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This week on TechHive: Too many ways to pay for TV
Back in the early days of streaming, subscribing to a new video service was straightforward. After signing up through the service’s website, you’d be able to watch on practically any streaming device.
It’s not so simple anymore. Between direct sign-ups, in-app purchases, live TV add-ons, and a la carte “Channels” stores, you might have a dozen ways to pay for a single streaming service. And you’d better choose wisely, because every option has its own billing system, cancellation procedure, and rules on where you can watch.
This isn’t a new problem for streaming, but it’s only getting worse in 2022 as more companies launch their own subscription marketplaces, each looking for a cut of your TV spending. If you’re not careful, you can easily lose track of what you signed up for and where. Read the full column on TechHive.
Weekly rewind
Bally Sports+ expands: After launching in five markets earlier this year, Bally’s regional sports streaming service will expand to all markets on September 26. The service costs $20 per month or $190 per year, and provides access to in-market NBA, NHL, MLB, and college sports games without a big pay TV bundle.
That said, the new markets won’t carry the tail-end of baseball season, as Sinclair hasn’t secured the rights, and it’s unclear if that will change in 2023. In the meantime, though, Bally Sports+ could save you a lot of money over DirecTV Stream, whose $90 per month package is the next-cheapest option for watching local baseball and hockey.
Big Ten’s unbundling: The Big Ten Conference has signed a three-way rights deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC, resulting in more games being available outside of pay TV bundles, but also more potential headaches for cord cutters.
Starting in 2023, the conference’s college basketball and football coverage will be split between all three networks, with CBS and NBC simulcasting their games on Paramount+ Premium ($10 per month) and Peacock Premium ($5 per month), respectively. Peacock will also carry some football games exclusively, with no simulcast on NBC.
Fox, however, does not have a streaming outlet for its games, and as before, an antenna won’t suffice for any coverage airing on FS1 or the Big Ten Network. That means you’ll still need a big pay TV bundle to get nearly-complete coverage of Big Ten sports. Surely that won’t come back to haunt TV networks and their ad revenue as millions more people abandon said bundles outright.
Fire TV Recast’s demise: Amazon has officially discontinued its Fire TV Recast DVR, which let you record free broadcast channels from an antenna and stream the video onto Fire TV streaming players throughout the home. While Amazon will offer security updates for the product through 2026, I wouldn’t expect any new feature updates, as the company has seemed mentally-checked out of the over-the-air DVR business for a while now.
With Amazon’s exit, folks who want to record free broadcast channels should look to alternatives such as Tablo, AirTV, Plex DVR, and Channels DVR instead.
TNF DVR: Amazon has added a DVR function for Thursday Night Football ahead of the first Amazon Prime-exclusive game on September 15. That’s nice, though I’m curious why it’s even necessary to begin with. You’d think a company of Amazon’s technical prowess would be able to just let anyone watch on a tape delay without having to up a virtual DVR first. (Also unclear is whether you’ll be able to skip commercials with the DVR option. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.)
More catch-up
- Google TV devices get a performance boost and better storage management.
- Plex gets hacked and tells users to change their passwords.
- DirecTV Stream adds a way to follow your favorite teams.
- Roy Delgado demystifies the messy soccer streaming landscape.
- HBO Max’s latest cost-cutting casualty: 200 Sesame Street episodes.
- Walmart+ subscribers will get Paramount+ for free (with ads) next month.
Save more money
Best Buy is currently offering three free months of Apple TV+ for new and returning subscribers with no strings attached, even if you’re redeemed numerous free trial offers before. Just sign up through the Best Buy website, and you’ll get an email with a link to redeem the subscription from Apple. After doing so, you can immediately cancel the subscription through Apple’s billing portal and still get the full three months gratis.
Other notable deals:
- New and returning HBO Max subscribers can get 30% off the first year when you choose a yearly plan. This offer brings the price to $105 for the ad-free tier, or $70 with ads, and is available through October 30.
- Peacock will run a promotion next month that gets you a year of Peacock Premium for $20, down from the usual $50, Variety reports. The deal is only for new subscribers, so I’d suggest cancelling now and signing up in September with a new email address.
- The latest codes for a free month of Paramount+ are REALITY and ITALY, both for new and returning subscribers. Make sure to sign up through the Paramount+ website.
Thanks for reading!
Phew. We had a lot of ground to cover in this issue after I took the last week off. Thanks for bearing with me, and do let me know if you have any cord cutting questions. You can get in touch by replying to this email.
Until next week,
Jared