OT: Another streaming question...
I apologize, I know this gets discussed all the time and I'll probably get negged, but I have a very specific question about YouTubeTV that I know only this group will understand. Seriously considering cancelling DirecTV after 20+ years and going to YTTV, which seems to be the consensus best streaming bundle option. I have concerns because of how entrenched I am with DirecTV (30-second skip, every conceivable channel out there, etc.), but this one is perhaps unique:
For the last 10+ years, I've had a dozen or more auto-records on my DVR related to Michigan sports. With DirecTV, you can auto-record any and all programs that might appear with specific keywords ("MICHIGAN" in this case), and even specify which sports you want. So my DVR records everything from the obvious (football, basketball, hockey) to the smaller ones (gymnastics, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, water polo, etc.). Literally every Michigan event on TV ends up on my DVR, and it's always a nice surprise to watch these more obscure events, without having to know ahead of time to record them. There are more televised non-revenue sports than you might imagine, and they're not all on BTN, sometimes quite random.
Anyway, my question is this: can you do keyword auto-records like this on YTTV? I know you can select to record all football and basketball games for specific teams, but this goes way beyond that. I'm assuming the answer is no, which might be a deal-breaker for me, as I've become sadly dependent on these non-rev sports to fill my need for Michigan content between the big games. Just not sure it's worth the ~$200 delta between DirecTV and YTTV...
P.S. In case anyone's wondering, yes, the use of "MICHIGAN" as the keyword means that my DVR also records MSU and the directionals, but there are a lot fewer of those televised, so it's not a big deal.
"can you do keyword auto-records like this on YTTV?"
No. But scheduling recordings via YTTV is stupid easy - one click to record all NCAA Football games. You will have access to an infinite number of recordings, and you can watch recordings for 365 days (since initial airing) before it falls off from your recordings library (licensing issue)
No, I don’t think you can. You can select specific teams like “Michigan Wolverines football”, “Michigan Wolverines basketball”, and “Detroit Lions” and all of their games will be recorded automatically. Or even easier, I just select “NCAA football”, “NCAA basketball”, “NBA”, and “NFL” to have all of them recorded. Super helpful if you’re late to start watching a game and can just start from the beginning and breeze through the commercials to get you caught up to live rather quickly.
Do you get “key plays” on Direct TV recordings? Nice feature on YTTV.
Especially if you want to catch up to a game in progress
So, you can search "Michigan," but you cannot record everything that says "Michigan." However, you can record team-specific programming - like all Michigan Football, and not get any Sparty or Directional games.
However, for non-revenue sports, this is not the case. For non-revenue sports you have to kind of painstakingly search for the team within two weeks before the game, or record everything for that entire sport. For example, if you're a hockey or a softball fan, you cannot auto-record just Michigan hockey - you'll need to either record all NCAA hockey or search for the Michigan games and select that you want to record them.
Yeah, it’s not ideal but you can add ‘college hockey’ and be sure to get all UM games. DVR is unlimited so other than being a little more annoying to find a given game, it works pretty well
Nope. If you have this specific criteria and this is a must have for your hard earned money...then this an extreme case of me recommending that you stick with DaveTV.
There are other means of getting what you want though, just sayin. Good luck.
YTTV blows everything else away. Period. Take the 7-day trial and if you love it let me know and Ill send you a code to get you a chunk off your first month's bill.
I'm confused by the $200 difference. YTTV is $80/month. Does DirecTV pay you $120 month to watch their programming? If so, I may wish to switch!
only if you install a couple cameras in your house and share your live content.
My DTV bill is $260, so I'm basically paying $200 extra for the luxury of recording all these non-rev sports, among other minor benefits.
One thing I miss about DirecTV is fast forwarding through all commercials if it was recorded or currently recording.
I do not know if YTTV allows that, but I do know that HULU does not!! That's the only gripe I have other than constant incremental increases in price.
Yeah, I have no doubt that YTTV will cost $200/month in a few years.