This week on TechHive: PlayStation Vue’s Fox Sports Woes



I promise this is my last column on skinny bundles–for a little while, at least.

For months, PlayStation Vue subscribers have complained that they’re not getting the regional Fox Sports channels they expected. In Cleveland, for instance, subscribers are only getting Fox Sports Ohio, which carries the Cincinnati Reds, and not Fox SportsTime Ohio, which carries the Cleveland Indians. Cable subscribers in the area get both, and Sony’s sign-up page led users to think they’d been getting the same.

Meanwhile, Sony has added to the frustration with vague and conflicting information for customers. Read the full column on TechHive.

Weekly Rewind

Time Warner buys a slice of Hulu: Investment news is usually pretty boring, but Time Warner’s 10 percent Hulu buy-in is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First: Time Warner has been a vocal opponent of Hulu’s next-day TV shows, arguing that they devalue the cable bundle. (One rumor claimed that the company wanted to phase out next-day shows as a condition of a larger investment.)

Second, Time Warner (which, to clarify, has no relation to Time Warner Cable) will be contributing content to Hulu’s bundle of live TV channels that’s launching next year. In a way, that’s good news for consumers. Still, it makes you wonder what the future holds for Hulu’s on-demand service.

As I’ve written before, Hulu’s business model constantly shifts with the breeze. But as I’ve also written, on-demand services are the future, while these live TV streaming bundles are transitional. Seeing Hulu pivot away from what is ultimately the better solution for consumers is discouraging, but not surprising given Hulu’s major media conglomerate ownership.

Cord-cutters’ guide to the Olympics: The 2016 Summer Olympics begin on Friday with the opening ceremonies, and it’s now easier than ever to watch full coverage without a cable subscription.

As usual, antenna users can catch the main broadcasts for free on NBC, but for less-popular sports and additional live coverage, you’ll need access to NBC’s other channels. Cord Cutters News has a helpful guide to getting full coverage through either Sling TV or PlayStation Vue.

NBC will also stream the games through its own NBC Sports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast. That’ll work if you’re mooching someone else’s cable login.

More Catch-Up

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Thanks for reading!

Huge thank you to Cord Cutter Weekly reader Dennis , who alerted me to the Fox Sports issues described in this week’s column. Being able to hear from you all makes this whole thing worthwhile.

Do you have any stories you’d like me to tackle? Need advice on your cord cutting setup? Have a success story you’d like to share? Feedback on this newsletter? Drop me a line by responding to this email.

Until next week,
Jared