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. Sign up here if someone shared this newsletter with you.
Google’s streaming device strategy has backfired
Jared Newman | 
Google hasn’t offered a streaming device for under $50 since it discontinued the Chromecast with Google TV in 2024. That’s turning out to be a problem.
For the past couple years, Google has effectively left Walmart in charge of churning out low-cost Google TV streamers under its in-house Onn brand. Now Walmart is struggling to keep those devices in stock and is raising prices on new ones.
This leaves Google without a clear answer to Roku’s Streaming Sticks and Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks. It’s a shame because Google TV’s interface is pretty good, and because it’s the rare streaming platform that gives you a fair amount of control. All it needs is more affordable hardware on which to run.
Weekly rewind
HBO abandons old Fire TVs: The HBO Max app is dropping support for the oldest batch of Fire TV devices, AFTVNews reports. Those include the 1st- and 2nd-gen Fire TV Sticks (released in 2014 and 2016, respectively), the original Fire TV boxes (released in 2014 and 2015), and the Fire TV Basic Edition (released outside the United States in 2017).
A loss of app support is always a bummer, but I can’t get myself too worked up over it when the affected devices are more than a decade old. Those original Fire TV Sticks are so unbearably slow that replacing them isn’t a bad idea anyway.
Fubo’s Hulu promo: If you attempt to sign up for Fubo, you’ll now see an option to choose Hulu + Live TV instead. This stems from Disney (which owns Hulu) acquiring 70% of Fubo last year and subsequently bringing both live TV services into one business unit.
Fubo and Hulu + Live TV still have entirely separate apps and billing systems, and Disney hasn’t announced any plans to merge them. But the cross-promo brings them a little closer together, doesn’t it? (In related news, the sign-up process for ESPN Unlimited will begin offering Fubo’s Sports package as an option in 2027. It’s all an attempt to get you to pay for bigger bundles.)
Roku and TCL sued: Over the years, I’ve gotten a handful of complaints from readers whose Roku TVs stopped working properly after a software update. Now, there’s a class action lawsuit over those issues, covering TCL Roku TVs from December 16, 2024 onward. It’ll be a while before this reaches any kind of resolution, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Interesting streaming recommendations: For my pal JR Raphael’s Cool Tools newsletter, I wrote about a neat site called A Good Movie to Watch. If you’ve seen other TV recommendation sites like Reelgood and JustWatch, this site looks pretty similar, except its suggestions are all curated by actual humans. Check out the site here, and read my full report for details.
More catch-up
- Comcast drops NFL Network in a carriage dispute amid concerns over exclusive games. (It’s worried the channel won’t have enough of them as streaming services buy up more NFL rights.)
- Speaking of which, Netflix will reportedly get a week 1 NFL game (Rams vs. 49ers), plus a new Thanksgiving Eve game.
- Philo’s Bundle+ package now includes AMC’s All Reality streaming service.
- Paramount plans a major Pluto TV revamp for this summer, but offers few details.
- Fubo plans AI-powered DVR search for this fall.
- Verizon sub-brand Visible launches $300 per year 5G home internet. (It’s $30 per month if you want to pay monthly.)
Save more money
This part of the newsletter has some affiliate links, which earn me a commission if you wind up buying or subscribing to something.
AMC+ is having a rare sale that gets you a year of its ad-free service for $30, which is $80 off the regular price. The offer runs through May 25 and is for new and “upgraded” subscribers. I’m not sure what the latter means, but the discount was available to me after having taken free AMC+ trials in the past.
Other notable deals:
- Paramount+ Premium: is still $1 per month for two months with promo code N8C27L. (Returning subs only.)
- Fire TV Stick 4K Plus for $15 with code NBA4K.
- Alternatively, the faster Fire TV Stick 4K Max is half-off at $30 with code MAX4KFTV.
As always, a full list of active streaming deals is available here.
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Until then,
Jared