Samsung TV tips and an Apple TV take
Jared Newman | Hey there! I’m Jared Newman, and this is Cord Cutter Weekly, my newsletter on how to save money on TV and make the most of streaming.
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This week: Samsung TV advice and why Apple should make a TV
I’ve got a couple of columns to share this week after taking last Friday off.
First, my take on why Apple should just make a TV already. I’ve made versions of this argument before, but amid rumors of Apple making a bigger smart home push next year, the time seems right for the company to commandeer the biggest screens people own without an external box. Read the full column here →
Also, I’ve got some tips for Samsung’s smart TV software. It’s always been a blind spot in my streaming coverage, but after getting bitten by the Black Friday OLED bug, I now have a Samsung TV in my basement and am figuring out how to make the most of it. Read that column here →
Weekly rewind
ESPN on Disney+: If you subscribe to both ESPN+ and Disney+, you can now watch content from the former inside the latter’s app. Disney+ subscribers will also have access to some live sporting events without an ESPN+ subscription, and ESPN plans to produce some new studio shows exclusively for Disney+, including a daily SportsCenter and a show focused on women’s sports.
The ESPN app isn’t going away, and neither is ESPN+ as a standalone service—in fact, some of ESPN’s content won’t appear in the Disney+ app at all—but Disney wants to encourage bundling of its services by stuffing more of their content into one app. The company started offering Hulu content inside Disney+ earlier this year for the same reason.
Max password sharing warnings: Warner Bros. Discovery’s striptease of a crackdown on Max account sharing continues apace, with the company saying it will begin some “soft” messaging next week. Nobody’s getting blocked anytime soon, but Warner wants to let heavy sharers know that it’s onto them, and it plans to offer some kind of add-a-member plan for out-of-home viewers next year.
Like other fishing expeditions of this sort, you don’t have to do anything until (or unless) you’re cut off. (And even then, you can probably work around it, at least for a while.)
More catch-up
- Max adds round-the-clock streaming HBO channels.
- Google TV devices get tighter integration with Roku’s free streaming service.
- Neat idea: An Apple TV app that celebrates listening to full albums.
- YouTube TV’s “Zen” mode—which it shows after you interact with commercials—now has its own dedicated channel.
- Walmart officially owns Vizio now.
Save more money
Most of the Black Friday streaming deals I mentioned in last Wednesday’s special edition newsletter have come and gone now, but I’ve updated my big list of streaming deals on the Cord Cutter Weekly website with any lingering discounts.
Of note:
- You can still get three free months of Paramount+ (with ads) using promo code 3MOESSENTIALCS. See instructions here.
- Apple Card holders can get three free months of Apple TV+ now. Everyone else gets one month free via this link. That’s in addition to the extended trials available from Best Buy or Target. Existing subscribers aren’t eligible, but you may have luck re-activating an expired subscription.
- The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is still on sale for $30.
- See my full deal list here, updated every Friday.
Thanks for reading!
I hope you had a restful Thanksgiving weekend and maybe saved some money on streaming services for the year ahead. As always, I’m happy to answer your cord cutting questions as time permits. Just reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared