# Moving form Cable card to to OTA question



## mroe (Oct 15, 2004)

I have a Roamio that has a cable card slot, I want to save money and go to OTA. Hopefully I can do that. I live in an apartment and my only antenna I can use is an indoor and can't face the direction towards the broadcasting towers. I bought a real good indoor antenna, and am waiting for it to arrive. Hopefully I can get at least ABC, CBS, and NBC and then just steam the other shows I like. But am not sure how that works. I just started subscribing to Hulu, and I am wondering if the unit will utilize Hulu to record shows? I think Hulu is kind of like Netfix. Unless I'm missing something, I could never set Tivo to to record a Netflix movie, so I'm thinking that I will only be able to "watch" (steam) shows from Hulu. Plus I guess I can live with the fact that it will not record "same day showing" of my shows. Hulu will get them the day after. If they won't actually record, I'll have to sort through the lists and find the latest showing and then steam it. I guess what I'm asking is that a OnePass will not necessarily record all my shows unless it can get them over the antenna, right? I changed all my OnePass' to include streaming, and "new only" but now in My Shows it lists a whole bunch of possible show episodes that I can stream, seems to confusing. I think OTA and streaming seems more complicated that just sticking with Cable, recording and watching my shows. Will have to see how this all works out when I get my antenna and do a new guided setup.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Unless something great is hiding out there, no U.S. box will allow you to record streaming content. People have gone a roundabout route with external devices on their PC. As for cord cutting, how's your internet? Do you have caps? I use a Roku 3. I stream Amazon sometimes. My cap for 40/4 internet is 600GB. I never come close.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

mroe said:


> ... I guess what I'm asking is that a OnePass will not necessarily record all my shows unless it can get them over the antenna, right?


Correct

Depending on the programs you intend to watch, PS Vue is a much better cable TV replacement than Hulu, but is much more expensive. You need to look at your current list of One Passes and see how much is actually available OTA and on Hulu. If it isn't very much, then PS Vue or Sling TV makes more sense.


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## mjh (Dec 19, 2002)

You don't need to record streaming content. You just stream the content on demand. The purpose of the tivo is to make broadcasts content behave like streaming content in that you can watch it on demand.

Re: OnePass, you can set up a OnePass to include streaming episodes in the OnePass. You don't record them but they will show up there. I don't personally use this feature.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

mroe said:


> I have a Roamio that has a cable card slot


Just to be clear, you have a basic Roamio, and NOT a Roamio Plus or Pro. Correct?


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## mroe (Oct 15, 2004)

Just to answer some of the replies, I do have good high speed internet, so streaming works well, at least I never see any breaks or pauses when watching Netlfix. I see now how the steaming will work through Tivo. Will have to see what is all available once I get my antenna and compare with what I can get through Hulu. Really don't want to have to spend any more money on monthly fees like Hulu and the like. Hopefully I will still be able to watch all the shows I normally like, most of which are on local, over the air channels, so Tivio will be able to record same day. But am kind of wondering about my other shows that are on TNT and Discovery, History, and Science channels. I see all the shows available streaming wise or on Hulu, so maybe I'll be alright. Will know more this Saturday when my antenna arrives. Will respond back then. Thanks for all the replies.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Which model Roamio do you have... ?

basic Roamio (4 tuners)
Roamio Plus (6 tuners, 1 TB stock HDD)
Roamio Pro (6 tuners, 3 TB stock HDD)
(These are the Roamio models that have a CableCARD slot -- but only the basic, 4-tuner Roamio can tune via CableCARD or OTA antenna.)


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

mroe said:


> Just to answer some of the replies, I do have good high speed internet, so streaming works well, at least I never see any breaks or pauses when watching Netlfix. I see now how the steaming will work through Tivo. Will have to see what is all available once I get my antenna and compare with what I can get through Hulu. Really don't want to have to spend any more money on monthly fees like Hulu and the like. Hopefully I will still be able to watch all the shows I normally like, most of which are on local, over the air channels, so Tivio will be able to record same day. But am kind of wondering about my other shows that are on TNT and Discovery, History, and Science channels. I see all the shows available streaming wise or on Hulu, so maybe I'll be alright. Will know more this Saturday when my antenna arrives. Will respond back then. Thanks for all the replies.


