Did I pick the wrong live streaming service?

Now that football season is underway, I subscribed to Sling TV with the Sports Extra. But now I'm wondering if I did the right thing.

I watched a lot of football this weekend. And, like my calculations showed, Sling TV Orange with Sports Extra, along with ESPN+, got me all the content I wanted to watch. That is to say, everything I tried to watch, I was successful.

Well, not exactly. I accidentally clicked on the wrong game in the ESPN app once when switching between games. One gave me an error, stating I wasn't authorized to watch it. I don't recall which game it was, but it wasn't one I cared to watch, as my clicking on it was an error. So, it's true that everything I wanted to watch, I was able to watch. But will that always be the case? Maybe not.

During my research into a post I wrote about watching the games this past weekend, I concluded that to watch everything, Fubo Elite ($80/month) and ESPN+ ($7/month) would allow someone to watch any nationally broadcast game.

Why didn't I go with that package? Well, looking over the games I thought I'd like to watch, Sling Orange with Sports Extra ($46) and ESPN+ ($7) got me what I wanted for $53. And $53 is less than $87.

So, why am I second-guessing myself? The easy answer is, that's what I do. I always check, double check, then after the fact, check again. This is that part of the process. I'm checking again.

For this past weekend, Sling Orange with Sports Extra and ESPN+ got me every game I tried to watch. But will that be the case for next weekend? I don't know.

I've looked at the schedule for next weekend, and a couple of games that I'm interested in, enough to watch at least part of the game, don't show a network, meaning it either isn't available streaming, or the network hasn't been finalized.

I'm hoping it's the latter, and when it's finalized, I'll be able to watch with the services I've chosen. If not, well, I'll either do without those games this weekend, or I'll subscribe to a different service. Yes, that would mean paying for two services for a period of time. And I don't like the thought of that.

My Streaming Life is complicated, and it's of my own doing.

Local news via streaming

Cutting off cable service meant -- and still means -- losing local channels. And that means no local news. Unless...

If you have a TV antenna, you can watch TV that way. Just hook it up to your TV and watch. It's that simple.

Now, if you have multiple TVs, and want to watch local channels via antenna on more than just one TV, then you have a couple of options. One is to run antenna leads to the TVs you want. Another is to use a networking device that has a TV tuner, such as (for all major platforms) Tablo, Air TV, or (for Fire TV only) Fire TV Recast. Then, you just use your Roku, Apple TV, Google/Android TV, or Fire TV to watch local channels from your antenna.

If a TV antenna isn't possible, or isn't feasible, then you'll want to find a streaming solution. One is a live streaming service such as Hulu+Live TV ($65/month), YouTube TV ($65/month), Fubo ($65), and DirecTV Stream ($70/month), which carry all four major network stations,:ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Vidgo ($55/month) carries local ABC, and Paramount+ ($10/month) carries local CBS.

All of those services get you more than just local TV, so you may find one a better selection than another.

For CBS, you do have the $10/month plan from Paramount+, which skips commercials from on-demand content, as well as getting you a live feed of your local CBS station.

For ABC, Fox, and NBC, you have to subscribe to a more expensive live streaming service. ABC can be viewed with Vidgo ($55/month), while ABC, Fox, and NBC can be viewed with Hulu+Live TV ($65), YouTube TV ($65), Fubo ($65), and DirecTV Stream ($70).

If it's just local news you want, there are some free options that might work for you.

NewsON carries clips from local news stations. It will try to automatically detect your location and present you with options from where it thinks you are. It will let you edit that, so if it gets it wrong, you'll still be okay.

Haystack News is another option for local news clips. I found that it didn't have as many local options for me as NewsON, but it still offered local content. The app also has many news categories apart from local news, if you are interested in that.

Local Now is more focused on local weather, but does have some local news mixed in. Local Now also has some on-demand ad-supported movies and TV, giving it a distinct difference from the other apps mentioned.

And, finally, you may find that your local news station has an app. Search your device for the specific local station, or look at the local station's Website and see if an app is listed there.

If you've been missing local news and weather from your Streaming Life, you have options. Perhaps one will fill the bill for you.

New Roku? So what?

There has been speculation that Roku is about to introduce new devices to their lineup. Roku has most of their streaming players on sale -- all except the Roku Express and the Streambar Pro -- and it's September.

Roku has traditionally released new devices in September or October. In fact, except for 2014, they've release at least one new device in September or October of each year beginning in 2012. So, with almost their entire lineup on sale from $10 to $30 off, speculation is that new devices will be released.

Do I care? Well, not really. Not yet anyway.

Lately, Roku has updated devices with newer processors and more memory and storage, but nothing has been a big enough of an update to warrant my upgrading my devices.

In the past, I would upgrade, because there was often a noticeable improvement in performance or features. The first time I skipped an upgrade was in 2015, when the Roku 4 was released. I saw early reports of issues with the device, and decided to wait on that one. The issues continued to be reported, and I never got one of those. 

