Watching College Football in 2023

College football is underway. The first games of the season are today. There are only seven games on the schedule, but two involve ranked teams.

Today's seven games will be broadcast over six networks:

• CBS Sports Network
• ESPN
• Fox Sports 1
• NBC
• Pac 12 Network
• SEC Network

Between today and next Saturday, there are 17 games involving Division 1-A/FBS teams. Those will air on three additional networks:

• ACC Network
• ESPN+
• Fox

Over the season, there are other networks broadcasting games as well:

• ABC
• Big Ten Network
• CBS
• CW
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• Longhorn Network
• NFL Network
• Peacock

There may even be another network or two that carries games, but these are the ones that are confirmed as the season begins.

So, how to watch those networks? I'm glad you asked.

ABC

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (8 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

ACC Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Big Ten Network

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

CBS

• Antenna (free)
• Paramount Plus (Premium) $10/month
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

CBS Sports Network

• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Ultimate) ($139/month)

CW

• Antenna (free)
• Not available streaming.

ESPN, ESPN2

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

ESPN+

• ESPN+ (standalone) ($10/month)
• Disney Bundle ($15/month)

ESPNU

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)
• Fubo (Pro + Fubo Extra) ($83/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Fox

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (18 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

Fox Sports 1

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

Longhorn Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

NBC

• Antenna (free)
• Peacock (Plus) ($12/month)
• Sling TV (11 markets only) ($45/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

NFL Network

• Sling TV (Blue) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Pac 12 Network

• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)

Peacock

• Peacock is its own service, and can be used to watch NBC live programming with the $12/month plan.

SEC Network

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

That covers this weekend in college football, and covers all the networks -- so far -- that are carrying college football games in 2023. My Streaming Life revolves around college football during this time of year. I'm not saying college football is a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that.

More free, easy to find content II: Google TV

Recently, we mentioned the new Fire TV Channels that put free content all in one place on Fire TV devices.

Google TV, which is Google's interface on Android TV devices, added a bunch of new content recently. The latest addition wasn't a big one, but it did drive home the fact that Google has over 800 channels of free live content:

...offer over 800 live channels for free built into Google TV. With this move, Google TV is becoming a major player in the work of free ad-supported live TV streaming. Now Google TV has partnered with NBCUniversal to add four new channels for free on Google TV devices and Android TV devices.

These channels will be powered by Xumo Enterprise Comcast’s free TV service.

Think about that for a minute. Over 800 channels of content.

That's not to say it's all quality content, but you just might find something in the mix that is to your liking.

My Streaming Life is more and more made up of free content, with subscriptions dropping all the time. Google helps make it easy to do that.

More free, easy to find content I: Fire TV

Amazon has improved the way you can find free content on a Fire TV device. Amazon has grouped their free as-supported television (FAST) content into the "Channels" app, making it a one-stop place for free content on your Fire TV device.

What makes it different from other FAST apps is that this pulls from multiple sources. This actually makes it a lot like Roku Channel in this regard. They even took the name "Channels", but that's giving Roku too much credit. The layout is like you would see on cable, where your channels are listed, so this naming makes sense.

Credit: AFTVNews.

Anything that makes it easier to find free content is a good thing. Amazon did a good thing.

My Streaming Life is more Roku focuses, but things such as this are why I still use Fire TV on occasion. This is a good feature, and I suspect that Fire TV users will appreciate it.

More with fewer streaming services

A survey conducted by Cord Cutters News recently shows that nearly 60% of respondents are using three or fewer streaming services.

I've been advocating the cutting back of paid streaming services for some time. Now, I'm not at all suggesting that others are following my lead. Rather, I'm suggesting that others are seeing the same thing I saw: there is plenty of free content out there.

The driving force for the cutbacks is the same: saving money. As streaming services continue to up their prices, more and more subscribers are finding they can drop the services and find plenty of other content by subscribing to fewer services, and watching more free content.

Free ad-supported television (FAST) services carry a lot of good content. Sometimes, even original content (think Roku Channel, Freevee, and similar services). And more people are cutting subscriptions.

