This week on TechHive: ESPN+’s price hike and the case for more streaming services

Jared Newman
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July 16, 2021
ESPN+

The conventional wisdom around cord-cutting holds that there are too many streaming services. Now that every media company wants to be Netflix, streaming is no longer simple, and “subscription fatigue” has set in.

I’ve never bought into this argument, as I believe cord-cutters are better off with more options, but this week’s announcement of another ESPN+ price hike helps prove the conventional wisdom wrong. On August 13, the cost of ESPN+ will rise to $7 per month or $70 per year, up from $6 per month or $60 per year before. This is the second time ESPN+ is raising prices in less than a year.

That’s a bummer for subscribers, but if Disney ran its streaming business like some of its rivals, ESPN+ wouldn’t even exist. Instead, the company would operate one all-encompassing streaming service, and every customer would have to pay for ESPN’s sports programming whether they want it or not.

Thankfully, Disney is an outlier, running Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ as separate services serving different needs. That means cord cutters can subscribe to just the ones they want, and Disney can bring more expensive sports coverage to ESPN+ without destroying the value of its other offerings. Those who argue that we have too many streaming services fail to realize that the alternative would be even worse. Read the full column on TechHive.

Weekly Rewind

Fire TVs get AirPlay: Amazon has added Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to last year’s 4K Insignia and Toshiba Fire TV Edition TVs. That means users can easily send video or music from iOS devices, mirror their iOS or Mac screens, or control TV functions using Siri.

Additional Fire TV Edition smart TVs will get AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support later this year, but Amazon won’t say whether it’ll bring the features to its streaming players, such as the Fire TV Stick. As of now, the only non-Apple streaming players with AirPlay support come from Roku.

New software for old Fire TV Sticks: In other Fire TV news, Amazon is rolling out a major interface update to the second-generation Fire TV Stick. It’s the same one that launched on the third-generation Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite last fall, and on other streamers from 2017 and later a few months back.

The new interface gives the Fire TV menu system some much-needed streamlining, but it still feels a bit overwhelming, and I’ve heard complaints that some elements are too hard to read. If you’ve got strong opinions, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

More on sneaky cable fees: Over at the Washington Post, Geoffrey Fowler takes look at the tricks Comcast uses to hide their fees from new subscribers. It’s similar to a story I wrote in January, which also covered similar tactics by Cox and Charter.

As I wrote then, a recently-enacted law is supposed to make cable bills more transparent, but because it only requires full billing disclosure on the final check-out page, many cable companies hide the finer details until you turn over your personal information and credit card details. Cox even requires a credit check before telling you what its service really costs.

Fowler notes that a fight is now underway for even greater transparency, including an effort by Consumer Reports to gather data on people’s actual cable bills. You can check that initiative out here.

New name for AT&T TV? Evidence gathered by Streaming Clarity suggests that AT&T TV will be rebranding as DirecTV Stream. The site has uncovered trademarks for the new name along with references to it on a third-party reseller’s website, adding a fresh wrinkle to AT&T’s already-ridiculous branding timeline. Allow me to recap:

  • 2015: AT&T buys DirecTV for $67 billion, right before cord cutting takes off.
  • 2016: AT&T launches DirecTV Now as a standalone live TV bundle.
  • 2018: AT&T launches Watch TV, a smaller bundle that’s mainly a PR stunt.
  • 2019: AT&T renames DirecTV Now to AT&T TV Now.
  • 2020: AT&T launches AT&T TV, a separate bundle with two-year contracts.
  • 2020: AT&T kills AT&T Watch TV.
  • 2021: AT&T folds AT&T TV Now into AT&T TV, making contracts optional.
  • 2021: AT&T’s TV business is now worth $16 billion, and the company sells 30% of it.

Pulling the DirecTV brand back into this failed enterprise would have a way of bringing everything full circle, minus many of the subscribers AT&T once had, the people it once employed, and any sense of clarity we had about what the company is doing. At least it still has HBO—for now.

More catch-up

Save more money

Siri remote for Apple TV

If you have an older Apple TV and covet the new Siri remote that comes with the latest Apple TV 4K, you can buy the remote by itself for $50 from Verizon, down from the usual $59. The new remote is compatible with the 2015 Apple TV and 2017 Apple TV 4K, and it’s a big improvement with a proper directional pad, a mute button, and an aluminum enclosure instead of the old remote’s shatter-prone glass.

Amazon’s also having a sale on select Fire TV devices, though the discounts aren’t as great as they were on Prime Day. Highlights include the Fire TV Stick 4K for $38 (reg. $50), Fire TV Cube for $100 (reg. $120), and 43-inch Toshiba Fire TV Edition TV with Dolby Vision for $270 (roughly $50 off the street price).

Thanks for reading!

Later today, I’ll be joining Craig Hanks of Reviews.org on his weekly YouTube live stream, where we’ll discuss my recent column on sketchy IPTV services. The live stream starts at 2 p.m. Eastern, so head to the Reviews.org YouTube channel then if you want to watch in real time. (It’ll be available to watch afterwards as well.)

As always, feel free to send me your cord cutting questions, comments, and feedback! Just reply to this email to get in touch.

Until next week,

Jared