I am thinking about Channels Plus. I have another means of recording OTA. Do I need HDHR if I am only interested in recording streaming channels like YouTubeTV?
no HDHomeRun required but .. All channels available on youtube will not be available in TVE.
If you are set up for OTA already, it is nice to have everything in the Channels interface. OTA is the best of the broadcast stations. Also OTA is superior quality to TVE, tunes faster, is less buggy, and has much better audio (higher quality, can do surround, and doesn't have huge volume fluctuations for commercials).
I would get the HDHR, tack on TVE for some extra bonus stuff. And use Channels to view/record everything.
I rarily ever watch OTA live. I like to record. I have a process that is automated that takes the files processes through MCEBuddy and edits out the comercials, and finaly dumps it on my Plex server. That is where I watch most every thing.
Is there a list of channels that would be available in TVE? From the Channels site it looks like most cable channels, or at least non-premium. I imagine you cannot record Disney Plus or Netflix for instance if I attempt to add something other than youtubeTV. In regards to only YouTubeTV, what would I miss?
The channels you can access via TVE will vary by provider. For instance, I have a subscription with Xfinity that includes Viacom channels like Comedy Central which I can watch with a cable box, but I can't get through TVE.
Search the forums with "provider" + name of the TVE provider you're considering to see which channels may not be available.