Streaming guide showdown, Apple TV 4K (2022) review
This week on TechHive: Streaming guide showdown
In a perfect world, you wouldn’t need apps like Reelgood, JustWatch, or Plex to keep track of your streaming TV options.
But while streaming platforms such as Roku and Apple TV have their own search and guide features built in, none of them fully achieve the kind of universal streaming guide that cord-cutters deserve. They don’t fully integrate with Netflix, for instance, and they’re often more interested in upselling you or promoting their own content than connecting you with relevant recommendations.
That’s where the aforementioned streaming guide apps come in. Each of them can suggest things to watch from the streaming services you actually use, and they offer watchlists to help you remember everything you’ve been meaning to check out. They also offer their own apps on streaming TV devices, so you can use them as a kind of alternative menu during moments of indecision.
For a comparison of what these guide apps have to offer, check out the full column on TechHive.
Weekly rewind
Disney+ with ads: Disney+ launched its ad supported tier this week after announcing it back in August. But instead of bringing the price down, it’s merely taking the place of the ad-free plan at $8 per month or $80 per year. Existing ad-free subscribers, meanwhile, will see a price hike to $11 per month or $110 per year.
One little hiccup on the launch plan: The ad-supported tier is currently not available on Roku. Hopefully this doesn’t become a protracted carriage dispute.
In any event, the launch also brings price hikes on Disney’s other various bundles, including the Disney bundle and Hulu + Live TV. You can read a full summary of those changes, plus a way to keep your current Hulu + Live TV pricing, in this recent TechHive column.
Apple TV 4K review: My review of the third-gen Apple TV 4K went up on TechHive this week, and there aren’t really any surprises here. Its performance improvements are barely noticeable, its HDR10+ compatibility is mostly irrelevant outside of Prime Video, and its optional Thread router support is largely about smart home future-proofing.
Yet at $129—a $50 price cut from previous models—the Apple TV 4K is now a lot easier to justify. It’s still the speediest streaming box you can buy, its interface is refreshingly ad-free, and it’s loaded with little features that make the streaming experience better. For now, I’d still opt for last year’s model, which retailers have been clearing out for under $100, but the new Apple TV will be a strong streaming box option once the older inventory runs dry.
Peacock’s regional sports play: Speaking at an industry conference, an NBCUniversal executive indicated that Peacock will start carrying NBC’s regional sports networks later this year. However, the company gave no other details on pricing or timing, and sources told the Philadelphia Inquirer that local sports wouldn’t hit Peacock until “well into 2023.”
The unbundling of live sports is one of the biggest cord cutting trends to watch for in the years ahead. Bally Sports and NESN have already started selling their channels a la carte—albeit at steep costs of $20 per month and $30 per month, respectively—and all eyes are on the NFL to see where Sunday Ticket steaming rights end up next year. If regional sports do wind up in Peacock, it would be a major accelerant to this overall shift.
More catch-up
- Fire TV mode arrives on the Echo Show 15. I wrote up some impressions.
- Fox and DirecTV avoid a blackout.
- When HBO Max and Discovery+ merge, it might just be called “Max.”
- Discovery+ adds offline viewing support (for ad-free plans only).
- HBO Max returns to Prime Video as a subscription add-on.
- Paramount+ execs say to expect a price hike. (For now, you should still pay nothing for it.)
Save more money
The never-ending supply of Paramount+ coupon codes now includes an extra perk: You can also bundle Showtime at no extra charge. As before, these offers work for both new and returning subscribers, effectively letting you get Paramount+ (and now Showtime as well) for free in one-month increments.
When you’re signing up, just make sure to choose a monthly plan (the ad-free Premium tier works) and select “Get the Bundle” when prompted, then use the code TAMMY at checkout. For more instructions on how to never pay for Paramount+ head to this TechHive article.
Other notable deals:
- The 2021 Apple TV 4K is back on sale for $80, same as Black Friday.
- Get a used Fire TV Stick for $17, or $13 for Prime subscribers with coupon code FIRE.
- Get a Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $35. Select customers can get it for $30 with code STREAM22.
- Check out more ways to save at the Cord Cutter Weekly website.
Thanks for reading!
This is supposed to be the time of year where the tech news cycle slows down, yet we still managed to have a pretty action-packed week. Need help clarifying anything you’ve read here, or have questions on any cord-cutting topic I haven’t covered lately? Just reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared