Comcast’s new Netflix bundle
This week on TechHive: Is Comcast’s StreamSaver bundle worth it?
After teasing a discounted bundle of Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV+ last week, Comcast is out with the full price details for its “StreamSaver” package.
StreamSaver will cost $15 per month and launches next week for all Comcast customers, including those with internet-only service. The package includes the ad-supported versions of Netflix and Peacock, while Apple TV+ is ad-free. The Streamable also reports that customers will be able to pay the difference for Netflix’s ad-free plan, with an ad-free Peacock upgrade option to come.
Compared to the cost of each service separately, StreamSaver is $8-per-month cheaper. But whether it’s actually worthwhile depends on how much effort you want to put into saving even more money.
Read the full column on TechHive →
Weekly rewind
YouTube TV bitrate update: 9to5Google reports that YouTube TV is now testing an “720p Enhanced” setting that improves picture quality by streaming at a higher bitrate. The streamer previously tested a “1080p Enhanced” mode but hasn’t rolled it out widely.
Bitrate has been a sore spot among some YouTube TV subscribers, who claim that video quality is markedly worse than other live TV streaming services. I did not see this in my testing last year, but results may vary by device, channel, or even local broadcasters. Either way, higher bitrate streaming would be a welcome improvement unless it becomes yet another upsell.
College football playoff picture: It’s a little early to be thinking about football, but Disney just made an interesting deal that sub-licenses some college football playoff games to Warner Bros. Discovery. This will put the first round of games exclusively on TNT and Max for the next five years, and it adds two quarterfinal games to TNT and Max from 2026 through 2028. (These games are all new to college football, which is expanding from the previous two-round playoff format this coming season.)
While it’s sort of annoying not to have all the games on one channel, at least Warner’s games won’t require an entire pay TV package to watch. The deal also highlights a growing partnership between Disney and Warner, which also plan to sell a discounted bundle of their streaming services this summer and are working on a joint pay TV package with Fox for this fall.
Charter’s Paramount deal: Spectrum TV customers will be getting Paramount+ and BET+ later this year as part of a new carriage agreement between Charter and Paramount. (I hesitate to say “at no extra cost,” as the agreement will almost certainly lead to higher prices.) The deal also keeps all of Paramount’s cable channels on Spectrum, including Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon.
It’s reminiscent of an earlier carriage deal that added Disney+ and Hulu to Spectrum’s TV package, but in that instance Charter dropped some of Disney’s less-popular channels, such as Disney Junior and Freeform. (Charter also threatened to exit the TV business if it didn’t get what it wanted, a heck of a bluff that would only work once.) I commend Charter for trying to bundle both the streaming and cable sides together, but the result will be pricier TV packages overall.
More catch-up
- Newly-updated by me at TechHive: The best live TV streaming services.
- Fubo will launch a free tier in the “coming weeks” (presumably with the same free channels as everyone else).
- CW adds some free channels to its Apple TV app.
- Walmart’s new streaming box has a backlit remote, unless you bought it too soon.
Save more money
We’ve got a new promo code for Peacock Premium: Use PEACZL3V0D1 at checkout to get $30 off the first year of an annual subscription, either with or without ads. As always, the offer works for new and returning subscribers alike.
Other notable deals:
- Amazon Prime subscribers can get three months of Starz for $2 per month. Everyone else can still get six months for $20.
- You can still get a Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $34.
- See more ways to save on the Cord Cutter Weekly website, updated every Friday.
Thanks for reading!
Have an enjoyable long weekend, folks. If you have cord cutting questions, send me an email and I’ll do my best to answer.
Until next week,
Jared