To that end, the company is offering half-priced annual subscriptions to CBS All Access (using the code PARAMOUNTPLUS), bringing the first-year price to $30 for the ad-supported version and $50 for the version with limited commercials. When CBS All Access rebrands as Paramount+ on March 4, those discounted subscriptions will automatically carry over to the new service.

ViacomCBS isn’t alone in trying to hook customers with long-term subscriptions. Once a rarity in the streaming world, these types of deals have become increasingly common as cord-cutters realize they can simply cycle through streaming services instead of keeping them all year-round.

That’s not to say you should necessarily make the commitment. While multi-month or annual streaming subscriptions can sometimes work in your favor, they can also leave you on the hook even after you’ve run out of things to watch. Before you sign onto a long-term streaming subscription, it pays to consider whether the savings will really add up. Read the full column on TechHive.

Turns out it wasn’t meant to last, as the bundle is no longer available to new subscribers. It’s still unclear how current customers might be affected.

Keep in mind that the deal was only available through the Apple TV “Channels” service, in which you sign up and watch directly through Apple’s own TV app. Just as HBO stopped offering an Apple TV Channel after the launch of HBO Max last year, ViacomCBS may be looking to discontinue its Channel after replacing CBS All Access with Paramount+ next month. (The nuance here is that Paramount+ could still integrate with Apple’s unified “TV” guide, with users hopping over the Paramount+ app once they’ve picked something to watch.)

The whole Channels concept is neat in theory—it’d be great to have a single point of access for all your subscriptions—but it never got much traction among major streaming providers, and having multiple fragmented subscription marketplaces can just create more confusion for cord-cutters. So while it’s too bad to see the CBS-Apple bundle go away, I’m not too sad about the supposed reasoning.

The reality TV wars return: Over at Decider, Scott Porch has a great overview of how TV networks are leaning on unscripted shows for footing in the streaming wars. Discovery+, of course, has its outsized HGTV personalities like the Property Brothers and Chip and Joanna Gaines, while Paramount+ has RuPaul, Jersey Shore, and every season of Survivor. Peacock, meanwhile, The Voice and 76 seasons’ worth of Real Housewives.

Of course, the reason these networks have so much reality TV on hand is that it’s cheap to produce, and they pumped the airwaves with it during cable’s heyday. Not to get too snooty about it—there’s certainly a place for comfort food TV—but I recall falling in love with the likes of Netflix and HBO because they offered an alternative. At the very least, I’m glad that I’m no longer forced to pay for every channel in which reality TV is a focus.

AirTV’s Locast integration: I’m guessing not many of you own the AirTV Mini streaming dongle, which came out in the fall of 2019. But if you do, it now integrates with Locast for local channel streams in certain cities. That means you can press the “Sling” button on the remote and stream local broadcasts directly through the Sling app, no antenna or separate Locast app required.

It’s a niche announcement for sure, but I do wonder if it’s a precursor to deeper ties between Sling and Locast. In most markets, Sling TV doesn’t carry local channels—that’s one reason it’s cheaper than most other live TV services—and Locast’s non-profit service could fill the gaps where users can’t get those channels with an antenna. If you could get Locast’s streams through the Sling app on any device, or better yet, record them to Sling’s cloud DVR, Sling would suddenly get a lot more interesting.

More free channels abound: While pay TV bundles keep raising prices for the same content, free streaming services continue to pile on more content at no extra cost. This week, The Roku Channel added 13 more live linear streams to its service, including Bloomberg Quicktake, a classic K-drama channel, a half-dozen music channels, and—for better or worse—a round-the-clock “Baby Shark” channel. Meanwhile, the free streaming service Tubi added live local news feeds in 80 markets around the United States. These services increasingly seem like parallel universes to cable, with little of the same content but plenty to watch nonetheless.