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.
Cord Cutter Weekly will be off next Friday. I will, however, send out a Black Friday deal roundup on Tuesday or Wednesday.
YouTube TV might be different next year
Jared Newman | 
YouTube TV is back to normal after a two-week carriage dispute with Disney, but the fighting that led to blackouts for ABC and ESPN could reshape the service as we know it.
It will likely get more expensive, because programmers like Disney always want higher carriage fees for their channels, but you’ll get more for your money through bundled streaming services. YouTube may also offer cheaper packages with fewer channels, reflecting the greater flexibility we’ve seen from other providers.
You don’t have to do anything about this right now, but you should know what the options are for when things inevitably change down the road.
Weekly rewind
Sling’s day passes survive (for now): A U.S. District Court judge has denied Disney’s request for a preliminary injunction against Dish Network over its Sling TV day passes. The passes provide access to Sling’s Orange plan for one day ($5), a weekend ($10), or a week ($15) instead of the usual $46 per month. They’re a handy way to access just a game or two on ESPN, but Disney says they run afoul of its carriage agreement with Dish.
Sling is celebrating the decision by offering day passes for just $1–a terrific troll move, I say—but the victory may be short-lived. Its carriage deal with Disney expires in less than a year, and Disney may try to explicitly forbid day passes in the future. (I think that’d be a short-sighted mistake.)
MLB’s TV shake-up: The way you watch baseball could change next year under the MLB’s new TV deals. ESPN will become the biggest rightsholder, as it will take ownership of MLB.TV for out-of-market games and will control in-market games for six teams. It will also carry nationally-televised games on 30 weeknights during the regular season.
NBC/Peacock will take over Sunday Night Baseball and the Sunday morning games that previously streamed free on Roku, and it will carry the first round of the playoffs. Netflix will get the first opening day game, the Home Run Derby, and the “Field of Dreams” game. Apple is out, which means no more Friday Night Baseball. Correction: Friday Night Baseball will continue.
My biggest concern is that ESPN will find a way to ruin MLB.TV, which has quietly gone about its business being excellent for the past two decades. The Athletic reports that ESPN will leave the MLB app alone for “at least the first year,” but who knows after that. (T-Mobile is expected to keep offering MLB.TV for free.)
T-Mo’s Apple TV upcharge: On January 1, T-Mobile will stop offering free Apple TV will eligible plans. Instead, it will charge $3 per month for the service, and it’ll only be available on T-Mobile’s priciest plans (Experience More, Experience Beyond, Go5G Plus, and Magenta Plus). The change may reflect Apple TV’s own price hike (from $10 to $13 per month) earlier this year.
More catch-up
- AMC launches a new streaming service just for reality shows.
- Amazon adds AI-generated recaps for some of its shows.
- Some YouTube TV users who quit during the blackout report getting $60 discounts to come back.
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.
Over at the Cord Cutter Weekly website, I’ve started tracking all the Black Friday deals that have popped up early. Here are some highlights:
- Walmart+: Half-off for a year. This includes either Paramount+ or Peacock (and you can switch every three months).
- NFL Sunday Ticket: $48 for the remaining season for new users, or $62 for former subscribers. (Will be auto-billed next season if you don’t cancel.)
- Starz: $12 for one year.
- Sling TV Orange: Get a day pass for $1.
- Apple TV+: $5.99 per month for six months via Prime Video.
- MGM+: $1.99 per month for two months via Prime Video.
- BritBox: $2.75 per month for two months via Prime Video.
- BET+: $1.50 per month for two months via Prime Video.
- Frndly TV: $1 per month for three months or $99 for a year of Premium Annual.
- Howdy: $1 per month for two months. (Discount appears after signing into your Roku account.)
- Roku devices: Streaming Stick HD for $15, Streaming Stick Plus for $19, Streaming Stick 4K for $25, Ultra for $69, Streambar SE for $75.
Also, Roku has started advertising a Disney+ and Hulu bundle (with ads) at $5 per month for the next 12 months, but it doesn’t seem to be available for purchase yet. I’d wait to see what Disney and Hulu offer directly on their own sites before jumping on board with that.
For a complete list of active streaming deals, head to the Cord Cutter Weekly website.
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Thanks for reading!
Got questions? Let me know!
Until next week,
Jared