New to Streaming

[SWharton]

We have been forced to stream while in Alaska, too many trees and mountains. It seemed to us that everything we wanted to look at we had to have a subscription to. That in itself is frustrating. But how do I find out what is playing when and the record it. I have never seen a tv program with a download option. We did subscribe to CBS Access and looked at programs from it but we couldn't figure out how to download the program and look at it later when we didn't have internet. My take is that I need a separate subscription for every channel I am interested in. How do I combine all these channels into one guide? I must be missing something to get a guide and be able to download easily.

[Dutch_12078]

Some of the multi-channel package streamers like SlingTV, YouTube TV, Hulu, etc., offer cloud based DVR services, either included or as an option.

[SWharton]

I want to record to my PC for when I don't have internet. I will need to research these to see if they can download to the PC.

The only reason this became an issue is that we had kept many programs on our Directv DVR to look at since we knew we wouldn't have Directv in AK. For some unknown reason we couldn't look at the programs with the antenna down. Last night we were able to get Directv (first time in a couple of months) and everything was still there. We refreshed the guide etc. Tonight we are able to see the programs we have on the DVR with the antenna down. Have no idea what was wrong but somehow it is fixed.

[rynosback]

Do you mean download the CBS app? You will need internet to view CBS all access. Any type of streaming will require internet/WiFi. You could also go with a jail broken Firestick.

[SWharton]

Not interested in the jail broken route. What I want to do is download programs similar to downloading music so I can look at them later when I don't have internet.

[Jaydrvr]

Netflix has quite a few programs and movies that can be downloaded. Jay

[SWharton]

I am talking about TV Series that we watch. With CBS Access we could look at Elementary but only if we had an internet connection. We would like to download and watch the programs when we don't have internet. 

Maybe we aren't meant to be streamers. Besides not being able to download to the PC. How do I find programs to look at? There is no overall Guide to see what we might like to see. We habitually surf the guide and record programs that might interest us. We are all over the place with this. Train programs on RFD, Sports program on the Olympic Channel, National Geographic, Golf Channel, Fox Business, some ESPN channels, some Fox sport channels, series on the major channels, PBS etc. I just don't see how I can find out about these programs with streaming when their isn't an overall guide.

Maybe I don't understand what streaming is suppose to be. I thought it was a replacement for Cable and Directv, streaming doesn't seem to have an infrastructure to support it.

 

[rynosback]

Steaming does replace cable and satellite. But you need WiFi/data to stream. Now if you can capture an OTA signal. You can dvr OTA tv. If you were somewhere where you had OTA you could dvr them and store TB of shows. But If you watch on a regular basis, I would think you would watch your recordings then. How does it not have any infrastructure? I bet AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile would disagree with you that they have no infrastructure. There are thousands of towers across the US.

Edited August 20, 2019 by rynosback

[rynosback]

From what I am reading that you channel surf all the time. I think you should just get satellite tv. This way no internet is needed. You just need a clear view to the sky. Plus you can record shows and have them store them for watching on demand. Plus you can change your feed based on your location by calling them with a new zip code.  So it sounds like streaming is not for you based upon what you are saying.

Edited August 20, 2019 by rynosback

[Dutch_12078]

54 minutes ago, rynosback said:

Do you mean download the CBS app? You will need internet to view CBS all access. Any type of streaming will require internet/WiFi. You could also go with a jail broken Firestick.

Why would he need a jail broken (rooted) Firestick? I have pretty much the same channels available on my non-rooted Firestick with various apps that I have on satellite.

[SWharton]

We don't channel surf, we just like an eclectic selection of programs and aren't stuck in a rut looking at the same program week after week. We have some series we like but generally like the variety that is available.

We signed up for CBS All Access via Amazon Prime not realizing we couldn't record the programs to our PC. It had a couple of programs we were interested in but needed the internet. Cancelled it.

We have Directv but wanted to stream when it wasn't available when we were in Alaska. There is no OTA either. This is where we discovered streaming shortcomings. Everyone is touting streaming so we thought we would try it.

Got a lot of books read instead.

 

[rynosback]

2 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

Why would he need a jail broken (rooted) Firestick? I have pretty much the same channels available on my non-rooted Firestick with various apps that I have on satellite.

There are more options rooted.

[Dutch_12078]

6 hours ago, rynosback said:

There are more options rooted.

Nothing he needs for the services he wants though. 

[Dutch_12078]

8 hours ago, SWharton said:

We don't channel surf, we just like an eclectic selection of programs and aren't stuck in a rut looking at the same program week after week. We have some series we like but generally like the variety that is available.

We signed up for CBS All Access via Amazon Prime not realizing we couldn't record the programs to our PC. It had a couple of programs we were interested in but needed the internet. Cancelled it.

We have Directv but wanted to stream when it wasn't available when we were in Alaska. There is no OTA either. This is where we discovered streaming shortcomings. Everyone is touting streaming so we thought we would try it.

Got a lot of books read instead.

 

There are a number of options for recording streaming video on your PC, but I haven't looked into them enough to make any recommendations. Here's a few related articles:

https://www.techsmith.com/blog/record-live-streaming-video/

https://www.movavi.com/support/how-to/how-to-capture-streaming-video.html

https://acethinker.com/desktop-recorder/record-live-streaming-video.html

[chirakawa]

Streaming requires a different approach to selecting what to watch/record than traditional TV viewing.  You'll have to change your mindset somewhat in order to adapt to streaming for now.

However, I agree that a better system is needed.  I believe that whoever comes up with a more structured index (guide) of programming which includes all the streaming offerings will definitely have a marketable product.  Whether that will be a new device or one of the existing systems like Apple TV, Firestick, Roku, etc. is yet to be seen.

I have a Firestick, Roku, and an Android TV.  All three tend to throw the same programming at you in ten different ways...........latest, greatest, most popular, for the kids, for the adult, etc.  I think for many people a genre based approach might work better..............western, comedy, virtual reality, home improvement, etc.

Who knows what we'll see in three or four years, this stuff is still in it's infancy.

JMO

[chirakawa]

Probably, most of us here grew up in an era when we only had three TV channels at the most to choose from.  We had to look in the newspaper to see what was coming on and choosing was pretty simple.  The fact is that nowadays we have too much programming available and it can be all consuming.  I admit that I watch too danged much of it of any type (3 or 4 hours per day).

Sometimes, I long for the days before the internet and non-stop TV.  Seems like I spent more time interacting with others and enjoying simpler things.  Air conditioning and technology has ruined the world, or not.  Oh well, you can never go back they say.

[docj]

10 hours ago, SWharton said:

We don't channel surf, we just like an eclectic selection of programs and aren't stuck in a rut looking at the same program week after week. We have some series we like but generally like the variety that is available.

We signed up for CBS All Access via Amazon Prime not realizing we couldn't record the programs to our PC. It had a couple of programs we were interested in but needed the internet. Cancelled it.

YouTube TV provides essentially unlimited DVR capability.  You don't record programs to your PC; they are stored in a Cloud DVR.  You can retrieve them whenever you wish.

[chirakawa]

12 hours ago, SWharton said:

but we couldn't figure out how to download the program and look at it later when we didn't have internet.

 

2 minutes ago, docj said:

You can retrieve them whenever you wish.

You can't retrieve them if you don't have internet.

[hemsteadc]

13 hours ago, SWharton said:

 have Directv but wanted to stream when it wasn't available when we were in Alaska. There is no OTA either. This is where we discovered streaming shortcomings. Everyone is touting streaming so we thought we would try it.

 

Streaming is definitely a learning curve.. it's new so there's just too many providers and plans and confusion.  Jumping through all these hoops to save a few dollars a month is not of interest to me,  so I'm sticking with DTV.

Your main problem, right now, is being in Alaska.  

Edited August 20, 2019 by hemsteadc

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

We’ve been streaming everything for over a year now. We started last year on our trip to Alaska knowing full well our satellite wouldn’t work in Canada or Alaska. We have unlimited data accounts with Verizon and AT&T. We use DirecTV Now,  Netflix and Amazon Prime for viewing. We don’t watch much standard TV ABC, CBS, NBC etc... other than local and national news. We like to pick out TV series and binges watch them. We did so on our trip to Alaska last year. When did not have a data connection we watched movies or TV series we would download for just this occasion. We had very good luck with AT&T data during our trip even traveling through Canada.

” Happy Trails “

Chiefneon

[rynosback]

9 hours ago, docj said:

YouTube TV provides essentially unlimited DVR capability.  You don't record programs to your PC; they are stored in a Cloud DVR.  You can retrieve them whenever you wish.

But it sounds like he does not reliable WiFi, cellular signal.

[rynosback]

.

Edited August 21, 2019 by rynosback