Watching College Football in 2023: Week 5

We're now in the fifth week of college football for 2023. There are 59 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this weekend, counting the seven already played (three on Thursday night and four last night). The only big game so far was last night's matchup between Number 10 Utah and Number 19 Oregon State.

Today, there are 52 games on the schedule. There are 15 games involving ranked teams today. Three of those match-ups involved both teams being ranked: Number 3 Texas hosts Number 24 Kansas, Number 13 LSU plays at Number 20 Ole Miss, and Number 11 Notre Dame visits Number 17 Duke. Ohio State (4), Florida State (5), North Carolina (15), Washington State (16), and Miami (18) all have open weekends.

Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all 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

Note: No games are on Longhorn Network this week.

Between this weekend's games and next Saturday, there are six games involving Division 1-A/FBS teams, none involving ranked teams (at least, so far; that could change depending on the outcome of todays games, as some "on the cusp" teams could move up). Those six games will be broadcast on:

• CBS Sports Network
• ESPN
• ESPNU
• Fox Sports 1

Later in the season, 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's week five in college football, and covers all the networks -- so far -- that are carrying college football games in 2023. My Streaming Life focuses on college football during this time of year.

Legacy Tablo will continue to support Tablo Connect

Recently, I've been concerned about changes to Tablo. The new generation Tablo device doesn't support Tablo Connect. That's held me up from trying one of them.

I have used Tablo Connect a lot. I put up an antenna at my mother's house, and used that to watch TV at my house. I live about 2 miles from her house.

After she passed away, my sisters and I who owned the house and adjoining property, swapped some stuff, and I now no longer have any ownership of the house. I didn't take my antenna with me, and now I no longer have an antenna. They don't mind if I use the antenna, but they rented the house to others, and I've stopped using Tablo Connect.

I plan to put up an antenna at my house, and like the idea of being able to watch via Tablo Connect from another location. The new Tablo devices don't support that.

To add to that, the older devices will get the firmware update at some time in the future. I've been worried that I'd lose Tablo Connect functionality, even if I kept my old equipment. Turns out that's not happening.

Tablo clarified in a blog post recently that Tablo Connect will continue to be supported:

While nothing is changing for existing Tablo customers now, legacy network-connected Tablo devices ... will be able to use these fully redesigned Tablo apps after a firmware update coming later this year.

The firmware update won’t disable access to current features like Tablo Connect through legacy Tablo apps, so [legacy users] will still be able to use his Tablo as he does now.

The firmware update will simply give current Tablo customers with legacy network-connected devices the opportunity to try out the new app experience and switch to it if they like it.

That's good news. While the new hardware won't support Tablo Connect, the new software will. My Streaming Life misses Tablo Connect for now, but will again have that functionality. Once I put up a new antenna, that is.

Google TV Live TV

I mentioned last week that I was going to focus on Google TV more. I said Chromecast, but that's the interface it uses, so I'm essentially using Google TV more.

Just to be complete, Google TV is the interface that runs on Android TV, which is available on many different devices, including Chromecast. There are some devices that run Android TV that don't have the Google TV interface. There is a difference, but not really my focus. Think Chromecast, and how it work. Or Nvidia Shield, if you prefer. Or Walmart's Onn streaming box, if you are budget-conscious. They use basically the same interface. I'm primarily talking about Chromecast. Got it? Good.

The other day, I talked about the Google TV home screen. I had planned on talking about Live TV, but never go to that. Today, I'm going to talk about the Live TV section of the interface.

Google TV's Live TV section has content from Pluto TV, Tubi, Plex, and Haystack News, as well as its own content of (as of today) 104 live streaming channels. All together, Google TV offers over 800 channels of content.

Is that really a good thing? Yes, and no. Mostly yes, but quite a bit no. Let me elaborate.

Somewhere along the way, the amount of content is too much to dig through. Sometimes, you simply want to watch something from a manageable number. If a service offered 10-thousand channels, would you really be able to go through them and pick out what you want to watch? I think not. That's too much to navigate. By the time you went through it all, you wouldn't have any time left to watch anything.

So, if 10-thousand is too much, what about 1,000? That's a lot. If you spent 3 seconds looking at each channel, it would take nearly an hour (50 minutes, actually) to go through all 1,000 channels. So that's too many, in my way of thinking.

What about 800? That's still 40 minutes of time to scroll through, at an average of 3 seconds to look at what each channel is and what's playing on it. That seems too many.

What about 100? That works out to five minutes. That's still a long time to figure out what you want to watch, but it's 10 times faster than 50 minutes. That's manageable.

Well, maybe Google thinks so as well. Remember I said Google TV has its own content along with content form Pluto, Tubi, Plex, and Haystack News? Google TV has 104 of its own channels. Many, if not all of them, are also available on Plex, Pluto, Tubi, and Haystack News. Google TV's channels are a "best of" it seems.

These are channels with which Google has worked out a separate agreement. It includes content from other services, such as Xumo, Filmrise, and more. My two favorites, two channels that I can always go to and enjoy, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Classic Doctor Who, are there. They're also on Pluto TV, Plex, and Tubi, but Google TV has its own agreement to carry them. And many other channels, some of which I enjoy as well.

I really like the lineup. It's manageable, and has my favorites. I like what they've done. They've picked quality over quantity. Of course, if I didn't like those, and liked other content that Pluto TV has that Google TV doesn't, then that would make a big difference. But, as it is, I like how they've implemented this.

