Best live TV apps: DirecTV Now vs Hulu TV vs PlayStation Vue vs Sling TV vs YouTube TV

1. Hey everybody, thanks for watching! This was mainly meant as a video for our North American viewers (specifically the US since I think only one of these even kind of work in Canada and/or Mexico). Based on your feedback so far, I've opened the conversation to my fellow editors and writers about doing comparisons for TV apps in other countries as well 🙂

   If you have any additional feedback, lemme know!

   Addendum:
   Apparently, PS Vue has a "500 show" recording limit (according to a commenter below). It's not unlimited, so the video remains factually accurate and the proof is reddit so it's not 100% verifiable, so take that for what it's worth!

2. Business Opportunity in Ruvol

   I have invented a Board Game [still unpublished and not yet out in the market] that I believe is guaranteed to be as challenging and exciting as CHESS. I called it “RUVOL.”

   It is my hope that one day Ruvol may surpass chess as the “Number One Board Game in the World.”

   The weakness of chess is it always starts in fixed positions that the opening moves become “memorizable.” In fact, not a few have so mastered the moves that they can play against their opponents “blindfolded.” It is for this very reason that the great Bobby Fischer introduced his so-called “Fischer Random Chess,” where the starting position of the pieces is “randomized” to make the memorization of openings impracticable. Fortunately, it is also for this reason that I invented Ruvol where “every game” has been calculated to be a challenging one to play.

   HOW IS RUVOL PLAYED and HOW YOU CAN MONETIZE IT?

   I detailed everything in my YouTube video. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcqth0m3-R0

   BIG MONEY POTENTIAL IN RUVOL!

   It is worthwhile to note that the people who play chess will be the same people who will play Ruvol. In my Google search, I learned there are around 800 million chess players in the world. Even just a small percentage of these 800 million is good enough to earn big money from Ruvol either as an ONLINE GAME BUSINESS or as a PHYSICAL PRODUCT DISTRIBUTOR.

   You may contact me at: rodolfovitangcol@gmail.com.

   Thanks and God bless!

   RODOLFO MARTIN VITANGCOL
   
   The Ruvol Inventor

3. Cool video.

4. This was the fastest most disorganized review of all times. And he didn't want to "bore" us with the actual details we wanted. So instead spoke at 100mph and went in no real direction. The music in the background was distracting. BUT hey … better than I did….

5. PS Vue went up $5 a month for every package, although it's still a lot cheaper than cable or satellite services

6. i personally prefer youtube tv. its reliable and no issues.

7. PS Vue hands down

8. 10:31 that thumb tho 😂😂

9. Thank you!!! Very helpful!!!

10. I was thinking of ending my cable subscription to Spectrum cable and keeping the internet and phone. But I have been underwhelmed by the services to stream TV on. DTVNow I had been waiting for only to hear that it had glitches and for a year no DVR. Now it has a DVR but read some reviews on it and still sub par. But I tested YouTube TV and while I love it not every channel I want is on it. So It can't really replace my cable subscription. I am willing to forgo a lot of channels, but some I was hoping to keep. I did not suspect I would end up having to subscribe to maybe two services to get everything I wanted.

    I speak english and spanish. So losing Univision and losing some of the other channels in Spanish, mainly those with Soccer, is a shame. YouTube TV does not yet offer Univision, but DTVNow does. However you have to pay $70 for Univision Deportes and nobody has ESPN Deportes. They only carry all the ESPN channels in English. I guess if allowed to I can use ESPN.com and watch ESPN Deportes if I can login to the service which I think one can with DTVNow, but not with YouTube TV.

    I never got a DVR with my cable company. The deal was for 80 bucks a month but with fees and taxes I was over 100 dollars then add the yearly increases I am now at 189. Yet the yearly increase was under 20 bucks this year, but still it is creeping closer to 200 dollars. To get their expensive DVR would add more charges to the bill and it is not 10 or 15 bucks but 25 a month.

    But these streaming services have issues of their own. The locals underwhelm and so I would have to spend more money and time figuring out how to both hook up an antenna and the right antenna for Over The Air plus how to record the shows. No PBS which seems to be the standard on all services and really you need the three sub channels to get everything. No ION which seems to also be common on every service. Then my Fox Network did not enter a deal with any streaming company so on YouTube TV and Playstation Vue and probably the rest they offer a national feed so that means I don't get local news, weather, and shows like Live with Kelly and Ryan or Wheel of Fortune or Rachel Ray or Family Feud or Judge Judy or any syndicated show on the channel. Yes the channel is owned by Tribune, which is in some dispute with online streaming services, and maybe either sold to Sinclair or sold to Fox soon. I understand Sinclair may not want it but may reconsider if the deal to buy Tribune is approved and if it dumps my local Fox channel it will be snapped up by the network Fox like it was ten years ago.

    Worse still I will not be getting every OTA channel offered in my area, if I go to Antenna, due to my location or having to move the crap around to point to another signal. I already know two channels that do not come in Over The Air in my county. They are Univision, of course, and The My Network channel. So I wouldn't plan on getting every sub channel listed on the rabbit ears website either. Maybe just half of them. That was the reason for getting cable so I can get all the main broadcast channels and the spanish networks.

    So there are a variety of networks YouTube TV does not offer that DTVNow would, but only YouTube TV offers the perfect DVR. I use YouTube TV to record sports, movies, and news shows without a hitch. So kept it past the trial. I pay 35 bucks for it but am I happy with it. Can see stuff out of the house for once. I can also record shows which I had trouble doing for years. The tuner/ capture cards malfunctioned and recordings took up lots of space especially in HD. Unfortunately it seems my dumb phone had HDCP on it called Widevine DRM protection so everything is 480p. Ah well….Nobody would have known as that is not listed until you ran an app that showed you the HDCP. So YouTube TV is capped at 480p. But that aside at least I can view it. So Using Chromecast I can get the video at 1080p on my flatscreen TVs. So I am torn between wanting DTVNow for its channel content and Keeping YouTube TV for the DVR.

    I would lose A&E, with YouTube TV, which I use for two shows Live PD and Leah Remini's scientology shows plus I have seen Biography specials on it. I would lose Travel Channel and all the Discovery channels which I viewed to learn. I would lose MTV Live which had concerts and bios of musicians. I would lose spanish channels Univision, Univision Deportes, ESPN Deportes, and a network called Estrella TV. YouTube TV does carry Telemundo. I also got Azteca TV thrown into the package. But I don't know of a streaming service offering it. Maybe Sling? if not so be it. But another big loss is The Weather Channel, which amazingly is on DTVNow, If I cut the cable and stuck with YouTube TV I wouldn't have any weather channel. Even Weather Nation left their website as no live stream is available. I would be forced to get Roku as I don't think they do Chromecast.

    I also don't know what is needed to run Playstation Vue. But like DTV Now I read a lot about glitches on the service. The two best right now seem to YouTube TV and Sling TV in terms of performance. But in terms of content are DTVNow and Playstation Vue. Hulu TV seems to have improved but most reviewers don't like the interface. Hard to navigate.

    I'm conservative. I had to get Klowd TV to see One America News. A plus is DTVNow offers them. But they do not offer Newsmax TV which you need a DVR or a jump back on demand feature to see because it runs political/ news shows when I am not home or doing something else. So yeah the feed is free but at 10pm it is running documentaries and on weekends too. I am also a free thinker so I have also seen Free Speech TV and The Young Turks despite not agreeing with them.

    So right now there is not one perfect solution. I may also look into Philo and see if adding it can at least get something extra I wanted. I also do not know how much I would save dumping cable as I am in a bundle with net and land line phone.

11. And the Direct TV DVR has been announced (only 20 hours of cloud storage and an additional $10 for 100 hours).. and it sucks. Thats why you review on facts and not speculations.

12. i would just use youtube tv for local channels and sports…… and use the firestick for all my movies…

13. You talk really fast and I had to listen to several things twice, but overall a good review.
    Something I wish more reviewers would talk about is the consistency of service. How much of a problem is buffering and freezing?

    I tried DirecTV Now when it first came out. Had their 100 channel package for $35. It was virtually unwatchable. Playstation Vue proved to be very stable and buffering is quite rare. So I have had PS Vue for just over a year now. When I look online there are still an a lot people complaining about buffering on DirecTV Now. Especially common is buffering with popular programs and prime time. I'm tempted to try DirecTV Now again and probably will because they have an offer of $10 a month for three months. I'll just keep PS Vue and try DirecTV now for a month or two and see.

