TV Networks/ All UM Games
A couple of my go-to sites for streaming were taken down in the past few months. It's very upsetting as these were my way to watch all the UM games last year. Now, I may have to go through more legitimate means. I do not have cable or any subscriptions for TV (except for Amazon Prime/Hulu).
With that said, I need help on what would be the best options to watch all the UM games this year as a fan living in Houston. If i need to get an antennae for my TV, then I will buy one, or if i should subscribe to a streaming service for a few months, then i'll make it work. I'll just need to know which service to use. What I'm looking for the cheapest/best options without having to pay the fees for cable. We really do not use the TV at all outside of UM games and some episodes of TV series on the weekends. That's why i'm looking to you all as similar diehard fans to help a brother out.
Side note: With an 8 month old son, i dont have an option to leave for 4hrs to an alumni pub. This will most likely result in me sleeping on the couch while bleeding profusely from the multiple stab wounds and i'd lose the car keys for the rest of the season.
Take the kid to the alumni bar.
Maybe when he's older.
My comment was a bit tongue in cheek, I wouldn't have taken my 8 month old to a game at a busy bar. But honestly get out to eat with your son, don't feel like you need to be locked in your house until they turn 10. We go out to eat once or twice a week with both our kids and have since they were a week old. It's important for sanity and teaching your children how to behave in a public setting.
I was speaking directly to the bar environment. Also, since i'd feel obligated to buy a beer or two, it'd cost more than cable, lol. We have taken our son out to eat, but only during lunches. Dinner time is usually past his bed time.
Did that also at 6 mos both kids and 17 mos apart. They always saw it as a treat, got to order what they wanted as soon as they were aware and able. Never a mess or incident and I guess just the enticement was a motivator. I have seen the opposite though. Yikes!
Take on a new "job" where you have 4-hour business meetings scheduled for (1) 12 PM on 2-September, (2) 3:30 PM on 9-September, (3) 7:30 PM on 16-September, and (4-12) 9 other time blocks that won't be known until either 6 or 12 days ahead of time.
Plus 1 for a very hilarious answer.
Other than Peacock, cable or Hulu/YTTV will get everything for sure. But honestly, I expect most UM games to be on broadcast TV - so you may be able to get away with an antenna. First game of the season is on peacock, so free trial that bad boy, and then see how far an antenna can get you, and if we're stuck on FS1 or BTN for a week, get a YTTV subscription for the month. Should set you up ok.
That sounds doable. The UM games should be nationally televised, correct?
I believe all Big Ten games will be nationally televised in this new era - no more of the ABC/ESPN regional split. My guess is most UM games will be on the broadcast channels. So, very likely that an antenna will get you most of what you need, especially after the non-con.
But these TV folks are wiley - we already know that you'll need a streamer to watch the week 3 Bowling Green game. Luckily, if you sign up the day before the game, you'll get every other game up until the MSU game - which will definitely be available on an antenna.
Then the bye week and we finish with Purdue, Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State. PSU and OSU games have already been confirmed for noon on fox, but you likely would need to get a streaming service for one of the other 2. That said, for one free Peacock trial in September and $51 a couple of weeks later, you'll get all the way to just before the Purdue game before having to decide if you need another $51 for the last month of the season.
Also, while I suggested YTTV - if your antenna works well and you get Fox, CBS and NBC, then really what you should do is the Sling Blue + Sports for $51/month. Downside is no ESPN (and the local channels are hit and miss), but if you truly only care about Michigan Football, then it's probably worth saving $20 over Hulu Live and YTTV
I appreciate the long and detailed answer. Now that you mention Hulu Live, i wonder if my wife's student status will give us way cheaper costs for the TV version. Right now Hulu is only $2 with student discount.
Doesn't look like that's an option for you. You can do it, but you'll just be paying the full price. There's no additional Student Discount for Hulu LiveTV.
Can I switch plans or sign up for add-ons?
While Hulu's Student Discount gives you access only to our Hulu (With Ads) plan, you can still sign up for Partner Add-ons (ESPN+ (With Ads) or Disney+ (With Ads)) and Premium Add-ons (Max, SHOWTIME, Cinemax, Starz) for an additional monthly charge.
