How to Get Your Favorite Streaming TV Shows and Services on a Limited Budget.
Find how to watch television shows on a streaming TV provider for free or a very low cost. It involves recording shows, signing up and canceling services, and a few other steps. The bottom line is that it is possible to watch content from Netflix, Disney, Hulu, Apple and other streaming providers for free or a very low cost.
An average monthly cable or satellite TV bill runs between $85 and $170 depending on the number of channels, add-ons, provider and special channel fees. Maintaining three streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu may add an additional $30 to $50 per month, but there are ways to get free Streaming Television or to save money on it. With more streaming services on the marketplace, such as those from Disney, Apple, NBC and Warner, watching all your favorite TV programs is becoming expensive. However, combining a little effort, creativity and patience can result in viewing almost everything you currently watch for a small fraction of your current cost or even free.
You will need a computer and the internet. Assuming you already have a home internet connection, your budget should not be affected. In fact, you can eliminate the TV portion of your cable bill and just keep the internet. You will also need to an 8-20gb flash drive and an HD TV antenna. The flash drive shouldn't cost more than $20. A decent HD antenna runs between $15-40. Find steps on how to make change from Cable TV to Streaming.
HD Antenna
Results may vary, but installing an HD antenna to your TV should bring you between 30 and 70 channels including most, if not all, your local TV stations. If you live in a rural or remote area, reliance on an antenna may not prove feasible. Viewers living in or close to urban areas should be able tune-in all the major channels to watch news, many network sporting events and prime time shows on the major networks.
Computer Recording Program
Obtain a program that allows you to record TV programs on your computer via the internet. PlayOn is an excellent example but there are others such as Plex or Splash. The program allows you to record shows from dozens of sources including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, ABC, NBC, CBS All Access, Fox and more. Download the free version of PlayOn.
Once installed, you can use PlayOn to record programs 24 hours a day. Most TVs come with several USB ports. It is a simple, quick procedure to copy the recorded TV shows from your computer onto the flash drive, pop the flash drive into a port on your TV and watch the programs on a big screen.
Streaming TV Service Costs
Most of your favorite shows from both network and cable channels are likely to be found across the major streaming services of Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney and CBS All Access. Costs quickly add up if you maintain all services at the same time.
Hulu's monthly cost is $11.99 for a standard plan or $5.99 for the commercial included plan. Netflix runs $12.99/month for HD quality or $8.99 for standard broadcast quality. Amazon Prime runs $12.99 for a monthly subscription but can be obtained for $6.49/month by students and $5.99/month by low income persons who provide proof of EBT or Medicaid eligibility. CBS All Access, which provides all the network shows plus originals like Star Trek: Discovery, The Good Fight and the latest incarnation of Twilight Zone costs $9.99 a month or $5.99 for programming with commercials. Premium channels such as Starz, HBO and Showtime cost between $10-15 a month.
Free Trials and Recording Strategies
The long term goal is to only pay for one or two of these services each month. Begin by using the free trial period for each service. Hulu, Netflix and Amazon offer 30-day free introductory periods. CBS, HBO, Starz and Showtime provide 7-day trial sessions. One you initiate a service you can both watch and start recording your favorite shows.
Setup a list of programs for PlayOn or your other recording software (Plex, etc.) to record during the night. You should easily be able to record 6-8 episodes of an hour long program since they only run about 42 minutes without commercials. Record during the day as well if you work outside the home or when you go out to run errands.
Recording on a consistent basis and understanding how each service releases its programming will quickly create a library of shows you can watch when you desire. Hulu tends release individual show episodes the day after airing on their home network. Examples include The Good Doctor and Agents of SHIELD. Netflix often releases a show's entire season on a set day. Stranger Things and Jessica Jones are examples of original programming where entire seasons became available on one day. For shows appearing on other networks, Netflix typically makes the full season available a few weeks after the season concludes on its home channel. Examples include shows like Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Gotham.
Netflix gives you the ability to record entire seasons of shows in a few days and store them away for future viewing. Then, while you watch your Netflix backlog, you can switch to Hulu or CBS and watch or record shows released one episode at a time. Since Hulu and other services may only keep the 5 most recent episodes, your strategy should involve starting a subscription in time to record the available past episodes and then keeping it active for the next four weeks. By using this method, you should only need to return to that service every two to three months since most network shows take a number of weeks off during holidays or before rating sweeps periods.
When your free trial on one service is about to end, cancel it and start the trial period on a different one. Continue rotating services as your free promotions end and you begin paying for monthly subscriptions. Streaming services regularly promote free trial periods to recruit viewers. Once you have moved on from a free period provided by one service, you may receive an e-mail offer for another free trial period by the time you are ready to return to that service.
The trade-off of using this system is often waiting until a show's season is near conclusion. For example, you could have paid HBO $30 to watch the latest season of Game of Thrones over six weeks. Alternatively, you could have waited until just before the final show aired. Starting a 7-day free trial period on HBO at that point would have allowed you to watch or record the entire season at no cost.
Final Tips for Saving Money on Streaming TV
Always make a note to cancel a streaming service before it is scheduled to renew. Most services make it easy to cancel and later reactivate without having to set up a new account from scratch. Hulu simply allows you to put its service on hold for up to 12 weeks.
As you go through the process of canceling your subscription, some services, such as CBS, will offer you a month or more for half price if you continue to subscribe. These special offers can result in your getting three months service for the price of one.
If you are a live sports enthusiast, you may find an HD antenna alone won't fill your need. There are a variety of sports packages available via the internet. Sling TV offers $15 and $25 packages which include ESPN 1, 2 and 3. Sports is the focus of fuboTV which begins at $45 a month. Assuming your current cable bill includes some specialty sports packages, replacing cable with an internet based sports channel will still save you money.
Making full use of free trial periods and utilizing the rotate and record strategy will allow you to eliminate cable and still see your favorite shows. Anyone working with a limited budget will benefit. Following this strategy consistently should result in a monthly cost of no more than $12-$25, and in some months, when you find you have recorded enough to go without a streaming service, you can reduce your cost to zero.
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