This week on TechHive: Sneaky MLB TV savings

Jared Newman
|
April 1, 2022

Hey folks, there’s lot of ground to cover after last week’s vacation. I’ll try to keep it concise!

First off, I’ve got a straightforward story over at TechHive about how you can save $50 on an MLB TV subscription, which provides live streams for out-of-market baseball games.

The trick involves signing up for a fan membership with the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, which in turn entitles you to a 50% discount on MLB TV. Apparently, this has been possible for at least a few years now, but I only just learned about it after getting a tip from a reader. (Thanks, Josh W.!)

T-Mobile subscribers can safely avoid this rigmarole, as the carrier is once again offering free MLB TV to its subscribers for the 2022 season. (You just have to wait until April 5 to sign up.) But for everyone else, this is the best price you’ll get without waiting for mid-season discounts. Read more details over at TechHive.

Weekly rewind

CNN+ arrives: After a hype cycle that started last summer, CNN+ launched this week, and it’s already causing a predictable amount of confusion. Despite what the name suggests, CNN+ does not include a live feed of the cable channel or any of its popular shows. It’s an entirely separate service, and while lots of CNN anchors are involved, their new CNN+ programs are different from what’s on cable. For this, CNN is charging $6 per month or $60 per year (with a lifetime half-price offer during the first month of launch).

I’ve got a post over at Fast Company with more detail on what CNN+ is and why it’s not really for cord cutters. I also enjoyed this piece by Vulture’s Josef Adalian, who says the service “feels somewhat like the Quibi of streaming news.”

FuboTV’s price hike: FuboTV has raised the price of its live TV package from $65 to $70 per month for new subscribers. Technically, it’s eliminating its cheaper “Starter” tier, which included 250 hours of DVR storage and three simultaneous streams at home. The $70 “Pro” plan includes 1,000 hours of storage and 10 simultaneous in-home streams instead. Existing Starter subscribers can keep the plan they have.

The price hike puts FuboTV on par with Hulu + Live TV (which now includes the Disney bundle of Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ for $70 per month), though in some markets, Fubo tacks on an unadvertised regional sports fee of around $5 per month. YouTube TV still has the edge as the cheapest live TV service with local channels, priced at $65 per month.

Crunchyroll’s new paywall: Sony is cutting back the free, ad-supported version of its Crunchyroll anime streaming service. Instead of offering new shows a week after they air in Japan, the service will only provide a “seasonal sampler” of new programming. Full seasons of new Crunchyroll shows will require an $8 per month premium subscription.

This feels like the other shoe dropping after Sony announced last month that it would wind down rival service Funimation, which it acquired in 2020. Without meaningful competition, Sony has no reason to maintain a compelling free tier.

A notable “no comment”: Speaking of MLB TV, kudos to Phillip Swann for extracting some interesting answers from MLB TV about its VPN policies. While a VPN theoretically lets you pretend you’re in a different location to watch in-market baseball games, the company’s terms of use claim that circumventing blackout restrictions could get you banned from the service, slapped with a $100 early termination fee, and make you subject to legal action.

Yet in response to Swann’s repeated questions, the league declined to comment on whether it opposes the use of VPNs to watch MLB TV. It also acknowledged that it’s never sued or sought criminal charges against VPN users.

Given that the least expensive way to watch regional Bally Sports channels is with a $90 per month DirecTV Stream subscription—and Sinclair’s standalone alternative may be pushed to the summer—I suspect a lot of folks will be seeking cheaper workarounds this season. MLB TV does try to block VPN use, but its unwillingness to offer a full-throated opposition to such workarounds is, at the very least, intriguing.

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Save more money

Another month, another coupon for a free month of Paramount+. The new code is TARGET30, and you can redeem it on the Paramount+ website provided you don’t have an active subscription. It even works with the service’s ad-free tier. Check out my recent TechHive story for more details on how to redeem these coupons and avoid getting billed at the end. (Thanks for the heads up, Bill C.!)

Also, through the end of today, you can save $12 on a year of Peacock Premium by entering the code WM38ANNUAL at checkout. The deal, which is for new subscribers only and is tied to this week’s Wrestlemania, brings the annual price to $38. Just head to the Peacock sign-up page to get started, and click the “Have a promo code?” button at checkout.

Thanks for reading!

It’s nice to back with you all after a refreshing week off. If you have any cord cutting questions you’d like me to answer, just reply to this email to get in touch.

Until next week,
Jared

Previously: Free March Madness streaming

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