Well yes, I have to pay for the channels. I have a single, non-networked, not connected to the internet, not a DVR, not subject to the "advanced receiver fee" DirecTV box, which I use for live viewing. If I want to watch something which in past times I would have recorded, I just use my credentials to watch is on the network involved's free app.
Can I request to save money by watching via channel apps and not satellite/DVR?
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Your post gave me interest is using the Channels app with my DIRECTV credentials so I am doing the 30 day trial. For the most part it works fine. Before I tried this if I tried to watch my Fox local live feed via the FOXNOW app the feed is only available during Primetime. My Fox local is owned by Nexstar. My ABC local is owned by Sinclair and it is never available to stream on the ABC app. I have used my DIRECTV credentials for both apps. When I installed the Channels software I get the same thing for both. Do you experience anything like this for some channels? Pretty sure it is just the way it works for streaming on those two channels but if I use the latest DIRECTV app that allows streaming both of those channels works all of the time. Also I have a couple of other independent locals that I don't get on the DIRECTV app or the Channels software.
I may try to get rid of some of my receivers and maybe only keep the HR54 and C61K (also I don't get the 4K channels through the Channels app) to fill in the gaps for the missing channel functionality and maybe downgrade my programming package if I decide to keep the Channels app. Does anyone know if they take away your loyalty discount(s) if you downgrade your programming package?
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This thread started as a way to reduce/eliminate satellite hardware by using streaming apps instead. You simply can't do that with satellite TV service.
Whether or not the whole idea is realistic is another discussion.
Interesting. Did you ship back a DVR and then pay to purchase the simple receiver?
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DIRECTV may or may not require the return of the DVR depending on inventory levels of refurbished equipment at the time of downgrade. In any event, it will likely become a doorstop after a time (<= 30 days?).
Only DIRECTV can tell you with authority how they are going to treat you but at the very least, you should probably be shopping for something other than DIRECTV satellite service. There are a number of other pay TV services that support authentication and cost less. To see if a candidate supports authentication for a particular network, log out of the app and you should be able to see what other services will allow you to log back in.
You know for a fact that this is why Directv sometimes does and sometimes doesn't require equipment to be returned? How do you know this?
Umm, no. The OP asked:
I could get by just fine using my DTV credentials to sign in to channel apps to watch shows, and never use my DVR.
I wonder if I could get rid of the $3 Whole-Home DVR Service fee, $10 Advanced Receiver Service - HD fee, and $10 Advanced Receiver Service - DVR fee. What do you think? Has anyone else done this before?
Which, of course, anyone can do. If one subscribes to the goodness that is linear TV, then one, on any provider, can simply log into the app involved and get the on-demand from that network.
No one asked about streaming.
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How does using channel apps and never using the DVR not qualify as streaming?
There’s confusion here due to the word “streaming.” I want to continue to use dedicated channel apps (not streaming services) like MTV for content that is not available via streaming services such as Paramount+, many of which I do subscribe to.
I think I will ask DTV to get my bill down to about $80, because if they can’t, then I would cancel and try a TV streaming service such as YouTube TV, for which I can get a $10 discount for a year thanks to T-Mobile.
I assume Hulu Live, YTTV and DTV Stream credentials authenticate with channel apps, yes?
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DIRECTV isn't in the business of auctioning off TV service. ENTERTAINMENT is $102.99 and other packages are considerably more. It doesn't seem reasonable to expect that they'll offer you less just because you have a price point in mind.
On DIRECTV Stream? The Entertainment package is $70, going up to $75.
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That is a good question ... especially if you walk away from your satellite subscription to save money.
SamC's real life experience on the satellite side sounds the closest to your initial request (keep DIRECTV satellite, return the DVR and the fees with only one simple receiver on the account. But if you decide to move to DIRECTV Stream you will need to know what channels you are getting - and at what price.
Yes you can use those credentials with the channel apps but you probably won't get all of them. I have several missing from my DirecTV sat package lineup including two national networks. ABC which my local is owned by Sinclair and DirecTV credentials will find the channel but won't let me watch it with the error "abcgo: 1039:This station's live stream is not available through your TV Provider.". And my FOX local only airs during prime time from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm CDT. Then I am missing my local CW channel, ME TV, ION, Cozi, Grit, and Bounce. Also I have the premium channels included in my programming package that are not included, ie...HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz. I'm sure there are a few others that I haven't noticed yet. Currently I get 189 DirecTV sat channels of the 340+ they say is in the Premier package on the channels app.
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I was speaking of DIRECTV satellite service since that's the bill you are currently getting that you're trying to reduce.
This is going to be a thing for a long time to come. Just as people in the industry and on the internet still say "cable" to mean "provider", as "ESPN is a cable channel" when, of course, you can get ESPN through any provider, cable, DBS, or a streaming alternative to cable.
In most contexts to me "streaming" means either "pay streaming" like Peacock or Netflix, or "free streaming" like Pluto, YouTube, or Plex. It is only in the most technical of technical terms that either an app which is associated with first paying for linear TV, such as the apps associated with all the various linear networks is "streaming". Its not what people think of when they think of streaming. Neither, really, is changing one "cable" provider for another.
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I disagree that streaming only means a la carte services like Peacock, Netflix or free linear services. I think if the primary method of accessing the content is through broadband, it is streaming.
If you're paying a conventional MVPD only to authenticate, you're probably better off with a streaming service in the first place unless no cheaper streaming service authenticates for the channels you desire.
If you're paying a conventional MVPD only to authenticate, you're probably better off with a streaming service in the first place unless no cheaper streaming service authenticates for the channels you desire.
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