If you’d like to switch to Hulu (No Ads) or one of our Live TV plans, keep in mind that the student discount is not available for these plans. You can switch back to our Hulu (With Ads) plan with Hulu's Student Discount as long as you are still eligible.
Are there student discounts available for any other Hulu plans?
Hulu's Student Discount is currently only available for our Hulu (ad-supported) plan. If you have any feedback about the student discount offer, check out the Ideas forum in the Hulu Community and see what others have to say. You can also submit your own unique idea if it hasn't been suggested yet.
Thanks for sharing!
Honest question, because it sounds like you could not be more different from me. What do you do every night? You really don't turn a TV on during the week? For news? I'd love to read more, in theory, but by the end of the day I need to numb myself...
After most work days, my brain is fried as well. Usually I spend time reading or writing, but if i'm really burned out for the day, this will turn into Instagram reels, twitter, and an app game on my phone.
Unless it's basketball (NBA or NCAA) or hockey season, I don't really turn on the TV except for football, or to watch golf or soccer. Meaning I don't really watch TV at night. I'll usually read or have a drink or just putz around reading the news on my iPad.
"but by the end of the day I need to numb myself..." No truer words have been spoken! (At least in my case)
I would have wondered the same thing before I ditched YTTV back in January. It's been a positive change and challenges me to get more creative, but I may resubscribe just for the CFB season.
In the past I've used Sling, YoutubeTV and Hulu. Each season I take a look again at pricing and networks provided and remake the decision. In the past Sling's streaming was not as good as YTTV but last season it was notably better. YTTV also used to have a notable cost advantage but they raised their prices a few years ago and it stopped being the most economical option for me. So research and pick one. That, plus an antennae, allowed me to watch every game.
Thank you Chaco. I may try to compare Sling and YTTV before choosing one for the non-antennae games.
Said it earlier, but for this season, Sling Blue + sports costs $20 less. Downside is you have to get your antenna working, which was a struggle for me. So I take the easy way out and use YTTV - no antenna, and also get ESPN (and share with all my family who live in the local area).
I just eat the bullet for football season with YTTV. It's a fair price to me for what I use it for. I watch a lot of football, college and pro. YTTV's DVR is fantastic. I record every college, pro game and then watch at my leisure.
Once football is done I cancel. You do what you gotta do.
Agree 100% - DVR is your friend, despite the occasional late start for the recording (more frequent for basketball). I just have to remember to mute my friend's text threads to avoid the ritual gnashing of teeth during the games.
I'm new to YTTV. Made the switch from DirecTV when the NFL Sunday Ticket migration happened. I'd been with DTV for 15+ years.
Gotta say...after some trepidation, YTTV is great!
One of the best features is being able to edit the guide. I've got all the sports channels lined up in a row and have deleted 75 crap stations that I'll never watch.
No idea about pricing, so if you're trying to do this on the cheap, there are probably better options.
Now that Michigan is regularly the top pick, the antenna works great out here in the PNW. My TV even accepts a USB drive so that I can pause, rewind, and fast forward the live broadcasts.
I may have a USB drive on my TV. I didn't even think this would be an option. That's great to know!
If i need to get an antennae for my TV,
The singular is "antenna" and plural is "antennas" if you are describing radio wave receivers, and "antennae" for what's on an insect's head. At least within English speaking North America. I suppose if you had old-school bunny ears then the plural would make sense but I don't think any are like that any more.
An antenna is a good investment regardless, it's nice to not have to navigate the various streaming apps and deal with the delay of streaming games. You may not watch much TV outside of live sports, but it's still better to have local broadcast stations for news, weather, etc. and not rely on the Internet alone.
And to actually help with the question you asked, you'll need access to at least five different streaming services/cable or broadcast channels:
- Peacock for the opener vs ECU
- CBS (Paramount+) for UNLV
- Big Ten Network for BG, likely another
- FOX for PSU/OSU, others
- ABC/ESPN is not announced for any games yet but there's no chance there isn't at least one.
I don't believe you'll find us on ABC/ESPN unless we make the CFP. I'm pretty sure that deal is officially over.
I mean yeah, I was definitely counting a CFP game in the "no chance we're not on ESPN" /s
Good call, thanks for the correction. Totally forgot about that and I'm sad it's over.
