It’s been almost a month now since I cancelled my cable account and went streaming with PlayStation Vue, and I gotta say, I think things are better this way.
When my cable bill with RCN creeped up close to double what I had originally signed on for due to new taxes and fees and other changes to the original deal I never agreed to, I started shopping around. A customer service rep at RCN said, “Well, this is the best we can offer you,” so I cancelled cable. I cancelled Internet with them, too, because they wouldn’t deal on that either.
I went back to a devil I knew for my internet provider, sort of – Time Warner Cable is now Spectrum, and Spectrum is now where I get my internet. But I tried something new for my cable account.
I had been intrigued by the concept of PlayStation Vue for a while and this was the perfect opportunity to give it a go. Instead of using a cable box that had a limited amount of memory for DVR functions, I’d use my PS4, and any and all of my favorite shows would be saved in the cloud.
It sounded like a good way to go, I wouldn’t be tied to the cable company for what I wanted to watch and, given the PS Vue package I picked and the internet options I was getting from Spectrum, I’d be saving about $50 a month. It could have been more, but I went with the Core package option instead of the basic Access option because I wanted to have the YES Network for my Yankees games this season.
(Baseball, by the way, is the only reason I still have ANY form of cable – if mlb.tv killed its in-market blackout restriction, I wouldn’t even bother with PS Vue. Alas, it won’t happen any time soon…)
So far, I’m enjoying the experience. Signing up was simple, I get billed automatically every month and the interface is user friendly. I’m not entirely thrilled with the way recording shows is handled, through the “My Shows” feature that seems to record EVERYTHING without an option to filter out reruns or old episodes. But it’s also possible I’m missing something, because the entire time I’ve had the Vue going, my dad has been visiting and dominating the cable watching. Is there a way to use a parental block on the Fox News Channel?
Another huge benefit of the PS Vue option is the iOS app that the service provides. Unlike most of the other cable company iPad apps, you can watch live TV with the Vue anywhere you are. That’s a really handy option if you’re on the go and still want to watch your programs. Recorded shows don’t seem to be available, though. Baby steps, I guess.
The biggest disappointment, though, was realizing after I had signed up that the PS Vue didn’t offer The CW on any of their package tiers. Instead, I have to use the CW TV app… which isn’t available on the PS4. The Apple TV in the bedroom or on my iPad is my only option for watching the DC Comics CW shows now. But that’s ok as long as I can still watch.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the switch. Let’s see how things go once baseball season comes along.