This week on TechHive: The scourge of fake cable channels
Did you know that you can stream channels like “CNN,” “Fox Sports,” and “MTV” for free, all without an expensive pay TV subscription?
It’s true—as long as you don’t pay too much attention to what’s on them (and ignore my use of scare quotes). With the success of free streaming services such as Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Xumo, and Plex, TV networks have found a new and somewhat disingenuous way to cash in: They’re providing these services with free live streams that have the same or similar branding as their paid cable channels, but hardly any of the same content.
This week’s launch of “Sports on Tubi” is the latest example, imbuing the service with free channels from the likes of Fox Sports, the NFL, MLB, and BeIN Sports. Because those channels aren’t in the business of giving away their best programming, Tubi’s offerings will mostly consist of reruns.
None of this is a problem if you know what you’re getting. But as more of these channels arrive, they could very well give cord-cutters the wrong impression about what they can watch without a big TV bundle. Read the full column on TechHive
Weekly rewind
YouTube TV’s 5.1 launch: YouTube says it’s finished rolling out Dolby Digital 5.1 support for YouTube TV after announcing it in July. That makes YouTube TV the second live streaming service to support surround sound, the other being DirecTV Stream (the service formerly known as AT&T TV).
But strangely, the company won’t say exactly which devices support the format. The Streamable reports that some users have it working on LG TVs, Samsung TVs, and the Chromecast with Google TV, but that support for the Apple TV 4K and Roku devices stopped working after initially being available. For now, you can check on 5.1 support by going to YouTube TV’s playback menu, selecting “stats for nerds,” and looking for “ac-3 (381).”
Netflix for scaredy-cats: I love the idea behind this little Chrome extension called Jumpskip, which can anticipate jump-scare scenes in Netflix movies and either warn you, mute them, or skip over them entirely. It uses data from Where’s The Jump, and it adjusts playback in your browser accordingly.
While the playback controls worked for me, the underlying data wasn’t always accurate to the second, leading to premature warnings and skips while watching Insidious with one eye half-open. I’d suggest testing the warnings on a movie’s “minor” scares before proceeding with an entire film. And of course, this only works in a desktop or laptop web browser, so you’re on your own with scary movies on an actual TV.
The perils of anti-binge TV: Over at Decider, Meghan O’Keefe has a great story theorizing that the weekly release schedule for Ted Lasso is hurting the show. As a TV critic who received early access to the first eight episodes, O’Keefe argues that the show’s story arc works better when you can take more of it in at once instead of dissecting every individual episode. Some backlash to the show was inevitable given how hyped it’s become, but the way people are watching season 2 is a lot different from how they experienced the first season, which only seemed to gain momentum after becoming available in its entirety.
I don’t bring this up to make a point about Ted Lasso in particular, but rather to endorse the idea that some shows are better-served in binge form. Unfortunately, most streaming services (save for Netflix) are now trying to put that genie back in the bottle, using weekly releases to prolong the watercooler effect and prevent people from cancelling their subscriptions too quickly. O’Keefe’s story is an argument for not buying into that model, and instead waiting long enough to watch full seasons on your own terms.
More catch-up
- The newly-rebranded DirecTV Stream stops selling two-year contracts.
- DirecTV starts giving customers three months of HBO Max instead of a year.
- Don’t have the new Fire TV interface yet? You should be getting it soon.
Save more money
In yet another example of wireless carriers bundling free or discounted streaming services with cellular plans, T-Mobile is currently offering one year of Apple TV+ to all customers with Magenta or Magenta Max plans. The offer is valid even if you’re already paying for Apple TV+, and it will stack with Apple’s existing three-month trial for new subscribers if you recently purchased an Apple device. (I’m unsure if the offer combines with the four-month free trial that Target is still offering, but my guess is that it will.)
In any case, you have until June of next year to redeem the offer, which you can do through T-Mobile’s website.
Also notable: Amazon’s offering Prime subscribers two months of various British TV services for $1 per month each, including BBC Select, Britbox, PBS Masterpiece, AcornTV, and True Royalty.
Thanks for reading!
In response to last week’s newsletter, a reader by the somewhat-mysterious name “C” asked an interesting question, and implored me to answer it for everyone: If Fox’s forthcoming 4K NFL broadcasts are merely upscaled from 1080p, what’s the benefit on 4K TVs that can upscale content on their own?
Good question. For one thing, Fox is also broadcasting in high dynamic range, or HDR, so if you have an HDR TV, you’ll get richer color details by streaming through the Fox Sports app. But also, Fox broadcasts at a resolution of 720p for its cable, over-the-air, and streaming TV feeds, so even the move to 1080p will be a significant improvement.
Speaking of last week’s newsletter, I also neglected to include a link to the freely-available web version due to an editing error on my part. If you were looking to read that issue online, you can do so here.
Finally, thanks to Bill C. for encouraging me to write this week’s column. As always, let me know if you have any cord-cutting questions or comments; they might just become story fodder that benefits everyone.
Until next week,
Jared