    As you note, $40 a month for DirecTV Now's 60 channel package + HBO is a solid deal. I'm paying $45 a month for 60 channels with PS Vue. Which does not include HBO. The other concern is the number of streams. I don't need five that PS Vue offers, , but I suspect there will be times in my household where the two that Directv Now offers isn't enough. Three would probably be a "sweet spot" on streams. And this is definitely a streaming issue – when I had cable I never thought about how many TV's were on.

    All in all – and the reason I've been with PS Vue all this time – is that it feels the most like regular cable TV. The fewest headaches, a serviceable menu and a DVR that is good enough. But I'd certainly love to get HBO for $5 a month.

    BTW, I realize there are people that cannot get decent over the air reception for the major broadcast networks. But the major networks have gone to a lot of trouble and expense to make sure MOST Americans can receive their broadcasts. One of the dumbest ideas ever to come out of cable TV is that consumers should PAY for that which is free with a cheap antenna. For goodness sake. Quit gripping about streaming services not having OTA channels and buy an antenna. Yes, you have to change sources – but you had to do that to stream anyway. Cable TV – and steaming services – have TO PAY for every channel they stream. INCLUDING the OTA channels. Carrying those local over the air channels just drives up the cost. I'll take free, thank you.

14. oh yea columbus blue jackets were in the video go cbj lol

15. Confusing review

16. You forgot to mention YouTube red comes with Google play music.

17. You forgot about new comer, philo

18. I was on PlayStation Vue but once they lost Viacom channels I looked elsewhere. Luckily for me it's when DirecTV now had just released. So I jumped on their $35 promotion of 120+ channels and haven't looked back. I barely watch TV but my wife and daughter watch what they want so no complaints over here.

19. DirecTV is trash don't buy it not even with a low price if you're with ATT. The buffering in unbearable and is quite frequent

20. does directv now or youtube tv give local channels? i wont sign up if i cant watch my local news (im in los angeles). ALso, does youtube TV have a guide like directv now does or any on demand shows/movies?

21. Great Video, couldn't agree more with it. I've pretty much have tried out all these services at some point. I landed with YouTube TV. Simplistic UI, best DVR service and Streaming Quality. Did really like PlayStation Vue as well, but wanted something a little cheaper.

    Also another benefit with YouTube Red is you skip advertisements on YouTube vids. How much I live on that service it's a must anymore!

22. Im getting disappointed with Hulu because they have a lot of their content under UPCOMING and it cuts back on the amount of content that's available. Kind of a bait and switch situation.

23. Ok, so PSVUE and Directv Now.
    I’m using Directv now at the moment and I like it!! Just need the dvr feature and it would be a great service!!! Can’t beat having HBO for only $5.

24. Wonderful job, to me Sling offers the minimal best for me and you can add on and drop plans.

25. Directv now hangs with too many errors and jumpy video especially during sporting games, canceled after over 2 years and went back to Vue(much better video but more expensive).

26. Are you in Ohio? Must be with the TV shows that came up. Does AA have meetups in the area?

27. https://youtu.be/DkGKJPp5Yx8
    Lava Z90 full display infinity edge

28. https://youtu.be/esmFio8zxWc

29. As a previous directv tech they tried pushing this on us techs to sell to mostly Spanish customers with decent internet access or cell signal. We can get both through at&t, but notable internet access from ANY OTHER provider was better. Directv now is pretty much just like all the other tv providers app, except you can buy it without the directv packages but it is a lot better with it because it hooks up to your genies at home, it’s like a mix between everything. While a lot of providers are stagnant and knowingly have massive customer based still they are lagging behind directv in many areas. I mean we had mini wireless boxes and our main cable provider optimum hasn’t even released its alpha version, yet ours has been In use for a couple of years now. They even released the genie 2 near us and it puts anything we ever used to shame.

    Although I have heard optimum has a 1 box system coming up which is a pretty big step for them but I’m unsure if it good or bad.

30. Even most fellow freshman ethnic mechanism load choose award.

31. Tv is played out

32. I had aquestion is tutuapp safe or not

33. PS Vue basic package for me. DirecTV Now hesitates/buffers way too much. Same for Sling.

34. I have Hulu but just recently it started lagging and stuttering really bad whenever I try to watch any show.

Comments are closed.