YouTube TV just announced that beginning Saturday it will drop the Fox Sports Regional Channels (I.e., Fox Sports Oklahoma) due to its inability to come to an agreement for a new contract with Sinclair. Huge bummer as Thunder games are 95% of what we watch on YTTV and have been happy with the service. But we will immediately cancel if a resolution doesn't appear likely and won't think twice about doing so. Definitely a perk of the online streaming wars - they don't force you to be loyal through a contract. Though it sounds like all of the tv providers are fighting the same battle with Sinclair right now so we'll see what happens.

i just wish the league streaming services would drop the local blackout policies. let me buy it and watch my local team no matter what.

i just wish the league streaming services would drop the local blackout policies. let me buy it and watch my local team no matter what.

Agreed.

I was all ready to go with YTTV cause of thunder game. Oh well I will just have to keep watching them online.

I was all ready to go with YTTV cause of thunder game. Oh well I will just have to keep watching them online.

How are you watching them online?

How are you watching them online?

my lips are sealed. Try OKC Thunder Reddit I'm saying no more

my lips are sealed. Try OKC Thunder Reddit I'm saying no more

Hey HEY HEY! It's like the first rule of Fight Club...:p

Hey HEY HEY! It's like the first rule of Fight Club...:p

which you just broke!!!

which you just broke!!!

DOH! :wink:

Don't care about the Fox RSN loss.

Sinclair released a very defensive statement today saying they'd reduced their offer to YTTV and they declined. That's to me not a statement made by someone from a position of strength. Think they're getting the fallout.

Also, rumblings are that Comcast is getting ready to announce they are dumping Sinclair as well.

Still perfectly happy with YTTV. Buhbuy, Sinclair.

YTTV is getting ready to announce a temporary agreement with Sinclair to allow continued broadcast of Fox RSNs until a new agreement is reached. This info is just breaking on the YouTubeTV Reddit channel.

My assessment may be wrong, but I think Sinclair blinked.

YTTV is getting ready to announce a temporary agreement with Sinclair to allow continued broadcast of Fox RSNs until a new agreement is reached. This info is just breaking on the YouTubeTV Reddit channel.

My assessment may be wrong, but I think Sinclair blinked.

I think you are right. I admit I haven’t studied the Sinclair acquisition of the Fox RSNs as a cast off from the Disney purchase of Fox overall, but I have to guess that Sinclair has to maintain viewing households as a component of their financing package for the purchase. No eyeballs equal no money, regardless of how much is charged for the access.

I think you are right. I admit I haven’t studied the Sinclair acquisition of the Fox RSNs as a cast off from the Disney purchase of Fox overall, but I have to guess that Sinclair has to maintain viewing households as a component of their financing package for the purchase. No eyeballs equal no money, regardless of how much is charged for the access.

I hope this is correct. I was close to pulling the trigger and dropping Direct TV for YTTV, but not having Thunder games available would be a deal breaker for me.

YTTV is getting ready to announce a temporary agreement with Sinclair to allow continued broadcast of Fox RSNs until a new agreement is reached. This info is just breaking on the YouTubeTV Reddit channel.

My assessment may be wrong, but I think Sinclair blinked.

Looks like YTTV has removed some, but not all of the RSNs overnight. Can someone confirm is FSOK is still on YTTV?

I saw a headline this morning that they removed some channels from the YES network. Fox still exists.

15828

Thunder is staying on YTTV.

I Read this morning that Sinclair and YTTV have reached an agreement to continue to carry 19 of 21 Fox RSNs. Departing YYTV are Fox Sports West, Prime Ticket, and YES Network. I do not recall the story in the Oklahoman stating the duration of the deal, although I’m guessing it is multi year

Thunder is staying on YTTV.

I Read this morning that Sinclair and YTTV have reached an agreement to continue to carry 19 of 21 Fox RSNs. Departing YYTV are Fox Sports West, Prime Ticket, and YES Network. I do not recall the story in the Oklahoman stating the duration of the deal, although I’m guessing it is multi year

for the record our FSN regiongal never left YTTV

This is about Cox internet,

Is anyone else having trouble with slow speeds and buffering on your home and/or business Cox internet service?
My business near State Fair Park, and residence near Casady Square are both suffering from buffering and slow loading at a rate I have never experienced. The Cox cable works fine at the house, and my AT&T cellular service is faster at playing movies than the Cox internet is.

This is about Cox internet,

Is anyone else having trouble with slow speeds and buffering on your home and/or business Cox internet service?
My business near State Fair Park, and residence near Casady Square are both suffering from buffering and slow loading at a rate I have never experienced. The Cox cable works fine at the house, and my AT&T cellular service is faster at playing movies than the Cox internet is.

Yes, I did have the problem. It was doing just as you said - buffering and speeds that made loading a site seem like the old 14.4 modems (actually it was at 15Mbps this morning). I did a reset today of my modem and my router both and it was back to normal, which for me is about 75-90Mbps (WiFi) on the Cox Premium 200Mbps plan. I get 200Mbps or a little over through my Cat 5 Ethernet cable.

Most likely the high load on the network on your node. Lot of people staying at home.

Most likely the high load on the network on your node. Lot of people staying at home.

Absolutely! You have a child or multiple children in a house streaming shows, while mom and dad are teleworking from a laptop/computer talking to coworkers via Skype, Zoom, etc. Multiply that by 250k households and it can slow things down on networks. A lot of the video streaming companies have said they will lower the default streams to 480 SD streams instead of 1080 HD streams. You, as a user can still switch this back, but the hope is the standard definition streams will ease some of the network traffic.

Absolutely! You have a child or multiple children in a house streaming shows, while mom and dad are teleworking from a laptop/computer talking to coworkers via Skype, Zoom, etc. Multiply that by 250k households and it can slow things down on networks. A lot of the video streaming companies have said they will lower the default streams to 480 SD streams instead of 1080 HD streams. You, as a user can still switch this back, but the hope is the standard definition streams will ease some of the network traffic.
That only makes sense. And truly, not seeing something in super HD during this time of overload wouldn't bother me at all. I'm just glad it's an option in 2020 to stream tons of movies and TV into the house for less than the cost of a movie ticket or two.

And let's face it - a lot of people aren't going to notice a res drop from 1080p to 720p, (heck, even 480p) especially if they're watching on a 6" phone screen.

Will we see refunds for the drop in quality though? I pay for the UHD 4K Netflix, I don't want to be charged for higher quality streams and only getting 480p

Will we see refunds for the drop in quality though? I pay for the UHD 4K Netflix, I don't want to be charged for higher quality streams and only getting 480p

Since it is month to month, just lower your plan.

Will we see refunds for the drop in quality though? I pay for the UHD 4K Netflix, I don't want to be charged for higher quality streams and only getting 480p

From my understanding, you can still manually switch to 4k UHD when your show/film begins and will stream at that quality.

I'm with COX and have Gigablast Internet service. My computer auto speed tests 4 times a day. I'm averaging 480 Mbps down and 36.9 Mbps up. That's not as fast as I was getting prior to the lockdown, but it's fast enough I see no issues.

The wife and I now both work from home and our house has tons of connected devices.

The one issue we did have to take charge of was bandwidth usage, so we don't incur overage charges. Being home all day with multiple connected devices made our usage go us to 5% per day (which would mean approx. 50% overage in a month). I really like the COX wifi app. It lets you know your bandwidth usage for the last 24-hours, so you can see how close you are closing in on your cap. You can also identify each device and see how active it is. I didn't realize how much real and 'ghost' bandwidth we use during times we weren't actually using the device.

Because of this I put devices into groups and I control those groups of devices manually. Example: I manually set my Sonos speakers, Playstation, xbox, tablets and apple TV's to "off" within the app so they cannot connect to the internet unless we manually give them access. We do the same with the cloud based interior security cameras, since they are recording non-stop since we are home moving around constantly. This dropped our usage considerably - we are back to about 2% usage per day. If you are on COX and don't have or utilize the app, you might give it a look.

I'm with COX and have Gigablast Internet service. My computer auto speed tests 4 times a day. I'm averaging 480 Mbps down and 36.9 Mbps up. That's not as fast as I was getting prior to the lockdown, but it's fast enough I see no issues.

The wife and I now both work from home and our house has tons of connected devices.

The one issue we did have to take charge of was bandwidth usage, so we don't incur overage charges. Being home all day with multiple connected devices made our usage go us to 5% per day (which would mean approx. 50% overage in a month). I really like the COX wifi app. It lets you know your bandwidth usage for the last 24-hours, so you can see how close you are closing in on your cap. You can also identify each device and see how active it is. I didn't realize how much real and 'ghost' bandwidth we use during times we weren't actually using the device.

Because of this I put devices into groups and I control those groups of devices manually. Example: I manually set my Sonos speakers, Playstation, xbox, tablets and apple TV's to "off" within the app so they cannot connect to the internet unless we manually give them access. We do the same with the cloud based interior security cameras, since they are recording non-stop since we are home moving around constantly. This dropped our usage considerably - we are back to about 2% usage per day. If you are on COX and don't have or utilize the app, you might give it a look.

I just subscribed to Cox Gigablast, they had a promotion for 69.99/month including unlimited data and the wifi router/modem for 2 year guaranteed pricing. I couldn't resist.

I also like the wifi app. My only complaint is I can't set up a guest network. Also, I can't figure out how to make bridge mode work so I could use a better wifi router, but I've been pretty pleased so far.

I'm with COX and have Gigablast Internet service.....

....The one issue we did have to take charge of was bandwidth usage, so we don't incur overage charges.

Many internet companies nationwide are waiving bandwidth limits during this time due to the increased usage of people working from home and increased amounts of streaming. You may want to double check with COX, but we were capped with 1TB on ATT Home Internet and I've noticed it now says unlimited. Guessing this will go back to 1TB sometime this summer?


https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/03/12/comcast-at-t-and-verizon-announce-broadband-work-home-improvements/5036821002/

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/03/at-comcast-keeps-charging-overage-fees/

Many internet companies nationwide are waiving bandwidth limits during this time due to the increased usage of people working from home and increased amounts of streaming. You may want to double check with COX, but we were capped with 1TB on ATT Home Internet and I've noticed it now says unlimited. Guessing this will go back to 1TB sometime this summer?


https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/03/12/comcast-at-t-and-verizon-announce-broadband-work-home-improvements/5036821002/

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/03/at-comcast-keeps-charging-overage-fees/

I had heard something about that. I just figure it's better all around if people try and conserve bandwidth as much as possible.

I just subscribed to Cox Gigablast, they had a promotion for 69.99/month including unlimited data and the wifi router/modem for 2 year guaranteed pricing. I couldn't resist.

I also like the wifi app. My only complaint is I can't set up a guest network. Also, I can't figure out how to make bridge mode work so I could use a better wifi router, but I've been pretty pleased so far.

Were you already a subscriber and are you just internet and no TV? I am at the point to negotiate a new rate but since I have no other options but Cox they never really give me a good deal.

Were you already a subscriber and are you just internet and no TV? I am at the point to negotiate a new rate but since I have no other options but Cox they never really give me a good deal.

I called, since I just recently subscribed and was told there was no $69.99 offer for Gigablast that didn't include a bundle with other services (which I refuse to do). I have no idea if Barrettd has a bundle or not and I don't necessarily trust COX when they tell me there is not a matching special. Just letting you know my experience.

I called, since I just recently subscribed and was told there was no $69.99 offer for Gigablast that didn't include a bundle with other services (which I refuse to do). I have no idea if Barrettd has a bundle or not and I don't necessarily trust COX when they tell me there is not a matching special. Just letting you know my experience.

Cox is waiving all data caps through May 15th. That's a curious way to do it, because my monthly billing period expires on the 20th. So that means I have no risk of surcharges for going over in April, supposedly, but what if I go over in May? It creates the illusion that Cox is giving everyone a two-month grace period, when in reality (for at least some) it is possibly only one.

Cox also states that they are suspending sales of their unlimited data plans for now. If you already purchased/paid for one, you'll get a credit.

When I recently dropped TV from Cox, and went data-only, they didn't make ANY good offers to me, and I've been a customer for nearly 30 years.

