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katmandu
06-20-2016, 11:40 PM
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/06/nfl-still-lagging-behind-live-alternatives-market-fans/


BY MATTHEW MARCZI (http://www.steelersdepot.com/author/matthew-marczi/) JUNE 20, 2016 AT 11:00 AM

The NFL recently announced that one of its service providers, Dish Network, elected, rather than to continue to pay increased rates for carriage, to discontinue carrying the league’s 24/7 channels, NFL Network and NFL Red Zone.

While Dish Network represents a large swatch of consumers, of course, that still leaves residents nationwide with plenty of alternatives if among their highest priorities in their television package consists of constant access to the league’s television content, which they dutifully point out.

It is interesting to note that among the alternatives is Xfinity, or Comcast, who have been in a regional dispute with the Yankees over increased television rates, and they have dropped the baseball franchise’s YES Network from their list of carried channels. It is easy for either party to frame the opposite side as the villain, and I can assure you that both sides have worked extensively at doing just that.

But this for me brings p a broader point about the manner in which the league allows its content—specifically, its actual games—across the nation. The fact that it remains the case that the only way for a US resident to have access to all live games is to subscribe to DirecTV seems almost comical, and hardly the most profitable alternative for the league.

While no doubt the income provided by allowing DirecTV to have the exclusive rights to the live games across regional markets is substantial, one would think that there are other alternatives that would be even more profitable, because it rests largely on a convergence of two demographics.

Those demographics, specifically, are significant fans of the game, and people who are willing to install a satellite, and there is certainly no small minority of people who would rather not have to get their television through a satellite on their roof.

In the cases of many, this would require switching from one service provider in a different venue, such as a cable provider, to a satellite provider in DirecTV, simply to have the opportunity to watch the NFL games, live, that they would like.

For a league with as wide a diaspora of fans as the NFL—a team such as thePittsburgh Steelers in particular has a wide blanket of fans all across the country, and around the world—it seems counterintuitive not to take advantage of providing a more versatile option for out-of-market fans to have live access to their team’s games.

Of course, the NFL has their Game Pass online system, which allows paid users to rewatch any game of any NFL season dating back several years at any time—except live—but the hunger for a live game alternative is no doubt a strong one.

DirecTV has in recent years attempted a limited roll-out of a no-dish, online-only alternative Sunday Ticket, but that has yet to see great expansion to most markets, and is still only at best a partial solution. The NFL should have every motivation of providing as many users as possible a desirable option to pay for their services, and on that end, they are still lagging behind.

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I now live in SW Ohio Bungholeland. This issue is one of the most FRUSTRATING things for me .

I am not able to receive ANY Satellite feeds what-so-ever on my property due to my next door neighbor's forest. There's a few gigantic maple trees that totally obscure the area of the sky where the satellites live.

I also work every single weekend (by choice 35% weekend pay differential !). Our work PCs block all Streaming websites. So I am left with THIS alternative to watch Steeler games.

I have a Verizon Tablet with a 4GB Data package.... $40/month. I then use it as a HotSpot to Wi-Fi to my laptop. I have to resort to finding the "Illegal" links and fight the viruses/trojan horses and spam BS.

I did pay $225 last season for Sunday Ticket. I think I was only able to watch 2-3 games on it all season. So that was like $70 a freaking GAME !!

Plus, anytime a Steeler game is shown in the Dayton market, Sunday Ticket BLOCKS it ! That's all well and good if I'm HOME to watch the games but I'm NOT ! GRRRR !!!!

I recently talked with a DirecTV sales rep. He said there is "insider" information that all DirecTV WILL be offered as an ON-LINE ONLY option in the 4th Quarter of this year !

SUGGESTIONS ?

tube517
06-21-2016, 07:31 AM
There is an app called Kodi. It takes some time to set up but there are good instructions online. You have to add in some additional plugins/apps.

Android only, Not for CrApple :chuckle:

Born2Steel
06-21-2016, 07:43 AM
I have been on satellite tv since 1995. I have never missed anything due to weather or clouds or trees or buildings or anything. The ONLY exception to that is when we get the t-storms that bring the wind, rain, rolling thunder, and lightning. Even then, downtime is spotty. My parents went with DISH and only complained about pricing, never reception. My mother-in-law recently switched to Direct because her Comcast went out almost weekly, and when she needed repair to their line, it took 6 weeks to resolve. All this just to say, I have been completely happy with Direct TV since 1995. Satellite is the way to do tv.

ALLD
06-21-2016, 07:47 AM
Which app on Kodi has access to live NFL or local streams? I downloaded it to my desktop and can stream via Google Chromecast.

tube517
06-21-2016, 07:57 AM
Which app on Kodi has access to live NFL or local streams? I downloaded it to my desktop and can stream via Google Chromecast.


Nice. I'm using it on my tablet and phone with Google Chromecast.

ProSport is mainly the 4 major sports leagues.

SportsDevil - For all sports including UFC PPVs, boxing PPVs, and sports around the world.


