How to watch Super Bowl 56

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. That means a lot of people will be watching the Super Bowl. It's one of the biggest broadcasts of the year, and has been for quite some time.

Last year, on average, 91.6 million people viewed the game, with 5.7 million streaming the game [source: Sports Media Watch]. That's an increase in streaming numbers of 2.3 million from the year before, but an overall drop of 8.8 million viewers overall from the same year. Streaming is gaining, despite traditional TV dropping.

This year, how do you watch the Super Bowl? Well, you have a couple of options.

The game is on NBC, and if you live close enough to an NBC affiliate's TV tower, you may be able to pick up the game over the air with an antenna. If you live close enough, an indoor antenna will work. If you live far away, you may need an outdoor antenna. For example, I live over 40 miles from the NBC station's tower near Savannah. I need an outdoor antenna, but I have one and it works great.

Or, you can stream the game on NBC's own Peacock TV service. Or you can watch NBC on one of the live streaming services that carries that network.

• Antenna, if you are in range (most of you are). (Free)
• Peacock (Premium) ($5/month; free to Xfinity Internet Flex users)
• YouTube TV ($65/month)
• Fubo TV ($65/month; $195/quarterly required for new accounts)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month)
• DirecTV Stream ($70/month)

Any of these options will get you the Super Bowl. It can be a part of your Streaming Life tonight.

Raspberry Pi streamer Update 2

I mentioned earlier about a project to make a streaming device out of a Raspberry Pi. I ran into a couple of hiccups along the way, but found an excellent tutorial that really helped. (Thanks TripleM)

I left off with an issue with the remote. That's not fully resolved, but it's working better than it was. I don't like the remote, and ordered one that I think I will like. We'll see.

However, since the remote is working better -- still aggravating, just not as bad -- I've actually used the Raspberry Pi streamer a little bit. I've added YouTube, Movies Anywhere, Pluto TV, and Prime Video, since I'm currently using those apps. I also added HBO Max and Paramount+ to see if they would load.

You see, I found some videos about others using a Raspberry Pi as a streaming device. Some loaded apps that wouldn't run. I was worried about that, for a couple of reasons.

First, the fact that someone had a video of an app not running was pretty good proof that something like that could happen. Next, my current Raspberry Pi only has 2 GB RAM. The smallest recommended RAM for an Android TV streaming box is 4 GB, so I'm way under on that.

To my surprise, most of the apps I've tried seem to work. There is an issue with Pluto TV. I can't select a channel. Well, I can scroll around and see all of the channels on Pluto TV, but I can't change the channel via the large menu. I can scroll through the channels up and down, but that's the only way to change the channels. I can mark favorites, but can't select from the Favorites menu. I don't know if that's an app thing or a remote thing. When I get the new remote, I'll know.

Another app with issues is Amazon Prime Video. Nothing plays. I see my entire Amazon library. Content from my Amazon Prime subscription shows. It does everything but play. I get the little spinner and nothing more. I switched to my Chromecast with Google TV and every played, so I'm thinking it's the device. Could be the fact it's only 2 GB RAM, half the minimum recommended.

Hulu had problems as well. I currently have basic Hulu on demand service, with commercials. I couldn't get content to play. Ads would play, but after the last ad, it would hang up. Again, trying different things led me to think it's the device. Maybe it would perform better with more RAM.

Movies Anywhere works as I would expect. There are no issues I've had so far with that app. It's working well. Same with YouTube. Everything plays as expected. Same with HBO Max.

I didn't try a lot of apps because I didn't want to run out of space just yet. There is still space available. I filled up about ⅓ of the available space, and want to hold off filling up until I test a few more things.

For now, it's a mostly working device. Some issues could be the remote. Some issues could be the RAM. I'll have the remote issue resolved soon, I hope. I'm uncertain what to do about the RAM issue. I'd have to buy a new board with more RAM, and I'm not sure about that just yet.

Once the new remote arrives, I'll have a little better idea about how well, if at all, a Raspberry Pi streamer fits into my Streaming Life.

Will free streaming pass subscription streaming this year?

