Guest Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 I know a lot of you use alternatives to cable or satellite TV. DH and I were talking about this again last night - the only thing he actually watches on TV is the Discovery and History channels, and we do occasionally watch a network show like OUAT or Amazing Race. Are there any alternatives out there that let you watch the Discovery/History channels? And what do you watch network shows on? I know there is Netflix and Hulu, what else is out there? TIA. Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 I am *pretty* sure Apple TV does. I'd like to check for you, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to use Apple TV. Dh went through a stage where he was more obsessed with watching documentaries than I've ever been, and I know they were mostly Discovery/History channel programs. We don't have any cable or satellite, so I can't imagine where else they must have come from! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 We can watch a selection of History/Discover channel programs through our Apple TV, but the available shows are not the nice documentaries, but the silly reality shows. Do those channels even do documentaries anymore? When I turn them on at my parents' house it always seems to be shows about aliens building the pyramids or one of seventeen variations of a pawn shop reality show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Well, he likes Deadliest Catch and some of the car shows, so I guess he likes the silly ones. ;) (I agree!) Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Silly isn't always bad--I've been known to watch an episode or two of Ice Road Truckers. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 We haven't had cable or satellite since 2004. We use Netflix, Hulu, etc on our Apple TV. And tons of other stuff via Apple. Check out the App Store for Apple, maybe - tons of options now. We also have an Amazon Firestick to watch prime shows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 We have Roku. I see there is a History channel, but it requires a cable/satellite subscription and based on the description I wouldn't get my hopes up about documentaries. https://channelstore.roku.com/details/35059/history#read-more I could be wrong, but I would think given your tv show preferences that you won't get everything with a streaming device. There are some Network shows I can watch, but have to wait a long time for the episodes to appear on the service or hurry up and watch before they are removed. For example, I'm in season 7 of the Vampire Diaries, but I haven't had time to watch some of the latest episodes on Hulu so now some of of the hulu episodes have vanished and I'll have to jump from say, episode 5 to 9 (I don't remember the actual episode numbers) to watch what is currently on there. But if I go to Netflix, I can't find my missing eps because they only have season 6 available. I'd have to purchase each missing ep on Amazon. For other shows, like The Walking Dead, I plan to buy the season pass on Amazon or just buy each individual episode (sometimes a season pass is a better deal). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 One thing DH and I have noticed: even when we choose to buy a season of a show we really like on iTunes, we still spend less per month than we would on cable or satellite. So you might look at that angle as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 We watch history shows on Netflix. I don't believe many of them are History Channel, but are BBC, PBS, Nat Geo. Our total tv bill is currently $25. We pay $16 for HBO and $9 for Netflix. We tried Amazon Prime, Hulu, and I think one other (Sling?) and found ourselves coming back again and again to the first two. We keep our network shows, too. The cable/internet company here gives customers a receiver box for free for the first two years. Once a week we watch Houdini & Doyle, BBT, and I think one other, but we also get classic kids shows like Lone Ranger, Howdy Doody, Lassie, etc. on the weekend mornings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 (edited) We have a Roku and currently use Sling, Hulu and Amazon (to buy shows not on the other two). My dh likes to watch football and Sling has ESPN, etc. ETA: Sling is only average in reception but the cheapest way we've found for the channels we want. Edited July 24, 2016 by Jaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 You should be able to get network channels with an antenna. If you really want to record or pause live TV, you can look into getting a Tivo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 It's important to realize that while there are alternatives to cable/satellite, the alternatives aren't replacements. You will have to change how you watch tv and you'll be giving some things up. We watch streaming channels on a Roku. We have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, as well as a digital antenna for local channels. We looked at Slingtv, but it mostly has channels we aren't interested in. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 We use Sling. It's essentially streaming cable. Works great and no contacts. $20/mo for basic, then we add $5 for college football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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