Is it better to Stream or use Live TV? That, my friends, is a great question!

This article explores these options so YOU can make the right decision. A lot of you already have PRIME Video, simply because most have Amazon prime service already. And a good portion already have Netflix. No need to worry, these two are supported on almost any platform!

The first question is, how important is watching live sports? If not important, you can skip to the next paragraph. If it is important, however, let’s look at your options. Do you have a primary home with the NFL Sunday ticket? If so, check this NFL Sunday ticket link to verify what devices are supported. Are you a fan of MLB? The MLB.TV app covers a lot of games and can be viewed on these MLB.TV supported devices. In eastern PA, Yankees, Mets and Phillies games are still “blacked out.” DirecTV Stream (AT&T TV) is the only streaming option to get the YES Network. FuboTV is another great streaming app for sports and can give you SNY and Sports Philadelphia.

For primary “live TV” streaming, some like HULU or Google TV. However, we’ve found customers to be the happiest with YouTube TV. It supports the majority of your “off air” stations based on your zip code. If you’re local, you’ll probably get Sports Philadelphia, SNY, Steelers games, Eagles games and so much more! We recommend signing up for the 14-day trial because it is an important decision and only you know what you and your family enjoy watching! Try it on your phone or tablet.

So what devices shall we use to stream? We find most of these streaming apps are natively found on almost all Samsung TVs. While we love Sony and LG, certain models don’t support all the apps.

If you have a new home and are considering all new TVs, the simplest solution may be to get new Samsung TVs for a consistent user interface.

If you have a bunch of different TVs in your home, we suggest standardizing on either a Roku Ultra or Apple TV 4k. Why these two? First, they can be hardwired with Internet. With 4k now and 8k coming, we strongly recommend hardwiring TVs wherever possible. This frees up your Wi-Fi for phones and laptops! We’re not against Fire TV or Chromecast but keep this in mind (plus the latter are more limited in app support). If your family is an Apple household, you might as well go Apple TV for the best user experience. If yours is mixed (Android or iOS), then go Roku! The Roku still supports casting from an iOS device. Last, if you have a higher level automation system such as Josh.AI, RTI or Crestron we believe Roku gives you the best experience!

If, after using it over time, you don’t like an app, don’t worry! Most likely, between Apple TV, Roku and Samsung TVs it will be easy to switch to another app in a jiffy! If you have specific apps you like (e.g., HBO Max), let us know up front so we can help you. We hope this article helps your decision. We’re here for you every step of the way!