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.
Fubo quietly raises prices. Still worth considering over YouTube TV?
Jared Newman | 
Now that Fubo is bringing NBC channels back, the bill for those channels is coming due.
The Disney-owned live TV streaming service has quietly announced sweeping price hikes in a support document on its website. Base packages are rising by $15 per month, Fubo’s skinnier sports plan is increasing by $9 per month, and regional sports fees are increasing in four major markets.
While Fubo’s sports offerings felt incomplete without NBC’s channels, alternative packages from YouTube TV and DirecTV are in many cases cheaper, or they offer more channels for the same cost. If you’re one of the 6 million people paying for Fubo today, it’s time to re-evaluate your options.
Weekly rewind
Big Apple TV box price hikes: An Apple TV 4K now costs $199, up from $129 previously, as part of price hikes across Apple’s hardware line. That’s for the 64 GB model; the 128 GB model with Ethernet and Thread radio support now costs $249, up from $149.
Like every other consumer tech vendor, Apple is dealing with spiking prices for storage and RAM, as memory makers shift most of their production toward the more lucrative AI data center business. Whether you use AI or not, you’re going to pay for it.
Fire TV’s redesign rollout: After launching a new look for the Fire TV home screen in March, Amazon’s rolling it out to more devices. It’s now available on all current-gen Fire TV Sticks, the Fire TV Cube, and Amazon’s Ember smart TVs.
I like the new interface better than the old one, though it doesn’t address some longstanding gripes with the platform (notably, the number of display ads and promotional slots you must wade through). You can read my impressions and tips on navigating the new interface in this previous post.
TV Time shutting down: TV Time has been a popular app for keeping track of all the shows you’re watching. Parent company Whip Media is now telling users that it plans to shut down the service on July 15.
Admittedly I never got into the idea of obsessively tracking my watch history through an app on my phone, but a lot of folks do, and having to switch to a different service can be pretty disruptive. Trakt, Reelgood, JustWatch, Refract, and Next Episode are all being thrown around as alternatives, but if you were a TV Time user, I’d love to hear about what made it unique.
The new Plex Pass plan: As announced in May, Plex has raised the price of lifetime Plex Passes from $250 to $750, but it’s also added a five-year subscription option at the old $250 price. Plex clearly doesn’t want you paying for lifetime service, as it’s made little effort to prove that the investment will be worthwhile.
More catch-up
- Disney+ will pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it inflated streaming prices.
- In California, streaming ads can no longer be louder than the show itself.
- HBO Max’s NASCAR coverage will include driver cams and multiview.
- The owner of Dish and Sling files for bankruptcy, but says services will operate as usual.
- Comcast plans to spin off NBCUniversal into a separate company, swears it’s not just so another company can buy it.
Save more money
This part of the newsletter has some affiliate links, which earn me a commission if you wind up buying or subscribing to something.
If you haven’t signed up for Walmart+ before, you’ve got until July 5 to get half off an annual membership, bringing the the price to $49. Walmart+ includes includes your choice of either Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essential, and you can switch between them every three months. (AARP members can also take $40 off Walmart+, but I’ve heard mixed results on whether these discounts stack together.)
Other notable deals:
- New Paramount+ code: Get two months of Premium for $1 per month with promo code SAVE992MPREM. New and returning subs only.
- Or, get half-off a year of Paramount+ Premium with promo code SAVEANNUAL50.
- Roku’s 4K streamer is still $25 at Walmart.
As always, I’ve got a full list of deals on my website.
Reclaim your storage space
In case you missed it, I recently completed a trilogy of guides on getting your storage space back for my lovely Advisorator members. Learn to free up space on your phone, on your Mac or PC, and in your Google account.
Thanks for reading!
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Until next time,
Jared