[DenverCard]

Until last week I was contentedly swimming along with a combination of YouTube TV and ESPN-plus, which availed me to the ACC Network that televised most Stanford games, ESPN-plus which captured some Stanford games that were not on ACC Network and archived those that were, and the larger networks and ESPN for other events.  A dispute about fees has caused Disney to remove all of their channels from YouTube TV.  And although I thought ESPN-plus was a separate, independent entity, that's no longer available.

I have to believe there are others on this board who are faced with this problem.

Hoping that that dispute is resolved soon, I'm looking for a stop-gap measure to allow me to watch men's and women's soccer tonight/tomorrow as the immediate priority.  The best options appear to be, in order of cost:

Free trial of Fubo

Day pass with Sling

ESPN All access for a month

If anyone has experiences with these options or other recommendations, I would love to hear them.

[DenverCard]

Until last week I was contentedly swimming along with a combination of YouTube TV and ESPN-plus, which availed me to the ACC Network that televised most Stanford games, ESPN-plus which captured some Stanford games that were not on ACC Network and archived those that were, and the larger networks and ESPN for other events.  A dispute about fees has caused Disney to remove all of their channels from YouTube TV.  And although I thought ESPN-plus was a separate, independent entity, that's no longer available.

I have to believe there are others on this board who are faced with this problem.

Hoping that that dispute is resolved soon, I'm looking for a stop-gap measure to allow me to watch men's and women's soccer tonight/tomorrow as the immediate priority.  The best options appear to be, in order of cost:

Free trial of Fubo

Day pass with Sling

ESPN All access for a month

If anyone has experiences with these options or other recommendations, I would love to hear them.

[martyup]

Nothing better than free.

[martyup]

Nothing better than free.

[amytmueller]

We're in the same boat.  And the streaming landscape is just going to get more confusing, as the big players buy out smaller players and flex their muscles.  We also need NBC Sports Bay Area for Giants and other games.  Best options seem to be

1. Keep YTT and add ESPN Unlimited for 29.99 (or you can add a package that also includes Disney+ and Hulu for 29.99 for 12 months)
   
   
2. Drop YTT and add Fubo Pro for 89.99/mo
   

Sling includes fewer channels than Fubo Pro and doesn't seem to offer NBC Sports Bay Area, let me know if I'm wrong.  Sling DOES offer short passes (day/weekend/week for 5/10/15) but they are being sued by Disney for doing this, so don't know how long that will take to play out.

Many folks don't like option 1 of paying ESPN/Disney directly for being greedy and forcing us to do this But I just learned that in late Oct, Disney bought a 70% stake in Fubo, combining Hulu+Live TV with Fubo.  This is probably why they are playing hardball with YTT and can afford to wait it out. So it seems like they're in the driver's seat.

I already did option 1, and will wait to see what happens.  As long as you don't lock yourself into an annual contract, it's pretty flexible.

[amytmueller]

We're in the same boat.  And the streaming landscape is just going to get more confusing, as the big players buy out smaller players and flex their muscles.  We also need NBC Sports Bay Area for Giants and other games.  Best options seem to be

1. Keep YTT and add ESPN Unlimited for 29.99 (or you can add a package that also includes Disney+ and Hulu for 29.99 for 12 months)
   
   
2. Drop YTT and add Fubo Pro for 89.99/mo
   

Sling includes fewer channels than Fubo Pro and doesn't seem to offer NBC Sports Bay Area, let me know if I'm wrong.  Sling DOES offer short passes (day/weekend/week for 5/10/15) but they are being sued by Disney for doing this, so don't know how long that will take to play out.

Many folks don't like option 1 of paying ESPN/Disney directly for being greedy and forcing us to do this But I just learned that in late Oct, Disney bought a 70% stake in Fubo, combining Hulu+Live TV with Fubo.  This is probably why they are playing hardball with YTT and can afford to wait it out. So it seems like they're in the driver's seat.

I already did option 1, and will wait to see what happens.  As long as you don't lock yourself into an annual contract, it's pretty flexible.

[bl82]

I’ve been very happy with Fubo and particularly their DVR. It’s not cheap, but I manage to get my money’s worth just on Stanford games.

[bl82]

I’ve been very happy with Fubo and particularly their DVR. It’s not cheap, but I manage to get my money’s worth just on Stanford games.

[amytmueller]

I’ve been very happy with Fubo and particularly their DVR.  It’s not cheap, but I manage to get my money’s worth just on Stanford games.

I actually dislike the YouTube TV DVR (you cannot delete shows!), so that's good to know, thanks for sharing.

[amytmueller]

I’ve been very happy with Fubo and particularly their DVR.  It’s not cheap, but I manage to get my money’s worth just on Stanford games.

