Whether you are trying to save money or just prefer the flexibility of streaming services for your television viewing cutting the cord from traditional TV services is becoming more and more popular. There are several steps involved, contact me if you would like a personal guide through the process, but if you are just looking for information here is part 1 in the cutting the cord series.
These questions will help you start your journey.
Determine what you absolutely require, do you need to have all the sports channels, or premium channels, or hallmark movies, or all the above? Having a channel list will help you choose between the cheaper solutions and the more premium options.
How many TV's do you need to be able to stream the service at the same time?
Another important factor is how much recording of shows to you need?
Here is a quick summary of possible streaming options:
This is the service I use. $64.99/mo gets you unlimited recordings, stream to 3 devices at a time, and over 85 channels. Add-ons available for premium channels, for example I add on HBO and get access to HBOMax.
Same price as YoutubeTV @ $64.99 for the base service. Only 2 screens by default and 50 hours of recordings. You can upgrade to unlimited screens, good if you need more than 3 that youtubeTV offers, for $9.99/mo. Also can upgrade to 200 hours of recordings for $9.99/mo. Or can do both unlimited screens and 200 hours of recordings for $14.99/mo.
Another option for hulu + live TV is their bundle with ESPN+ and Disney+ for $72.99, if you use or want those services the bundle may offer a better price for you.
Sling is the cheapest option of the main 3 providers because they break out the services into two groups, blue and orange. Blue they market as News + Entertianment and Orange as Sports + Family. Each is $35/mo on their own or $50 if you want both. You will need to carefully look at their channel lineup to see what channels you like to view before picking. Another note is Orange channels can only be streamed to one device at a time, Blue allows 3 devices at a time. 50 hours of recording is included and can be upgraded to 200 for $5 more per month.
Others: Fubo.tv - $64.99
Philo.com - no local channels, but 63 other channels for $20/mo
Locast.org - free local channels in some cities