If your new antenna allows you to pick up your local stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, The CW, etc.), that may make Hulu less appealing to you. Whether or not Hulu is worth the $8 (or $12 without ads) is up to you. Here are the categories of content available through Hulu:


current-season shows from ABC, NBC and Fox -- These shows are made available on Hulu the day after they air. At least the last five episodes will always be available but in many cases, every episode back to the start of the season and even past seasons are available. However, if you can pick up ABC, NBC and Fox well with an OTA antenna and record those shows to your TiVo, then you don't really need Hulu for those shows anyhow.

certain (but not all) past-season shows from various cable channels like FX, Comedy Central, TNT, MTV, etc. -- Entire seasons of these shows are made available on Hulu anywhere from a few months to a year after they originally air on cable. (Netflix and Amazon Prime Video also do this same kind of thing. Each of them has cut deals to carry different shows.)

Hulu Original Series -- These are shows that Hulu makes for itself and they are available exclusively on Hulu. Examples include Casual, The Path, 11.22.63, and The Mindy Project. Just like HBO has its own original series, like Game of Thrones, and Showtime has its own original series, like Homeland, now Hulu does too. One new episode of these shows becomes available each week on the same day of the week. There's about one new Hulu Original Series that debuts every month.

movies, uncut and commercial-free -- Just like HBO and Showtime air Hollywood movies that were at playing at the theater about a year ago, so does Hulu. They carry films from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM. They also carry a number of older films, plus a group of arthouse/indie films called The Criterion Collection.

Just like with Netflix, you CANNOT record any shows off of Hulu. You simply open the Hulu app, find what you want to watch and stream it. OR you can set up a OnePass in the TiVo menu system for those shows. Make sure to set the OnePass to include streaming. Then those shows should show up in the "My Shows" list on your TiVo, right alongside anything you record from your OTA antenna, and you can use the listings there to jump straight to those shows in Hulu.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Great details.



NashGuy said:


> OR you can set up a OnePass in the TiVo menu system for those shows. Make sure to set the OnePass to include streaming. Then those shows should show up in the "My Shows" list on your TiVo, right alongside anything you record from your OTA antenna, and you can use the listings there to jump straight to those shows in Hulu.


One caveat is that there's usually an additional delay in an episode appearing within a OnePass show listing. (Not great if you're expecting to use the OnePass listing for next day viewing.)


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## mroe (Oct 15, 2004)

Now after listening to all of you, I'm thinking I may not need Hulu. I've done some exploring. I have all my OnePass' set to stream and record. When i look at what I can see streaming wise, (not sure if it's using Hulu) or I've been told it just streams from the internet the shows. Does it not need a Hulu account to stream shows? Because if I pick a OnePass and look at available shows it shows all episodes up to date to stream and watch. Where on Hulu with shows like The Last Ship or Deadliest Catch, in Hulu you can't see the active season until "next" month or year when Hulu decides when they want to make the season available. To answer someone's question I have a 4 tuner romeo, don't think it's a plus. In any case. I looked in the setup and in the instructions it gives me the option to go OTA. I probably won't get a true picture until i remove the cable card and do a new guided setup.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Yes, you must have an account for whatever streaming services you use. You should remove from your provider list any streaming services you don't subscribe to. Otherwise it just clutters up your lists with things you can't watch. Just click one of the streaming episodes and see what happens.

Hulu makes more sense for folks without OTA or a DVR of any sort.

You should be all set for OTA. If you're not ready to switch over just yet, plug the antenna directly into your TV and do a channel scan. That will be exactly what you will be able to get on Tivo.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

If it's important to you to watch current-season episodes of cable series like The Last Ship (TNT) or Deadliest Catch (Discovery), then you have a couple options to do that without continuing to subscribe to cable TV.

With many basic cable shows, you could purchase entire current season from either Vudu or Amazon Video. But that can get expensive. Season 3 of The Last Ship costs $25 in HD from Vudu. I think you can purchase the full season at any time after it starts and then each new episode is available for you to watch in the app right after it airs on TNT.

You other option would be to subscribe to the PlayStation Vue live TV service. It streams over the internet and gives you over 50 different popular cable channels. You can record shows and save them for up to four weeks. Pricing for it starts at $30 a month. Unfortunately, there is not a PlayStation Vue app available on TiVo, so you would need a different streaming box like a Roku or an Amazon Fire TV to access that service.


