The amount of “cord cutters” is growing. It might be because the cable bill has gotten so expensive or it might just be the new way people want to be able to get their tv entertainment. In any case, more and more people are getting rid of their traditional cable and going with some other options to get their entertainment. That might mean Netflix, Hulu, or an Antenna. But how are they watching the NCAA march madness games? Do they get those somehow too?
This is a valid question. If you’ve thought about cancelling your cable tv service and sticking with Internet only and an Antenna for some TV viewing, but you were stumped with what to do for live sports then you’re not alone. It’s just recently that companies have started to embrace the cord cutting era of television with services that help out these “cord cutters.”
So how do you take the average $100 per month cable bill and turn it into something less while still being able to watch the NCAA tourney? Check out this list of options.
Yes, you still need Internet!
Before we start looking at the options, you should understand that you need to still get internet service from somewhere. Also, you need a streaming device that will send the entertainment to your tv. That could mean a Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, a Playstation 3 or 4, or some other device that will stream to your tv.
Ok, so you got rid of the cable tv bill, Now what?
The first thing you should do is go out and buy yourself an antenna. Depending on where you live you may have to get an antenna that will have a further reach for some stations, but for the most part, most of you living in the United States will not have too much trouble getting free over the air tv.
Great, free tv is good, but what about the basketball channels on TBS, TNT, and TruTV? Glad you asked.
List of streaming options:
1: Sling TV for $20 per month
I’ll start with Sling TV because it’s one of the most economical. For $20 a month you’ll have access to live TNT and TBS streaming. You can also stream a host of other “cable” channels with this service. Pair this with your internet and you may be able to drop your cable bill to more than half off. For CBS, you can just use your antenna. It’ll be free.
If you want you can also add TruTV for $5 with the “Comedy Extra” package with contains MTV, truTV, Spike, MTV2, CMT, Logo, GSN, and TV Land. There you go, for $25 per month you have it all. Well, to be exact, you need to also add the Internet bill which should be between $20-$50 a month depending on the speed you sign up for. It will be less than what you were paying before, and you probably won’t notice much of a difference.
2: Playstation Vue for $30 per month
Playstation is another streaming option that has hit the market running. If you already have a PS3 or PS4 then you can stream using what you already have which is a great plus. No need to buy a Roku or Apple TV. For the starter $30 package you’ll get TNT, TBS, and truTV. It’s more than the $25 with SlingTV, but you do get a different selection of channels.
In some markets you’ll also get to stream CBS with this package. If you’re not in those markets then use your antenna. If you don’t have an antenna yet, please do yourself a favor and buy one.
3: CBS All Access for $6 – $10 per month
If you’re part of the small majority that can’t get CBS for free with an antenna then you can try out their new streaming service CBS All Access. You can go with the cheaper $6 a month or upgrade to $10 to get rid of the commercials on some of their programming. If it’s live you’re still going to get commercials, but for some of their content you can just stream on demand without commercials, just like Netflix.
If you’re a Star Trek fan then CBS All Access might be a must. Their putting out a 13 episode season then will only be available to CBS All Access subscribers. You can expect even more original programming to hit CBS only streaming similar to how Netflix is doing it.
Turn the games on and off
Do you know the best part about these streaming services? They are no contract. So you can sign up for the free trial, run it a month and then get rid of it. You can work around the programming schedule and just turn on Sling TV for the tournament madness month.
That would just cost you $25 for the month, and you don’t have to keep paying for all those channels if you aren’t going to watch them after the tourney is done. That’s where even more of the power to streaming lies. Turn it off and save some money. Turn it back on when you want to watch something, like the NBA playoffs in April for example.