There are a lot of others but I haven't had time to check them out.

For movies and TV shows, I use Exodus.

katmandu
06-21-2016, 08:18 AM
I have been on satellite tv since 1995.Where do you live ? Are you outside the Pittsburgh area ?

Do any of the Pittsburgh area TV stations stream Steeler games LIVE ?

I know there's Apps to change your PCs IP address. You can then change your PC to be "located" anywhere to include the Pittsburgh area. Has anyone used this approach ?

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Which app on Kodi has access to live NFL or local streams? I downloaded it to my desktop and can stream via Google Chromecast.Cool ! I'll check that one out.

tube517
06-21-2016, 08:26 AM
I just saw the prices for Streaming Only w/DirecTV and those are some ridiculously high prices for STREAMING ONLY.

F that noise.

katmandu
06-21-2016, 09:02 AM
ProSport is mainly the 4 major sports leagues.

SportsDevil - For all sports including UFC PPVs, boxing PPVs, and sports around the world.


There are a lot of others but I haven't had time to check them out.

For movies and TV shows, I use Exodus.Are these individual Apps that you Download ?

Do you need a TV Provider to Sign In to use the Apps ?

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I just saw the prices for Streaming Only w/DirecTV and those are some ridiculously high prices for STREAMING ONLY.

F that noise.How much ??

Born2Steel
06-21-2016, 10:16 AM
I am not in the Pittsburgh area. I'm not really near any major city at all. But in the digital age, what's the point?

stillers4me
06-21-2016, 10:43 AM
We are looking at a friend downloading Kodi on an Amazon firestick that he tweaks and gets everything.

tube517
06-21-2016, 11:11 AM
Are these individual Apps that you Download ?

Do you need a TV Provider to Sign In to use the Apps ?

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How much ??

http://www.wired.com/2016/04/nfl-sunday-ticker-streaming/

EDIT: Looks like I was wrong. You still need a DirecTV package unless you live in an apartment or an area where you cannot get DirecTV. What a sham.

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Are these individual Apps that you Download ?

Do you need a TV Provider to Sign In to use the Apps ?

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How much ??

Those are not individual apps. They are "plugins" for the Kodi app. However you still have to download to your device and set up on Kodi.

No TV provider needed to use the Kodi app and plugins.

steelreserve
06-21-2016, 03:26 PM
Buy a Slingbox and give it to a person who a) lives in Pittsburgh or b) has Sunday Ticket, on the condition that s/he let you use it on Sundays to stream the game. One-time capital investment; problem solved forever.

I suppose this is not entirely kosher according to their terms of service, since you're only supposed to use it to stream your own TV, but as long as you are not a complete idiot (i.e. you turn yourself in to the FCC or something), then no one's the wiser. And if it's a family member, you're probably OK in any case.

SteelerFanInStl
06-21-2016, 04:29 PM
I have DirecTV primarily to get Sunday Ticket. My kids and I don't watch much actual TV so it's not worth the amount that I pay per month. Unfortunately Sunday Ticket is my only way to get the Steelers here in St Louis so I'm stuck with it. I really wish that it were available as a standalone package for streaming.

Mach1
06-21-2016, 04:49 PM
I have been on satellite tv since 1995. I have never missed anything due to weather or clouds or trees or buildings or anything. The ONLY exception to that is when we get the t-storms that bring the wind, rain, rolling thunder, and lightning. Even then, downtime is spotty. My parents went with DISH and only complained about pricing, never reception. My mother-in-law recently switched to Direct because her Comcast went out almost weekly, and when she needed repair to their line, it took 6 weeks to resolve. All this just to say, I have been completely happy with Direct TV since 1995. Satellite is the way to do tv.

Only time I lose signal is when I have to go sweep the snow off the dish. :chuckle:

Being my location the only games that get blacked out are the suckhawks and broncos, so thats a plus.

Craic
06-21-2016, 07:02 PM
Had DirecTV. Hated it. Had nothing but problems with them for years. I only kept it because of the NFL package, and then they kept raising the rates on that, so I baled. Used the NFL Rewind a couple of years ago, and didn't mind that at all. I can avoid finding out the score of the game pretty easily until I can watch it at the end of the night.

However, I also don't work on Sundays anymore, so now, I go to the early service, then head on over to the sports restaurant and watch the game on a big screen. Funny thing is, I only have to do that for about half the games or a little more, because the Steelers are nationally televised so much.

katmandu
06-23-2016, 01:01 AM
We are looking at a friend downloading Kodi on an Amazon firestick that he tweaks and gets everything.I've downloaded Kodi but I have yet to see how/where to stream Live TV.

I'm pretty good with Technicals but this Kodi setup is NOT very user friendly.

You folks that have it.... how do you get it to work ?

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Those are not individual apps. They are "plugins" for the Kodi app. However you still have to download to your device and set up on Kodi.

No TV provider needed to use the Kodi app and plugins.Specifically, which plug ins ??