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## jth tv (Nov 15, 2014)

A couple of years back I moved from cabletv to OTA using a Roamio Basic. Indoor Antennas did Not work acceptably. Expensive Indoor did Not work any better than Inexpensive. I ended up using the largest outdoor antenna that could fit in my apartment hallway. 

Consider waiting until the fall television season starts before getting rid of cabletv. Currently most nights I am Not recording anything, there is just not much on OTA during late summer. 

I have been using one month of Amazon Prime to catch up on Orphan Black but have cancelled it in favor of Netflix. It is easy enough to subscribe and unsubscribe online and they are certainly cheap enough, so its not really something to worry about.


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

While I'm not using using a Roamio I switched to OTA several years ago. I invested in outdoor antennas using a flat coax wire as frequently used by satellite installs to get through a window, add a pole for my balcony. Yes I said antennas because in Dallas ABC is still broadcast in the high VHF band.


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## PhillyJimbo (Feb 10, 2003)

mroe said:


> I just started subscribing to Hulu, and I am wondering if the unit will utilize Hulu to record shows? I think Hulu is kind of like Netfix. Unless I'm missing something, I could never set Tivo to to record a Netflix movie, so I'm thinking that I will only be able to "watch" (steam) shows from Hulu.


If you want to record Hulu and/or Netflix offerings, you can do this with PlayOn (playon.tv). You install Playon on your computer and the recording is stored on the PC's hard drive. I use the PlayOn app on my Roku to watch shows from my PC on my TV.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

PhillyJimbo said:


> If you want to record Hulu and/or Netflix offerings, you can do this with PlayOn (playon.tv). You install Playon on your computer and the recording is stored on the PC's hard drive. I use the PlayOn app on my Roku to watch shows from my PC on my TV.


You can also use the PlayOn channel within Plex on your TiVo.


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## mroe (Oct 15, 2004)

So my biggest complaint is that my shows from Discovery, NetGeo, and TNT are delayed from being able to stream recently aired shows. I can buy the season series on Amazon for $24 plus a month, or wait until the networks allow steaming, which could be a month or full year. I'd really like to be able to make my Tivo Roamio record the shows. I have access through Sling TV to only one show, the others no access. Any suggestions as to how to access? vs going back to cable?


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

mroe said:


> So my biggest complaint is that my shows from Discovery, NetGeo, and TNT are delayed from being able to stream recently aired shows. I can buy the season series on Amazon for $24 plus a month, or wait until the networks allow steaming, which could be a month or full year. I'd really like to be able to make my Tivo Roamio record the shows. I have access through Sling TV to only one show, the others no access. Any suggestions as to how to access? vs going back to cable?


Have you tried Playstation Vue?


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## mroe (Oct 15, 2004)

Seems a little pricy at this point


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

mroe said:


> Seems a little pricy at this point


Vue is only $10/month more than SlingTV and offers a LOT more channels. Seems cheaper than paying for SlingTV and then having to pay for those other shows you want to buy. You can just pay for Vue and then record all the shows you want to watch, plus OnDemand and network app logins to boot.

http://www.cnet.com/news/playstation-vue-vs-sling-tv-streaming-live-tv-compared/


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## BRiT wtfdotcom (Dec 17, 2015)

HarperVision said:


> Vue is only $10/month more than SlingTV and offers a LOT more channels. Seems cheaper than paying for SlingTV and then having to pay for those other shows you want to buy. You can just pay for Vue and then record all the shows you want to watch, plus OnDemand and network app
> Logins to boot.
> 
> http://www.cnet.com/news/playstation-vue-vs-sling-tv-streaming-live-tv-compared/


That comparison article is a little out of date, SlingTV has added plenty more channels to their lineup since then. They gave 3 different base packages ranging from $20, $25, $40 and has addon packages.

However, the extra functionality of Vue puts it ahead in my eyes.


