Just discovered this chocked-full thread. Very timely for me as I've just started a three-pronged experiment in cord cutting: 1) Bought Tivo OTA refurb at half price, 2) signed up for the new DirecTV Now service, and 3) will begin 6-mo "vacation" from DISH at end of cycle (leaves dish & receiver in place - just not working).

The Tivo deal is still on in case anyone's interested: Tivo.com. $200 brings the dvr box and a lifetime guide subscription (hope mentioning price is OK..sorry if not, but wanted to pass on what seems to me to be a great deal).

The DirecTV Now pkg is loaded with channels including ESPN and ESPN2 and all news channels. Grandfathered in to the 2nd highest tier- they say - at $35/mo as long as I keep paying monthly.

Just a few days into this and still getting the hang of it. Tivo functionality may end up being even better than locals on DISH. DirecTV Now is a little quirky, but improved over a few days. No DVR on this one and that may be its achilles heel, but I think it will be OK, especially when I consider I'm paying $35/mo instead of $100 (if you don't count the intial $200 investment). Anyway, time for a paradigm shift, and I can always go back to DISH after the "vacation" if it doesn't work out.