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Buy a Slingbox and give it to a person who a) lives in Pittsburgh or b) has Sunday Ticket, on the condition that s/he let you use it on Sundays to stream the game. One-time capital investment; problem solved forever.

I suppose this is not entirely kosher according to their terms of service, since you're only supposed to use it to stream your own TV, but as long as you are not a complete idiot (i.e. you turn yourself in to the FCC or something), then no one's the wiser. And if it's a family member, you're probably OK in any case.That's sounds very interesting. How does this work ?

At this point, I could careless about the legalities. I just want to watch my Steeler Football dammit !!! Lol !

fansince'76
06-23-2016, 03:13 AM
Buy a Slingbox and give it to a person who a) lives in Pittsburgh or b) has Sunday Ticket, on the condition that s/he let you use it on Sundays to stream the game. One-time capital investment; problem solved forever.

I suppose this is not entirely kosher according to their terms of service, since you're only supposed to use it to stream your own TV, but as long as you are not a complete idiot (i.e. you turn yourself in to the FCC or something), then no one's the wiser. And if it's a family member, you're probably OK in any case.

Big Brother always knows...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKlxy1ZFhMA

:chuckle:

86WARD
06-23-2016, 08:12 AM
The fact that the NFL makes it so difficult to see their games, for out of market fans, is mind boggling. DirectTV is the worst option for the NFL and the NFL being a money grabbing "non-profit" organization that it is, it's crazy they make it so difficult. If they took this off of DirectTV and put it on the major cable networks as a package or an individual PPV, I'd be willing to bet they get more viewers and make more money. The fact that DirectTV (the most inconvenient way to view the games) keeps,getting the contract is fishy.

katmandu
06-23-2016, 08:55 AM
Big Brother always knows...:chuckle:He probably loved those 1400 Watt mobile linear amplifiers I had for my CB radio in my car ! :willy: :smoker:

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Big Brother always knows...:chuckle:He probably loved those 1400 Watt mobile linear amplifiers I had for my CB radio in my car ! :willy: :smoker:

tube517
06-23-2016, 10:53 AM
The fact that the NFL makes it so difficult to see their games, for out of market fans, is mind boggling. DirectTV is the worst option for the NFL and the NFL being a money grabbing "non-profit" organization that it is, it's crazy they make it so difficult. If they took this off of DirectTV and put it on the major cable networks as a package or an individual PPV, I'd be willing to bet they get more viewers and make more money. The fact that DirectTV (the most inconvenient way to view the games) keeps,getting the contract is fishy.

I had it when I was still single and the Steelers had those 3 shitty years under Cowher. (98-00), well ok, 2000 was a decent season but no playoffs and not alot of nationally televised games.

I had a 2 story townhouse and their installers (DirecTV or contractors) all did shitty jobs installing and coming back to fix. Storms, high winds and rain made DirecTV unreliable and not worth the service/package. Never again.

steelreserve
06-23-2016, 02:24 PM
That's sounds very interesting. How does this work ?

At this point, I could careless about the legalities. I just want to watch my Steeler Football dammit !!! Lol !


Basically you plug the Slingbox in to your cable box, and it streams your TV signal outbound over the internet. So if you're not home, you can log in from wherever you happen to be and watch your home TV on your computer (or phone, tablet, etc.).

Now, if the Slingbox happened to be installed in someone else's house in Pittsburgh, and you logged in to watch the Steelers game ... well, nobody would need to know about that, right?



The fact that the NFL makes it so difficult to see their games, for out of market fans, is mind boggling. DirectTV is the worst option for the NFL and the NFL being a money grabbing "non-profit" organization that it is, it's crazy they make it so difficult. If they took this off of DirectTV and put it on the major cable networks as a package or an individual PPV, I'd be willing to bet they get more viewers and make more money. The fact that DirectTV (the most inconvenient way to view the games) keeps,getting the contract is fishy.

Welcome to the world of exclusive licensing. There were some pretty good NFL football games other than Madden for a long time, until EA paid them a shit-ton of money to shut everyone else out. Obviously if there was competition it'd be better for the fans, and there'd probably be a better product, and more games would be sold overall - but the league only cares about who is willing to give them the most money up front for the rights. If someone like DirecTV outbids all other competitors combined, then the NFL says knock yourself out, have an exclusive. And then you end up with a shitshow like Sunday Ticket, and the price to the customer also reflects the fact that they overpaid for the rights by a colossal amount. They don't care how many viewers, they don't care if it makes sense, they don't care if it pisses off the fans; they just care about up-front licensing fees.

I hope you were joking about the NFL being a "non-profit." The league office (e.g. the people responsible for making the rules, hiring the officials, etc.) was run as a non-profit, because it did not, in fact, generate any revenue other than what the teams are made to contribute for the running of the league. The individual teams are most certainly NOT non-profits, and pay taxes like any other company.

