This week on TechHive: Spectrum tries a la carte TV, but restrictions apply

Last week was different. Over the phone, a Spectrum rep was promising a new kind of a la carte streaming service, officially called Spectrum TV Choice. For $25 per month, he said, I could get all the major broadcast networks, plus my choice of 10 other cable channels, all streaming on mobile devices, web browsers, Roku players, and Xbox consoles.

While I personally have little interest in becoming a Spectrum TV customer—I’m happy with my combination of Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, and an antenna—this was a rare opportunity to try something truly new from the cable guys. (Spectrum is reportedly rolling out the service to most of its markets after a limited test run last year.) After asking the customer service rep a barrage of questions, I picked my channels and signed up.

My conclusion so far: Spectrum’s a la carte TV service is a good value, with apps that should feel familiar to cable subscribers. But it also carries some of cable’s baggage. And for now, it’s unclear how many Spectrum customers can actually get the service. Read the full column on TechHive.

Weekly rewind

Philo review: Also on TechHive this week, I reviewed Philo, a sports-free streaming TV bundle that costs just $16 per month. Philo’s base package offers 37 channels, including AMC, HGTV, History, Discovery, and Nickelodeon. Equally notable are the channels Philo doesn’t carry: In general, if a network owns any sports programming whatsoever, Philo doesn’t offer any of that network’s channels. That rules out all four major broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox—along with any non-sports channels owned by the same companies, such as the Disney channel and NBC’s Bravo.

Currently, the only TV platform Philo works on is Roku, and its apps could use more features and polish in general. But by erring on the side of not making customers pay for channels they don’t want, Philo manages to charge less than half the price of other streaming bundles. It’s living proof that non-sports fans are paying too much for TV, and I hope it finds success.

League passes in your streaming bundles: Don’t call it a trend yet, but it’s interesting to see league-based sports streaming services show up as add-ons for streaming TV bundles. This week, for instance, Sling TV added NBA League Pass and Team Pass for  $29 per month and $18 per month, respectively, and YouTube TV plans to offer both NBA League Pass and MLB TV this year.

For TV bundle subscribers, conslidating these subscriptions makes sense, since it brings everything into a single app. But it also bring a couple downsides: At least with Sling, there’s no option to buy a cheaper annual subscription, and if you want to try out a different streaming bundle, switching becomes a bigger ordeal. Unbundling is still best if you want to save the most money or have maximum flexibility.

More Catch-Up

• Hey look, another way to browse across streaming services.
• There’s good and bad news in Sling TV’s subscriber numbers.
• Net Neutrality protections end in April; we’re headed for uncharted territory.

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Until next week,
Jared