HBO Max pulls Westworld, DirecTV raises prices
This week on TechHive: HBO Max pulls an original
Ever since Netflix debuted the likes of House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, streaming services have adhered to an unwritten rule: Their original series don’t go anywhere.
Of course, licensed movies and shows get yanked from streaming services all the time. (See, for instance, NBCUniversal pulling The Office from Netflix onto Peacock.) But if a new show debuts on Netflix, Disney+, or Amazon Prime, you know it’s going to remain on those services for years to come.
This week, however, Warner Bros. Discovery indicated that the rule no longer applies to HBO Max, as the company is pulling the high-profile drama Westworld from the service along with several other original series. The move will apparently allow Warner to avoid paying residuals to cast and crew, and is part of a broader effort by the company to turn a profit in streaming.
This could be just an isolated incident on Warner’s part. But with the entire streaming business becoming more cost-conscious, it may also be the start of a trend in which streaming catalogs become a lot less stable. Read the full column on TechHive.
Weekly rewind
DirecTV price hikes: Keeping with annual tradition, DirecTV Stream is raising prices. Starting in January, the base price will be $75 per month (up $5 from before) while the “Choice” package with regional sports is jumping to $100 per month (a $10 increase). Legacy DirecTV Now plans are also getting rate hikes as well, ranging from $5 to $10 per month, and DirecTV satellite customers aren’t spared either, with varying price hikes across the board.
The increased prices help DirecTV Stream maintain its position as the worst deal in cord cutting. Those who need a full array of cable channels should examine cheaper options such as YouTube TV ($65 per month) or Hulu + Live TV ($70 per month with the Disney Bundle included), while going bundle-free remains worth considering if you can live without cable news and sports channels.
FuboTV gets hacked: Oof. For most of the day on Wednesday, FuboTV customers reported problems signing up, logging into their accounts, and watching TV. The outage lasted throughout the France-Morocco World Cup semifinal, meaning the service failed to deliver the very thing that it’s named after.
After restoring service, Fubo said this wasn’t a typical outage, but a cyberattack. The company hasn’t yet said whether any customer data was exposed or stolen, nor has it offered any service credits for the downtime, which is the right thing to do in such situations regardless of the cause. I’ll keep you posted if the company has any further updates.
Apple TV karaoke: Here’s an interesting wrinkle if you’re comparing the new Apple TV 4K to last year’s model, which remains deeply discounted on Amazon. This week, Apple launched a karaoke feature for Apple Music, which can display song lyrics alongside vocal-free audio tracks. On TVs, however, the feature only works with the third-gen Apple TV 4K, which just launched last month.
Apple hasn’t explained why its older streaming boxes can’t partake in karaoke night, but my guess is that Apple’s using some on-device processing to remove vocals, and only the new version’s A15 Bionic processor is powerful enough.
No matter, though. The YouTube app remains an an excellent karaoke source that doesn’t even require a subscription. Just search for a song and “karaoke,” and start belting it out.
More catch-up
- Got problems with YouTube on Apple TV? You’re not alone.
- Nexstar threatens to pull local channels from Comcast in a carriage dispute.
- Some quick thoughts on “end of streaming’s golden age.”
- Paramount+ starts showing ads when you pause.
Save more money
Verizon is currently offering a free year of Netflix Premium to its wireless and 5G home internet customers when they subscribe to another streaming service through the carrier’s billing system. The cheapest of these additional subscriptions is NFL+ at $25 for a year, but several other options are available including AMC+, NBA League Pass, AMC+, Peloton, Calm, and Super Duolingo.
This deal is even available to existing Netflix subscribers, but with a relatively minor catch: You’ll need to move your subscription over to Verizon’s “+play” billing system after signing up for the other service. Verizon’s FAQ page has instructions on how to do that.
Also, in case you missed it last week, you can now get both Paramount+ and Showtime for free with monthly coupon codes. I’ve got instructions over at TechHive.
For even more ways to save, I’ve updated my big list of streaming deals over at the Cord Cutter Weekly website.
Thanks for reading!
Hey folks, just a quick heads-up that next week’s newsletter will be the last one of 2022, and I expect it’ll be a bit shorter than usual. I’ll be taking the following week off to recharge before the new year, which begins with the always-chaotic CES trade show.
In the meantime, feel free to send any cord cutting questions my way! Just reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared