A closer look at DirecTV Stream

I said recently that I would be looking at live streaming services. And it's only fair for you to know ahead of time that I don't regularly use a live streaming service. If you want to know why, read my recent post about that.

For now, I'm taking a look at one of the biggest, most inclusive live streaming services: DirecTV Stream.

DirecTV Stream began at DirecTV Now. Then it was AT&T TV Now. Then it was AT&T TV. Now it's DirecTV Stream. Oh, and there was AT&T Watch TV, which was a separate service. And there was some overlap in the services and names of services. But, now it's simply DirecTV Now.

Even with it's confusing upbringing, it's always been a good service, and is a good service today. However, it's usually been the most expensive service as well. Today, it still holds that title, but Hulu+Live TV matches its price.

The interface looks good and is functional. I prefer the guide, but for those that like the modern interfaces, the one on DirecTV Stream works as well as any.

On the guide, you can mark channels as favorites, but they don't move to the top. Rather, you can filter by favorites. Sorting is either alphabetical or by channel number which harks back to cable. The filters by Favorites, Sports, Movies, Kids, TV Shows, and Recent work well enough. One thing you cannot do is remove a channel from the lineup, as you can with YouTube TV. Still, it works well enough.

The large price tag comes with a large number of channels.

Linux after all

A couple of weekends agp, I mentioned that I've made no progress in my setting up a Linux desktop for everyday use. What that has to do with streaming is ... well, not a lot. Although streaming is what led to me deciding to set up a Linux desktop.

You see, I wanted to set up a Raspberry Pi as a Plex server, and I did. It's running at a family member's house, where I maintain the computers and network. It works great.

Of course, Raspberry Pi OS is a version of Debian, a Linux distribution. And that got me the Linux itch again.

As I said a couple of weeks ago, I had a device set aside and bought a new hard drive (an SSD) since the reason the device was available was the existing hard drive crashed. So, I put a new one, a better one, a faster one, in the device, and was ready to install Linux. Then my TV thing happened. But that's done. Mostly. So I decided to take a little time and install Ubuntu Linux on the device. So I did. Now I have a running Linux desktop computer from a re-purposed Dell Windows computer.

I haven't done much with it. I did a basic Ubuntu installation. Why Ubuntu? Why not? It's one of the most popular distributions and there's a ton of community support. So, this Linux round -- my first was 15-20 years ago -- I'm starting with a common Linux distribution, and will branch out to others when it seems the thing to do.

I'll probably stick with Ubuntu Linux for a while. I want to get to the point of it being second nature to sit down at that device, rather than the Windows device I'm using to write this, or the Mac OS device that's the one I use the most.

I've been spending a lot of time testing and evaluating live streaming services recently, and that has been and will continue to be a major focus. I had planned to write many of those posts on my Linux device, just to get used to it. I've written more on my laptop than intended, and as Linux is on a desktop, not that many of these posts have been written on Linux. But I have been playing around and getting used to the interface.

So, while Linux isn't actually a part of my Streaming Life, it is a result of it, and I plan on it becoming more and more a large part of the way I write about my Streaming Life.

More are not paying for TV

A report from Leichtman Research Group says major pay TV services lost nearly 2-million subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. And yes, that's a lot. But some of the articles I've seen missed a key point.

First, the overall report gave some interesting -- well, interesting to me -- stats about various pay TV services services.

According to the report, most of the numbers are estimates, though some are hard numbers. And of the top traditional cable outlets, a total of825,308 customers left the services:

That's a lot of disappearing revenue. And the bad news continues. Other major providers, including DirecTV, Dish, Verizon FIOS, and Frontier lost623,000 on top of that:

But then comes the part that most of the news reports I've seen overlook. And maybe intentionally. Three top streaming services, Hulu+Live TV, Sling TV, and Fubo TV lost507,562 subscribers during the quarter.

Yep, pay TV is showing losses in cable, satellite, telco, and streaming.

Some are spinning the report to show people are dropping cable and satellite in favor of streaming. And I think that's true. But it also shows losses in some areas of streaming. So what it really means is people are realizing they don't need to pay as much for TV to enjoy watching TV.

An antenna is a great way to watch free TV. I realize not everybody has an antenna. And for some people, it's expensive to put up a large outdoor antenna, which is needed if you live far from the TV towers. I live over 40 miles from the nearest major towers, and I couldn't just put up a small indoor antenna. And a small outdoor antenna was hit and miss. So I needed a large outdoor antenna, and I paid to have one put up. I've been happy with the results.

But even if I didn't put up an antenna, I wouldn't pay for a live streaming service. I do use the antenna, but rarely to watch the major networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. My Hulu subscription ($7/month) gets me next day programs on three of those four (no CBS) which is no different than if I recorded them on a DVR.

And while I do watch the local subchannels, much of that content is available with free streaming services such as Pluto TV, Tubi, Xumo, Sling TV (free tier), and others, either a stream of the very same networks, or similar content.

When I cut the cord, there were no live streaming services, and I found out real quick I could do without. Many that are cutting the cord today are finding that they don't need to pay for a live streaming service. Over half a million found that out in Q1 of this year.

I enjoy my Streaming Life. I also enjoy not spending money when I don't have to. And others are finding out the same.

A closer look at Fubo TV

I said recently that I would be looking at live streaming services. And it's only fair for you to know ahead of time that I don't regularly use a live streaming service. If you want to know why, read my recent post about that.

For now, I'm taking a look at one of the live streaming services: Fubo TV.

Fubo TV promotes itself as a sports focused service. The page banner even says "LIVE SPORTS & TV WITHOUT CABLE" listing sports before anything else. And they are a sports focused service.

Now, Fubo TV doesn't carry Bally Sports networks, so that is a gaping hole in their sports coverage. But, Fubo TV does have a lot of other options. Of course they have the ESPN networks and the Fox Sports networks. Be In sports, NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, and lots of soccer (futbol) channels.

The interface looks good -- there's not a lot of difference between the interfaces of the major live streaming platforms -- as does the guide, which is a standard cable-like guide.

Since they focus on sports, the setup covers things like your favorite teams from a variety of leagues. I'm a college football fan, but there wasn't a way for me to pick my college team. For professional leagues, however, you do have that option, and your team's events do show up on the main page.

So, while they don't have all the sports channels, they have more than any other live streaming service. If you love sports, and missing out on Bally Sports networks, then Fubo TV may be right up your alley.

For $70/month you get a lot of channels.

A closer look at Vidgo TV

I said recently that I would be looking at live streaming services. And it's only fair for you to know ahead of time that I don't regularly use a live streaming service. If you want to know why, read my recent post about that.

For now, I'm taking a look at one of the live streaming services: Vidgo TV.

Vidgo doesn't get a lot of love from the Internet. Many reviews of live streaming services completely leave Vidgo out. There's not even a Wikipedia page for Vidgo. Yet, it's a legitimate live streaming service that offers a decent package, compared to some other services.

The pricing is $15 cheaper than YouTube TV, and $10 cheaper than Hulu+Live TV or DirecTV Stream. It is more than Sling TV, but it has more than Sling TV.

I counted 113 channels in the Vidgo Plus package, which runs $60/month.