A simple guide to cord cutting, Max tips
This week on TechHive: Don’t overthink it
Sometimes the biggest barrier to cord cutting is just inertia.
With so many streaming services to choose from, it’s all too easy to overcomplicate things. The deeper into the weeds you get, the scarier cord cutting starts to seem, and you end up just sticking with what you know as a result.
Over at TechHive, I’ve outlined some simple steps to help you finally make the leap, along with some ways to tweak your strategy after getting over that hump. (If this sounds familiar, it’s an updated version of a story I first wrote a couple years ago.)
Read the full column on TechHive →
Also on TechHive: I’ve got a list of tips for Max, the redesigned and renamed app formerly known as HBO Max.
Weekly rewind
The sneaky fee fight: The FCC is proposing rules that would force cable and satellite companies to disclose the full price of service up-front, including broadcast and regional sports fees. These fees now account for at least 24% of a typical cable bill, as TV providers become more desperate to hide their never-ending price hikes.
While U.S. law already requires TV providers to list actual prices before checkout, they often make a sport of obscuring their fees until late in the process, after customers have already handed over lots of personal data. “All-in” price disclosures would make comparison shopping much easier. The FCC’s proposal will undergo a few months of comment and review before the agency votes on it.
(Related: After criticism from a certain someone, it looks like Fubo quietly dropped the “no hidden fees” claim from its home page in early May. It now notes that “additional taxes and fees may apply,” rightfully so as virtually all customers pay regional sports fees now.)
Comcast’s autopay annoyances: Speaking of cable company sneakiness, Comcast is reducing autopay discounts from $10 to $5 per month for customers who use a credit or debit card. To keep the full discount, customers will have to pay directly from a bank account. Paperless billing statements will also be required to get any discount at all. The changes are set to take effect on July 20.
Regional sports watch: There’s been more movement in the unbundling of regional sports over the last week. A quick recap:
- The Utah Jazz announced that it will offer local games for free with an antenna next season as AT&T SportsNet shuts down. The team will also launch its own paid streaming service, but no word on pricing.
- NBC Sports Washington will relaunch as Monumental Sports Network in September and is planning its own streaming service for access to Washington Capitals, Mystics, and Wizards games.
- Bally Sports owner Diamond Sports Group has asked to end its contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 30. This will likely result in a local streaming option from MLB TV, similar to what’s available in San Diego for Padres games.
Expect similar moves from more teams in the future as the regional sports model collapses. Keeping track of what’s available where is going to be messy, but not needing a huge bundle just to watch your local team will be a net positive in my view.
More catch-up
- YouTube TV tests five-way split-screen mode ahead of football season.
- Comcast’s next wave of smart TVs is reportedly coming soon.
- Rumor: Warner may license old HBO shows to Netflix.
- Frndly TV launches on Samsung TVs.
Save more money
For those who want to take streaming DVR into their own hands, PlayOn is having a sale on both its cloud and Windows-based recording services. You can either get 1,776 PlayOn Cloud recording credits for $177.60, or get a year of PlayOn Home for $17.76.
PlayOn lets you record video from a wide range of streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Apple TV+. It can be useful for skipping through commercials, feeding the recordings into a media server, and maintaining access to videos that are no longer available on your streaming services. Check out this story for more details, or my primer on streaming DVR for a more complete understanding of your cord cutting recording options.
Other notable deals:
- Get three months of Starz for $3 per month.
- You can also try getting four months for $2 per month via Starz’s mobile app, but this didn’t seem to work for me.
- The second-gen Apple TV 4K goes back on sale for $95. Costco members can double the storage for $5 more.
- The latest Paramount+ codes are CONCACAF, TVCLASSICS, and WARP. Learn more about getting Paramount+ for free.
- Check the big list of streaming deals for more ways to save.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks again for hearing out my five-year anniversary spiel for Advisorator. Remember that you can lock in your first year for $40 or your first three months for $9 by starting a free trial this week.
Got cord cutting questions for me? Reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared