Yesterday Business Insider published a story titled “I tried cutting the cord with Sling TV for a month – here’s why I ultimately returned to cable TV.” In the story the author, Antonio Villas-Boas, said he tried Sling TV and went back to cable after a month.
If you have followed my site you know I have said that cord cutting may not be for everyone. Yet for the vast majority of Americans cord cutting can give you what you want and save you money. So what went wrong for Antonio Villas-Boas? He made several big mistakes and failed to explore all of his options.
So today I wanted to give a full rebuttal and hopefully help Antonio cut the cord and still get what he wants.
#1 His Effort Was Doomed from the Start
Right off the bat Antonio failed to do his research. From his story he also seems to be overly focused on Sling TV. He said he picked Sling TV’s $30 per month Orange and Blue package. (I think he meant their $40 per month plan, so I am assuming this was a typo.)
At no point in the story did he talk about looking into other services such as Hulu, PlayStation Vue, or DIRECTV NOW. From what he says in his story these services may have been a better fit.
Antonio seems to have brought his cable mindset to cord cutting. With cable, you really don’t have any options. You just take what they give you. It seems like he took that mindset to cord cutting as he failed to look around at all of his options.
#2 Antonio Didn’t Need a Live TV Streaming Service
According to his post Antonio rarely watches live TV. “90% of what I watch is recorded DVR or paused and played on delay so I can skip the ads.” If 90% of the time you watch a show is using your DVR, you really should look into services such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon. You can even supplement that with a season pass of a show here or there.
At no point in his story did Antonio talk about looking into on-demand services even services that offer a show the next day. It seems as if Antonio was once again so focused on what he had with cable he failed to look around at all of his options.
I always suggest new cord cutters sit down, write out what shows (not channels) they want, and look at services such as Hulu to see if they offer what you want.
#3 DVRs
Antonio said he picked Sling TV because “Sling TV is also one of the few live TV streaming services that offers a (DVR).” That is simply no longer true. PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV, Hulu, fuboTV, Philo, and others all offer a DVR. DIRECTV NOW, one of the few without a DVR, has one in beta currently being tested by their subscribers.
Antonio complained that he couldn’t record or pause some channels, but he failed to look into the fact that other streaming services would have let him do just that.
#4 Missing Channels
According to Antonio he missed TLC, PBS, and Discovery, but he failed to mention that TLC and Discovery are on service such as PlayStation Vue, DIRECTV NOW, and Philo. PBS has a free app to watch a ton of their content the next day and, for most Americans, is free with an antenna.
Again his content was there. He could have had it all, but he failed to do any research or look beyond Sling TV.
#5 Sling Was Not True à la Carte
This one I found most confusing because Sling is not à la carte TV like many want; however, it is far closer than the cable TV service Antonio went back to.
Final Notes
Antonio said he would like to try a live TV streaming service again. I invite Antonio to try other services and an antenna to get what he wants. From reading his post everything he wanted is available to cord cutters.
For over 2 million Americans Sling TV is a great option, and there are at least eight other live TV streaming services. I firmly believe that PlayStation Vue or DIRECTV NOW with their DVR beta is likely the best fit for him. The other option is a service such as Hulu with a small live TV service to supplement it.
I feel so strongly that a researched effort will give Antonio what he wants and save him money that I will be happy to get on the phone with Antonio and help him become a cord cutter.
So if Antonio would like to become a cord cutter I ask that he send us an email, and I’ll be happy to help him ditch the cord.
Update: After I wrote this story Antonio Villas Boas posted that he has not given up on cord cutting and is now testing out PlayStation Vue.
I plan on trying out all the streaming services I can. Currently trying out PlayStation Vue.
— Antonio Villas-Boas (@tonyvstech) February 19, 2018
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