Watching College Football in 2023: Week 1, 2nd weekend

It's Week 1 (again) for college football in 2023. Last week, the games actually began, but only seven games were on the schedule. Many sportscasters call it "Week Zero" as it comes before this week's Week 1. Okay, fine. Or, it's Week 1, 2nd weekend. I like that better. After all, wouldn't it be great if every week had two weekends?

First, I'm talking about Division 1-A/FBS. There may be some Division 1-AA/FCS schools involved, if they scheduled a game against an FBS team. Why would they do that? Money. Everything's about money. And all the FCS teams playing FBS teams are getting a big paycheck. Look no further than University of Tennessee at Martin. The UT-Martin Skyhawks are playing a little school knows as the University of Georgia, current two-time defending national champion and pre-season Number 1.

UT-Martin is getting half a million dollars for the game. That's around $500/mile for the round trip. Not a bad paycheck. Get on TV. Even if they lose, as expected, they will get a pretty decent memory of a game against the Number 1 team. Imagine if they pull of the upset!

There were 11 games Thursday night, and six games last night. The first big Saturday of college football starts today, with 66 games on the schedule today. There are 19 games involving ranked teams today. There was one Thursday night, two of the three on Sunday, including the only matchup of ranked teams -- Louisiana State vs Florida State -- and one on Monday.

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

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big Ten
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• ESPN
• ESPNU
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• SEC Network
• Peacock

Between this weekend's games and next Saturday, there are three games involving Division 1-A/FBS teams. Those will air on:

• ACC Network
• Big Ten
• ESPN2

Over the season, these are the networks that will be broadcasting the games:

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big Ten Network
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• CW
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• Longhorn Network
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• Peacock
• SEC Network

There may even be another network or two that carries games, but these are the ones that are confirmed as the season begins. Here's how to get all the networks:

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) $12/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)
• 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 the only one.

Watching College Football in 2023: The services that you need

If you're a huge college football fan, you may want to watch every game. If you are a streamer, how do you go about doing that?

That's easy. You subscribe to the necessary streaming services.

That brings up the question: What are the necessary streaming services?

The answer should be: it depends.

On what, you may ask. No, really, go ahead and ask. I'll wait.

Since you asked, it depends on whether or not you have an antenna. You see, if you have an antenna, and can pick up ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, then you don't need a streaming service to watch the games those networks carry. But what about the other games?

Notice that I said that the answer "should be" that it depends. But it doesn't. Why is that? Why does it not matter if you have an antenna or not? It should, right?

Well, yes, it should. But it doesn't. And here's why.

Over the season, these are the networks that will be broadcasting the games:

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big Ten Network
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• CW
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• Longhorn Network
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• Peacock
• SEC Network

There may even be another network or two that carries games, but these are the ones that are confirmed as the season begins. Here's how to get all the networks:

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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/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) $12/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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue) ($55/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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month, $77/month after October 12, 2023)
• YouTube TV ($73/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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue) ($55/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

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/month)
• 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)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue) ($55/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)

If you only want to watch some games, then you may be able to get by with a cheaper setup that doesn't carry local broadcast channels. But, if you want to be able to watch every game that is broadcast, you'll need a streaming service -- more than one, actually -- that carries the other services. And when you subscribe to those, you'll find the over the air channels are carried anyway. So it doesn't really matter if you have an antenna, if you want to be able to watch all the games.

So, what is the cheapest setup? Well, a couple of the networks are only available on their own services. ESPN+ is a subscription service, so you'll need that. It's $10/month. Peacock has its own service, and it's $12/month for the Plus plan that gets you their games. So, right off the bat, you're spending $22/month for two services, and still don't have most of the big games.

