Watching the World Series as a streamer

The Fall Classic, the World Series, began last night, and for the third time in five years, two National League teams are playing for the title.

Okay, I know the Astros are in the American League, having moved there beginning with the 2013 season. But that was a bad idea. Major League Baseball had moved the Brewers from the American League to the National League in 1998. They decided they needed to move a team from the American to the National in 2013, but didn't move the Brewers back. Rather, the Astros made the move. But, just like I still think of the Brewers as an American League team, I still think of the Astros as a National League team. So that's the background of my little joke.

Anyway, the series started last night, and will go at least three more games. If you're a streamer -- and if you're not, why not? -- and if you're a baseball fan, you're probably wanting to watch the series, even if neither of the teams are yours.

So, how does a streamer watch the World Series? There are a couple of ways.

Sports Bar

Okay, this isn't really answering the question, but this is a viable option. Watching a big game at a sports bar may be the perfect way for you. If so, that's a great option. Just make sure someone is capable of driving safely afterwards. But, what about from home. How do you watch the World Series at home?

Free

If you live close enough to a Fox affiliate, you can pick up the game via an antenna. I have an antenna and am able to watch the games that way. But what other options?

Streaming

There are several live streaming services that carry Fox local broadcasts. They will run from $55/month to $70/month.:

• Sling Orange, select markets only ($35)
• Vidgo ($55, $10 first month) see note
• Hulu+Live TV ($65)
• YouTube TV ($65)
• Fubo ($65)
• DirecTV Stream, formerly AT&T TV ($70)

Note: Vidgo is not commonly listed in most online Websites that mention watching local channels. However, it is available in my area, whereas Sling TV doesn't carry the Fox local affiliate here. Do your research before picking Vidgo, in the event you are in an area where the local Fox affiliate isn't available.

And that's it. If you want to include the World Series in your Streaming Life, you have options.

Comparing Vidgo plans

Vidgo is a live streaming service that doesn't get as much attention as the others. I'm not sure why.

There are eight major live streaming services that are considered cable alternatives:

• Frndly.TV ($6/month)
• Philo ($25/month)
• Sling Orange ($35/month)
• Vidgo ($55/month)
• Fubo ($65/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($65/month)
• YouTube TV ($65/month)
• DirecTV Stream ($70/month)

As you can see, they are priced from cheapest to most expensive. They all serve one basic function, and that is to provide an alternative to cable while still offering live TV.

Sling TV was the first, and it gets a lot of attention. Hulu gets a lot of attention, building off of their cheap on-demand service. YouTube TV is Google, and gets plenty of attention. DirecTV Stream is AT&T TV rebranded, riding the DirecTV name (note that Sling doesn't ride the DISH name, even though it's owned by DISH). Fubo is huge into sports, and gets lots of attention.

Vidgo and Frndly.TV get the least amount of attention. Many streaming topic Websites talk about 5 or 6 of those, usually skipping Vidgo and Frndly.TV when doing comparisons. I've talked about Frndly.TV before. Today, it's Vidgo.

Vidgo offers two English language plans, and one Spanish Language plan. The $30/month Spanish Mas plan offers "30 channels," the $55/month plan includes "95+ channels," and the $80/month plan includes "112+ channels."

I don't subscribe to Vidgo, but the Website doesn't list that many. It lists 89 on the Plus package:

• A&E
• ABC
• ABC News
• ACC Network
• Animal Planet
• Aspire
• AWE
• Baby TV
• BET
• Big Ten Network
• Bloomberg
• BYU TV
• Cheddar
• Classic Reruns
• CMT
• Comedy Central
• Curiosity Stream
• Discovery
• Disney
• Disney Jr.
• Disney XD
• DIY
• ESPN
• ESPN Deportes
• ESPN U
• ESPN2
• ESPNews
• FETV
• Food Network
• Fox
• Fox Business
• FOX Deportes
• Fox News
• Freeform
• FS 1
• FS 2
• FX
• FXM
• FXX
• FYI
• Game Show Network
• Get TV
• Hallmark
• Hallmark Drama
• Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
• HGTV
• History
• i24 News
• ID Discovery
• INSP
• Kids Street
• Law & Crime
• Lifetime
• Lifetime Movies
• Longhorn Network
• MAVTV
• Motortrend
• MTV
• Nat Geo
• Nat Geo Wild
• Newsmax TV
• Newsnation
• NFL Network
• NFL Redzone
• Nick Jr
• Nickelodeon
• OAN
• OWN
• PAC -12 NETWORK
• PAC -12 NETWORK Arizona
• PAC -12 NETWORK Bay Area
• PAC -12 NETWORK Los Angeles
• PAC -12 NETWORK Mountain
• PAC -12 NETWORK Oregon
• PAC -12 NETWORK Washington
• Paramount Network
• QVC
• Science
• SEC Network
• Sony Movie Channel
• Teen Nick
• TLC
• Travel Channel
• TV Land
• TV One
• Uptv
• VH1
• Viceland
• Vrtuo Sports

The Premium package lists 102, those 89 plus:

• AHC
• BeIn Sports English
• CMT Music
• Cooking
• Destination America
• Discovery Family
• Discovery Life
• Great American County
• MTV Classic
• MTV2
• Nick Toons
• RFD-TV
• Stadium
• The Cowboy Channel

Is the $25 difference worth those 14 channels? That depends on how much you like those channels. As for the difference in count, either the Website is claiming more than it actually offers, or the list of channels isn't up to date. I suspect the latter.

