Help me!

I dropped directv about 3 months ago and went with YouTubeTV. I get all the locals in BR and espn channels. They added the discovery networks recently. Only thing you do not get is the Viacom channels

1 tv for %40?

I think I read that you want to cut cost and be able to watch LSU games, sports, news, Discovery, History, Animal Planet and Science channels on six TVs. There are many ways to accomplish your goals. One is to call your local cable company. Cable providers are more willing than ever to cut costs to gain subscribers. A cable provider will meet all of your goals and likely save you quite a bit of money each month.

Another option for access to the channels listed above is using what are called Over The Top (OTT) streaming media providers such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, PSVue, and Hulu Live TV (and many others). OTT providers use the Internet to distribute their programming. So, you need an Internet connection in your home that can accommodate the video streams into your home network. Most providers stream in HD (720p or 1080p). To size your Internet connection, the recommended minimum for HD video is 8 megabits/second (mbps) per stream. Depending on frame rate, it can climb to 12mbps. That means that if only one TV is on displaying an HD video stream, it will consume at least 8mbps. If you have two TVs each viewing an HD stream, you will need at least 16mbps. Three requires 24mbps, and so on. For the rare 4K programming, you will need 35-70mbps per stream. So, make sure you have enough bandwidth to handle your maximum viewing load.

An often overlooked but critical consideration for using OTT services is the performance of your in-home network. Internet video can be distributed to streaming media devices (more on those ahead) in your home using both wired Ethernet and WiFi. There are others ways, as well, such as power line and MoCa but those are out of the scope of this post. Cabled Ethernet is always better than WiFi but running cabling may not be a sensible task. If WiFi is to be used, make sure that throughput and coverage are adequate in the areas where TVs will be placed. Next, you need a way to decode the video stream and display it on a TV. On to streaming media devices...

There are as many streaming media devices as there are TV makes and models. They all do the same thing; decode the video stream and display it to a TV. You will need one streaming media device for each TV. They come in two flavors, either built-in to the TV or as a separate plug-in device. The most common streaming media player brand names are Roku, FireTV (made by Amazon), Android TV (Google), and Apple TV (Apple). The one critical thing you need to know is that all devices don’t all necessarily support the same apps. While it is getting better every day, make sure that your player of choice has an app for the service you intend to use (i.e. PSVue on Roku, Hulu Live on FireTV, etc.). For business reasons, some devices and apps don’t play nicely together (see Amazon and Google). Many newer TVs have a streaming media player built in. Some use Roku, some FireTV, Samsung has its own, and so does LG (called WebOS). All seems to work pretty well, though, I strongly prefer Roku. The only one I cannot recommend is WebOS. It has limited apps and is slow and clunky, IMO. I hate my LG TV for that reason. Anyhow, pick the one(s) you like best.

Once you have your Internet connection, WiFi, and streaming media player(s), you need to pick a service. There are many and their channel lineups vary widely. Each publishes its channel lineups online so you can read and determine which one works best for you. Consider not only channel lineup but how many concurrent streams you need. All services have limits on the number of TVs that can be viewed at once. PSVue permits 5, YouTube TV allows 3, Sling TV allows 1. Also, not all services have live streams of the four major networks in all markets. ABC is left out in many markets so check the details for each service. I like PSVue (on Roku) the best but many others work very well, also. I hope that helps.