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## TeamPace (Oct 23, 2013)

Just finishing a month of Playstation VUE. I've been OTA only since 2009 but always look for a means to watch the Tour de France bicycle race every July. Decided to use it as a chance to sample VUE at the same time. I watched it via the ROKU app. Overall it's a good service and reasonable value especially with the ability to record. Yes Sling is cheaper and may be fine for those who want the bare minimum and a lower price. But for most the price difference is well justified for the expanded channels and ability to record. I did find the ROKU app will need some work. I couldn't find any type of channel guide to get a better handle on what's on and coming up. It does show whats on each channel currently. There are also decent VOD options. It worked pretty flawlessly as we watched the tour. We were even able to FF thru commercials (since we had recorded the episodes) but it only shows a time indicator so you just have to guess at the length of the commercial break. I expect the ROKU app will be improved over time making it an even better option.

The funny things was that other than watching the Tour de France and a few episodes of Tiny Houses we didn't watch much else. We have gotten so accustomed to watching pretty much only whats available on over the air TV with some Netflix thrown in on occasion we really didn't have much desire to watch anything else. Over time your viewing habits tend to adapt to what you have available and for us we find plenty to watch for pretty close to free. So we already cancelled it.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Yes, the experience for Vue is MUCH better using a FireTV box or PS4.


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## mroe (Oct 15, 2004)

So now I'm a little confused. I have Roku, but that's a second hardware device. TeamPace stated they watched and was able to record and fast forward. Unless the Vue app is on Tivo how is that possible?


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

You "record" on Vue by marking it as a favorite. Then you can pull any episode in the last 30 days from the cloud and ffwd/rew through many programs. 

On Fire and PS, Vue has a guide and ffwd/rew with thumbnails like Netflix. The Vue app on Roku is pretty terrible. It's not fair to judge it by the a half baked Roku app. 

Vue is more a cable TV replacement than TiVo replacement. But its cloud DVR capability brings it pretty close. I find a combo of Tivo OTA plus PS Vue gives me most of what I had on cable including enough on demand to serve as a DVR replacement for cable channels at less than a third of the cost of a traditional cable TV package alone.


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## mroe (Oct 15, 2004)

It looks like the Vue is all I'll need, am canceling sling and Hulu. Plus with the locals over the air, I'm all set now. Thanks everyone for all the advise


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

mroe said:


> It looks like the Vue is all I'll need, am canceling sling and Hulu. Plus with the locals over the air, I'm all set now. Thanks everyone for all the advise


What streaming device are you using for Vue, may I ask? Also, would you mind giving a review on how well it works for you with that device? Maybe once you have some time playing with it.


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## idksmy (Jul 16, 2016)

HarperVision said:


> What streaming device are you using for Vue, may I ask? Also, would you mind giving a review on how well it works for you with that device? Maybe once you have some time playing with it.


I am also interested in this information. I don't mind switching between devices (Roamio Basic and a FireTV box), but my wife probably will. She has grown very accustomed to being able to access everything she wants to watch, live or recorded, on the Tivo. Having to use the Tivo for local, Netflix and Hulu then switching to the FireTV for channels we currently get via cable might be a challenge.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Fire TV box is the best Vue streamer. No problem switching if you get a universal remote. If my 80 y/o parents can do it, anybody can. Alternative is to go back to cable and shell out another $100/mo.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

idksmy said:


> I am also interested in this information. I don't mind switching between devices (Roamio Basic and a FireTV box), but my wife probably will. She has grown very accustomed to being able to access everything she wants to watch, live or recorded, on the Tivo. Having to use the Tivo for local, Netflix and Hulu then switching to the FireTV for channels we currently get via cable might be a challenge.


If you're in no big rush, I'd recommend holding off another two or three months before committing to a new set-up. There are rumblings that Amazon may incorporate OTA TV, possibly with DVR capabilities, into their Fire TV box. (Not sure if that would be via a USB plug-in tuner for the current Fire TV 2 or built into a new Fire TV 3 which may be introduced soon.) If that came to pass, it could be an attractive all-in-one solution for you, combining your OTA locals with PlayStation Vue cable channels. (It also appears that Android TV boxes, like the upcoming Mi Box, will also have the ability to tune and record OTA TV by plugging in a USB tuner and hard drive, although PlayStation Vue does not currently offer an Android TV app. However, they probably will at some point.)

Beyond that, AT&T is planning to launch a "streaming cable TV" service called DirecTV NOW that will be a direct competitor to PlayStation Vue later this year. No word yet on which devices that service will be available on.


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