This week on TechHive: YouTube TV vs. Disney
Just a week after YouTube settled its differences with Roku, YouTube TV subscribers are getting more carriage dispute drama, this time with Disney threatening to black out all of its cable channels on the service.
The two sides have until 11:59 p.m. tonight to reach a deal. Otherwise, YouTube TV will lose ESPN, Disney Channel, FX, National Geographic, ACC Network, SEC Network, and local ABC stations. YouTube, in turn has said that it will lower the price of its service to $50 per month—a $15-per-month discount—for as long as those channels remain dark.
I’m inclined to think this will be a non-story by Saturday, based on Disney’s history of settling these disputes before they reach the blackout phase. But if you’re a YouTube TV subscriber stressing over Disney’s blackout threat, I’ve got everything you need to know over on TechHive.
Weekly rewind
Monday Night Football unbundled (sort of): ESPN has announced that it will simulcast a trio of upcoming Monday Night Football games on ESPN+, including next week’s game and the Saturday double-header on January 8. The Monday night wild card game on January 17 will also stream on ESPN+, albeit with Payton and Eli Manning instead of the main telecast. (As The Streamable points out, last Monday’s game appeared on ESPN+ as well, seemingly without any advance notice.)
ESPN+, which costs $7 per month as a standalone service, has previously lacked the major sporting events that air on ESPN proper. Earlier this year, however, ESPN reached a decade-long deal with the NFL that gives it the ability to simulcast Monday Night Football games on ESPN+, and a big lingering question was how quickly the network would start exercising that option. After losing 10% of its audience to cord cutting this year, it seems that ESPN is eager to experiment.
DirecTV Stream price hikes: DirecTV announced this week that it’s raising the price for most of its streaming TV packages on January 23. As Phillip Swann reports, the entry-level Entertainment plan will still cost $70 per month, but DirecTV’s Choice plan, which right now is the only streaming option for regional sports channels, will jump from $85 to $90 per month. Ultimate and Premier packages will jump by $10 per month, to $105 and $150 per month, respectively.
The price hike also affects users who’ve been hanging onto legacy DirecTV Now plans from 2017. Those plans are increasing by $10 per month across the board.
Before you say that these price hikes are making cord-cutting just as expensive as cable, DirecTV Stream is already on the pricey side among cord-cutting options, and traditional TV subscribers aren’t being spared either. DirecTV is also raising satellite TV prices, as is AT&T with U-Verse, and Comcast has already announced its own price hikes for 2022. All pay TV bundles are getting more expensive as networks try extract what they can from a declining business, and at this point, they’re just daring you to opt out.
In related news: DirecTV also tried to get away with dropping A&E channels for some customers who didn’t watch them, requiring an opt-in to get the channels back. Instead of giving those customers a discount, the company figured it would just pocket the difference in carriage fees for itself.
Predictably, that did not go over well, and DirecTV backtracked soon after, but the episode did a great job highlighting the difference in mindsets between new and legacy TV providers. When you consider that YouTube TV plans to drop its price by $15 per month if it loses Disney channels tonight, it looks downright saintly by comparison.
More catch-up
- T-Mobile may launch a new streaming TV dongle for some reason.
- Discovery+ gets an app on Vizio smart TVs.
- Roku says no need to worry after a patent dispute leads to an import ban.
- Survey: Half of adults have used a VPN to watch geo-restricted content. (Seems high to me.)
- Comcast delays data caps until at least 2023 in its Northeast markets. (No such luck everywhere else.)
Save more money
Nvidia’s Shield TV streaming players don’t often go on sale, but they’re both $20 off at Best Buy and other retailers this week. That brings the price to $130 for the tube-shaped model, and $180 for the Shield TV Pro box.
The Pro model is especially interesting, as it can double as a Plex or Channels DVR server when you hook up a compatible TV tuner and hard drive. (Unlike the tube, it has a pair of USB ports for hard drives and other accessories.) Both devices also have a backlit remote and a nifty AI upscaling feature that makes sub-4K videos look sharper. Consider them if you’re in the market for a high-end streaming option and are into the Android TV interface.
Other notable deals:
- New HBO Max subscribers can get four months for $50 (a $10 discount) with the promo code BEANIE2021.
- Spectrum TV subscribers can get a year of Peacock Premium for free. Internet-only subscribers get three months instead. Link your accounts here.
- Amazon’s Fire TV Cube hits a new low price of $75.
- Get the Roku Express 4K+ for $24, or the Roku Ultra for $70.
- Plex Passes are on sale once more for $90, down from $120.
Thanks for reading!
Just a quick heads-up that next week’s newsletter will be the last of 2021, and I expect it’ll be a bit shorter than usual as the year winds down. In the meantime, let me know if you have any cord-cutting questions or comments by replying to this email.
Until next week,
Jared
Cord Cutter Weekly is a labor of love by tech journalist Jared Newman. Say hi on Twitter, and spread the word that there’s a better kind of TV out there.