That whole uproar was most likely started by some idiot Occupy Democrat who doesn't have the faintest clue about how the tax system works - but I repeat myself.

I'm pretty sure the league office dropped non-profit status anyway after that, to appease all the know-nothings who just get off on creating whatever daily outrage they can think of.

tube517
06-23-2016, 03:08 PM
Specifically, which plug ins ??


Kodi is the app.


The plug ins are "SportsDevil" and "ProSport"

ALLD
06-23-2016, 07:43 PM
Can you stream out of area locals for NFL on Kodi?

katmandu
06-24-2016, 02:14 AM
Kodi is the app.


The plug ins are "SportsDevil" and "ProSport"I just got ProSport working. Like ALLD asked, will this App get out of market games ?

What all areas will it get ? Will they be LIVE ??

tube517
06-24-2016, 02:45 AM
I just got ProSport working. Like ALLD asked, will this App get out of market games ?

What all areas will it get ? Will they be LIVE ??

The streams are like you see on the PC links without the annoying ads and popups. Usually all games are listed but I only watch Steeler games.

Yes, they are live. Have you watched/tested any baseball games on ProSport? Try those out to get an idea.

katmandu
06-24-2016, 08:02 AM
The streams are like you see on the PC links without the annoying ads and popups. Usually all games are listed but I only watch Steeler games.

Yes, they are live. Have you watched/tested any baseball games on ProSport? Try those out to get an idea.Will do.

Any idea how much data a football game consumes ? I'll be using my Verizon tablet's data package to stream games while I'm at work. I'll be using it as a Hotspot to my laptop.

Can Kodi Record games as well ??

I was watching the Steeler/Bronco Divisional game from the Archive last night. I was watching it in 720p mode. I was blown away at the high quality of the picture and especially the camera shots. Seemed different than TV shots. I couldn't believe how nice it was !

I then tried 360p mode and the quality did drop off significantly (as expected). The game was still watchable and all but 720p was unreal !

tube517
06-24-2016, 08:56 AM
Will do.

Any idea how much data a football game consumes ? I'll be using my Verizon tablet's data package to stream games while I'm at work. I'll be using it as a Hotspot to my laptop.

Can Kodi Record games as well ??

I was watching the Steeler/Bronco Divisional game from the Archive last night. I was watching it in 720p mode. I was blown away at the high quality of the picture and especially the camera shots. Seemed different than TV shots. I couldn't believe how nice it was !

I then tried 360p mode and the quality did drop off significantly (as expected). The game was still watchable and all but 720p was unreal !

Nice. I'm glad it works for your tablet.


I'm not sure about data consumption. I have wifi at home and at work and very rarely have to stream on my phone data plan (which is only 3GB/month).

Check Verizon's website and see if they have some info on avg data consumption for a video.

As far as recording, I honestly don't think it can.

katmandu
06-24-2016, 12:21 PM
Nice. I'm glad it works for your tablet.


I'm not sure about data consumption. I have wifi at home and at work and very rarely have to stream on my phone data plan (which is only 3GB/month).

Check Verizon's website and see if they have some info on avg data consumption for a video.

As far as recording, I honestly don't think it can.Actually have it setup on my laptop.

I did have DirecTV's Sunday Ticket stand-alone (no Satellite service) Internet only the past (2) seasons. Using my tablet's HotSpot and stream off Verizon's cell towers for the Internet. Watching a game normally consumed around 2GB Data per game.

When using one of those dark (illegal) PITA links/websites (much lower resolution/quality), the games ate up around 1GB per game.

I was able to watch Game 5 of the Stanley Cup playoffs with this method. I didn't have a TV Provider to access the NBC Sports website, but thankfully a co-worker did ! Using this method to watch this particular game off NBC Sport's website ate up a WHOPPING (5) Gigabytes of Data...... JUST FOR THIS ONE GAME !!

I had to go buy an extra 4GB of Data (over my 2 GB Data) plan during the game. That cost me an extra $30!

My co-worker bought pizza the next day to help compensate me. LOL

BTW, I was "only" able to really watch 3-4 games on DT's Sunday Ticket last season. The Steeler's were on National TV a bunch last year plus living in here in Bungholeland the games were broadcast on local TV.

One can NOT watch locally broadcast games on DT's Sunday Ticket !! Boy was I F'ing pissed off ! Paid $250 to watch (4) freaking games ! That's nearly $65 PER GAME !

Since I started this thread a few days ago, a very large branch (50ft long/foot diameter) snapped off my next door neighbor's tree. The neighbor is now forced to hire a someone to remove the mess and maybe remove or top one of the trees. This "may" clear a path for a Satellite signal to my property. ?? My wife and I are now debating the whole DirecTV thing. We have the basic TWC TV package now. TWC's hire tiers are insanely priced.

I told my wife I don't go out to the bars partying and I no longer blow money on my hotrods. Only I want is to able to watch my damn Steeler games !! What more can a man ask in life ! LOL !

tube517
06-24-2016, 01:05 PM
I told my wife I don't go out to the bars partying and I no longer blow money on my hotrods. Only I want is to able to watch my damn Steeler games !! What more can a man ask in life ! LOL !


That's basically my life now too, brother. :rockon: :tt03:

katmandu
06-24-2016, 08:27 PM
That's basically my life now too, brother. :rockon: :tt03:Lol ! What else is there beside Steeler football ?

SteelerFanInStl
06-26-2016, 10:00 AM
There is hope for out of market viewers:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/19/nfl-directv-sued-over-sunday-ticket/

Most likely I will be cancelling my DirecTV before the football season starts. I got Sunday Ticket free last year but I'm sure that they'll try to gouge me on the price this year and I'm not going to pay it.

I think that I might be joining those that have completely cut themselves off from cable/satellite TV. My family just doesn't watch enough TV any more to pay the high price every month.

tube517
06-26-2016, 10:02 AM
There is hope for out of market viewers:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/19/nfl-directv-sued-over-sunday-ticket/

Most likely I will be cancelling my DirecTV before the football season starts. I got Sunday Ticket free last year but I'm sure that they'll try to gouge me on the price this year and I'm not going to pay it.

I think that I might be joining those that have completely cut themselves off from cable/satellite TV. My family just doesn't watch enough TV any more to pay the high price every month.

There is a separate thread on the "Cut the Cord" topic. Check it out if you are going to make the jump. I just installed a $6.99 antenna from Amazon and I get 26 channels. And the picture is HD/crystal clear.

SteelerFanInStl
06-26-2016, 11:12 AM
There is a separate thread on the "Cut the Cord" topic. Check it out if you are going to make the jump. I just installed a $6.99 antenna from Amazon and I get 26 channels. And the picture is HD/crystal clear.

Yea, I think I remember when that topic started. I'll have to go check it out again.

I don't know if an antenna would work too well where I live. Lots of trees. I'm curious which one you bought though if you don't mind sharing.

I'm thinking about trying out Sling. They've got a $20/month streaming package that includes most of the channels that we watch.

fansince'76
06-26-2016, 11:33 AM
There is a separate thread on the "Cut the Cord" topic. Check it out if you are going to make the jump. I just installed a $6.99 antenna from Amazon and I get 26 channels. And the picture is HD/crystal clear.

It's tube517!

http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/32/64/22/7029894/3/920x920.jpg

:chuckle:

fansince'76
06-26-2016, 11:40 AM
I think that I might be joining those that have completely cut themselves off from cable/satellite TV. My family just doesn't watch enough TV any more to pay the high price every month.

That's what I'm doing. I have some family that are coming to visit in August and once the visit's over, the cable is getting shut off. I simply don't watch enough TV to justify the expense anymore. I literally haven't turned on my TV for WEEKS now. And the last couple of times I actually did watch any TV, it was to watch ancient reruns on MeTV and Antenna TV, since I find "modern" TV shows to be largely garbage.

ALLD
06-26-2016, 12:29 PM
The problem is customer service sucks and the rates are too high. I just purchased a Fire TV box with a special KODI package, not the typical Wizard OS. I will let you know how it works, but most of broadcast tv sucks now anyway as mentioned above. I stream Netflix and lots of stuff from Documentary TV.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/soviet-storm-ww2-east/

fansince'76
06-26-2016, 12:33 PM
The problem is customer service sucks and the rates are too high. I just purchased a Fire TV box with a special KODI package, not the typical Wizard OS. I will let you know how it works, but most of broadcast tv sucks now anyway as mentioned above. I stream Netflix and lots of stuff from Documentary TV.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/soviet-storm-ww2-east/

I stream a lot of movies from Amazon as well. Has Netflix's streaming library gotten any better? Their streaming selection used to absolutely suck which is why I stopped subscribing to it, but that was a couple of years ago now.

ALLD
06-26-2016, 08:01 PM
I always find something decent to watch on Netflix. I look for 4-star rated movies or better. We like movies, so right now it is good for us, but they just raised the rate to $9.99 /month.

fansince'76
06-26-2016, 08:18 PM
I always find something decent to watch on Netflix. I look for 4-star rated movies or better. We like movies, so right now it is good for us, but they just raised the rate to $9.99 /month.

That's still not a bad rate, if their selection has improved. I was still a subscriber when they made their "split" and started charging separately for streaming and their DVD delivery service. At the time, their DVD selection blew away their streaming selection. There's no excuse for that anymore with cloud services expanding at an explosive rate and relatively cheap bandwidth. Physical recording media being delivered via snail mail should be going the way of the dodo.

salamander
06-26-2016, 10:10 PM
I, too, cut my cable and saved ourselves over $100 a month. We went the antenna and Amazon Fire TV route as well. Probably about 90% of the Steelers games are shown locally on CBS or NBC for us anyways so all I need is the HD antenna.

tube517
06-27-2016, 11:07 AM
I stream a lot of movies from Amazon as well. Has Netflix's streaming library gotten any better? Their streaming selection used to absolutely suck which is why I stopped subscribing to it, but that was a couple of years ago now.

They seem to be about the same ( I could be wrong. I have both but Netflix has more kids' stuff. I use Amazon mainly for shopping but have used the Prime Instant Video on occasion.)


Yea, I think I remember when that topic started. I'll have to go check it out again.

I don't know if an antenna would work too well where I live. Lots of trees. I'm curious which one you bought though if you don't mind sharing.

I'm thinking about trying out Sling. They've got a $20/month streaming package that includes most of the channels that we watch.


This is what I got:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KVUAGU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

86WARD
06-27-2016, 02:15 PM
Kodi is the app.


The plug ins are "SportsDevil" and "ProSport"

Is Kodi the same as TVMC?

tube517
06-27-2016, 03:41 PM
Is Kodi the same as TVMC?

I'm not sure but they are overlapping somewhere. XMBC is Kodi now. TVMC is a custom build of XMBC. Confusing lol

lotas
07-01-2016, 01:01 PM
That's still not a bad rate, if their selection has improved. I was still a subscriber when they made their "split" and started charging separately for streaming and their DVD delivery service. At the time, their DVD selection blew away their streaming selection. There's no excuse for that anymore with cloud services expanding at an explosive rate and relatively cheap bandwidth. Physical recording media being delivered via snail mail should be going the way of the dodo.

Netflix's streaming selection has improved dramatically from where it was a few years ago. It was almost laughable a few years ago and any title whether it be a movie or show worth any buzz or attention was available by DVD only. Now, Netflix is knocking it out of the park with all their original series, comedy, and they even have a "late night show" per Chelsea Handler now that does 3 new episodes a week. All in all, they have really opened up and figured out what people want, there are a ton of documentaries, TV series, and movies on there now, even titles that are relatively new from 2015 and 2016.

Bloodline is a fantastic Netflix series, and of course House of Cards is very good. As a side note, I've always told my wife someone needs to figure out how to cut out the theme song intro to shows/series because it gets obnoxious when you are binge watching episode after episode. I noticed watching Season 2 of Bloodline that Netflix did just that, and when you play episodes back to back it fast forwards past the theme song in the subsequent episodes. Well done, Netflix, well done :smoker:


As far as this thread goes, I have had DirectTV and Sunday Ticket ($350 is ridiculous), as well as NFL.com device streaming or one year just using live links. What I've realized is streaming is only an appropriate way to go if you have a strong enough internet connection. My connection was a steal last year at $20/mo from Comcast, but it was too slow to stream the games on my computer from NFL.com so it was as choppy as watching it illegally on a link. Not a clue what I'll do this year but damn it would be nice to have a better option.

fansince'76
07-01-2016, 07:24 PM
Netflix's streaming selection has improved dramatically from where it was a few years ago. It was almost laughable a few years ago and any title whether it be a movie or show worth any buzz or attention was available by DVD only. Now, Netflix is knocking it out of the park with all their original series, comedy, and they even have a "late night show" per Chelsea Handler now that does 3 new episodes a week. All in all, they have really opened up and figured out what people want, there are a ton of documentaries, TV series, and movies on there now, even titles that are relatively new from 2015 and 2016.

Bloodline is a fantastic Netflix series, and of course House of Cards is very good. As a side note, I've always told my wife someone needs to figure out how to cut out the theme song intro to shows/series because it gets obnoxious when you are binge watching episode after episode. I noticed watching Season 2 of Bloodline that Netflix did just that, and when you play episodes back to back it fast forwards past the theme song in the subsequent episodes. Well done, Netflix, well done :smoker:

Thanks for the info! I might just give them another chance. :)

ALLD
07-02-2016, 08:26 AM
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262474478717?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I bought a jailbroken Fire Tv box and it works great. Movies in theatres plus live sports. Huge movie & tv show library. Even Operation Daybreak and all Wheeler Dealers. All sports packages free from international streams. Highly recommended.

Mojouw
07-02-2016, 10:41 AM
That's still not a bad rate, if their selection has improved. I was still a subscriber when they made their "split" and started charging separately for streaming and their DVD delivery service. At the time, their DVD selection blew away their streaming selection. There's no excuse for that anymore with cloud services expanding at an explosive rate and relatively cheap bandwidth. Physical recording media being delivered via snail mail should be going the way of the dodo.

The streaming selection has gotten better, but is still being largely carried by Netflix's own in house content and TV shows. Movie studios are still intent on making sure they get $$$ at theater box offices and initial DVD sales. This is preventing streaming outlets (Netflix, Amazon, etc) from signing the agreements needed to offer recent and popular movies over the their services.

Long story short, it is the movie studios, just like the recording companies, that are responding slowly to change in the marketplace. Plus most American non-comedy movies make the majority of their profit over-seas. That is why big action sequences, not much plot, and simplified dialogue are increasingly popular. You don't have to understand English to follow a Michael Bay movie! This leads to longer global theater runs and an even longer time to hitting the streaming services.

