Fast B wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 12:37 pm
Sounds interesting, but - do I need to have ESPN+ on top of that to get the national games? (And I guess it's past time to finally cancel NHL Center Ice.)
Games on National ESPN might not be on ESPN+, I know the playoffs need a cable subscription to access through the app, but there are definitely a few exclusive games to ESPN+. Then there are the occasional TNT games but those have been on MAX for most of the season on the BR Sports add-on that has been free but they want to charge like $10 a month for that.
I would assume if your local team is getting picked up by NHL Network those would not be blacked out on this service but they have been blacked out on ESPN+ since they took over, one of the negatives of Comcast losing the hockey deal, they were part owners of NHL network and NHL.TV so they stopped blacking themselves out near the end.
I saw a mention that some of the games next year may be on Amazon Prime as well ... getting tired of everything being spread across so many damn platforms. It's all a money-making grab! Someone needs to create a platform for easy access to all streaming services and an ala-carte type system so we don't have to get hosed by being forced to carry so may streaming services. It's really getting out of hand and is now just as expensive as old fashioned cable was/is.
Those platforms are out there today....they just aren't considered legal. But I 100% agree. I had satellite (DirecTV) for over 20 years, mainly just to have Center Ice. But it got to be over $200 a month, and got really bad when AT&T took over, because DirecTV had exceptional customer support and AT&T...didn't. Cable wasn't really any better with it's price.
But, you've got Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, ESPN+, Disney, Paramount, Peacock, MAX, and probably a dozen more that I'm not mentioning, all wanting $5-20 a month, if not more. Now all they've done is separated everything into their own pots and made it 10x harder to watch what you want, and just as expensive as it was before.
I had a no so legal streaming service for a few years, and it cost me $80 for 6 months for 4 connections. I would have spent $1200 in that time on DirecTV. Right now, I'm paying about $90 a month for Hulu with ESPN+ and Disney bundled, which is the best option for out of town hockey fans right now.
That is what I have plus a $17.99)(?) Netflix subscription. My wife has had Amazon Prime for ages, so I get access to that through her account.
Fast B wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 12:37 pm
Sounds interesting, but - do I need to have ESPN+ on top of that to get the national games? (And I guess it's past time to finally cancel NHL Center Ice.)
Games on National ESPN might not be on ESPN+, I know the playoffs need a cable subscription to access through the app, but there are definitely a few exclusive games to ESPN+. Then there are the occasional TNT games but those have been on MAX for most of the season on the BR Sports add-on that has been free but they want to charge like $10 a month for that.
I would assume if your local team is getting picked up by NHL Network those would not be blacked out on this service but they have been blacked out on ESPN+ since they took over, one of the negatives of Comcast losing the hockey deal, they were part owners of NHL network and NHL.TV so they stopped blacking themselves out near the end.
I saw a mention that some of the games next year may be on Amazon Prime as well ... getting tired of everything being spread across so many damn platforms. It's all a money-making grab! Someone needs to create a platform for easy access to all streaming services and an ala-carte type system so we don't have to get hosed by being forced to carry so may streaming services. It's really getting out of hand and is now just as expensive as old fashioned cable was/is.
Those platforms are out there today....they just aren't considered legal. But I 100% agree. I had satellite (DirecTV) for over 20 years, mainly just to have Center Ice. But it got to be over $200 a month, and got really bad when AT&T took over, because DirecTV had exceptional customer support and AT&T...didn't. Cable wasn't really any better with it's price.
But, you've got Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, ESPN+, Disney, Paramount, Peacock, MAX, and probably a dozen more that I'm not mentioning, all wanting $5-20 a month, if not more. Now all they've done is separated everything into their own pots and made it 10x harder to watch what you want, and just as expensive as it was before.
I had a no so legal streaming service for a few years, and it cost me $80 for 6 months for 4 connections. I would have spent $1200 in that time on DirecTV. Right now, I'm paying about $90 a month for Hulu with ESPN+ and Disney bundled, which is the best option for out of town hockey fans right now.
A lot of this sounds like me. I had DirecTV, mainly so I could get Center Ice, for exactly this reason! (Well, I got it for Sunday Ticket really, but it turns out to be cheaper to watch the Steelers at the local yinzer bar than to pay for the whole package for one game a week.)