I actually dislike the YouTube TV DVR (you cannot delete shows!), so that's good to know, thanks for sharing.

[DenverCard]

AmyTMueller:

Thanks very much for the information and advice.  As someone who grew up watching a black-and-white TV which required turning a dial (clunk, clunk, cluck) to change channels, I have a lot of anxieties and superstitions associated with streaming, such as, will the different sources of content come into conflict with one another?  I'm going to give Fubo a try, perhaps without added expense for the trial period (as Martyup advises), in the hopes that Disney and YTT make up soon, but if this goes on much longer, I'll probably add ESPN Unlimited (as I plug my nose).  At least for the reminder of 2025, with soccer and volleyball being my priorities.

Thanks again for taking the time to post.

[DenverCard]

AmyTMueller:

Thanks very much for the information and advice.  As someone who grew up watching a black-and-white TV which required turning a dial (clunk, clunk, cluck) to change channels, I have a lot of anxieties and superstitions associated with streaming, such as, will the different sources of content come into conflict with one another?  I'm going to give Fubo a try, perhaps without added expense for the trial period (as Martyup advises), in the hopes that Disney and YTT make up soon, but if this goes on much longer, I'll probably add ESPN Unlimited (as I plug my nose).  At least for the reminder of 2025, with soccer and volleyball being my priorities.

Thanks again for taking the time to post.

[BostonCard]

I’ve been very happy with Fubo and particularly their DVR.  It’s not cheap, but I manage to get my money’s worth just on Stanford games.

I actually dislike the YouTube TV DVR (you cannot delete shows!), so that's good to know, thanks for sharing.

I don't think there is a space limit in the Youtube TV DVR, so does it matter?  I think when you "record" a show, you are basically doing it virtually.  Google I think just stores the shows in their servers, and anyone who "recorded" them has access to them.  That's why you can't "delete" them.

BC

[BostonCard]

I’ve been very happy with Fubo and particularly their DVR.  It’s not cheap, but I manage to get my money’s worth just on Stanford games.

I actually dislike the YouTube TV DVR (you cannot delete shows!), so that's good to know, thanks for sharing.

I don't think there is a space limit in the Youtube TV DVR, so does it matter?  I think when you "record" a show, you are basically doing it virtually.  Google I think just stores the shows in their servers, and anyone who "recorded" them has access to them.  That's why you can't "delete" them.

BC

[CompSci87]

Just this week I cancelled Comcast and switched to AT&T fiber, planning to use a streaming service for TV. 

After reading reviews I was about to go with YouTube TV plus the Disney/ESPN+ bundle I already had, until this flap between YT and Disney happened. So I went with Hulu+ Live TV instead. This includes everything that was in my Disney bundle, so I dropped that, and the price ends up actually a bit less. So far I'm happy with HPLTV. It includes NBC Sports Bay Area, so I can watch the Warriors, as well as ACCN and ESPN Unlimited.

BTW, I think what used to be ESPN+ is now ESPN Select, if you need to get it separately from the regular ESPN cable channels. ESPN Unlimited is both.

[CompSci87]

Just this week I cancelled Comcast and switched to AT&T fiber, planning to use a streaming service for TV. 

After reading reviews I was about to go with YouTube TV plus the Disney/ESPN+ bundle I already had, until this flap between YT and Disney happened. So I went with Hulu+ Live TV instead. This includes everything that was in my Disney bundle, so I dropped that, and the price ends up actually a bit less. So far I'm happy with HPLTV. It includes NBC Sports Bay Area, so I can watch the Warriors, as well as ACCN and ESPN Unlimited.

BTW, I think what used to be ESPN+ is now ESPN Select, if you need to get it separately from the regular ESPN cable channels. ESPN Unlimited is both.

[crackpot]

I hate Disney is using mob-like tactics trying to take down YTTV. I was surprised my legacy Disney/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle no longer includes anything useful on the ESPN side, so I'm likely to drop it and just keep Hulu (or maybe quit it out of spite?).

For years I had DirecTV and would add Sling during football/basketball. Crazy. And after dumping DTV for YTTV, I now find myself in the same boat.

I love that YTTV lets you "record" everything, still lets you fast-forward through ads, etc. 

I was about to try to figure out a free option for this Saturday's FB game at UNC, but see it's on The CW. Now I only have to worry that if the games goes long, they'll cut it and go to their previously scheduled informercial or stupid 80s sitcom (like they did last year with one of the WBB games that went into overtime).

[crackpot]

I hate Disney is using mob-like tactics trying to take down YTTV. I was surprised my legacy Disney/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle no longer includes anything useful on the ESPN side, so I'm likely to drop it and just keep Hulu (or maybe quit it out of spite?).