As far as bandwidth management goes, even with a cap waiver, I"m not wanting to get in the habit of blowing past the 1TB plan. Even though YouTubeTV carries most locals, I spent $30 on a really nice attic antenna for OTB broadcasts, and I just fed it onto all the old hardwired cable outlets throughout the house. I pick up all the local stations, and thus see no real point in watching them through YTTV via a stream that counts against my data. And doing that pointed out to me just how little I watch the national cable networks; watch some local news, a couple of syndicated shows, and beyond that I like some YouTube channels. I've knocked down the quality to 720p, because frankly very little content *truly* merits much higher - and I can always switch back if I need.

I've also heard anecdotal stories that Cox and other ISP's are making informal/unofficial arrangements with educators to bump up their service speed at no charge during the current circumstances. I have not confirmed that myself.

Which is probably a good indicator of how much money they make off Internet service and how additional speed if just a way to get you to pay more when it doesn't cost them much additional to provide it.

Were you already a subscriber and are you just internet and no TV? I am at the point to negotiate a new rate but since I have no other options but Cox they never really give me a good deal.

I was on AT&T Fiber. Long story short, I was on Cox 300MB service when Gig came out, they had a promotion on Gig for new customers, refused to give me the offer, I switched to AT&T Fiber.

Now I'm on an internet only plan with Cox. Just got my first bill, $69.99. Unlimited data and free modem for 2 years, no contract. Using YouTube TV for, well, TV.

Which is probably a good indicator of how much money they make off Internet service and how additional speed if just a way to get you to pay more when it doesn't cost them much additional to provide it.

I think that's always been the case. They were losing TV subscribers to streaming services, so tried to make it up by capping data and charging for overages or data plan add-ons. At least, that's how it seems to me.

I was on AT&T Fiber. Long story short, I was on Cox 300MB service when Gig came out, they had a promotion on Gig for new customers, refused to give me the offer, I switched to AT&T Fiber.

Now I'm on an internet only plan with Cox. Just got my first bill, $69.99. Unlimited data and free modem for 2 years, no contract. Using YouTube TV for, well, TV.

Ahh got ya. Ya we have no other options to switch to. Thanks!

Bummer, FSN regional networks leaving YouTube TV on Thursday. Guess I'll have to switch to something else when NBA season rolls around again.

Bummer, FSN regional networks leaving YouTube TV on Thursday. Guess I'll have to switch to something else when NBA season rolls around again.


Yeah, especially bad considering their very recent 30% price increase.

Bummer, FSN regional networks leaving YouTube TV on Thursday. Guess I'll have to switch to something else when NBA season rolls around again.

Is this different from all the usual negotiations which eventually get worked out? I just assumed they'd take if off the app as a means of leverage to get a deal negotiated.

Is this different from all the usual negotiations which eventually get worked out? I just assumed they'd take if off the app as a means of leverage to get a deal negotiated.

Has anyone heard anything new on Fox regionals and YouTube TV? ...or other streaming services?

Has anyone heard anything new on Fox regionals and YouTube TV? ...or other streaming services?

As for YTTV, I haven't heard anything.

With YTTV ditching the Fox regional channels, I'm thinking of options for the upcoming Thunder games. Is NBA League Pass an option or are games blacked out here in OKC? At the moment League Pass is only $60 for an annual pass.

League Pass blacks out all local games, so you won’t be able to use it to watch the Thunder if you’re located in the OKC market area.

With YTTV ditching the Fox regional channels, I'm thinking of options for the upcoming Thunder games. Is NBA League Pass an option or are games blacked out here in OKC? At the moment League Pass is only $60 for an annual pass.

you would need to use a VPN to make it think you are in a different location

I didn't go through the entire thread, but what I did see was that no one mentioned Kodi or any of the Fire tv devices. I've had Kodi for about 3 years and have experimented with several other set ups for streaming. Lots of free services available with Fire Stick or any number of devices for streaming. Pluto tv, Cinema hd, US tv and radio, Peacock(NBC). Go to You Tube and search for IPTV live tv and movies and tv. You will be surprised how much free or low cost viewing there is. Several names to look for is Dr Venture or Troy point. They show how to set up cord cutting services. There are many others , you just have to look and watch the instructional videos.