My Streaming Life has had a lot more Google TV in it lately. That's by design. And it may continue after this trial period is over.

New Tablo devices don't support Tablo Connect

I really like Tablo Connect. That's the name of the functionality where Tablo allows watching of TV from a remote location. That means I could connect to my Tablo device from anywhere on the Internet and watch TV from my Tablo device.

Not only could I do that, I did that. After I put up an antenna at my mother's house, I simply watched local TV that way.

Recently, though, Tablo announced new devices. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money for a new device. Well, after finding out that Tablo Connect isn't supported by the new Tablo devices, I won't be getting one.

So, why isn't Tablo Connect supported? Tablo answered that question on its blog recently.

Legacy network-connected Tablo units transcode all live TV and recordings in real-time at several different video quality and bandwidth settings. This ensures that you can get a smooth stream at almost any connection speed.

The new Tablo device however streams and records everything in full MPEG2 quality. This creates a fairly large and bandwidth-heavy file.

Most modern home networks can handle streaming this content between rooms. However, streaming such a large video file over a mobile network is more difficult and may result in a poor experience.

That is disappointing. My Streaming Life has used Tablo Connect for some time. It's a feature I really like. And I don't expect to purchase a Tablo device that doesn't support it.

Amazon to launch an ad-free tier of Prime Video

Wait. What?

Isn't Prime Video already ad-free?

Why yes it is.

So, how is Amazon launching an ad-free tier?

Remember how Disney and Netflix and HBOMax/Max all added lower priced ad-supported tiers? Well, Amazon is doing the same thing, only in reverse. They're making the current plan ad-supported, and will charge extra for an ad-free tier. Links: Cord Cutters News, TV Answer Man, AFTV News.

But that's not right!

Okay. But they're Amazon. What are you going to do? Didn't you see that episode of South Park? You have no choice.

But that's not right!

And ...?

That was fun! Well, maybe not. But less fun is Amazon's decision to start pushing commercials to Prime Video, then charging more to not have commercials. That would mean the $140/year you're paying would go up $36/year to $176 for the same service you have today.

If it bothers you, think about it like this: Amazon is raising prices by $36/year, and offering a lower-priced ad-supported tier where you can save $36/year. Is that better? No. Well, again, too bad.

This is another price hike for a streaming service. We've had a lot of those in the last 2-3 years. My Streaming Life may end up being Amazon-free. I've been thinking about it for a while, but haven't worked out how to do it and keep the level of service from alternatives. Amazon has me over a barrel, and knows it. Just kidding. I'm not even on their radar. I'm not important enough for them to care about. But you know what? Neither are you. None of us are.

Google TV interface

Last week, I decided I would use my Chromecast more. I've actually followed through on that.

Perhaps it's actually the Google TV interface on the Android TV platform running on the Google Chromecast with Google TV. But that's way too much to say, so I'm just calling it "Chromecast." meaning the device, focusing on the interface.

There is something about the device itself to discuss, particularly the remote. I like the remote that comes with Walmart's Onn streaming box better. But, that's a discussion for another day. Right now, I'm talking about the Google TV interface. I'm using my Chromecast HD device.

I don't like the busier interfaces that are found on Google TV, as well as on Fire TV. I prefer the simplicity of Roku. There is a list of apps, and I launch the one I want.

That brings up something I like about Google TV. I can use the system in an apps-only mode. That is, it will work a lot like a Roku device. Well, there is the big ad with suggestions that takes up 3/4 of the home screen, but a row of five apps is visible, and scrolling down to that shows all the apps on the device.

I actually like that compromise. It's a profile setting, meaning that if you have multiple profiles on the device, one can be in apps-only and another in standard mode, with suggetions and such. The focus is getting you to watch specific content, not the actual apps.

That's really a good way to watch TV. In fact, is an excellent way to watch TV. It's how everyone used to watch TV. The shows, specific content, was what we were after.

Today, when people consider cutting the cord, they want to know about specific channels to watch, not specific content on the channels. It's the content that's important, and that's the focus of the standard Google TV interface.

Of course, I realize that here I am talking about how good it is to focus on content, and I prefer the streaming device that focuses on apps. I am aware of the incongruity. And that's why I'm actually using the standard mode for checking out Google TV.

I gotta admit, I see why they do it that way. It is a good thing to focus on content, because that truly is what it's all about.

The Home screen looks pretty good. The ad at the top takes up 1/2 of it, compared to about 3/4 of the apps-only mode screen.

That's the top. There is the main ad, then some "top picks," followed by the list of installed apps. That's a pretty decent layout.

I can see how the listing of popular videos, including videos for sale, would be a good thing for some. Google is using it as a way to push sales of content. If it's content you want, then good. If not, it's pretty much spam.

The section where the user can select Movies, Shows, Family content, and so on can also be quite useful. Following that row are several rows of different genre of content, both movies and TV shows.

My Streaming Life has always been primarily focused on Roku. I think I could get use to this. After a month of using this platform, I'm wondering how easy it will be to return to Roku. Or if I'll want to.

Secure messaging apps

When it comes to messaging apps, it's difficult to find one that's secure. Well, one that's secure that most people you want to message use.

Internet Privacy Guy Rob Braxman has some thoughts and comparison of apps.

[YouTube]

My Streaming Life is part of my life, and I want my life to be secure.