According to the survey, 58% of streamers subscribe to three or fewer services:

One type of streaming hit hardest by cord cutters cutting back has been live TV streaming services. Recently multiple live Tv streaming services have lost subscribers, including Hulu + Live TV losing 100,000 subscribers, Sling TV losing 97,000, and Fubo losing 118,000 subscribers during the 2nd quarter of 2023.

On-demand services have also been reporting drops in subscribers, including Max and Disney+. These drops are coming as some of our readers are telling us they are willing to rotate streaming services to save money. Instead of paying for a service all year, they are more willing got subscribe for just a month or two to a service so they can binge-watch everything. After that month is done, they switch to a new service to save money.

We have also recently seen free streaming services like Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, according to a report from Nielsen. Some of our readers said they are using free ad-supported services to save money.

That sounds a lot like me. I pay for three services. Well, two. Or maybe nine.

I pay for two: Frndly TV ($9/month) and Pub-D-Hub ($5/year). I get a third with a subscription that I have unrelated to streaming, so the streaming is a bonus (Prime Video, $120/year). I get three as part of bonuses with other services (Paramount Plus with Walmart Plus, Peacock TV with Xfinity Internet, Apple TV+ with an Apple device). I had other subscriptions for family members that are no longer needed, and have canceled and am waiting for the actual subscription term to end (Starz, AMC Plus, Curiosity Stream). So nine services, but three yearly subscriptions have already been canceled, and four that come with other services that I would have anyway, leaving just two to which I actually subscribe.

My Streaming Life has both more services than most, and fewer services than most. I'm complicated that way.

A new antenna, or streaming local channels?

I no longer have a TV antenna.

Well, I do, but I don't. It's complicated.

I sold my portion of my mother's house. Two of my sisters and I owned it, and another piece of property. I've traded by portion of the house for their portions of the nearby property. They own the house. And that's where the antenna was.

I don't have an antenna at my house. I bought an antenna and installed it at my mother's, and using Tablo Connect, was able to watch TV via the antenna that way. But now, I no longer own the house (or a portion of it) and I'm not going to take the antenna with me. They can have it.

But that does leave me with no TV antenna. So, what do I do about it?

Well, I have a few options:

1. One is simply do without. I could go that route. I don't watch a lot of local (Savannah is the closest market) TV. Well, not live. I watch some broadcast TV content via Hulu. That's next day viewing, which is fine most of the time. Heck, all of the time. Unless it's a live sporting event (that means college football).
2. Another option is to get an antenna. I actually have one. It's an okay one, not a really good one like I got for my mother's house. When I put up the antenna at my mother's house, I bought an Air TV device that included an antenna. Not an indoor antenna, but an actual outdoor antenna. And it worked pretty well. I got most of the channels. Most is not all. The really good one I bought and had installed picked up everything. I don't have one of those. Still, the one I have is pretty good. And according to AntennaWeb, I should be able to pick things up a little better at home than at my mother's house, because of the terrain. I'm about two miles closer to the towers, but the elevation and terrain makes enough of a difference.
3. Another option is to get a live streaming service. I'm not doing that. The cheapest platform that picks up ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC is Hulu+Live TV, and that's $70/month. And it's about to go up 10%. The next cheapest is YouTube TV at $73/month. So no, I'm not doing that.
4. A final option is to mix the first and third. Paramount Plus $12/month plan would get me live local CBS. Peacock TV $12/month plan would get me live local NBC. And $24 is less than $70. It gets me two of the four local stations, along with some other content that is pretty good.

What will I do? Well, I just don't know. Right now, I'm doing the first option: I'm doing without. And that's what I'll do until I decide. I really have until football season (a couple of weeks, maybe) to decide.

My Streaming Life has been just fine with an antenna, but now I need to decide about putting up another. I'm kind of leaning that way, meaning I may go with option four (CBS has SEC football) until I get around to option two. Hulu gets me everything except sports, and if I have to spend a little bit of money to get the sports I want, I'm saving enough money by streaming other content that it won't be that much of a problem.

