Spectrum's streaming freebies, Disney+ perks

This week on PCWorld: The cost of Spectrum’s free streaming services

Jared Newman | May 30, 2025

Spectrum would like you to believe that it’s actually competing with cord-cutting now.

While the largest cable provider in the U.S. hasn’t lowered prices, over the past year it’s been bundling popular streaming services with its TV packages at no extra charge. Those services include Disney+, Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and more. The cable provider loves to say these freebies add up to “$80 in retail app value,” a claim that’s been widely parroted by industry press.

But can you really believe the cable company here? And is Spectrum’s big bundle of cable channels and streaming services really worth the cost of a full-size pay TV package? Let’s do the math and find out.

Read the full column on PCWorld →

Weekly rewind

Spectrum’s new apps: Speaking of Spectrum, its streaming TV app is now available on Vizio and LG TVs. That’s in addition to existing support for Roku, Apple TV, Samsung TVs, Xbox consoles, iOS, Android mobile, Kindle tablets, Chromecast, and the web.

Spectrum’s TV apps offer all the same features as its own Xumo players, including cloud DVR access, so returning your rental boxes and using these apps instead is an easy way to cut cable costs without cutting cable.

Disney+ perks: Disney is launching a perks program for its streaming subscribers, including things like a six-month DashPass food delivery trial, 20 percent off Adidas’ online store, and a chance to win a four-night Disney cruise. Additional perks for Hulu subscribers are coming on June 2.

The perks themselves aren’t all that interesting—they’re mostly about upselling you on other companies’ products and services—but it’s notable that streamers are looking to bundle in more stuff beyond their actual video content. (Hallmark’s doing something similar.) Perhaps it’s a trend to keep an eye on.

More catch-up

Rumor mill: Apple TV software could get a major redesign this fall.
Walmart’s new $30 streaming box is surprisingly powerful.
Not just you: Netflix was down for a lot of users last night.
DirecTV joins Comcast in offering free MLS matches on Sundays.

Save more money

This section of the newsletter has some affiliate links, which earn me a commission if you wind up buying something.

Last call for Peacock: Today’s your last chance to get one year of Peacock for $25 (down from $80) by using the promo code SPRINGSAVINGS. The offer, which expires after May 30, is for both new and returning subscribers (but not current ones), and is for the ad-supported plan only.

Free Apple TV+: Just in time for Yankees-Dodgers tonight, here’s a new link for getting three free months of Apple TV+. It worked for me after using this one-month freebie a couple of times, so try them both and see what happens. Cancel immediately after signing up (instructions here) and you’ll still get the full trial.

Want more deals? Here’s the big list that I update every Friday.

Thanks for reading!

A few of you had some strong reactions to last week’s column, informing me that ESPN’s channels are all you need to watch certain college teams during football and basketball season. That’s certainly not the case with, say, NFL coverage, but I’ll concede that a standalone ESPN subscription would make sense in a scenario where a single college team is the only sports coverage you care about, and ESPN carries that team’s TV rights exclusively. (Otherwise, the points I made in my full column stand.)