Regardless, it's a good service. Missing out on NBC and CBS hurts, but if you have an antenna, you really aren't missing anything.

The real draw for Vidgo seems to be the Spanish language package. In fact, when it launched, that seemed to be the primary focus. The English language service was added later, and now makes up two of the three services.

The Spanish Mas plan includes:

• Altres Series
• Antenna 3
• Atrecine
• Baby TV
• BeIN Sports - Spanish
• Canal Sur
• Centroamerica TV
• Cinelatino
• Cine Sony
• Discovery En Espanol
• Discovery Familia (DF)
• ESPN Deportes
• estudio5
• Fox Deportes
• Fox Life
• History Channel Espanol
• Hola TV
• Hogar
• Nat Geo Mundo
• NTN24
• NTN24
• Pasiones
• RCN Novelas
• Telefe
• TV Azteca
• TV Dominicana
• TYC Sports
• VideoRola
• WAPA America

That is the best of the Spanish language streaming services I've seen. Sling TV offers some "International" add-ons to their packages, but it doesn't compare to what Vidgo offers. None of the other services do.

If you are looking for an alternative to one of the more expensive live streaming services, Vidgo is one to consider. If you are looking for Spanish language streaming content in your Streaming Life, Vidgo looks to be the one to get.

Chromecast profiles

I totally missed Google's announcement recently that they would be adding profiles to Chromecast devices. And, by Chromecast devices, I mean the Chromecast with Google TV (Chromecast/GTV). I make the distinction because the older form Chromecast still exists. You know, the one where you must use your phone to control playback. To me, the newer Chromecast IS Chromecast, and that's what I'm talking about from here on out.

So, profiles. They haven't been added, but they are coming, according to a blog post by Google:

Google TV profiles let everyone in your home enjoy their own personalized space with their Google Account. With a personalized profile, you’ll get TV show and movie recommendations just for you, easy access to your personal watchlist and help from your Google Assistant.

This is a good thing. A very good thing. Except for one thing. They announced this on October 11 and we don't have it yet.

Sure, it'll come, I know. And I should be patient for it. But I really do like the idea of profiles.

Today, you can actually log in with different accounts, and switch between accounts. So, if the functionality of switching between different users already exists, what's the big deal? For me, I'd use it by setting up a kids profile for the grandchildren to use. I don't think they all have their own Google account, and even if they did, having to go through the process of logging in would be a delay. With profiles, I can set up a kids profile, and quickly switch to it for them to watch TV.

So, yeah, even though the grown-ups in our household have their own accounts, this brings us a little more. And, I suspect, it would be a bigger help to families where not everyone has their own Google account. Profiles just makes it easier.

I'm excited about it, for whenever it finally comes to my Streaming Life.

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Fubo TV locations restrictions

I decided to try Fubo TV for a month. I tried it again for a week, and was happy with it, so I let the free trial turn into a regular subscription. It had all the sports channels I wanted, and I got three streams, and with local channels, that means I didn't have to change apps to watch something from the broadcast networks. Everything is good, right?

Well, no.

You see, sometimes on weekends, I'll visit my son who lives in another town. I visited last weekend. He has Xfinity cable, even though he was the first person I met who streamed content. He got me into streaming. However, Xfinity offered a deal for him to come back, so he did. But, Xfinity doesn't carry ACC Network, as it turns out, and he follows a team that plays on ACC Network a lot.

Now, let's suppose the following happens:

• I'm at his house.
• He wants to watch something on ACC Network.
• I have a service that carries ACC Network.
• My service has three streams, meaning if someone at my house is watching, I still have two streams.
• I can watch my service away from home, and am not limited to a mobile device. I can use a Roku, Fire TV, or whatever to watch.

What could go wrong? Well, here's what could go wrong.

As it turns out, Fubo TV does allow three streams, and I can watch away from home, but I can't use simultaneous streams from two locations. That last bit may need some explanation and examples.

I can watch Fubo TV at home with a streaming device (Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, etc).

I can watch Fubo TV away from home with a streaming device.

But, if someone is watching my Fubo service at home, I can't stream away from home. Or, if I do, the stream at home stops.

This actually makes sense. It allows my to use Fubo TV at a vacation home, for instance, unlike Hulu+Live TV. (Hulu+Live TV won't let you use a streaming device away from home; you must use a mobile device.) What it won't do, I'm figuring, is allow you to share with friends or family who live at a different location.

So, will I keep Fubo TV? Maybe. How often will I be wanting to stream from my son's house for something he doesn't get on cable, while there's a stream at my house running? Not often.

On the other hand, if I do change to a different service when this month of Fubo is up, I won't have that issue. Well, as long as it's not Hulu+Live TV (hint: it won't be).

These odd things keep my Streaming Life interesting.

Congress, Roku, and Google

We've talked recently about the ongoing pissing contest between Roku and Google. And, we said it could get worse.

It just got worse. Members of Congress are weighing in. That's never a good thing.

CNBC reports that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D - MN) and Rep. David Cicilline (D - RI) are taking sides in the issue, and they are taking Roku's side:

“For too long, the big tech platforms have leveraged their power to preference their products and services over those of thousands of smaller online businesses,” Klobuchar said in a statement Thursday.

Cicilline called Google’s move a “shakedown” in a tweet Thursday.

While I am leaning towards Roku's side in this argument, I don't like the idea of Congress getting involved. There is no problem so bad that Congress can't make it worse.

I'm hoping Google and Roku can resolve this. I don't think either party wants Congress to start getting involved. I know I don't want Congress having anything to do with my Streaming Life.