Three days from startup of the ACC Network

[DC_Area_Panther]

Trying to optimize my Pitt FB & BB viewing access and minimize costs. So I have a question someone more knowledgeable can perhaps answer.

Last Year:

I caught all the PITT FB & Hoops through a combination of You Tube TV and ESPN+.

Being in the DC Exurbs I had no issues with any potential western PA local blackouts of Pitt games.

This Year:

Dropped You Tube TV and picked up HULU.

HULU provides me with the DC Area ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox local affiliates plus the following sports cable stations that are not solely dedicated to Golf, Tennis, NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA & etc:

--ACC Network (beginning Thursday)
--Big Ten Network
--CBS Sports Network
--ESPN
--ESPN 2
--ESPN News
--ESPN U
--ESPN College Extra
--FS 1
--FS 2
--NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)
--SEC Network

Question:

Will I need to retain the ESPN+ App (with its monthly charge) to continue to get PITT games that are not broadcast and will only be available via ESPN live streaming?

Or, will having the Disney owned HULU with its ESPN stations suite & ACC Network now get me access to those games that are only live streamed by ESPN that I previously had to pay a monthly ESPN app charge to have access?

Anyone know the definitive answer?

 

[cease10]

ESPN+ subscription not needed for ACC live streaming.

I remember trying to explain to you last year that you were wasting your money on paying for ESPN+.

Your service provider login (YTTV, Hulu, etc) will authenciate you on the ESPN app and allow you to see ACC live streams based on your service plan.

 

[ThePanthers]

ESPN+ subscription not needed for ACC live streaming.

I remember trying to explain to you last year that you were wasting your money on paying for ESPN+.

Your service provider login (YTTV, Hulu, etc) will authenciate you on the ESPN app and allow you to see ACC live streams based on your service plan.

This. You do not need ESPN+.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

ESPN+ subscription not needed for ACC live streaming.

I remember trying to explain to you last year that you were wasting your money on paying for ESPN+.

Your service provider login (YTTV, Hulu, etc) will authenciate you on the ESPN app and allow you to see ACC live streams based on your service plan.

Thanks. I had repeated problems last year with You Tube TV causing me to need to re-authenticate ESPN over and over and over--Drove me nuts so I eventually went the pay ESPN+ route out of complete frustration.

 

[joeydavid]

Trying to optimize my Pitt FB & BB viewing access and minimize costs. So I have a question someone more knowledgeable can perhaps answer.

Last Year:

I caught all the PITT FB & Hoops through a combination of You Tube TV and ESPN+.

Being in the DC Exurbs I had no issues with any potential western PA local blackouts of Pitt games.

This Year:

Dropped You Tube TV and picked up HULU.

HULU provides me with the DC Area ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox local affiliates plus the following sports cable stations that are not solely dedicated to Golf, Tennis, NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA & etc:

--ACC Network (beginning Thursday)
--Big Ten Network
--CBS Sports Network
--ESPN
--ESPN 2
--ESPN News
--ESPN U
--ESPN College Extra
--FS 1
--FS 2
--NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)
--SEC Network

Question:

Will I need to retain the ESPN+ App (with its monthly charge) to continue to get PITT games that are not broadcast and will only be available via ESPN live streaming?

Or, will having the Disney owned HULU with its ESPN stations suite & ACC Network now get me access to those games that are only live streamed by ESPN that I previously had to pay a monthly ESPN app charge to have access?

Anyone know the definitive answer?

How much is that Hulu plan?

 

[ThePanthers]

How much is that Hulu plan?

Hulu with Live TV (different than just base Hulu) is $45 a month I believe.

 

[cease10]

I'm going to try out Hulu on Saturday, so I can watch the Miami vs Florida game.

If I like them, I'll keep em till the NBA season starts and then I'll have to switch to Vue since Hulu doesn't have NBA TV.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

I'm going to try out Hulu on Saturday, so I can watch the Miami vs Florida game.

If I like them, I'll keep em till the NBA season starts and then I'll have to switch to Vue since Hulu doesn't have NBA TV.

Is Hulu easy to cancel?
No contracts, cancellation fees, etc.

Someone cant remember who told me Sling TV is better than Hulu if you watch a lot of sports any experience with Sling TV?

 

[ThePanthers]

Is Hulu easy to cancel?
No contracts, cancellation fees, etc.

Someone cant remember who told me Sling TV is better than Hulu if you watch a lot of sports and experience with Sling TV?

Sling hasn't signed up with the ACC Network yet.

 

[cease10]

Is Hulu easy to cancel?
No contracts, cancellation fees, etc.

Someone cant remember who told me Sling TV is better than Hulu if you watch a lot of sports and experience with Sling TV?

Vue, YTTV, Hulu, Sling, etc....they're all cancel anytime, no contracts or fee. Service will expire at end of cancellation month.

This will be my first time trying Hulu and they do appear to have a fewer sports channels but it all depends on your preference. I see that they don't have NBATV and NFL TV. I only care about missing NBATV .

 

[ThePanthers]

Vue, YTTV, Hulu, Sling, etc....they're all cancel anytime, no contracts or fee. Service will expire at end of cancellation month.

This will be my first time trying Hulu and they do appear to have a fewer sports channels but it all depends on your preference. I see that they don't have NBATV and NFL TV. I only care about missing NBATV .

Let us know what you think about Hulu with LiveTV. I'm debating between that or YouTubeTV.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Sling hasn't signed up with the ACC Network yet.

Darn I was thinking of giving Sling a try since they have a lot of sports programming.
Sounds like they will probably have to offer the ACC network to be competitive.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Hulu with Live TV (different than just base Hulu) is $45 a month I believe.

That is correct. It is currently $5/month less than You Tube TV (YTTV) and includes the base HULU movie options. YTTV doesn't have that feature. The only movies on YTTV are the ones on the free movie channels like TCM, Sundance TV, AMC, etc. Otherwise you are off to the ROKU channel, Prime, Netflix, or one of the premium (extra cost) movie channels like Stars or HBO for other movie viewing options which you can also do if you have HULU.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Vue, YTTV, Hulu, Sling, etc....they're all cancel anytime, no contracts or fee. Service will expire at end of cancellation month.

This will be my first time trying Hulu and they do appear to have a fewer sports channels but it all depends on your preference. I see that they don't have NBATV and NFL TV. I only care about missing NBATV .

Your preferences definitely make a difference. Since I rarely watch any NFL football and never watch the NBA HULU will work fine for me since I only really care about college football and college basketball--and mostly only Pitt games and games involving Pitt opponents.

 

[PittDuke]

Hulu with Live TV (different than just base Hulu) is $45 a month I believe.

Sorry for the ignorance , so I won’t have access with Hulu base? Will need Hulu live tv to access ACC network ? I do have amazon prime tv so I could go the firestick route I presume but would still need a streaming subscription like PS vue etc? Thanks in advance

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Sorry for the ignorance , so I won’t have access with Hulu base? Will need Hulu live tv to access ACC network ? I do have amazon prime tv so I could go the firestick route I presume but would still need a streaming subscription like PS vue etc? Thanks in advance

That's my understanding. HULU base is simply a movie service similar to Netflix. It has no live TV programming.

 

[PittDuke]

That's my understanding. HULU base is simply a movie service similar to Netflix. It has no live TV programming.

Thank you

 

[PittPanthers90]

I'm going to try out Hulu on Saturday, so I can watch the Miami vs Florida game.

If I like them, I'll keep em till the NBA season starts and then I'll have to switch to Vue since Hulu doesn't have NBA TV.

NBA? Blech!

 

[cease10]

Let us know what you think about Hulu with LiveTV. I'm debating between that or YouTubeTV.

Sure.

My issue with YTTV was that it was constantly freezing and crashing on my Rokus, and they're not up on Firestick yet. I made them refund me and switched to Vue.

Vue was great for the rest of season.

 

[cease10]

Darn I was thinking of giving Sling a try since they have a lot of sports programming.
Sounds like they will probably have to offer the ACC network to be competitive.

The one thing with Sling is that the picture quality is slightly below the competitors. It's not horrible, but you can definitely see the difference.

 

[cease10]

NBA? Blech!

It's the one sport that's been dominating the news since May and all through the summer. I'm looking forward to see all the teams with new players.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

I just jumped on YTTV. I froze my dish account for 3 months. Only pay $5.00 a month to freeze, except I had a reimbursement coming so I ended up getting the freeze for free.
My smart TV doesn’t handle WiFi as well as Xbox one. I tried YTTV on both, but will have to get my internet provider to check my strength.
I’ve watched EPL games and mostly solid but an occasional fuzzy picture. Hopefully no issues once football starts. I hope I can get all of our games on ACC or ESPN

 

[RaleighPittFan]

I just jumped on YTTV. I froze my dish account for 3 months. Only pay $5.00 a month to freeze, except I had a reimbursement coming so I ended up getting the freeze for free.
My smart TV doesn’t handle WiFi as well as Xbox one. I tried YTTV on both, but will have to get my internet provider to check my strength.
I’ve watched EPL games and mostly solid but an occasional fuzzy picture. Hopefully no issues once football starts. I hope I can get all of our games on ACC or ESPN

This will tell you what your internet speed is:

https://www.speedtest.net/

 

[BuffetParrothead]

This will tell you what your internet speed is:

https://www.speedtest.net/

Depends on how much energy this guy has.

 

[PittPanthers90]

I just jumped on YTTV. I froze my dish account for 3 months. Only pay $5.00 a month to freeze, except I had a reimbursement coming so I ended up getting the freeze for free.
My smart TV doesn’t handle WiFi as well as Xbox one. I tried YTTV on both, but will have to get my internet provider to check my strength.
I’ve watched EPL games and mostly solid but an occasional fuzzy picture. Hopefully no issues once football starts. I hope I can get all of our games on ACC or ESPN

My Smart TV basically pukes my Wifi every few days, just buy a Roku, they are super cheap.

Roku works great on my Wifi, I don't have any issues with dropping at all

 

[PittPanthers90]

This will tell you what your internet speed is:

https://www.speedtest.net/

*Cringes seeing that site*

That isn't the best speed-test site by any means. The best way to speed test is to ask your internet provider for the address to THEIR speed-test site.

That will give you a true speed test, because once your IP traffic hits the public internet there is no guarantees.

And some public speed-test sites have been known to purposely limit traffic showing slower speeds (Then you get their lovely ads telling you to get faster internet through them)

 

[RaleighPittFan]

*Cringes seeing that site*

That isn't the best speed-test site by any means. The best way to speed test is to ask your internet provider for the address to THEIR speed-test site.

That will give you a true speed test, because once your IP traffic hits the public internet there is no guarantees.

And some public speed-test sites have been known to purposely limit traffic showing slower speeds (Then you get their lovely ads telling you to get faster internet through them)

All I know is I have ATT fiber, and one of their phone tech guys pointed me to that site to check when I wasn't on the phone with him.

And, it seems very accurate. When I was on the phone with the tech guy, he told me I was getting in the 120's up and down. That site consistently shows the same type of numbers. Tonight, it was 124 downloading, and 122 up. With no ads; but I do use an ad blocker, so I don't see ads on any site.

 

[Exton Panther]

I'm one of those 2 year contract guys who pays Comcast a ridiculous amount each month. Is it realistic to say I can do a Hulu Live Trial for Virginia game, pass on the Ohio game and watch the Penn State game on ABC. Then, I can see if Comcast finally gets on board by game #4?

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

I'm one of those 2 year contract guys who pays Comcast a ridiculous amount each month. Is it realistic to say I can do a Hulu Live Trial for Virginia game, pass on the Ohio game and watch the Penn State game on ABC. Then, I can see if Comcast finally gets on board by game #4?

It is possible.

However, don't forget to take positive action to cancel HULU before the 1-week trial ends because when you sign up for the free trial they set it up to automatically to begin charging you for the first month of service if you do nothing to cancel by the end of the trial week.

 

[PMizzle88]

I'm one of those 2 year contract guys who pays Comcast a ridiculous amount each month. Is it realistic to say I can do a Hulu Live Trial for Virginia game, pass on the Ohio game and watch the Penn State game on ABC. Then, I can see if Comcast finally gets on board by game #4?

