Fast forward five years, and the cable TV bundle is on the verge of collapse. With so many new shows turning up exclusively on streaming services, paying $100 per month for a bucket of cable channels no longer guarantees access to the best stuff on television. Pay TV packages might still be valuable for live news and sports, but they’re becoming worthless for pretty much everything else.

The launch of Disney+ this week marks a critical moment in the bundle’s undoing. Having seen the writing on the wall, companies like Disney are no longer just treating streaming as a side business. They’re actively cannibalizing cable to make their streaming services more valuable. Read the full column on TechHive.

Also, If you snagged a promotional deal on Disney+ before launch, you can also get a credit based on the effective monthly value of your discounted subscription. Just select “Switch to Disney bundle” from the billing page to set that up.

And one more reminder: If you have an unlimited data plan with Verizon Wireless, you can get a year of Disney+ for free. You’ve got to wonder how many of the Disney’s 10 million sign-ups were jumping on that deal.

The password sharing non-crackdown continues: Last Friday, Bloomberg published a story with a scary-sounding headline: “Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Cheats.” The gist is that TV programmers are batting around ways to stop people from mooching off one another’s streaming accounts in hopes that more of them will become paying customers.

If this sounds familiar, it might be because Bloomberg ran a similar story in 2017, and as far as I can tell, little has changed since then. While an industry trade group did announce last month that it’s paying more attention to password sharing, it also clarified that its main concern is widespread abuse, rather than “casual password sharing among friends and relatives.” Netflix’s recent comments about looking for “consumer-friendly” ways to gently push back against password sharing have also been blown wildly out of proportion.

From my own reporting on this issue, I know TV programmers and streaming services have little desire to employ draconian measures (like say, stopping people from using Roku players outside the home, or somehow collection people’s fingerprints for verification) that would anger legitimate customers. Besides, any significant new enforcement measures would cost time and money, and there’s little evidence that a crackdown would pay off in subscribers gained. That’s not to say stricter enforcement will never happen, but the current wave of stories seem like little more than posturing and fearmongering.

Nvidia Shield TV review: Over at TechHive, I reviewed the new Nvidia Shield TV, a $150 streaming device that probably deserves more attention than it’s getting. The Apple TV 4K had a credible high-end rival, and the new tube-shaped Shield fills that role by fixing most of what was wrong with the previous version. The remote is much better, with backlit buttons and proper volume keys, Dolby Vision and Atmos decoding are both included now, and the new Shield’s AI-enhanced upscaling really does make HD video look sharper on 4K TVs.

Android TV feels like less of a forgotten operating system now, especially with the recent arrival of Disney+ and Hulu with Live TV support, though it remains the Shield TV’s biggest weak spot overall. I really wish more apps worked with Google Assistant voice controls or showed recommendations on the home screen, and you have to set up certain things manually on the Shield that Apple TV takes care of on its own, like Dolby Vision and infrared control. Overall, though, the new Shield feels like less of a streaming device exclusively for hypernerds and more of a premium streamer for anybody.

• Roku’s Smart Soundbar will sell for $150 (reg. $180) at Best Buy and Roku.com from November 24 through December 7. Here’s my review.
• The Roku Streaming Stick+ will be down to $30, by far its lowest price yet, from November 24 to December 2. My review dates back to when it first launched in 2017, but here it is.
• The new Roku Ultra will sell for $50, half off the regular price, from November 28 to December 2. Here’s my review.

Walmart also plans to sell several Roku-powered smart TVs under the retailer’s onn brand, ranging from $98 for a 40-inch set to $198 for a 58-inch 4K TV. However, this deal will only be available in brick-and-mortar stores starting on Black Friday itself, and I don’t recommend fighting crowds for a TV whose quality hasn’t even been tested yet. Same goes for the “SE” Roku players that Walmart only sells on Black Friday.

I’ll have a bigger roundup of deals to share before the big sales kick off. In the meantime, try your best not to buy anything.