Cable’s fork in the road, Amazon’s Apple TV ripoff

Jared Newman   |   October 11, 2024

Hey there! I’m Jared Newman, and this is Cord Cutter Weekly, my newsletter on how to save money on TV and make the most of streaming.

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This week on TechHive: Where pay TV is headed next

After last week’s break, I’ve got two new TechHive columns to share with you.

The first is a mystery: Why does the Apple TV 4K cost more on Amazon? Apple’s streaming box has a list price of $129, but when you search for “Apple TV” on Amazon, the top result shows a price of $150 instead. Meanwhile the 128 GB model sells at a $40 markup. Read my attempt to puzzle through it.

The second is foreshadowing. Over the past month, we’ve seen two different responses to cord cutting emerge from Charter (which operates Spectrum TV) and DirecTV:

  • Charter will soon bundle Max and Peacock for most Spectrum TV customers as part of a standard cable package. This follows similar arrangements to bundle other streaming services, including Disney+, Paramount+, and AMC+.
  • DirecTV reached an agreement with Disney that will allow for smaller, genre-based channel bundles, which will also include access to Disney’s streaming services.

Over at TechHive, I wrote about how this represents a fork in the road for pay TV providers, which can either bundle up or slim down as they try to build packages with both streaming services and cable channels. Read the full column.

Weekly rewind

DirecTV’s Dish acquisition: DirecTV is planning to acquire Dish Network for a grand price of one dollar—plus billions of dollars in existing Dish debt. The FCC blocked a previous merger attempt back in 2002, when both companies’ subscriber numbers were still on the upswing. Now, the thinking is that a combined entity will have more power to push for new bundle deals (like those mentioned above) that might stave off their decline.

The deal must still pass regulatory approval, so it’s too early to say what it would mean for services like Sling TV and DirecTV Stream. If the deal does go through, the only thing you can really count on is layoffs.

Bally drops baseball: Last week, Diamond Sports Group declared that it was rejecting all of its MLB contracts except that of the Atlanta Braves. The surprise move left 10 teams without regional sports coverage on Bally Sports (or FanDuel Sports under an expected naming rights deal) next spring.

MLB has already said it will produce and distribute games for the Guardians, Brewers, and Twins. While the remaining teams could still make a new deal with Diamond—albeit with reduced rights fees—I’m rooting for the league to get more teams on board. MLB already had local streaming rights for the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies this season, and those markets fans could get in-market games for $100, plus out-of-market games for $100 more. That kind of straightforward, fairly-priced baseball streaming packages is are long overdue for the rest of us.

Starz and Britbox bundle: The two streamers are now available together for $15 per month, compared to the regular price of $11 per month for Starz and $9 per month for Britbox when you subscribe separately.

If you want both services over the long haul, though, it’s actually cheaper to get separate annual plans at $70 per year for Starz and $90 per year for Britbox. Starz also regularly offers discounts (including right now) that can further defray the price, no bundle necessary.

Hey, it’s an Nvidia Shield update: Nvidia has delivered a Shield TV software update streaming boxes for the first time since July 2023. It’s mostly bug fixes, but it’s still notable for a line of streaming devices that launched in 2019.

More catch-up

Save more money

The new Roku Ultra just launched last month, but it’s already on sale for $79, which is $21 off the sticker price. Compared to the 2022 model, Roku’s newest high-end streaming box has faster performance and Wi-Fi 6, plus it comes with Roku’s best remote (which I reviewed separately earlier in the year).

If those upgrades don’t seem substantial enough, the older Roku Ultra is also on sale for $60, through B&H, though you’ll need to order before the site shuts down for Yom Kippur this evening. (There’s also a refurbished model on Amazon for $59.)

Other notable deals:

Thanks for reading!

Got cord cutting questions in the meantime? Just reply to this email to get in touch.

Until next week,
Jared

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