Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch
Last month at the monthly meeting, I demonstrated the Roku Ultra, one of many streaming media players that can be purchased. A streaming media player is simply a device that is programmed to stream video, audio, pictures and other media over the internet to your TV. A simple search on Amazon shows that there are many options for buying a device.
Most of the questions were not about the Roku, but instead about the services that you can stream. Many attendees wanted to know “how much does streaming cost?” or “will I be able to watch a specific channel?”
Unfortunately, my answer to most of those types of questions was, “I don’t know.”
The truth is that the answer would be different for each person. It is kind of like somebody that says they are buying a car and asks how much it will cost them to operate it. There are many variables: the cost of gasoline, how many miles they drive, how often they take a trip, etc.
The same can be said about cutting the cable and streaming. There are various streaming services, each with their own pricing structure. To make things harder to choose, most of them have different pricing plans. For instance, Netflix has three different plans, ranging from $8.99 to $15.99 a month. Hulu has four plans from $5.99 to $50.99 a month.
With the thousands of streaming channels you can watch, how do you choose? If you do an internet search, you will find hundreds of sites that will give you tips on how to stop cable service and stream your shows. Most of them recommend that before you do anything, either keep a journal or make a list of what you actually watch on TV.
After you have determined what you want to watch, it is time to do some research on where you can stream shows that you want to watch. This might be the hardest part of the process as there are so many services to choose from. If you max out on different services, you may not end up saving any money at all.
Local channels and news can usually be watched with the use of an antenna. You can also often stream the shows from the network’s website. Many of the stations stream their news reports online via their website or a mobile app. Some aggregator services such as Sling also include this programming.
I am not a big sports fan, but I can tell you that watching the various types is a whole different problem. Usually, you will have to pay monthly fees for each sport/team. Even then, you sometimes do not get all the games due to local blackouts. You might have to use a Virtual Private Network to trick them.
One final thing you need to consider when streaming is your internet speed. Most sites recommend a download speed of 15-25 megabytes per second. Keep in mind that this is in addition to all the other internet devices you may be using. Faster internet service almost always comes at an increased cost.
So should you quit your cable television and stream everything? I am by no means an expert, but like a lot of other topics, I have an opinion. My TV viewing habits are different than most. I like mostly older movies and television shows. Most of these I can watch on free streaming channels that I watch on my ROKU streaming device. I still subscribe to basic cable for some channels that my wife likes. Do your research and compute your costs. Then do what works for you.
Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.