The new service, called Discovery+, costs $5 per month with ads or $7 per month without them, and brings together shows from Discovery-owned cable channels such as HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, ID, TLC, and Discovery Channel proper. It’s already available on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, and Xbox consoles, and it includes a seven-day trial.

But don’t let the name mislead you. While Discovery+ offers some of the same content that currently airs on cable, it doesn’t include the live cable feeds themselves or new episodes of hit shows such as House Hunters International or Chopped. That means you’ll still need a pay TV subscription to watch some of Discovery’s most popular content.

It’s a shining example of how TV networks are trying to have their cake and eat it too, offering new services that might appeal to cord-cutters while trying to prop up pay TV bundles. Read the full column on TechHive.

As The Streamable reports, Fubo has also been testing quarterly payment plans with some extra perks. In exchange for a three-month commitment, Fubo is offering 1,000 hours of DVR storage (up from the usual 250 hours), five simultaneous streams (instead of three), and in some cases access to Fubo’s “Extra” channel package. Clearly the goal is to prevent people from dropping service once their favorite sports team stops playing, but it might be a tough sell without some savings on the core service itself.

Hulu + Live TV bulks up: Hulu is adding 14 ViacomCBS channels to its lineup after the two companies reached a new carriage agreement. The new channels will include BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, VH1, CMT, Nick Jr., TV Land, BET Her, MTV2, NickToons, TeenNick and MTV Classic, but they haven’t actually launched on Hulu yet and it’s unclear when they will.

Usually new channels are a harbinger of future price hikes, but in this case the order of operations might be flipped. Hulu just raised the cost of its live TV bundle from $55 per month to $65 per month in December, so another rate increase in the near future would be surprising. Either way, you can draw a clear line from the 2019 merger of CBS and Viacom to higher prices for Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV, both of which have added Viacom channels as their agreements with CBS come up for renewal. Whether you want the extra channels or not, you’re paying for them.

TVision by T-Mobile: Over at TechHive, my review of T-Mobile’s TVision live TV streaming service is up. I had high hopes for the service when T-Mobile announced it last fall, partly because of its flexible packages, and partly because of its optional TVision Hub streaming device, whose cable-style remote could help ease the transition to cord-cutting.

In practice, both the service and the device fell a bit short of my admittedly lofty expectations. A lack of 60 frames per second video support, limited ways to manage your DVR, and some frustrations with the Hub device all tarnish what should be a compelling service. And with some TV networks complaining that T-Mobile tricked them into unbundling some of their channels, we can’t even be sure that TVision’s channel lineups will hold firm over the long haul. Prospective cord-cutters shouldn’t rule out TVision entirely, but they should be prepared to roll with whatever changes might happen in the future.

Also, while I didn’t mention it in this week’s column, it’s worth noting that if you’re a Verizon wireless subscriber with a “Play More” or “Get More” unlimited plan, you can get a year of Discovery+ for free. With most other Verizon unlimited plans, you can get six months free instead. To redeem the deal, head to Verizon’s website and click “Learn more” under “Already Have Unlimited?”