Streaming TV superpowers, Bally Sports on FuboTV
This week on TechHive: You can’t do that with cable
Hey folks, I’m sending this week’s newsletter a day earlier than usual, and taking the next week off. We’ll be back to the regular publishing schedule on January 6.
While TV isn’t quite as simple as it was in the cable era, cord cutting has also introduced plenty of benefits.
Beyond just the potential to save money and watch on your own terms, modern smart TVs and streaming players enable features that simply aren’t possible on a cable box. Some make watching TV more enjoyable, while others stretch boundaries of what a TV can do in the first place.
As 2022 winds down, I decided to break from all the grousing about the current state of streaming and focus on some of the positives instead. For a rundown of cool streaming features you can’t get with cable, read the full column on TechHive.
Also on TechHive this week, I’ve got a deeper dive into one of those features in particular: It’s all about how to turn your TV into a digital photo frame, and why your choice of streaming player can have a big impact on your photo viewing experience. Read the story for more details.
Weekly rewind
FuboTV + Bally Sports: FuboTV is bringing regional Bally Sports networks back to its live TV lineup, nearly three years after dropping them (back when they carried the Fox Sports moniker instead). Phillip Swann reports that the channels will be part of Fubo’s $70 per month “Pro” plan—that’s the base package for new subscribers—and as of now the company hasn’t announced a price hike. (It does, however, tack on a regional sports fee in many markets, so that seems likely to apply here.)
Until now, Bally Sports channels have been largely cast out of live TV streaming bundles, which didn’t want to shoulder the cost for regional sports coverage that most people don’t watch. The only exception has been DirecTV Stream, whose “Choice” package with regional sports will jump from $90 to $100 per month in January. While Bally’s channels are also available on a standalone basis for $20 per month, Fubo may be more appealing for folks who also want a big bundle of other cable channels.
Fubo hasn’t given an exact arrival date for Bally Sports channels, but says they’ll be available “in the coming weeks.”
More catch-up
- Rumor mill: Google’s close to getting NFL Sunday Ticket rights as Apple bows out.
- Comcast and Nexstar avoid a blackout.
- Fubo also adds ION, Bounce, and Grit to its lineup.
- Streaming service yule logs, ranked.
- The WSJ digs into Netflix’s password sharing crackdown plans. (Non-paywalled version here.)
Save more money
There’s not much new happening on the streaming deal front this week, but the 2021 Apple TV 4K is back to $80 Black Friday pricing, with the caveat that it won’t arrive until late January. If you’re patient, it’s still a great deal on a speedy streaming box with a refreshingly ad-free menu system.
For more ways to save, check out the big list of streaming deals over at the Cord Cutter Weekly website.
Thank you!
As mentioned earlier, this will be Cord Cutter Weekly’s last issue of the year, as I’m taking the next week off before heading to the CES trade show in early January.
Thanks so much for reading this newsletter, and for all your thoughtful questions, interesting comments, metaphorical coffees, and Advisorator subscriptions. Even after 6-plus years of writing this newsletter, I’m amazed that there’s always more ground to cover, and I look forward to doing more of it in 2023.
Until then, happy holidays and happy new year!
– Jared