I believe you could also do a YouTube TV trial for the Ohio game

 

[BuffetParrothead]

This ACC network build up could be like a friend who gets you a blind date 3 days off and when you finally show up to pick her up you wish your friend had minded his own business.

 

[ThePanthers]

This ACC network build up could be like a friend who gets you a blind date 3 days off and when you finally show up to pick her up you wish your friend had minded his own business.

Why?

 

[MamontPanther]

*Cringes seeing that site*

That isn't the best speed-test site by any means. The best way to speed test is to ask your internet provider for the address to THEIR speed-test site.

That will give you a true speed test, because once your IP traffic hits the public internet there is no guarantees.

And some public speed-test sites have been known to purposely limit traffic showing slower speeds (Then you get their lovely ads telling you to get faster internet through them)

It also depends on the device upon which you are running the test. I have GB service with my internet provider. If I run the speed test on a newer laptop, I get about 400 mbps, 200 on a laptop that's old, pretty close to GB with my cell phone.

 

[Pitt79]

This ACC network build up could be like a friend who gets you a blind date 3 days off and when you finally show up to pick her up you wish your friend had minded his own business.

I don't really care about the ACC having a network if I'm not going to have it, or have to pay more or change TV service for it. Things where great last year with ACC Extra, now, being with Comcast, It's looking like we won't have it? We have THREE Big10 Network channels and SEC, and WHO CARES, I never watch those channels, EVER. but here we are actually in the middle of ACC country near Pitt, Virginia, etc. And so far no ACC Network! F Maryland, their fans really aren't happy in the B1G, and I'm sure, then going there plays into us not getting the ACC Network right away.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don't really care about the ACC having a network if I'm not going to have it, or have to pay more or change TV service for it. Things where great last year with ACC Extra, now, being with Comcast, It's looking like we won't have it? We have THREE Big10 Network channels and SEC, and WHO CARES, I never watch those channels, EVER. but here we are actually in the middle of ACC country near Pitt, Virginia, etc. And so far no ACC Network! F Maryland, their fans really aren't happy in the B1G, and I'm sure, then going there plays into us not getting the ACC Network right away.

If Comcast doesn't get it, just get YouTube TV or Hulu Live

 

[Pitt79]

If Comcast doesn't get it, just get YouTube TV or Hulu Live

My problem is I don't want to pay more, I will look into it, but it sucks, I had all the Pitt games with ACC Extra, so now, having an actual channel is turning into a step down from what I had.

 

[cease10]

This ACC network build up could be like a friend who gets you a blind date 3 days off and when you finally show up to pick her up you wish your friend had minded his own business.

The main draw of the network is the games and that's all I really care about. I can care less about the network's programming other than games.

FYI to everyone....the scheduled programming should be up now in channel guides. Last night I saw the scheduled programming is now up on the ESPN app.

Also, the first 10 mins of the ACCN launch will go live at 7PM on Thurs on all ESPN channels and platforms.

 

[ThePanthers]

I don't really care about the ACC having a network if I'm not going to have it, or have to pay more or change TV service for it. Things where great last year with ACC Extra, now, being with Comcast, It's looking like we won't have it? We have THREE Big10 Network channels and SEC, and WHO CARES, I never watch those channels, EVER. but here we are actually in the middle of ACC country near Pitt, Virginia, etc. And so far no ACC Network! F Maryland, their fans really aren't happy in the B1G, and I'm sure, then going there plays into us not getting the ACC Network right away.

You'll have it no later than 2022 when the master contract is up. But I think we'll get it beforehand. Maybe just not at launch date.

 

[ThePanthers]

My problem is I don't want to pay more, I will look into it, but it sucks, I had all the Pitt games with ACC Extra, so now, having an actual channel is turning into a step down from what I had.

ESPN/the conference want to make money off the channel. This is what you have to do. Eventually you'll be back to what you had before when Comcast ends up carrying it.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

My problem is I don't want to pay more, I will look into it, but it sucks, I had all the Pitt games with ACC Extra, so now, having an actual channel is turning into a step down from what I had.

If you drop Comcast and get YouTube TV or Hulu, you will pay less, not more. I'm kinda hoping Comcast doesn't carry ACCN so it gives me a reason to cut the cord and try YouTube TV