Watching local news

Does this sound familiar? Having dropped cable, you start streaming everything. Then you hear about a local news story that someone says is covered by the local TV station. The question: how do you watch it?

Well, honestly, the answer is that you might not be able to.

You see, there's no guarantee you'll be able to watch local news streaming. Oh, you'll be able to watch some, but it may be that only some local news is available. And that some is not.

I don't live in a big city. I live a little away from Savannah, and have always watched the Savannah stations as the "local" stations. And many of my family members today have Savannah stations as their local. However, some family has Jacksonville as their local stations. So, extending things out, I have two "local" markets from which to choose, though for me, Savannah is the primary.

I read an article on Cord Cutters News recently about streaming local news for free. And, in some places, people will be able to do that. However, for me, it's not quite as rosy as Luke Bouma's article makes it seem.

NewsON offers live news from all over the United States. In total, they have over 275 local news stations streaming on its website through its app on the most popular devices. You can learn more on their website HERE.

Haystack News also offers both live and on-demand news streaming for free online from a ton of news stations, including local Nexstar stations. You can learn more on their website HERE.

Local Now is one more free option that includes a ton of local news stations plus curated local news programs from The Weather Channels’ parent company. You can learn more on their website HERE.

First, the suggestion of using an antenna is a good one. If you can't use an antenna to get the stations -- and yes, there are places where an antenna just won't work -- then streaming is your only option.

So, for the four local news outlets -- Savannah's WSAV (NBC), WTOC (CBS), WJCL (ABC), and WTGS (Fox) -- I can stream local news from only two of those.

• NewsOn gets me WJCL (ABC) local news only.
• Local Now also only gets WJCL local news.
• Haystack provides WSAV (NBC) local news, along with WJCL local news.

The other options listed in the Cord Cutters News article don't get me any local news.

In none of these do the CBS or Fox affiliate local news streams occur. Those aren't available for me. For free, that is.

Live streaming services such as YouTube TV, Fubo, Hulu+Live TV, DirecTV streaming, and such do offer local news, because they offer the entire local stations in the lineup. Not just news, but the entire broadcast stream.

Those services are expensive, running $65/month or more. For $10, I can get local CBS as part of Paramount Plus. For $10, I can get local NBC as part of Peacock TV. But that's it.

My Streaming Life has had to deal with limited local news, when not using an antenna. It's one of the drawbacks of streaming. I wish it was different, but this is the way it is. I hope that changes soon.

Helping the parents cut the cord

How do you help your parents cut the cord?

Well, in all honesty, maybe they shouldn't. There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to streaming television. But that's part of the beauty of it. TV your way. What you want to watch, when you want to watch it. No scheduling your life around that big picture box in the living room.

Of course, for me, that was a benefit. The reason I cut the cord in 2011 was to save money. I did, and continue to, despite the price increases.

But, let's suppose your parents know about your saving money and want a little bit of that saving money action. How do you make that happen? Well, from personal experience, it's not easy.

My mother loved her Roku device and used it all the time during the last years of her life. But she never did drop cable entirely. It was her security blanket. She didn't watch it, but it was there if she needed it.

This is coming up because I read an article by one of the staff at Cord Cutters News, Roger Cheng, who just went through helping his parents cut the cord.

The first step was to get my parents out of their triple play bundle of internet, TV and phone, which had steadily gone up in price over time. We were fortunate that AT&T Fiber launched right around when we were considering making the shift, so changing internet service providers offered a good excuse to break out of the triple play. The service would cost $70 a month.

This isn’t a situation that would apply to anyone, so I would suggest having a conversation and calling either the existing provider or a competing ISP and exploring the broadband-only options. Just be sure to not fall for the triple play pitch all over again.

I found the article interesting, and a little familiar, as a lot of it mirrors what I ran into when helping my mother convert to streaming.

My Streaming Life has been enjoyable. My mother enjoyed hers. Perhaps the article can help your family members enjoy theirs.