This week on TechHive: Cord cutting predictions for 2022
If you’re wondering what 2022 will be like as a cord-cutter, just take a look back at 2021.
Next year will likely bring more of the same on many fronts: Sports streaming will still be a hassle, over-the-air TV won’t drastically change, and cable-style streaming TV bundles will keep rising in price. But through it all, folks will still find plenty of ways to cut the cord and save money.
You should of course take my predictions with a grain of salt—after all, I did wrongly guess that YouTube TV and Disney would avoid a blackout last week—but I’ve tried to at least tried to make my case with evidence. Read the full column on TechHive for a look at what next year may bring.
Weekly rewind
YouTube TV and Disney make up: In the end, YouTube TV and Disney didn’t make a deal in time to avoid a blackout last Friday, but the channels didn’t stay dark for too long. The companies announced a new agreement on Sunday, restoring all Disney-owned channels (ESPN, FX, and local ABC stations among them) along with any DVR recordings users had made previously.
YouTube is also giving subscribers a one-time credit of $15, reflecting the discount YouTube TV would have offered if Disney channels remained unavailable. For now, the service still costs $65 per month, though a price hike seems inevitable at some point per my predictions above.
One small annoyance to note: If you’ve previously customized YouTube TV’s live channel guide, you’ll need to re-add and re-arrange the Disney-owned channels again.
CuriosityStream’s new bundle: The nature- and science-focused streaming service CuriosityStream is teaming up with several other niche streaming services to offer a discounted subscription bundle. In addition to CuriosityStream itself, the so-called “Smartest Bundle in Streaming” includes the wine-centric SOMM TV, the food-focused Tastemade, Topic for foreign thrillers, Nebula for cultural analysis, and One Day University for lectures.
The price is $70 per year, which according to The Streamable is a savings of 88% over the cost of every service combined. (It’s also on sale for $42 for the first year through the end of today.) Of course, the individual services are still cheaper a la carte—CuriosityStream, for instance, costs $20 per year by itself—but there’s probably enough topical overlap in the bundle to appeal to some folks. I’m pro-bundles as long as they’re optional, so this seems like a smart idea to me.
More catch-up
- Dish ditches NESN, decries “fundamentally broken” regional sports model.
- FuboTV CEO hints at bringing back Turner channels in now-deleted tweet.
- Bloomberg: CNN’s streaming service, which won’t include the cable channel, may launch in March for $6 per month.
Save more money
For Prime subscribers, $1 per month add-on subscriptions are back if you missed them during Black Friday. Currently, you can get up to two months of Starz, Showtime, AMC+, Discovery+, BET+, Noggin, and more at the discounted price. Just remember to cancel after the first month if you don’t want to get charged full price after the second.
Other notable cord cutting deals this morning:
- The Roku Channel is also offering $1 subscriptions, but only for one month.
- CuriosityStream’s annual subscription price drops to $12 for the first year.
- Paramount+ is still offering a free month to new and returning subscribers with the promo code PEAKSALE.
- Via AFTVNews, select Amazon customers can get a Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $30 with the promo code UP4KMAX. (Didn’t work for me.)
Catch you next year!
As a reminder, there will be no newsletter next Friday, as I’ll be taking the rest of the year off. Thanks so much for reading Cord Cutter Weekly in 2021, and for sending in your informative questions and comments throughout the year.
I’m looking forward to navigating the increasingly chaotic worlds of streaming and over-the-air TV with you all in 2022. In the meantime, have a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
Until 2022,
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.