This week on TechHive: The ultimate Roku guide
Roku’s streaming boxes, streaming sticks, and smart TVs have a reputation for being easy to use, but that doesn’t mean every useful feature is obvious from the start. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find plenty of tricks and hidden features that make the experience even better.
Over at TechHive, I’ve put together a huge list of tips to help you navigate more efficiently, search more effectively, discover new things to watch on your Roku player or smart TV. It’s even got a few ways to make your streaming device a bit more private. Read the full column on TechHive.
Weekly rewind
Amazon Prime’s price hike: Less then a month after Netflix announced a price hike for U.S. subscribers, Amazon is following suit. The cost of Amazon Prime will jump from $119 per year to $139 per year on February 18 for new subscribers, and after March 25 for existing ones. The monthly price will also increase from $13 to $15 per month.
Amazon, which posted record profits and sales last year, blamed a “rise in wages and transportation costs” and cited expanding member benefits as reasons for the price hike. The last time Amazon raised Prime prices was four years ago, when the cost jumped from $99 to $119.
The question of whether to keep the subscription for cord cutting purposes is of course complicated by Prime’s other benefits, most notably free shipping, though if you’ve been a longtime subscriber I think it’d be interesting to see how long you can go without it. It’s not like they won’t take you back if the experiment fails.
A new Netflix trick: Netflix now allows you to remove items from the “Continue Watching” row on streaming TV devices, so you can hide your guilty pleasures and undo accidental clicks. Just click on any item in the list, then scroll down and click “Remove from Continue Watching.” (Keep in mind this option won’t be visible until you scroll down a couple times.)
Olympics explained: With the opening ceremony for the winter Olympics starting tonight, let’s quickly go over the viewing options for good measure:
- Coverage will air across NBC, CNBC, and USA for pay TV subscribers.
- If you get those channels in your TV package, you can also sign into the NBC Sports app or NBCOlympics.com to watch live events and replays.
- If you don’t have a pay TV package, you can watch all live events and replays on Peacock Premium, which costs $5 per month. (Comcast internet customers can get it for free.)
In other words, there’s no need to pay for Peacock Premium if you’re already get NBC channels in your pay TV bundle, nor is there any need to pick up a big TV bundle just to watch the Olympics. That’s refreshing.
Note, however, that Peacock will have a handful of exclusive studio shows with top Olympics moments and interviews. And as Phillip Swann reports, 4K streaming coverage will be quite limited, with select markets offering it via FuboTV, YouTube TV (with a $20 per month 4K add-on), Comcast, Verizon Fios, and Altice. Peacock won’t stream in 4K at all. Not so refreshing.
More local channel streaming: LocalBTV, a free service for streaming local channels other than the major networks, has expanded to two more markets, including Toledo and my neck of the woods in Cincinnati. That brings the service to 21 markets, total.
The catch is that LocalBTV doesn’t carry any major broadcast networks, such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, and in some markets it only carries a subset of other stations. (I’m not seeing PBS here in Cincinnati, for instance.) Still, CEO Jim Long told me has big plans to expand the service in the year ahead—perhaps even with some major networks—so it’s worth keeping an eye on.
More catch-up
- Vevo’s music video app finally lands on Android TV.
- YouTube TV adds the Fox Weather channel to its lineup.
- Fire TV devices will have some neat ways to find Olympics coverage.
- NBCUniversal accidentally mentions its regional sports streaming plans.
- Evoca launches a $25 per month over-the-air TV service—with regional sports—in Colorado.
- Hulu will stream old seasons of unscripted Fox shows, such as The Masked Singer and MasterChef. (They’re also free on Tubi.)
Save more money
In one of the stranger streaming deals I’ve come across, Bouqs is $40 off select bouquets if you rent or buy a movie or TV show from Vudu by February 6. It’s a Valentine’s Day thing, and some scrutiny of Bouqs’ catalog shows that the savings are surprisingly significant. The company normally charges $69 for a “Prosecco” bouquet, for instance, but the Vudu promo drops the price to $29—better than even the 20% off that Bouqs offers to new customers. So if you’re in imminent need of some flowers, rent yourself a movie and wait for the promo code to arrive by email a day or two later.
On a more normal note, several Roku devices are on sale right now. Grab the Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $39 or the Roku Express 4K+ for $29, both discounts of $10. I prefer the Stick for its portability, superior Wi-Fi connectivity, and Dolby Vision support, but the Express+ can work if it’s fairly close to your router and you don’t have a TV with Dolby Vision.
Also, the Roku Streambar Pro is on sale for $150, down from the usual $180. Think of it as a Roku player built into a soundbar, so your TV can stream and get superior audio a single device. Check out TechHive’s review for more details.
Thanks for reading!
A quick clarification on last week’s newsletter: When I mentioned that DirecTV Stream’s $90 per month package was the only way to stream regional sports, I was referring to Bally Sports networks in particular. YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Fubo TV all offer regional NBC Sports networks, and the latter has several others, such as NESN and Root Spots. So depending on where you are, the regional sports situation might not be so dire. Apologies for not being clearer.
Got cord cutting questions for me? Just reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared
Cord Cutter Weekly is a labor of love by tech journalist Jared Newman. Say hi on Twitter, and spread the word that there’s a better kind of TV out there.