free upgrade to the 150 mbps speed) is $60/month, so it will save me $40 a month. I bought an amazon fire stick for around $30 to hook up to my TV, otherwise no other hidden costs to switch. You get all the local channels (not sure about PBS, haven't tried that yet) and I get more sports channels than I did with Midco (Big Ten Network, CBS Sports, couple extra ESPN's) and a DVR. I've had some buffering issues the last couple days so I'll have to look into that but the first 10 days or so were basically flawless. Cable is definitely better but I'm good with saving $500/year for it. It's still a little more than I'd like to pay as I don't watch a lot of TV, especially in the summer but it's nice to be able to watch a game or weekday golf coverage from time to time...Gotta believe the day will come where you can just order the channels or even individual shows you want.

Should add that I called Midco to ask if there was something going on with my modem that would be causing my buffering issues. They connected to it and found that the 5G setting was turned off and was only using 2.4G (some factory setting) and they also turned some other setting on, forget what it's called but I think it makes the modem funnel more bandwidth to devices that use a lot of it. Been crystal clear since. Just in case anyone else runs into problems...
 


bigbrad123

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I use Hulu Live, netflix, and Amazon prime. I will say if you call Midco they will likely adjust your price. I recently called and said I was going to switch to Cable One just for internet and talked them down $20 per month on internet. Guessing if you really don't want to drop cable, you could call them and ask for a deal letting them know you will be dropping their service without it.
 

zoops

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I use Hulu Live, netflix, and Amazon prime. I will say if you call Midco they will likely adjust your price. I recently called and said I was going to switch to Cable One just for internet and talked them down $20 per month on internet. Guessing if you really don't want to drop cable, you could call them and ask for a deal letting them know you will be dropping their service without it.

This is true. When I cancelled they offered to drop mine about $30/month but I was ready for something different and tired of their gouging.
 

mrperch

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Should add that I called Midco to ask if there was something going on with my modem that would be causing my buffering issues. They connected to it and found that the 5G setting was turned off and was only using 2.4G (some factory setting) and they also turned some other setting on, forget what it's called but I think it makes the modem funnel more bandwidth to devices that use a lot of it. Been crystal clear since. Just in case anyone else runs into problems...

The 5g is built for speed, but remember It does not have near the distance that 2.4. So by connecting a tv that is on far end of house, you may be losing ground versus a better signal with the 2.4.
 

JayKay

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This, but I'm 35.

I'm close to 50, and love me some Netflix. Alternately, but used less than Netflix, Hulu is good too. I pretty much use it only for old TV shows. YouTube is built into my TV, and my kiddos and I enjoy watching Fail Vids (with the sound turned off, because you can never be sure the bombs will be bleeped).
 

fly2cast

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With midco internet, cable and phone, it cost me $175 per month. Got rid of everything except for internet which costs $50 (i get the slowest speed which is 50 mbs). But I do have Hulu which is $12, Netflix $12, and Prime $10.
 


pluggin

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Do you get fox sports north to watch twins games with any of these options?
 

zoops

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Do you get fox sports north to watch twins games with any of these options?

Watching it right now with Hulu live. Probably the only bad part for a sports fan would be the loss of the Midco sports channel. Not sure if there's a way around that but I don't watch much sioux hockey anymore anyways.
 

Whisky

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Bumping this back up....Anybody make the switch from DirecTV or digital cable to these streaming services and regretted their decision?

Anything new out?

I'm currently paying out of my ass for a loaded DirecTV package and considering options. I am sick of negotiating with them for discounts to keep the prices in check.
 

gone_fishing

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I used to have Midco cable and now have YouTube live ($50 a month) and like it so far. My internet is still through Midco ($50/month/50 Mbps) which is their lowest cost plan and fast enough for me. Midco had a $10/month cable price hike this spring and that was the last straw for me. Their packages don't seem that expensive up front but by the time you add everything up it get's pretty expensive. I think my last bill had $16 in taxes, surcharges, and fees. Add that to the cost of leasing their equipment ($15) and I was paying over $30 month in fees and leases!

I don't have a "smart TV" so I purchased an Amazon Firestick for $25 and it works pretty good. Do miss a more advanced remote for some stuff but I have adapted. With YouTube live I get the local Fargo channels plus the networks I like. No PBS through this service but I heard it's coming. PBS has an app that allows you to view most of the shows I like (NOVA,Frontline). I have an Amazon Firestick (2nd gen with volume control on remote). I think you have to have at least a 2nd gen Firestick to use Youtube TV. I've read that Hulu Live is going up in price soon (from $45 to $55). If you were looking at streaming packages with local and live networks I would recommend YouTube TV. I've compared with Hulu Live and at least on the Firestock, the YouTube TV is easier to navigate (better user interface). I also have an Amazon prime account so I can view their content thought the Firestick.

If you want local channels and can get them with an antenna I would probably start with that. You can do a search here: https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps I can't get local channels easily with an antenna (too far from tower). If you can get local channels that you could probably look at one of the more basic streaming packages that are a little cheaper (like Sling TV or the cheaper Hulu). If you need to stream local channels then you would probably have to look into one of the higher cost streaming packages (Youtube TV, Hulu Live).
 

Whisky

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My Directv "additional fees" are $51/month, and what pisses me off the most. DVR, equipment, HD etc...It's a joke.
 


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