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. Sign up here if someone shared this newsletter with you.

Paying for ESPN+? Make sure you’re not already getting it for free.

Jared Newman   |   September 5, 2025

Over the past couple weeks, we’ve seen a bunch of pay TV providers boast about how they’re now including ESPN Unlimited, the network’s new standalone streaming service, at no extra charge. It’s kind of funny, because the whole point of ESPN Unlimited is to access the network’s cable channels without a big pay TV package.

But: ESPN Unlimited includes ESPN+, which many of these bundles didn’t carry previously. So if your TV package includes ESPN Unlimited and you were paying separately for ESPN+, either by itself or as part of the Disney Trio bundle, you don’t need to do that anymore.

I’ve got more details in this week’s column, including which TV packages include ESPN Unlimited, what it means if your TV package doesn’t include it, and why you should (or shouldn’t) care about ESPN+ to begin with.

Read the full column →
(Want an ad-free link and access to my discussion forum? Check this out.)

Weekly rewind

Walmart+ adds Peacock: A few years ago, Walmart started bundling Paramount+ with its Walmart+ membership program, which offers free shipping for online Walmart orders and other assorted benefits. Starting on September 15, Walmart+ members can opt for Peacock Premium as their free streaming service instead, and you’ll be able to switch between the two services once every 90 days.

Walmart+ costs $98 per year, which is actually $11 per month cheaper than a Peacock Premium annual plan, so I could see this working out if you’re looking for an alternative to Amazon Prime.

Tablo’s offline mode: Back in September of last year, the makers of Tablo promised an offline mode for its over-the-air DVRs, stemming from a major outage that prevented users from even watching live TV. One year later, Tablo has finally delivered, so users can access live channels and recordings when Tablo’s servers are unavailable.

Offline mode is still pretty limited, with no grid guide, scheduling, categories, or playback of recordings in progress. It also won’t work at all after a power outage, as Tablo still needs an internet connection when it first boots up. But at least this helps protect against internet and server outages (including one that the CEO of Tablo maker Nuvyyo just apologized for last month).

At $100 with no subscription fees, the fourth-gen Tablo is at least on paper the best way to record local channels from an antenna, but I gave it a pretty harsh review in late 2023 due to numerous bugs and constant reliability problems. I plan to revisit that review soon to see if the situation’s improved.

Netflix’s clip maker: Netflix just made its “Clips” feature a lot more useful by letting you create and share your own snippets instead of pre-defined ones. In the mobile app, hit the “Clip” button in the top-right of the playback menu to bring up a trim tool, then highlight the part of the movie or show you want to share. You’ll get a link to that clip, which can quickly access in the “My Netflix” tab and send to other Netflix subscribers. (Non-subscribers will see a sign-up page instead.)

All of which means I can finally share one of my favorite comedy bits in recent memory, even if it may not become funny until you’ve watched it for the dozenth time.

More catch-up

Save more money

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

While the free Paramount+ loophole seems to have finally closed, at least there’s a new deal available: Subscribe by September 18 to get one year of Essential (with ads) for $30, or one year of Premium (limited ads) for $60, half-off the regular price.

The deal is for new and former subscribers only, so current subscribers would need to cancel and sign up with a different email address. The discount should apply automatically on the Paramount+ website.

Other notable deals:

As always, I maintain a full list of up-to-date deals on the Cord Cutter Weekly website.

Thanks for reading!

Got cord cutting questions for me? Just reply to this email to get in touch.

Until next week,
Jared

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