If you want to watch some cool television shows and Netflix/Amazon originals - then stream away. If you like movies - then torrent or live near a DVD store?

SteelerFanInStl
07-02-2016, 03:17 PM
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262474478717?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I bought a jailbroken Fire Tv box and it works great. Movies in theatres plus live sports. Huge movie & tv show library. Even Operation Daybreak and all Wheeler Dealers. All sports packages free from international streams. Highly recommended.

You've peaked my interest with this. It looks like a good device. Does this device specifically come with any type of DVR software installed on it? It looks like Kodi does have the ability to record live TV with some add ons.

Have you had any issues with the quality of the streams? It seems like most of the streams are not HD, which is a concern to me since I would be using this on a 55" HDTV.

ALLD
07-02-2016, 04:24 PM
No DVR, it just streams. No saving or downloading at all. Surf and save favorites for later. It's as streamlined as you can get because it can get complicated from having so many choices for everything. Some streams are 720, 1080 and 4k. It all depends. I haven't seen anything of crappy visual quality. However, the movie Batman vs. Superman sucked. You don't need Netflix anymore either. No subscription or PPV fees too.

Buy one you'll like it. You get movies in theaters, no kidding plus concerts and lives sports. Get the box, don't get the stick.

SteelerFanInStl
07-02-2016, 07:21 PM
No DVR, it just streams. No saving or downloading at all. Surf and save favorites for later. It's as streamlined as you can get because it can get complicated from having so many choices for everything. Some streams are 720, 1080 and 4k. It all depends. I haven't seen anything of crappy visual quality. However, the movie Batman vs. Superman sucked. You don't need Netflix anymore either. No subscription or PPV fees too.

Buy one you'll like it. You get movies in theaters, no kidding plus concerts and lives sports. Get the box, don't get the stick.

OK, cool. All of this is on demand so I guess that I don't really need the DVR. I'm probably going to pick one up, box, not stick. It pays for itself in just 2 months of DirecTV charges. If I like it, I'll probably buy another for the bedroom. I've got very good broadband (usually around 120 mbps) with an ac router so streaming works well for me.

I downloaded Kodi and installed it on my PC to play around with.

Thanks for the recommendation!

ALLD
07-02-2016, 09:00 PM
Downloading and messing with KODI on your computer is a hassle to set up as much as comes on the Fire Tv box. It's worth the $50 to pay somebody else to set up. Don't get the basic Wizard system either that although is $15 less expensive, is not as efficient.

Watched 13 Hours tonight and it was excellent.

Craic
07-06-2016, 02:48 AM
No DVR, it just streams. No saving or downloading at all. Surf and save favorites for later. It's as streamlined as you can get because it can get complicated from having so many choices for everything. Some streams are 720, 1080 and 4k. It all depends. I haven't seen anything of crappy visual quality. However, the movie Batman vs. Superman sucked. You don't need Netflix anymore either. No subscription or PPV fees too.

Buy one you'll like it. You get movies in theaters, no kidding plus concerts and lives sports. Get the box, don't get the stick.
We're having to buy a new TV right now, and you've really peaked my interest in this as well. Can you get live shows (as in, watch a tv show as it airs on NBC/ABC etc?)

katmandu
07-11-2016, 02:16 PM
I recently talked with a DirecTV sales rep. He said there is "insider" information that all DirecTV WILL be offered as an ON-LINE ONLY option in the 4th Quarter of this year !

SUGGESTIONS ?ATT is the option for DirecTV On-Line. Coming in the 4th Quarter of this year.


http://about.att.com/story/three_new_ways_to_access_and_stream_directv_video_ content.html

It doesn't look like a satellite dish will be an option for me after all. Neighbor's trees are still blocking access to the satellites.

I'm still researching the Slingbox thing. Looks like I'll need a Source in the Pittsburgh TV market to host the Slingbox. They would have to be viewing the Steeler game the same time I log into my Slingbox account so I too can watch the game.

Know anybody that wants a Free Slingbox in lieu of helping me watch Steeler games on it from here in Bungholeland ?

Must provide proof of trustworthiness (EBay Feedbacks and ??) PM me if your serious. I'm not sure of this option just yet. I need to be certain it will work out.... reliably. ??

SteelerFanInStl
07-11-2016, 05:14 PM
Downloading and messing with KODI on your computer is a hassle to set up as much as comes on the Fire Tv box. It's worth the $50 to pay somebody else to set up. Don't get the basic Wizard system either that although is $15 less expensive, is not as efficient.

Watched 13 Hours tonight and it was excellent.

I actually ended up ordering a Fire TV box from Amazon and I'll set it up myself. I've become pretty familiar with Kodi and there's a lot of information out there to tell you how to do everything. I like messing with things like this so I'll be able to set it up exactly like I want it.

Thanks for the recommendation!

