Cord Cutting Advice Please

How easy do you need it to be?

I don't record games, but if I were to do so, I'd just install any of a number of free screen recorders and go to town. Just watch your settings or a full football game could gobble half your hard drive. A quick google suggests that OBS Studio is a good choice. Download, install, and you can record anything you want. I've done this before with Fraps and CamStudio, and it works (vaguely remember CS being fiddly to set up).

As for actually watching the game, the old Reddit CFB streams sub has been replaced by the site sportsurge.net, and it's fucking sweet. It's just a stream aggregator, but it actually has a pretty nice interface that makes it easy to find streams. If you aren't fortified with adblockers and whatnot, tell your computer to prepare its anus... So far, I have yet to see a Husky football or basketball game that wasn't streaming on sportsurge. Watched the Seahawks game that way last night, too.

As for watching anything else--anything else--a good VPN is $40 per year* and makes your web traffic anonymous to your ISP. So install and go nuts. Deluge is a great torrent client, and you can find anything you want to watch at the usual haunts (good ol' Pirate Bay or 1337x.to if/when TPB is down).


*I've been a staunch supporter of Private Internet Access (PIA) for years now. Aside from being fast and with encrypted traffic, they're the one VPN provider that has held up in multiple courts that they do not keep logs. That being said, they recently sold out, and the new owner is not trustworthy. It's been suggested that I ditch PIA and switch providers. I'll be switching to Mullvad, as it's the most secure VPN on the market.

I haven't had cable TV in at least 10 years now, and there's not really anything I've missed. I don't record things, but I'd make use of a screen recorder if I wanted to. There have been very few CFB games over the last three or four seasons that haven't found their way to YouTube within a week, so seems kind of redundant. I have Netflix because it's cheap and I have kids, but otherwise it's all free.

Meek said:

so I'm finally going to stop paying Directv the big bucks for a package that I only use for football and movies.

I'd be interested in anyone's experiences with alternate programming that allows for recording ESPN live football games.

I've used Sling and it's fine except you cannot record ESPN (as per their licensing agreement). I don't usually get to watch games live to conclusion so DVRing them is key.

Anyone tried YouTube TV? It seems like the best option, but who has used it and can verify/quash?

Other ideas?

Ditched DirectTV a month or so ago - pretty happy with Hulu Live so far. Includes all the local channels so I can watch the hottie news bimbos (IKW). Added on HBO and Showtime for proper tittay exposure and life is good. I can't remember why I didn't go with YoutubeTV - it was either lack of local or HGTV which would be a non-starter in the Throbber household.

DVR is included without restriction as far as I know.

No LarryScottFS Network but I didn't have that with DirectTV anyway because of, well, LarryScottFS.

You can DVR ESPN on Sling now. 10 hours free DVR included standard. BTN will be I n the lineup prior to next football season

Meek said:

i went with Hulu Live TV + the expanded DVR/unlimited screens bundle.

my research concluded that YouTube TV and Hulu Live were pretty similar but that Hulu has the slightly better user interface.

do not get the Pac12 Network but I can always decide to grab it on a month-to-month basis on Sling if something about our schedule compels me to watch those low grade opponents. Reality is that any non-conf game that ends up on the Pac12 Network isn't worth paying for anyway.

With our Hulu package we get Disney+ for $1/month added on too. Since my family already has Prime Video and Netflix I will not plan to add-on the premium channels (HBO, etc) because I think we get enough content now... don't need everything. With Hulu I also get a lot of the series I really enjoy anyway (Baskets, Vikings, Mayans MC, Snowfall) so I'm just going to give up on the ones that are with the premium channels.

@Mad_Son are you sure you can DVR ESPN live games? I was always able to record ESPN programming that was NOT a live game previously. The local channels make a big difference too b/c now I can get all the CBS (and CBS Sports Network), ABC, Fox (including FS1, FS2 which I believe Sling did not carry), and NBC live games.

Sling has FS1,2 now
I get local over the air for free
Hulu live has commercials - my Hulu doesn't

RaceBannon said:

I actually have remnants of one of those here at the G&R Compound from the previous owner.