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[csziggy]

35. Last fall I cut the cord using Roku and a variety of streaming choices

For what you describe, Sling Blue plus their News Extra will give you basic cable channels and an assortment of news channels. What would be missing is CSPAN. I can watch some CSPAN on YouTube which is on Roku for free - I just use my regular YoutUbe sign in. CSPAN offers some content free on YoutTube but does not stream live unless you have a cable or satellite subscription. Apparently you can watch SPAN on other devices and transfer that stream to your TV. I've never tried it and have only read about it. I have watched live CSPAN on my computer so I know that part can be done.

From other comments here on DU YouTube TV (which is different than regular YouTube) there are similar options to what Sling offers.

I really like Roku - the choices are good and the menus are easy to navigate. Channels are easy to add, also. Once you purchase the Roku device, the only charges are for the streaming services you want to sign up for or subscribe to. Most of those will let you subscribe, suspend or cancel with no penalty, and sign back up if something new comes on.

I watch a lot of MSNBC (on Sling), BritBox (for Doctor Who and British mysteries), Acorn (British mysteries and documentaries (Time Team!)), and at the moment Amazon Prime. I also like Curiosity Stream (science & history documentaries) and NASA TV (free!). If I join PBS I can watch the PBS shows for free and I plan to do that soon.

Some of the services will automatically go on to the next program in a series but most do not continue to unrelated content. Acorn TV and Curiosity Stream do not, though Curiosity Stream used to. BritBox is annoying since it does not keep track for me where I am in a series - I have to remember in order to find the last episode I watched and move to the next one. It wouldn't be a problem if I wanted to binge watch all 27 seasons of Classic Doctor Who in one go but I don't plan to sit in one place that long....

Free channels: As I said NASA TV, Roku Channel, VUDU (but they will try to sell you movies and episodes or DVDs from WalMart), Sony Crackle, FreeSpeech TV (YEAH!), some SciFi channels (SyFlix, TPG Fiction Flix, and Tales of Tomorrow which all seem to have the same stuff), Comet (a broadcast SciFi channel), Pluto TV (some cable channels and an odd assortment of other stuff), and Tubi. Most of these have commercials but it is worth it, I guess. These are all available on Roku free.