Most of the other services carry the sports channels you want. The hard to get ones are: CBS Sports Network (don't confuse that with CBS Sports programming on the CBS broadcast network; they aren't the same thing); Longhorn Network (last year for that, as it goes away when Texas joins the SEC next season; Pac 12 Network (probably going away if the Pac 12 goes away, as expected). Those are essentially niche networks, and only no services carries all three. The services that carry them are:

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)

Longhorn Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Pac 12 Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue + Sports Extra) ($66/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)

As you can see, none carry all three. That means two of those services would be needed, running the total cost up quite a bit. So what is the cheapest that carries all three?

YouTube TV ($73/month) and Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month) will cover that. That brings the total cost of being able to watch every game to $146:

• ESPN+ (standalone) ($10/month)
• Peacock (Plus) ($12/month)
• Sling TV (Orange or Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)

That's a lot of money. I like college football, but not that much. My Streaming Life doesn't run anywhere near that much. I can watch the games I care about a lot cheaper. But, if you want to watch them all, you can.

60% canceled cables

A new report indicates that most U.S. families are cutting cable.

Comscore released a report recently that said over 60% U.S. households had cut cable, and increase from 37% as recorded earlier this year, as reported by Cord Cutters News:

The report says the amount we stream is also going up as we now watch over 11.5 billion hours of streaming media in a year. That is up from 9.6B during the same period the year before. It is also reported that ad-supported streaming captured the bulk of new viewing as cord cutters look to ad-supported services to save money.

"While the top US streaming services are keeping up with the demand for subscriptions, new growth can be observed in FAST streaming platforms like Roku, Pluto and Tubi which are increasingly consolidating their position in the household mix," said James Muldrow, Vice President, Product Management, Comscore. "At the same time, cable/satellite subscribers remain some of the most engaged users in the streaming landscape. With three cable/satellite providers in the Top 10 ranking of video services based on hours watched per household, these findings highlight the success of these providers in offering advertisers consistently engaged streaming audiences."

That is a large increase in a short period of time. If this report is accurate, this bodes poorly for cable TV companies.

Of course, some of us cut the cord and dropped cable over a dozen years ago. Still, seeing the number of cord cutters increase this much this quickly is surprising to me.

My Streaming Life is being joined by so many others. I enjoy mine. I hope everyone else is enjoying theirs.

YouTube TV Tips

I don't normally use services such as YouTube TV. The only time I ever use a live streaming service such as YouTube TV is during college football season, and then I choose Sling TV. It's cheaper and has what I want.

Still, YouTube TV is a good live streaming service. If you're into that sort of thing. As you can tell, I'm not, except under certain circumstances. I don't use such a service year-round.

Despite my feeling that YouTube TV isn't worth the cost, I so acknowledge that it is a quality service. If I needed such a service, this would be a good one. I don't need one.

If you need one -- you don't, but you may want one really bad and that's okay; I'm not criticizing -- YouTube TV is top notch. Depending on what you needed (wanted) it would either be number 1 or 2 on my list. It's a good choice because it's a good service.

But, like most things, there are some things you can do to make the experience better. Luke Bouma at Cord Cutters News had a few tips about using YouTube TV. I agree with them. I'm not going to try to duplicate what he wrote. I couldn't do a better job, so I'm going to suggest you read his. Hit top tip would be my top tip as well:

YouTube TV’s live guide will allow you to custom channels to show the favorite channels you want at the top and hide other ones. This means you can have a live guide that only shows the channels you want and hides the rest. The only downside is that you need to do it on the app or on the desktop you can’t do it on your TV.

He goes through the steps to do that, then goes on to four other tips, all good ones. Especially #2. Give it a read.

My Streaming Life doesn't normally involve YouTube TV. I don't use live streaming cable-like services, except on rare occasions. One will come up this weekend, and I'm deciding between Sling TV and YouTube TV. Sling is cheapest, and would likely be the one I choose. But I may go with YouTube TV. As I said, it's a really good service.

Nothing On but the Radio

I read an article on Cord Cutters News this week that I found interesting.

According to the article by Kayla Wassell, more people are using TV as radio.

