Yes, I know, we still have more than a month to go in 2024. But every year, the folks at TechHive ask me to turn in my annual cord cutter awards a bit early, and as a lowly freelance journalist I do my best to oblige.

Anyway, while it’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of streaming TV, I can always find at least a handful of things to celebrate. To that end, this year’s awards contain the usual mix of earnest plaudits and oddball picks, which is my way of simultaneously upholding a popular year-end article format and also sending it up a little bit.

Read the full column on TechHive →

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Weekly rewind

Roku Ultra review: Also on TechHive this week, I’ve got a review of the new Roku Ultra, whose most notable upgrade is a better remote control. Yes, the box itself is technically faster than the 2022 Ultra and supports a newer Wi-Fi standard (802.11ax, also known as Wi-Fi 6), but neither made a pronounced difference in my side-by-side testing.

It’s still the best Roku player money can buy, but the Roku interface is also becoming increasingly complex and bogged down by obnoxious banner ads. Read the full review for more details.

Sling TV price hikes: Sling is increasing the cost of all its base packages by $6 per month on December 20. That brings the price to $46 per month for either Sling Orange or Sling Blue, and $61 per month for Sling Orange + Blue.

Sling’s main selling point is its slimmer base packages, which cost less than the likes of YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV but also have fewer channels (and, in many markets, limited or no local stations). But like every other live TV streaming service, it’s at the whim of TV programmers that demand more money for their cable channels on a regular basis.

Netflix blew it: If you’re in one of the 60 million households that tuned into Netflix’s Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight last Friday, you might’ve run into some combination of buffering, blurry video, and audio issues, and that’s the stream even worked at all. This was by far Netflix’s biggest live event to date, and the streaming service known for its technical acumen just couldn’t keep up.

While Netflix publicly boasted about its viewership, a leaked company memo from CTO Elizabeth Stone acknowledged the “poor experience of some members.” Hopefully the company can right the ship for its exclusive NFL games on Christmas.

More catch-up

• Ad tech company The Trade Desk confirms it’s building a streaming TV platform, and Sonos confirms it’s on board.
• Dish and DirecTV will not merge after all.
• Comcast is dumping most of its cable channels (except Bravo) into a spinoff company.
• MLB now says it aims to offer nationwide streaming packages with local games in 2028.
• Warner makes a new deal to keep Criterion Collection films on Max.

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Save more money

Black Friday streaming deals are starting to trickle in. A quick rundown:

• Various Amazon Prime Video Channels add-ons are on sale, including Britbox ($2.25 per month for two-months), Discovery+ ($2.25 per month for two months), and MGM+ ($1.75 per month for two-months). See all the deals here.
• NFL Sunday Ticket is $89 for the remaining season if you subscribe by December 2.
• Tablo takes $30 off its over-the-air DVRs, starting at $70.
• Roku device deals are live: Express 4K+ for $24, Streaming Stick 4K for $29, Ultra for $80.
• Fire TV, too: Fire TV Stick HD for $18, Fire TV Stick 4K for $22, Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $33, and Fire TV Cube for $100.

As always, you can see a full list of active streaming deals on the Cord Cutter Weekly website.

Thanks for reading!

I’m not planning on sending a full newsletter next Friday, but I’ll send along a full list of Black Friday streaming deals once they’re available—maybe even before Friday.

Got questions in the meantime? Just reply to this email to get in touch.

Until next week,
Jared

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