Also, some of the pay services are pre pay, I would avoid most of those. I was burned once by prepaying a month in advance. Best thing to do is just search and experiment. Most of the pay services offer a free trial, usually 1- 3 days. Just look for apps, builds, or Apks.

I didn't go through the entire thread, but what I did see was that no one mentioned Kodi or any of the Fire tv devices. I've had Kodi for about 3 years and have experimented with several other set ups for streaming. Lots of free services available with Fire Stick or any number of devices for streaming. Pluto tv, Cinema hd, US tv and radio, Peacock(NBC). Go to You Tube and search for IPTV live tv and movies and tv. You will be surprised how much free or low cost viewing there is. Several names to look for is Dr Venture or Troy point. They show how to set up cord cutting services. There are many others , you just have to look and watch the instructional videos.

Yes, there are a lot of free TV services that are good, but Kodi tends to be regarded as software used for pirating media (I won't argue the point, I've used Kodi for years), and it also requires a bit more technical involvement than just installing an app. I eventually got tired of keeping it updated, and it was just a lot easier to pay for services. I do like PlutoTV a lot, though.

I coudln't ever get kodi to load/stream as reliably as a paid service to the point I just said eff it and go pay for a service. Even accounting for paid services on kodi.

I have to wonder at what point the scales will tip back towards me just paying for cable.

hulu+ has gone up to $65 a month
amazon prime video is $14 a month. That's $80 right there on top of the $85 a month I pay for internet. It may be cheaper for me to just bundle with my internet provider again (Xfinity/comcast).

It is nice using hulu+ on any device, so long as no more than 2 are running at once. I have 3 different TV's I regularly watch (living room, office, and bedroom). The cost to have cable service to 3 TVs can add up for me. If I went to every TV in the house that would be 2 more. (2 guestrooms) At this price point, the only advantage is streaming on any TV. If the price goes up any more on these streaming services, I will dump them and go back to cable as it will be easier to deal with; plus not eating into my data cap or using bandwidth off of my wifi router.

Edit: Just out of curiosity I logged into my Xfinity account. I can keep my same high speed internet package, and get Live TV (200+ channels) for $110. For 3 rooms would be $135. I would guess after taxes it would come out to around $165, which is about what I am paying now between the 3 services I use. Hulu+ only gives me 65 channels. So really it would be a better deal to just go back to cable. Wonder how this will play out over the next few years as streaming services continue to increase prices and cable companies continue to get desperate.

I have to wonder at what point the scales will tip back towards me just paying for cable.

hulu+ has gone up to $65 a month
amazon prime video is $14 a month. That's $80 right there on top of the $85 a month I pay for internet. It may be cheaper for me to just bundle with my internet provider again (Xfinity/comcast).

It is nice using hulu+ on any device, so long as no more than 2 are running at once. I have 3 different TV's I regularly watch (living room, office, and bedroom). The cost to have cable service to 3 TVs can add up for me. If I went to every TV in the house that would be 2 more. (2 guestrooms) At this price point, the only advantage is streaming on any TV. If the price goes up any more on these streaming services, I will dump them and go back to cable as it will be easier to deal with; plus not eating into my data cap or using bandwidth off of my wifi router.

Edit: Just out of curiosity I logged into my Xfinity account. I can keep my same high speed internet package, and get Live TV (200+ channels) for $110. For 3 rooms would be $135. I would guess after taxes it would come out to around $165, which is about what I am paying now between the 3 services I use. Hulu+ only gives me 65 channels. So really it would be a better deal to just go back to cable. Wonder how this will play out over the next few years as streaming services continue to increase prices and cable companies continue to get desperate.

The issue I am finding though is a lot of programming is shifting to the streaming services, for instance I see a lot of content that we would be interested in only available on the new Discovery+ service. I agree that it is getting crazy though, we have even thought about getting rid of it all and just relying on physical copy purchase/rental or what the library has to offer. Or better yet finding something more productive to do with our free time.

I don't really watch a lot of TV. Usually I use it for background noise, or something passive to look at while doing other things. I rarely watch sports, and any shows or movies I want to watch I usually have to pay for anyway.

I'm not high minded or proud, I watch TV constantly. At the least, I have one playing 24/7, and if I am awake I am also reading. Constantly. I am a certified Vidiot. And old. Born when Eisenhower was President.

I am amazed at the amount of TV content available for free on streaming services nowadays. This is truly the Golden Age of Streaming of Golden Age of Television. My main interest is really around 1965-85 and it seems to me that 90% of shows from that era are playing on an ad-supported platform 9 months of the year. I say 9 months because distribution deals are changing and shows move between streamers and might be idled for a few months.

If you can live with the commercial breaks that TV has had forever, then you can watch for free on services such as;
Peacock
Pluto
Crackle
Tubi
IMDb
YouTube (legally, and for free)

I'm sure there are many others, but if it is on a digital sub channel of Over The Air TV, then it is probably streaming somewhere.

I guess for me, I don't usually have a specific enough interest in shows or programs to know that I want to watch it. There are plenty of things I will watch, but very few I will specifically seek out. That is where I miss cable - I would never turn on a NASCAR race. But, if one is on when I turn the TV on I might watch it for a few minutes. I won't search through the guide to find a gardening show, but if it's maybe I'll watch it for a while. Same with many of the prime time TV shows. I find the acting and plots pretty terrible, but if it's on I will probably watch it. I miss that randomness with cable. The experience isn't the same on streaming services. Hulu+ does come close though.

If you have specific shows you want to watch, streaming is a great idea. I am not a TV fanatic, but tend to like watching whatever is on. It's hard to think of a show to download when you don't really have a "movie memory" to remember what show you want to watch, picking an episode, etc.

Pluto tv scratches that itch of randomness pretty well for the wife and me. It's easy to throw it on one of their "channels" during the day as background noise, or when we just want to watch something real quick. My only complaint is that they tend to run the same block of episodes for a given show a lot. For example their Star Trek channel keeps just showing the same dozen or so TNG episodes over and over.

I keep hoping the streaming services will add some sort of shuffle feature. If I could pick 10 tv shows and have it show me random episodes from that list, it'd be perfect. I have no interest in trying to rewatch all of Seinfeld or Friends or Cheers, etc, but I like catching the random episodes.

Anyone have any experience with AT&T TV NOW? I'm curious what that service is like as I'm looking at switching from YTTV. The package to get Fox Sports OK is $80, so $15 more a month than YTTV, but I'd be willing to pay that to watch the Thunder this season.

As of now, YTTV has lost all Disney owned channels, including ABC and all ESPN channels. Not cool with the start of bowl season. I’d expect something will have to give as I don’t see how YTTV can be competitive without these channels, but for how long will they be gone. Very frustrating.

As of now, YTTV has lost all Disney owned channels, including ABC and all ESPN channels. Not cool with the start of bowl season. I’d expect something will have to give as I don’t see how YTTV can be competitive without these channels, but for how long will they be gone. Very frustrating.

Yes, very, very bad.

I don't think many people will keep Youtube TV without those channels; I know I won't.

Anyone have any experience with AT&T TV NOW? I'm curious what that service is like as I'm looking at switching from YTTV. The package to get Fox Sports OK is $80, so $15 more a month than YTTV, but I'd be willing to pay that to watch the Thunder this season.

AT&T TV Now has changed names a few times. DirectTV Now to AT&T TV Now, to AT&T TV to now DirectTV Stream. It's all essentially the same interface. Out of all of the streaming LIVE TV services, we probably had that one the longest. (Sling, YouTube TV, Hulu TV, and AT&T). The interface was not as intuitive as YouTube, but everything else was solid. Rising costs were the reason we cancelled, we began at $35 a month and it slowly crept up to $60 plus.

Not sure if the partnership with AT&T still exists with the DirectTV spinoff, but when we had it with our AT&T internet and AT&T Wireless phone, the stream didn't count against our data usage/data caps. It was nice to use our iPhones out and about to check in on a game and not worry about data.

Anyone have any experience with AT&T TV NOW? I'm curious what that service is like as I'm looking at switching from YTTV. The package to get Fox Sports OK is $80, so $15 more a month than YTTV, but I'd be willing to pay that to watch the Thunder this season.

Unfortunately Fox Sports no longer carries the Thunder. Bally's does.

Fubo is what I use. I get local channels, sports, Food Network, AMC, etc. I recommend them!