This week on TechHive: YouTube TV’s victory lap
Google announced a major milestone for YouTube TV this week, revealing that the live TV service now has more than 5 million subscribers.
That makes YouTube TV the most popular cable replacement service by far. Its closest rival, Hulu + Live TV, had 4.1 million subscribers at the end of March (a loss of 200,000 from the prior quarter), followed by Sling TV with 2.25 million subscribers.
I’d love to argue that YouTube TV is winning the live TV streaming wars purely on quality, as I’ve always appreciated its unlimited DVR and found its interface easy to navigate. But the real reason for YouTube TV’s success is much simpler: It offers a strong lineup of cable channels for less money as its competitors raise prices. Read the full column on TechHive.
In case you missed it: Last week, I published a big list of free streaming services to try on my own Cord Cutter Weekly website. Give it a read, and please share it with anyone you know who might find it useful!
Weekly rewind
TV bundle struggles: It’s not all good news in the land of bloated TV bundles. MoffettNathanson estimates that another 2.1 million households abandoned pay TV packages last quarter, including a net loss of 201,000 subscribers for live TV streaming services. For every three homes that drop cable or satellite TV, only one is switching to an equivalent streaming bundle such as YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV. The rest are opting for cheap services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video or hooking up an antenna.
This is all happening because the companies that own the most popular TV channels have pursued a scorched earth strategy for cord cutting: Instead of trying to revive the TV bundle through cheaper and more flexible TV packages, they’ve opted for more mandatory bundling at ever-higher prices, even as their best shows become streaming exclusives.
Those TV networks simply hoped that news and sports would keep people tethered to their TV packages. But as live sports coverage gradually unbundles, and free alternatives to cable news abound, customers are recognizing that they’re being ripped off and opting not to pay for any cable channels at all.
Cancelling Prime Video Channels: In response to my newsletter on Prime Day deals earlier this week, some of you pointed out that it’s not easy to cancel Prime Video Channels subscriptions that Amazon was offering at a discount.
This is true in the sense that you can’t cancel directly through your TV—even if you signed up that way—and that navigating Amazon’s website can be a hassle. But if you know the specific link for managing Amazon’s subscriptions, cancellation is fairly straightforward:
amazon.com/yourmembershipsandsubscriptions
Just punch that address into your browser, and after signing in, you’ll see all the subscriptions associated with your Prime account (including Prime itself). As always, you can cancel a subscription anytime and still get the period for which you already paid. For more help managing streaming subscriptions, consult this earlier TechHive column.
More catch-up
- Regional sports networks’ streaming services are off to a rough start. (Via the Sports Streaming Newsletter)
- Netflix turns to Microsoft for help on ad-supported streaming.
- Sling subscribers can watch Epix for free this weekend.
- Google scraps its big-screen YouTube app for older Chromecasts.
Save more money
MLB TV is having a 50% off sale ahead of the All-Star break, bringing the price to $48—or $38 for single-team coverage—for the remainder of the season. Note that MLB TV only offers out-of-market coverage, so you can’t use it to watch your local or nationally-televised games. But if you’re a huge baseball fan or are blessed to live outside the city where your favorite team plays, this a great deal to cover the back half of the season.
Also, while Amazon’s Prime Day deals have ended, Roku’s have stuck around. Most notably:
- Roku Express 4K+ for $25.
- Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $29.
- Roku Streambar (refurbished) for $80.
- Roku Streambar Pro for $150.
If you’re in need of new Roku player, this recent column of mine will help you choose between them.
Thanks for reading!
Get any good streaming gear for Prime Day? Need help figuring it out? Still trying to settle on a cord-cutting strategy? I’m always happy to hear your questions and do my best to answer. Just reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared