A message from Jared
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Thanks for hearing me out. Now, onto this week’s newsletter.
How to watch the NFL as cheaply as possible
Jared Newman | 
I’m not going pretend that watching the NFL has gotten easier in the streaming age, but believe it or not, it’s still cheaper than cable.
Between slimmer streaming TV packages, new standalone options, and possibly an antenna, there are more ways to get the football coverage you want without paying for what you don’t. As the 2026 NFL season gets closer, here’s how to plan ahead and avoid spending too much just to watch football …
Weekly rewind
TikTok on Disney+: Disney has made a deal with TikTok to feature vertical videos on Disney+. The plan is to let TikTok creators make their own videos based on Disney content, and then feature a curated selection of those videos within the Disney+ app.
I’ve previously written about how cord cutting was a generational trend, driven by millennials who grew up watching Netflix and saw no great need for bloated pay TV packages. YouTube and TikTok represent the next disruption, as younger viewers tune out increasingly-expensive subscription streaming in favor of frictionless free videos. That’s causing some anxiety among the big streamers, which is also why Netflix has been adding short videos from YouTube creators. They may get an engagement boost in the short term, though I’m not how it’ll lure younger folks away from what they’re already getting elsewhere.
See also: Disney executives repeatedly teasing some kind of free tier.
TV apps behaving badly: Samsung and LG are both cracking down on smart TV apps that sneakily turned users’ televisions into residential internet proxies, usually by promising ad-free experiences in gaming apps. These proxies turn TV owners into unwitting participants in large-scale data scraping operations, for instance allowing companies to gather AI training data without being detected as bots. More nefarious actors have used these proxies to conduct cyberattacks.
Samsung now says it’s banning this behavior on its TVs, following a similar move by LG last month. Streaming boxes that facilitate piracy, such as Superbox, have previously been caught steering users’ traffic in similar fashion.
How Paramount-Warner would raise prices: Here’s a reminder from Rick Ellis that a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will inevitably make live TV packages more expensive. The combined company will own a lot more channels, making it harder for distributors like Comcast or YouTube TV to push back against price hikes.
This isn’t some new strategy. It’s been the playbook for every major media merger in recent memory. The only thing stopping it from happening again is an antitrust lawsuit.
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.
A few notable deals this morning:
- Fox One: One year for $99 with promo code IRRAQ4KT. New and returning subscribers only.
Paramount+: Half-off a year of Premium with code SAVEANNUAL50 (working again), or half-off two months of Premium with code SHO2MO. - YouTube TV’s Sports plan is still $55 per month for the first year (saves $10 per month), and currently includes a 21-day trial.
As always, I keep a full list of active streaming deals on this page.
Thanks for reading!
And thanks again for considering an Advisorator membership. If you find my streaming TV advice helpful, I think you’ll appreciate how Advisorator helps you navigate other areas of technology. Learn more here, or head straight to the sign-up page.
Until next week,
Jared