For years I had DirecTV and would add Sling during football/basketball. Crazy. And after dumping DTV for YTTV, I now find myself in the same boat.

I love that YTTV lets you "record" everything, still lets you fast-forward through ads, etc. 

I was about to try to figure out a free option for this Saturday's FB game at UNC, but see it's on The CW. Now I only have to worry that if the games goes long, they'll cut it and go to their previously scheduled informercial or stupid 80s sitcom (like they did last year with one of the WBB games that went into overtime).

[CompSci87]

I'm not happy to see Disney playing hardball with YouTube (I e., Google), but neither of them is exactly a little guy struggling against the the big conglomerate. Disney has all the power here as they own a lot of content that any cable replacement streaming service needs to carry, while Google owns none. You can't do much horse trading when the other guy is the only one of the two of you that owns any horses.

[CompSci87]

I'm not happy to see Disney playing hardball with YouTube (I e., Google), but neither of them is exactly a little guy struggling against the the big conglomerate. Disney has all the power here as they own a lot of content that any cable replacement streaming service needs to carry, while Google owns none. You can't do much horse trading when the other guy is the only one of the two of you that owns any horses.

[cctop]

I'm not happy to see Disney playing hardball with YouTube (I e., Google), but neither of them is exactly a little guy struggling against the the big conglomerate. Disney has all the power here as they own a lot of content that any cable replacement streaming service needs to carry, while Google owns none. You can't do much horse trading when the other guy is the only one of the two of you that owns any horses.

As a Disney employee, I was told that Google/YouTube wants a preferential agreement. Disney's proposed agreement costs less overall for the content than the recently-expired deal and is line with what the other distributors are paying.

[cctop]

I'm not happy to see Disney playing hardball with YouTube (I e., Google), but neither of them is exactly a little guy struggling against the the big conglomerate. Disney has all the power here as they own a lot of content that any cable replacement streaming service needs to carry, while Google owns none. You can't do much horse trading when the other guy is the only one of the two of you that owns any horses.

As a Disney employee, I was told that Google/YouTube wants a preferential agreement. Disney's proposed agreement costs less overall for the content than the recently-expired deal and is line with what the other distributors are paying.

[BostonCard]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-ar...er-dispute

It’s not ending any time soon.

This suggests that Disney/ESPN was seeking higher fees.

Google, which owns YouTube, has rebuffed Disney's demands for fee increases for ESPN, ABC and other channels. The Burbank entertainment giant has been seeking a revenue boost to support its content production and streaming ambitions, and help pay for ESPN's gargantuan sports rights deals.

Of course it could still be that Google wants a discount compared to other carriers and it balked at fee increases that Disney imposed on others.

I don’t really care.  Yeah, maybe instead of watching TV this week end, I will touch grass.  And, to get my sports fix, I’ll watch the STanford/Duke volleyball match in person.

BC

[BostonCard]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-ar...er-dispute

It’s not ending any time soon.

This suggests that Disney/ESPN was seeking higher fees.

Google, which owns YouTube, has rebuffed Disney's demands for fee increases for ESPN, ABC and other channels. The Burbank entertainment giant has been seeking a revenue boost to support its content production and streaming ambitions, and help pay for ESPN's gargantuan sports rights deals.

Of course it could still be that Google wants a discount compared to other carriers and it balked at fee increases that Disney imposed on others.

I don’t really care.  Yeah, maybe instead of watching TV this week end, I will touch grass.  And, to get my sports fix, I’ll watch the STanford/Duke volleyball match in person.

BC

[CompSci87]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

[CompSci87]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

[82lsju]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

regarding AT&T fiber, if you are 55+ you can get a discount on the service, we have "Fiber 300" and our bill is $34.18/month (we get another small discount for direct pay from a bank account vs a credit card), it was previously $60-something.  They have a similar discount on cell service.

[82lsju]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

regarding AT&T fiber, if you are 55+ you can get a discount on the service, we have "Fiber 300" and our bill is $34.18/month (we get another small discount for direct pay from a bank account vs a credit card), it was previously $60-something.  They have a similar discount on cell service.

[CompSci87]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

regarding AT&T fiber, if you are 55+ you can get a discount on the service, we have "Fiber 300" and our bill is $34.18/month (we get another small discount for direct pay from a bank account vs a credit card), it was previously $60-something.  They have a similar discount on cell service.

Nice, I'm 66. Didn't notice the age discount was available.

Edit: Looking now, I only found a 55+ discount on a bundle that has two cell phone lines plus Internet. Huh. I'm currently getting cell service from T-Mobile (though I'm not wedded to that) and only have use for one line.

[CompSci87]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

regarding AT&T fiber, if you are 55+ you can get a discount on the service, we have "Fiber 300" and our bill is $34.18/month (we get another small discount for direct pay from a bank account vs a credit card), it was previously $60-something.  They have a similar discount on cell service.