It'll probably mean a Peacock trial for the first week and YTTV/Sling for the BTN games and hoping that the antenna will grab the rest of the games on CBS/FOX, given they are nationally televised.
I stopped reading when you -- on your high horse -- decided not to take your 8month old to a pub. COME ON DAD HE'S GOTTA LEARN SOMETIME
wait what happened to that one site that streamed all the michigan games and even the lions/bills t-giving game? last year that was my go to...
also...what has happened to my brain that I don't even remember the name of the site...like stream mgocrazy? or something?!?! shoot.
Usually there is an MGoStream posted before if you don't mind going that route.
yep - all games have been streamed via stream.mgocrazy.com for two years now.
user name checks thank you
I've joined the discord channel. Thanks!
I cut the cable a few years ago but I will be getting a cable box back for this seasons football games. You can get an introductory price package which will be less expensive than YTTV for at least 9 months.
BTW, "Coffee_Addict", you're probably a perfect fit for this new thing called "Coffee Golf":
https://www.mgoblog.com/mgoboard/coffee-golf
I also don't pay for cable tv except for directv stream, apple tv, netflix, hbomax, amazon prime, pbs, britbox, espn+, peacock, and paramount+.
I regularly lose this conversation in my house. At least I am now going to get Peacock "free" with my top-tier internet speed service.
what about stream.gocrazy.com?
I'll try atdhe.tv (mx,ru) or firstrowsports.tv but even w VPN every year it gets harder.
Swing by the house and "validate" on my local network, and you can connect to my OTA DVR (Tablo) remotely from then on.
That'll at least get you the games that are broadcasted here locally in SE Michigan.
When I have to travel, it's my go to for the hometown football games. A sure thing for the Lions, and a good amount of Wolverines games.
I currently have Youtube TV (YTTV) and am a big fan, despite the recent price hike. It's a good product and is pretty reliable. I have not used Sling or Hulu live so I can't comment on them.
That being said, there are some restrictions such as zip code and a max of 3 concurrent streams with YTTV. You can avoid them by logging in to the network provider apps (e.g. the fox sports or ESPN app) so if you wanted to get crafty and share with friends you could. The app is also nice workaround because some games may be regional and the apps generally provide full coverage. For example, the second game vs. UNLV is on CBS, I don't think they'll broadcast that nationally but their app should have it.
However, for the first game against ECU, you'll need to get a separate peacock subscription to watch that game. If you have the American Express Platinum card, you can use your monthly digital entertainment credit towards Peacock.
Last season was my first with YouTube TV instead of Fios TV. A big advantage was being able to cancel after college basketball season and restart easily later. The only things I didn’t like were location based issues like not being able to watch while traveling overseas on business, which I guess I can understand due to licensing.
The very annoying thing was that if you are out of your area, you can only watch TV stations live and cannot watch your local DVR recordings until after they have finished. Dulles airport is nearby but out of out of my local Baltimore area, so I could only watch Michigan football games live at the airport and could not start watching the game late to catch parts that I might have missed while getting to the airport until after the recording was complete. My previous cable company and Fios included both DC and Baltimore stations as local stations. I don’t think there is a good justification for the local recording viewing restrictions since the same game is on both stations.
both Baltimore and
You Tube TV had 'em all last year, IIRC. I just subscribe for football and basketball, keep it off for a few months in summer. I should probably just look at the Reddit links; my daughter's friends seem to be able to find anything.
Worth adding, maybe, that I find it far saner to check in late, skip commercials, go do something productive at halftime, then watch the second half without interruption. Much more economical, less stressful all the way around.
Keep an eye out for direct tv deals. Get local channels, espn, and big ten network. Should be able to find it for $60 a month. Binge and DVR any and everything. When UM football is done cancel it.
Everybody wants to app jam these days but your just splitting that $60 through the 17 apps.
Get that free trial for peacock. If DTV doesnt hit the price mark for you call them and negotiate. If that is too much go with antenna and free trials and the in-laws dont forget the in-laws. Piggyback on a good friends log ins maybe?
Take your son to the bar. Paint a mustache on him, slap on some sunglasses, and modify his pacifier to make it look like he's chewing on a stogie. Tell the bartender no alcoholic beverages for the little guy because he's your designated driver.
when they ask "is he 21?" say "Yes" and then trailing off, "...weeks"
Y'all are hilarious!