I'm not a big fan of subscription TV. That is to say, I believe it serves a purpose, but I don't think it's worth subscribing to a service year-round. I'll talk more about that in a little bit. For now, I want to talk about a report from Tubi, the streaming service.

According to its yearly report -- this year's called "The Stream: 2022 Audience Insights for Brands" -- Tubi says that free streaming will surpass subscription streaming in 2022. Here a a few definitions to cover first:

AVOD - This is ad supported video on demand. Things like Pluto TV, Tubi, Xumo, and the like.

SVOD - This is subscription video on demand. Think Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, and the like.

TVOD - This is transactional video on demand. You buy a movie, order a pay-per-view event. Things like that.

When you see AVOD, think free ad-supported content. When you see SVOD, think subscriptions like Netflix. When you see TVOD, think purchases or rentals. Okay? Good.

Back to the Tubi report, the company says AVOD (free streaming) is becoming more popular:

Tubi’s new research highlights the explosive growth of ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) services, set to surpass SVOD this year in audience size, and the changing demographics of a free streaming universe that remains young and multicultural while becoming more reflective of national audience averages in education and affluence.

I'm not surprised by this. I never really thought about it, but I know that I prefer cheaper ad supported content over subscription content.

Frequenting the Roku support forums, I used to see a shipload of people complaining about ads, saying they would pay to remove ads. Many of the long-time users -- Roku calls us "Experts" now (ha!) -- thought otherwise, but privately figured we were not the norm. Well, we soon will be. Or we were trailblazers. One or the other. I'll let you decide.

Anyway, I came to realize years ago that you don't need to pay a boatload of money each month to watch TV. So, once again, I'm offering my suggestion that you may have read before here a time or twelve.

If you subscribe to a service, don't subscribe year-round. Only subscribe when something you really want to watch is available. This mainly applies to live TV content, such as sporting events.

If you have multiple subscription services such as Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, Discovery+, and the like, subscribe to one at a time. For example, subscribe to Disney+ for a month, then cancel. Then subscribe to Netflix for a month, then cancel. Then subscribe to HBO Max for a month, then cancel. Do this with all your services. They all have enough content to fill up a month, plus you have plenty of free options (AVOD, remember?).

Right now, I have Hulu. It's $7/month. The subscription will pause (not cancel) in a week. Then, I'll subscribe to something else. Maybe Disney+. Maybe HBO Max. Maybe Discovery+. Maybe Apple TV+. I don't know, something. But then, only for a month. Then I'll move to something else for a month. During the year, I get the content I want, but I don't pay nearly as much.

Also, during college football season, I'll subscribe to a service, probably Sling TV. Any kind of catch up for some content -- Rick & Morty, for example -- I'll do with the on-demand features of that service.

Tubi says free TV is expanding, and more and more people are flocking to it. That's a good thing. That means less money spent for subscriptions, and if the advertising works, more for goods and services that are advertised. That's a win for everybody. Perhaps your Streaming Life will breathe some life back into this economy.

Signing up for Roku with no credit card

Roku is the most popular, and one of the easiest to use, streaming platforms. There are a lot of good things about it. I'm a fan of Roku. But there is one aspect that I don't like: Roku Pay.

Now, Roku Pay has its purpose, but I will only use it on rare occasions, and generally recommend that people not use it. For the most part.

Here's what Roku Pay is. It's Roku's system of paying for stuff through your Roku account. You can purchase apps, you can subscribe to services, you can buy things through your Roku. It's really nothing more than having your credit card stored and using it to pay for stuff. That's all it really is, when you get down to it.

Roku really likes it, because they make money by making it easy for you to buy or subscribe using Roku, and they get a cut. And they make it really easy to set up Roku pay. When you create a Roku account, it automatically goes to a page where you can fill out credit card or PayPal information to be stored and used if you want to purchase or subscribe to something.

Some people get all bent out of shape over this. I personally don't. Roku has never had a financial data breach. Some have made claims there have been, but when the facts came out, it wasn't a Roku breach. I'm fine with having a credit card stored there. But I get it. Some people don't want that. And, since it comes up automatically when signing up for a Roku account, there's no easy way to get past this. Or so people think. But really, it's easy.

All you have to do is click the Roku logo at the top. That's it. Your account has already been created. Roku is simply trying to gather more information. If you don't want to give it, don't. Just click the Roku logo. It's as simple as that. You'll be taken to the Roku home page, and if you look in the top right, you'll see that you're logged in.

Some people will tell you that you can replace part of the URL with something else, and that' true. When the credit card page comes up, you're on https://my.roku.com/signup/payment

Some say change it to https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc and press Enter. You can do that, sure. But, you can also just click the Roku logo. That's easier, to me.

Skipping the credit card entry is really simple. If you look at the Roku support forum, you'll see people thinking it's the worst thing since Stalin. But it's not. It's just a request for data, and you can easily skip it by clicking the Roku logo. Nothing to get all worked up about.

After you click the logo, click the little person avatar in the top right, and go to the My Account page. Be sure to set up a PIN preference. You have three options:

Always require a PIN to make purchases and add items from the Channel Store.

Always require a PIN to make purchases.

A PIN is not required to make any purchase or add any items from the Channel Store.

I suggest the first or second option. The first one keeps anyone from adding apps to your Roku without the PIN. The first and second keep anyone from making a purchase/subscription without the PIN. I never suggest the third. If you use the first or second, you'll get the PIN when something is trying to happen that will cost you money.

Of course, with the first, you can't add a free app unless you enter the PIN, so if you choose the first option, don't get all worked up about the PIN. If you don't care if a user adds apps, then pick the second option.

That's actually more confusing than skipping the credit card sign up. That's really easy. Again, just click the Roku logo when it asks you to enter your credit card information on account creation.

Using a Roku is really easy. Don't overthink it. Just enjoy it, and enjoy your Streaming Life. 

Raspberry Pi streamer Update 1

I didn't expect to post so soon about my project to build a Raspberry Pi streamer, but here we are.

After I posted, I realized I had everything I needed to begin the project except a remote. I already had a Raspberry Pi device that worked, although a very basic one. It was connected to a keyboard, mouse, and video monitor via a KVM switch.

I already had that up and running, so I knew the hardware was good. I had another microSD card and reader, and was able to set up the software on it. I didn't want to reuse the working OS for the Raspberry Pi, but rather have the streamer OS and software on a separate card. That way, I could just place the card I wanted in it, boot it up, and it would function as I wanted. That's how most will use project devices. I had everything except a remote. So, I looked for a remote to use with it, and found one that claimed to work with it. That arrived Tuesday.

Last night, I decided to see just how complicated it would be to do this. And, yes, it was rather complicated. Well, let's put it this way: I found several different instructions on how to set it up, and ran into issues each time. There was always something a little different about the instructions and reality.

What I mean by that is the instructions would say "You'll find the {thingy} setting under the {whatsit} section of Settings." However, {thingy} wasn't there. Or {whatsit} wasn't, but {whosit} was. Or when that was figured out, some installation would simply fail. I was starting to get frustrated. Then I found The Video.

[Link to YouTube]

This was fantastic! It covered everything, and was easy to do. Hats off to Triple M for his video.

Back to the project. I followed the instructions in the video, using the versions of the software he suggested, and the thing worked! I had a working Android TV streamer. Now, I was using the keyboard and mouse to do the setup of the software. If you follow the video, you'll see that you install a basic OS, then add software features to it via an interface on the device itself. You can do it all on a Windows or Mac device. You prep it there, but put it together on the Raspberry Pi itself.

So, using the keyboard and mouse, it worked great. But I was to the point of using it on my TV. That meant using the remote. Well, the remote didn't work all that well. Regardless, I moved the working Raspberry Pi streamer to the TV, connected it, changed the input on the TV to the HDMI port I was using, then powered it up.

Everything worked except the remote. I was quite disappointed with that. It may be that I did something silly and wrong, but it was late, and I called it a night.

I'm going to do a bit more research into it, and may end up with a different remote, but either way, the project isn't done. Well, unless I want to control it with a keyboard and mouse, which I don't.

I'm happy so far with the Raspberry Pi as a streaming project. I'll find out once I get the remote control issue worked out if it's really a good streaming device. So, for now, it's still a project in my Streaming Life.

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Update 2