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.
Which sports streaming bundle is right for you?
Jared Newman | 
You don’t need a full-priced pay TV package to get local channels and sports anymore.
While YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV cost upwards of $83 per month, new skinny bundles from DirecTV, Fubo, Sling TV, and even Comcast offer live sports for less. New standalone options from ESPN and Fox present even more ways to save money.
But depending on what you want to watch, some of these bundles will work better than others. The situation reminds me a bit of cord cutting’s early years, in which every live TV streaming service came with some notable omissions. In this week’s column, I’ll help you sort through them all and find the best sports bundle for your needs.
Weekly rewind
Warner wobbles on password sharing:* Depending on which headline you read, HBO Max is either about get serious about password sharing, or not so much. Read this quote from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and judge for yourself:
“We haven’t been pushing on the password sharing and the economics yet. People are really starting to love HBO Max. That’s the key. We want them to fall in love with our content, with our series … and then over time, it’s a little tricky, with the password sharing, we’re going to begin to push on that.”
Just a month ago, the company was telling investors to expect a “much more aggressive” crackdown on password sharing. Zaslav doesn’t sound so confident anymore to me. Perhaps Warner is discovering that what worked for Netflix doesn’t translate as easily to services people care less about.
Zaslav also said he thinks HBO Max should cost more, so we’ll see. I continue to suggest ignoring any password sharing messages that come up until it’s no longer possible to do so.
(Speaking of: Has anyone actually been barred from accessing Disney+ or Hulu with a shared password yet? Let me know if this has happened to you.)
Plex hacked: For the second time since 2022, Plex is telling users to change their passwords after a security breach, in which hackers made off with hashed passwords along with usernames and email addresses.
Note that if you run a Plex media server, you’ll also have to reconnect it after changing your password. This can be an ordeal, but the easiest way is to click the Plex icon in your menu bar or taskbar, open your server, and sign back in.
More catch-up
- Warner joins Disney in suing over day passes. (Read my earlier coverage here.)
- FanDuel Sports Network will sell individual NBA and NHL games for $7 apiece.
- Paramount+ adds four-game multiview for Champions League coverage.
- S&P: The average cable channel is now distributed to just 34.4% of Americans, down from 80% in 2011.
Save more money
This section of the newsletter has some affiliate links, which earn me a commission if you wind up buying or subscribing to something.
Here’s your last call to get 50% off a year of Paramount+. That’s $30 for a year of the Essential plan with ads, or $60 for a year of Premium with limited ads and Showtime.
The sale ends on September 18 and is valid for both new and returning subscribers. Make sure to select an annual plan during sign-up.
Other notable deals:
- AARP members can take $40 off an Walmart+ membership, which includes Paramount+ and will let you switch to Peacock from September 15 onward. (Thanks for the tip, Bella!)
- Tablo over-the-air DVRs are $30 off, including the dual-tuner model for $70 and quad-tuner model for $110.
As always, I keep a full list of active deals on the Cord Cutter Weekly website.
Audit your streaming subscriptions
For Advisorator members, I’ve got a new guide up on how to weed out unwanted streaming subscriptions. It includes quick cancellation links for major services, a list of other places your subscriptions might be hiding, and why subscription management apps might not be worth it.
This joins my other streaming-related guides for members, including streaming DVR options, my ultimate YouTube downloader, and access to my Complete Guide to Cord Cutting.
You can learn more about Advisorator membership here.
Thanks for reading!
Apologies for the late-ish newsletter as I was busy doing an interview for an (unrelated) article earlier this morning. Got questions or feedback? Let me know.