Beginner’s guide to cord cutting, the Disney-Spectrum deal
This week on TechHive: The beginner’s guide to cord cutting
One of trickiest parts of writing about cord cutting is making sure readers have up-to-date information. Because the TV world changes so quickly, sometimes it’s better to update an older article than to write an entirely new one.
With that in mind, I’ve got an updated beginner’s guide to cord cutting over at TechHive. This article will walk through everything you should know before dumping cable or satellite TV, and will help you figure out how to watch your favorite channels and shows for less.
The original version of this article ran on TechHive in 2019. The latest version includes up-to-date information along with my latest thinking on how best to cut cable in 2023.
Read the full guide on TechHive →
Weekly rewind
The Disney-Spectrum deal: After more than a week of saber rattling, Charter and Disney reached a deal that ultimately doesn’t change much for Spectrum’s cable TV bundles.
In exchange for more money, Spectrum will include Disney+ in its main cable package and ESPN+ in its pricier regional sports tier. The cable giant will also drop some of Disney’s less popular channels, including FXX, Disney Junior, Freeform, and Nat Geo Wild.
The result is not the restructuring that TV bundles need—with more flexible channel packages—but a rearranging of deck chairs that trades some musty cable channels for a couple of shinier streaming ones, all at higher prices than ever. This alone won’t stop the cable bundle’s decline. It might not even slow it down. I wrote more about this over at TechHive.
More catch-up
- Amazon’s adding filters to the Fire TV live guide. (See also: How to put that guide to use.)
- Roku’s “NFL Zone” tells you where to watch the games—except on YouTube.
- Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football coverage will stream in HDR.
- Which streamer has the highest rate of show cancellations? Not Netflix.
- Got a PS5? Now you can stream games to Android TV devices.
Save more money
Hulu + Live TV is currently offering a hefty discount for both new and returning subscribers. Sign up by October 11, and you can get three months for $50 per month, which is $20 off the current price (and $28 off after the October 12 price hike kicks in). Check my Hulu + Live TV review for more details about the service.
Other notable savings:
- New Peacock promo code: PEAUVON2NB6 gets you six months for $2 per month.
- Get three months of YouTube TV for $55 per month, new subscribers only.
- YouTube’s $50 discount on NFL Sunday Ticket ends on Tuesday. (Bet we’ll see more promos after that, though.)
- The latest Paramount+ codes are SUPERPOWER, REDEEM30, or GOLD. Learn how to get it for free.
- See more ways to save at the Cord Cutter Weekly website.
Thanks for reading!
Got cord cutting questions for me? Get in touch by replying to this email.
Until next week,
Jared