If you have no interest in watching regional sports networks, Fubo no longer requires you to pay for them.

This week, the live TV streaming service introduced a new tier called “Fubo Essential.” While it has the same $80-per-month advertised price as the “Fubo Pro” plan, it excludes regional sports channels such as Fanduel Sports Network, and therefore does not have Fubo’s usual regional sports fees. Depending on where you live, those fees would add at least $12 per month to the total price.

The regional sports-free option brings Fubo’s pricing more in line with other top live TV streaming services such as YouTube TV ($73 per month—but increasing next month, as I’ll explain shortly) and Hulu + Live TV ($83 per month), but it also cuts out one of Fubo’s defining features. Is the service still worth considering without regional sports? Let’s dig in.

Read the full column on PCWorld →

PCWorld? Yep. That’s where my weekly cord cutting columns—previously on TechHive—will appear from now on, as the two sister publications are consolidating into one site.

This doesn’t affect my coverage in any way, nor does it affect this newsletter or the Cord Cutter Weekly website, which are my own little independent ventures. Just thought it was worth clarifying!

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Weekly rewind

YouTube TV price hike: YouTube TV is getting a $10 per price hike on January 13, bringing the cost to $83 per month. The pay TV provider last raised prices on March 2023—not a bad run as cable and satellite providers tend to introduce rate hikes every year.

In all cases, the blame lies not so much with YouTube, but with the programmers that keep demanding more money for their channels, even as more must-see TV moves exclusively to streaming services. These bloated, hollowed out bundles are unsustainable, which is why some TV providers are now demanding smaller, more flexible packages. Hopefully YouTube TV becomes one of them.

Meanwhile, it’s never a bad time to consider being done with live TV streaming services entirely.

Peacock’s new terms: Peacock has updated its terms of service to more explicitly forbid account sharing with people outside of your primary residence. While NBCU hasn’t announced any kind of password sharing crackdown—and Peacock’s Help Center has no additional details—the new terms lay the groundwork.

The terms also claim that if you cancel Peacock after signing up for a free trial or promotion, you “may” lose access immediately instead of at the end of the billing period. That said, a Peacock spokesperson tells me this doesn’t affect the company’s $20-for-a-year Black Friday promo, so you can cancel now and still get the full year you paid for. I suspect this new rule will mainly apply to free trials if Peacock ever decides to offer them. (Currently, it doesn’t.)

More catch-up

• Spectrum TV Select customers can now get a free Max subscription (with ads).
• TCL’s free streaming service is adding AI-generated movies for folks who are too lazy to change the channel.
• Netflix’s Christmas NFL games won’t stream in 4K.
• CNBC plans to launch its own streaming service next year.
• Comcast’s and Spectrum’s Xumo streaming boxes now offer Crunchyroll’s anime app.
• Warner Bros. Discovery’s restructuring makes a cable channel spin-off more likely.
• Peter Kafka: “You, the consumer, are being told cable TV is worth paying more for. But cable TV owners want to get these things off their books.” (The article is paywalled, but I like that quote.)

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Save more money

Here’s a new way to get a free month of Paramount+, including the ad-free version with Showtime: Instead of using a coupon code, just sign up through this link. Choose a plan, and make sure “Today’s Total” reads $0.00 before confirming the subscription. (If you have an account already, I suggest signing in first, then hitting the link.)

As always, this only works if you don’t have an active subscription already, but it should work for returning subscribers. Cancel immediately after signup to avoid being auto-billed when your free month is up.

Other notable deals:

• Hulu is offering a one-month free trial now.
• A rare deal on Walmart’s Onn Google TV 4K Pro brings the price to $39 instead of the usual $50. Read my review for more details.
• Prefer Fire TV? Get the Fire TV Stick 4K for $22 with code 4KHOLIDAYADD.
• Last chance to get a month of Sling TV for $20. (That’s half-off the regular price, which rises to $46 per month in a week.) New subscribers only.
• Fubo offers $35 off the first month of its new Essential plan, plus a one-week trial. New subscribers only.

As always, I keep a full list of streaming deals updated on my Cord Cutter Weekly website.

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Check this out: I just added a bunch of free tech guides and tutorials on my Advisorator website, including one that will save you money on streaming music. Enjoy!

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Thanks for reading!

Got cord cutting questions for me? Just reply to this email to get in touch.

Until next week,
Jared

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