Nice, I'm 66. Didn't notice the age discount was available.

Edit: Looking now, I only found a 55+ discount on a bundle that has two cell phone lines plus Internet. Huh. I'm currently getting cell service from T-Mobile (though I'm not wedded to that) and only have use for one line.

[ADPinWDC]

I want ESPN after dropping COX, so I use FUBO

[ADPinWDC]

I want ESPN after dropping COX, so I use FUBO

[82lsju]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

regarding AT&T fiber, if you are 55+ you can get a discount on the service, we have "Fiber 300" and our bill is $34.18/month (we get another small discount for direct pay from a bank account vs a credit card), it was previously $60-something.  They have a similar discount on cell service.

Nice, I'm 66. Didn't notice the age discount was available.

Edit: Looking now, I only found a 55+ discount on a bundle that has two cell phone lines plus Internet. Huh. I'm currently getting cell service from T-Mobile (though I'm not wedded to that) and only have use for one line.

we do have two phones with them, we signed up with our phones (changed from a limited plan to an unlimited plan that ended up about the same cost) and then also switched our Fiber to 55+

[82lsju]

It's nice that the streaming TV services are generally month to month and easy to switch.

My bill for AT&T fiber Internet plus Hulu Live TV is going to be so much lower than what I had before (Comcast Internet + TV + landline phone, plus a Disney bundle including ESPN+). I dropped the phone since I've been using only my cell phone for calls.

regarding AT&T fiber, if you are 55+ you can get a discount on the service, we have "Fiber 300" and our bill is $34.18/month (we get another small discount for direct pay from a bank account vs a credit card), it was previously $60-something.  They have a similar discount on cell service.

Nice, I'm 66. Didn't notice the age discount was available.

Edit: Looking now, I only found a 55+ discount on a bundle that has two cell phone lines plus Internet. Huh. I'm currently getting cell service from T-Mobile (though I'm not wedded to that) and only have use for one line.

we do have two phones with them, we signed up with our phones (changed from a limited plan to an unlimited plan that ended up about the same cost) and then also switched our Fiber to 55+

[BostonCard]

interesting analogy between espn and weight loss drugs…

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/espn-zepboun..._permalink

Actually a good case for doing away with middlemen (YouTube/Cable on the one hand and pharmacy benefit managers on the other) and selling direct to people who are interested.

BC

[BostonCard]

interesting analogy between espn and weight loss drugs…

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/espn-zepboun..._permalink

Actually a good case for doing away with middlemen (YouTube/Cable on the one hand and pharmacy benefit managers on the other) and selling direct to people who are interested.

BC

[crackpot]

interesting analogy between espn and weight loss drugs…

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/espn-zepboun..._permalink

Actually a good case for doing away with middlemen (YouTube/Cable on the one hand and pharmacy benefit managers on the other) and selling direct to people who are interested.

BC

Oh, wow, thank you for this link.

Also, I'm old enough to remember when networks would pay or otherwise encourage local carriers to carry their stuff. IIRC, KRON was one of the first to balk at paying to play and ended up losing their status as an NBC affiliate.

It always burns me to pay for streaming services that are also supported by advertising (especially if I'm forced to watch them).

[crackpot]

interesting analogy between espn and weight loss drugs…

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/espn-zepboun..._permalink

Actually a good case for doing away with middlemen (YouTube/Cable on the one hand and pharmacy benefit managers on the other) and selling direct to people who are interested.

BC

Oh, wow, thank you for this link.

Also, I'm old enough to remember when networks would pay or otherwise encourage local carriers to carry their stuff. IIRC, KRON was one of the first to balk at paying to play and ended up losing their status as an NBC affiliate.

It always burns me to pay for streaming services that are also supported by advertising (especially if I'm forced to watch them).

[82lsju]

Also, I'm old enough to remember when networks would pay or otherwise encourage local carriers to carry their stuff. IIRC, KRON was one of the first to balk at paying to play and ended up losing their status as an NBC affiliate.

It always burns me to pay for streaming services that are also supported by advertising (especially if I'm forced to watch them).

I'm old enough to remember when cable was first available in Cincinnati (where I grew up) in the mid-to-late 1970s one of the big selling points was no commercials....

[82lsju]

Also, I'm old enough to remember when networks would pay or otherwise encourage local carriers to carry their stuff. IIRC, KRON was one of the first to balk at paying to play and ended up losing their status as an NBC affiliate.

It always burns me to pay for streaming services that are also supported by advertising (especially if I'm forced to watch them).

I'm old enough to remember when cable was first available in Cincinnati (where I grew up) in the mid-to-late 1970s one of the big selling points was no commercials....