Cord cutting preferences are becoming more defined as cutting the cord evolves. Some people want to watch their OTA (over-the-air) television live. Sporting events are a huge reason people remain loyal to cable. Cable can charge expensive packages to ensure that the fanatic in the household gets every game they will ever need. That’s where antennas like Mohu AirWave or the beIN app that we talked about in the last couple weeks come in handy.
However, for the non-sporting fan who wants to fast forward through commercial, they need options too.
This is where Plex TV may be your option.
Plex TV allows you to DVR live 86 of Nielsen’s 100 most watched shows in the United States. You can record anything you want, and watch it anytime, anywhere. The caveat? No live TV.
However, it also manages all of your media, and allows you to upload any of your music, pictures, movies, or televisions shows seamlessly through the Plex TV app on all of your devices. You also need to install a digital antenna to receive the OTA signals.
In order to get Plex DVR, you will also need to purchase a premium membership. The prices range from $4.99 per month to $39.99 a year, or $119.99 for a lifetime subscription. Here are some of the perks of being a premium Plex TV member, as per their official website:
| Any Format: Support for all file types (well, virtually all), including hi-fi music and video formats. | ||
| Available Anywhere: Stream all of your media to all your devices, anytime, anywhere, with the same beautiful experience on all of them. (iOS, Android, and Windows apps require a one-time unlock fee for full playback if you do not have a Plex Pass.) | ||
| Library Organization: Organize all of your media–videos, photos, and music–and make it beautiful with artwork and info like plot summaries, bios, and more. | ||
| Privacy and Security: Enjoy your media while away from home, knowing your connection is securely encrypted. | ||
| Sharing: Effortlessly share libraries among friends to all discover and enjoy even more content together. | ||
| Recommendations and Discovery: Enjoy beautifully organized libraries that help you find and re-discover great gems in your collection. | ||
| No Storage Limit: Store and stream as much as you have on your server or storage device, without sacrificing quality, security, or performance. | ||
| Online Channels: Get online content from various sources, like TED Talks, NPR, Spike, Comedy Central, and Soundcloud, right in Plex. | ||
| Remote Control: Use the Plex app on your phone or tablet to control any Plex player. | ||
| Casting: Cast content from your smartphone, tablet, or computer to your TV for large screen viewing via Chromecast. | ||
| Flinging: Start content on one device and fling it to another app to continue enjoying it. | ||
| Media Optimizer: Create optimized versions of your media for seamless streaming on whichever device you choose. | ||
| Watch Later: Save online videos to watch later or recommend videos to a friend. | ||
| Automatic Photo-tagging: Use automagic image and scene recognition technology to classify and find photos you are looking for in any library of any size. Rediscover memories you had forgotten and search entire libraries! | ||
| Live TV: Watch Live TV directly on your device! With the addition of an antenna and a digital tuner, over-the-air HD TV is yours at no extra cost! Great for cutting the cord! | ||
| Plex DVR: Record your favorite free HDTV digital broadcast channels—including local news and sports—on any device, then watch anywhere in the world! DVR recordings can be watched on any Plex-enabled device. | ||
| Mobile Sync: Sync your videos, music, and photos to your mobile device for offline enjoyment wherever you go. | ||
| Cloud Sync: Sync content from your library to supported cloud storage providers to enjoy even if your server is offline. | ||
| Audio Fingerprinting: Manage your music with song identification via audio fingerprinting, get world-class album reviews and artist bios, as well as the best cover art available. | ||
| Lyrics: See timed lyrics to your favorite songs when available. | ||
| Mood Mix: Find tracks in your collection based on mood to help you wake up, wind down, and everything in between. | ||
| Plex Mix: Kick off playback of similar tracks from your collection at any time — it’s like your own personal radio station. | ||
| Premium Music: Enjoy lyrics, automatic Plex Mix and Mood Mix playlists based on mood or similar tracks, and premium metadata matching for high quality art, album reviews, artist bios and more! | ||
| Multiple Users: Create customized, managed accounts, and make user switching fast and easy with Plex Home. | ||
| Parental Controls: Enable parental controls to keep the kids away from inappropriate content. | ||
| Trailers and Extras: Automatically see high quality movie trailers, cast interviews, and other extras for movies in your library. | ||
| Camera Upload: Wirelessly sync your phone and tablet photos and videos automatically to your Plex Media Server at home, where they remain private and secure. | ||
| Plex Pass Perks: Get exclusive access to promos and discounts on partner products and experiences! | ||
| Early Access and Free Apps: Be the first to get exclusive access to new features and enjoy awesome premium ones. Also, get mobile apps without having to pay the unlock fee (iOS, Android, and Windows apps require a one-time unlock fee for full playback). |
Plex TV is compatible with the following devices:
- Amazon Fire
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- Chromecast
- iOS systems
- Mac
- Roku
- Windows
If you must still have your live TV and want Plex, do not fret. They have announced a beta version of Plex Live TV. As of right now, Live TV is only available on Android TV and iOS devices.