The article by Miss Wassell references a report from Hub Research entitled "Evolution of the TV Set" and refers to many users listening to music:

More people are using their smart TVs to stream music and audio services than any other non-TV feature. This year, 49% of people surveyed reported using their televisions for streaming music, up from 27% in 2020. Hub reports that 90% of people between 16 and 34 use at least one non-TV feature, compared to 55% of people in the 55 to 74 age range.

The report shows people strongly prefer listening to music through their televisions over smartphones or a speaker like Amazon’s Alexa. Usually, televisions have the best speakers or are connected to a home theater system, making them a popular choice. Even adding a soundbar can drastically improve the sound, giving the television a considerable boost above smaller smartphone speakers, which can sound tinny.

Apps for streaming services like Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon Music are easy to download on smart televisions like Roku or Fire TV. Users can listen to live radio by downloading apps like Radio by myTuner, which hosts more than 50,000 radio stations from 200+ countries.

I was doing that in 2010. Well, my wife at the time was. I helped set it up, so I'm claiming some of the credit.

She told me that year that she wanted a speaker bar for her laptop for Christmas. I researched and found some, but was curious about what she was really wanting. It seemed she wanted better sound out of her laptop, but why?

That's when I found out she was wanting to play her music from iTunes through the computer, and the speakers weren't delivering the sound she wanted. She wanted more sound, better sound, so she thought a sound bar for her laptop would be the way to go.

I looked over at the TV, a Sony, and the attached sound system, also a Sony, and thought that would be good sound. Better than sound from a laptop.

And she was playing her iTunes music? Apple TV would do that.

I found I could purchase a compatible sound bar that could be easily returned. Why would returning it be a good idea? Because that would be Plan B. My idea for Plan A would be an Apple TV device hooked up to the Sony television, playing sound through that really nice sound system we had. If she didn't like it, I could break out the sound bar. I had my bases covered.

On Christmas, she was intrigued by the Apple TV. When I showed her how to play her iTunes music through it, she was thrilled. The sound bar never came into play.

To this day, she still plays her music through the TV. My Streaming Life, and hers, have been ahead of the curve for a while.

Rumors of $35 for ESPN

I read with interest an article last week about the price of the upcoming ESPN streaming service.

Let's clarify a few things first.

ESPN streaming isn't actually a thing. Disney, which owns ESPN, is planning to launch a streaming service, but has made no official announcements about it. Little is known other than Disney wants to do it.

ESPN+ is NOT simply ESPN streaming. It is a supplement to ESPN. The standard ESPN live stream is not available on ESPN+. Some content is streamed on both ESPN and ESPN+, but most is not.

Nobody really knows anything (see the first thing) and everything about when it may launch and any pricing is conjecture. Some are educated guesses, others are "pull it out of thin air" guesses.

So, what are the rumors? Well, according to The Information, ESPN would cost almost as much as Sling TV:

ESPN is considering charging between $20 and $35 a month for its new streaming service, The Information reported Thursday. Such a price range could make it the most expensive streaming service in the U.S.

The new service would show the same marquee programming as ESPN’s cable channel, unlike the existing ESPN+ streaming service ...

Sling TV Orange carries ESPN, and is $40/month, only $5 more than the rumored price. Sling TV also has other programming that might be of interest.

A downside to Sling TV is the limit of a single stream. Accounts cannot have multiple streams at the same time, making this not as attractive as most other services.

Would ESPN have multiple streams? That isn't known. If it does, this may be a better option because it saves $5 and allows multiple games to be played by a family.

My Streaming Life involves ESPN via Sling TV every football season. I don't know if I'd switch to a standalone ESPN service, but I might.

They're selling your data

You probably knew this. Those companies that get your data are selling your data.

No, not all are doing it. But most are.

[YouTube]

Privacy should be a concern to everyone. Unfortunately, it's not. I know many people that I consider rather savvy in many ways who are absolutely terrible when it comes to the topic of privacy.

My Streaming Life involves other companies, who have data on me. And yes, I'm sure they sell it. (Watch the video again.) But it's a trade-off I make, but I don't like it.