Oh, and while there was no September/October 2014 update, there was a new Stick released in March 2014. I got one of those. I wasn't impressed. That disappointment with the responsiveness of the model 3500 Stick may be part of the reason I waited on the Roku 4. The reviews were the reason I didn't just wait, but never bought one.

But, about this year. I can't speak as to what may be coming down the pike. I don't know. If I was participating in a hardware beta release program, I'd know, but I'd keep my mouth shut. In fact, I wouldn't even be writing this post. Which tell you that I have no knowledge about upcoming devices. I'm as in the dark as anyone.

So, what do I think will happen? I expect all of the items on sale will be impacted. They'll either be dropped entirely or upgraded. That's a shocker, right? In other words, the same thing that happens every year.

Even though I'm a huge fan of Roku, I'm not going to automatically run out and get a new device just because there is a new device. But, I am expecting new devices to be released, and I will be looking at the reviews of them, deciding if I want to replace any of my current lineup.

If I find something intriguing about a new device, then sure, I'll get one. But if not, I'll stick with what I have. After all, my current lineup of devices supports my Streaming Life just fine.

Ad-supported TV

I'm a fan of free TV. Whether that means over the air (OTA) channels you watch via an antenna, or streaming services such as Pluto TV or others, I like the fact that I can watch TV without paying a monthly fee to a cable or satellite service.

This is how I used to watch TV when I was younger. It was how everyone watched TV back then. When I was young, there was no cable TV service, at least, not in my area. There was cable in the U.S. as far back as the late 1940s, but cable didn't really catch on big until the 1970s. That's how Ted Turner made his fame, when he made his Atlanta TV station WTCG (later, WTBS) and his baseball team (the Atlanta Braves) available to cable systems across the country.

Cable became a big deal, and many people switched to cable because of the extra programming available that wasn't available from the local stations via antenna. Of course, you went from watching free TV with commercials to paying for TV and still getting commercials.

I won't go into all the history of cable and changes in TV over the years, but as more and more people are cutting free of cable and satellite services, many are putting antennae up to watch local stations. It only took 50+ years, but some of us are back where we were five decades ago. We're getting TV for free, and still getting commercials.

Streaming services such as Pluto TV (along with many others) offer live streaming television that includes ads. Just like with an antenna.

Many services, including Vudu, Crackle, Plex, IMDB TV, The Roku Channel, and many many more offer on-demand movies and TV with ads.

This is a good thing. Some people hate commercials, and I get that. I have a super power. I can ignore stuff I don't like. But you know what? Some commercials are actually helpful. I may find something advertised that I actually care about. And, if it's something I don't care about, I'm cable of ignoring it. Comes from being an adult.

Watching commercials doesn't bother me. Watching TV for free is something I like. Sure, if I have to pay for a service to watch something specific, I'll do that if I want to watch it bad enough. But most stuff I want to watch, I can find, or find something comparable, on a free TV service. That's why these free TV services are, and will continue to be, part of my Streaming Life.

The Locast ruling

I'm not in an area served by Locast. Well, actually, nobody is anymore. But Locast was offering service to around 55% of the people in the United States. The service ran in 35 markets, including the 22 largest in the U.S. But that was before a court ruling earlier this week that effectively shut the system down.

So, I'm not impacted, but maybe you are. And, if you are, what do you do to get local channels? Well, you gotta do the same thing the rest of us do.

I use an antenna. Now, since I'm some distance from the major four network affiliates, I had to spend more than most on a large antenna, and have a decent antenna pole, but not a tower. I may add a tower later, but for now, I'm good. It works.

But what if you're in a situation where an antenna isn't feasible for you? If you're waning live local channels, you gotta subscribe to a service that carries it.

For CBS, you do have the $10/month plan from Paramount+, which skips commercials from on-demand content, as well as getting you a live feed of your local CBS station.

For ABC, Fox, and NBC, you have to subscribe to a more expensive live streaming service. ABC can be viewed with Vidgo ($55/month), while ABC, Fox, and NBC can be viewed with Hulu+Live TV ($65), YouTube TV ($65), Fubo ($65), and DirecTV Stream ($70).

If you're looking for content from the networks but don't need to watch live, then Hulu carries many of the TV episodes from ABC, Fox, and NBC within hours of the live broadcast. CBS shows, as mentioned, can be viewed with Paramount+.

If you go the antenna route, as I did, you can add local channels to all your streaming devices with Tablo or Air TV, as they work with all the major streaming platforms: Roku, Google/Android TV, Apple TV, and Fire TV. You can also use Fire TV Recast if you have Fire TV devices.

The shutdown of Locast doesn't impact me. I was hoping they were staying within the law with their actions, but if the judge's ruling is correct, they weren't. That's a shame. I would like to see a quality legal means of watching live local TV via streaming devices, without having to put up an antenna. Until that day comes, we'll have to make the best of thing with the current options for including local TV in our Streaming Life.