ALLD
07-11-2016, 07:40 PM
Yes, you can get many live channels from Fox to History to whatever wherever. Buy the box and you will not be disappointed. As for programming your own, you can but it's worth $50 for a custom set up with the most reliable add-ons and plug and play . For SteelerFanin Stl, use The Beast set up.

katmandu
07-11-2016, 10:49 PM
Nice. I'm using it on my tablet and phone with Google Chromecast.

ProSport is mainly the 4 major sports leagues.

SportsDevil - For all sports including UFC PPVs, boxing PPVs, and sports around the world.


There are a lot of others but I haven't had time to check them out.

For movies and TV shows, I use Exodus.Are there any KODI apps that stream Live TV that do not require a paid subscription ?

- - - Updated - - -


I've become pretty familiar with Kodi and there's a lot of information out there to tell you how to do everything. I like messing with things like this so I'll be able to set it up exactly like I want it.

Thanks for the recommendation!I just downloaded a bunch of Apps for KODI. i have no idea what they all do yet.

Are there any KODI apps that stream Live TV that do not require a paid subscription ?

tube517
09-07-2016, 11:52 AM
Are there any KODI apps that stream Live TV that do not require a paid subscription ?

- - - Updated - - -

I just downloaded a bunch of Apps for KODI. i have no idea what they all do yet.

Are there any KODI apps that stream Live TV that do not require a paid subscription ?

Kat, I just sideloaded KODI to my Amazon Fire Stick and there are so many add ons, it is almost overwhelming.

I use Sports Devil and "ProSport" add ons for sports.

What channels are you interested in for live shows?

Method28
09-07-2016, 11:59 AM
Does KODI or any other app on a custom Firestick have access to NFL/NBA games? Or is it just for tv/movies etc.

Was about to call and get the NFL package when my friend told me about the fire stick. Just wanted to get feedback on its reliability

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

SteelerFanInStl
09-07-2016, 12:26 PM
Does KODI or any other app on a custom Firestick have access to NFL/NBA games? Or is it just for tv/movies etc.

Was about to call and get the NFL package when my friend told me about the fire stick. Just wanted to get feedback on its reliability

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

I watched the last 2 Steelers preseason games through Kodi and my Fire TV. It wasn't great quality but at least I could watch the games. I found the game using the SportsDevil add on.

If you haven't bought the Fire Stick yet, I'd recommend paying a bit more and getting the Fire TV instead. It has a more powerful CPU and more memory, which will help a lot with buffering.

If you already have the Fire Stick, make sure that you use a Kodi build that's made specifically for it.

tube517
09-07-2016, 04:10 PM
Does KODI or any other app on a custom Firestick have access to NFL/NBA games? Or is it just for tv/movies etc.

Was about to call and get the NFL package when my friend told me about the fire stick. Just wanted to get feedback on its reliability

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Well, I bought the firestick on the Prime Day in July and got a great deal. It's the first time I've had it (Kodi) on the stick. I used Kodi on my tablet and phone and got NFL, NHL, and NBA games in January when I first installed it on my phone and tablet.

I have been watching MLB/Pirates games since installing Kodi a few days ago on my Fire stick.

It's not the best quality as SFISTL said.

Method28
09-07-2016, 04:24 PM
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback guys! I think i might be better off going with the NFL package as i usually am the host and want a good quality picture. Might just pick up a firestick for movies etc

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

86WARD
09-07-2016, 05:33 PM
I have something called TVADDONS on my firestick...is that the same as Kodi?

tube517
09-07-2016, 07:09 PM
I have something called TVADDONS on my firestick...is that the same as Kodi?

That is a "plugin" for Kodi. An important one, too. Most of the (good) plugins come from TVADDONS.

86WARD
09-07-2016, 07:15 PM
So do I get Kodi through there?

tube517
09-07-2016, 07:24 PM
So do I get Kodi through there?

You don't have kodi installed on your firestick yet?

http://troypoint.com/how-to-install-kodi-on-fire-tv/

(I used method#1)

Dwinsgames
09-07-2016, 08:39 PM
I use kodi and NOTHING else for TV viewing , I use it on a PC though , started with a firestick but they get hot and sluggish , I put our old PC by the tv put kodi on it and an hdmi from pc to tv and wella .... ustvliveplus add on gets me the steelers games in 720p no buffering ...

Dwinsgames
09-07-2016, 09:20 PM
I should add that I have only been using the above for a few weeks , how it will perform in the regular season ( or if the games will even be on for that matter ) is a whole other issue ... will wait and see on that front but there is another sports app ( its pay ) 14 bucks a month I think that is supposed to deliver HD quality programming of every NFL game , NBA game , Hockey game , B-Ball game etc ( like all the " tickets" )..I have just not bought into it as of yet but I may if this fails me ... the name escapes me will have to ask the wife she bookmarked it on her PC I believe ....

I did link it but thought better of it ..if anyone wants the link PM me I would be happy to give it to you