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.
T-Mobile lets you build your own streaming bundle, but there’s a huge catch
Jared Newman | 
If you’ve ever wished for a way to make your own bundle of discounted streaming services, T-Mobile will now let you, but it comes at a significant cost.
Next month, T-Mobile will replace its longstanding Experience and Essentials plans with new “T-Mix” offerings for new customers. While most of the plan features are the same, the new plans let you choose which streaming services and subscriptions T-Mobile tacks on. You can opt for Netflix and Apple TV, for instance, or get the former ad-free by sacrificing the latter.
What’s the catch? If you still want trade-in credit toward a new phone, you may wind up with fewer streaming perks than what T-Mobile’s older plans offered. (Existing customers, thankfully, can keep the plans they have.) As with so many other attempts at bundling, the savings that T-Mobile promises are a really just a smoke screen.
Weekly rewind
Instagram vs. YouTube: Instagram is testing 90-minute, horizontal videos from podcasters, comedians, and other longform creators. The move is clearly aimed at YouTube, whose videos are increasingly eating into traditional TV time, including on actual televisions. Instagram has its own big-screen apps on Fire TV, Google TV, and Samsung TVs, and it just launched an Apple TV app this week.
Instagram has not announced any plans to pay those longform creators, so I have a hard time seeing it gaining traction unless that changes. But the bigger point is that free streaming from smaller creators continues to disrupt traditional streamers like Netflix, whose engagement metrics are stalling. It’s no surprise that Instagram wants to get in on that.
Obligatory scam warning: Longtime reader Miriam H. tells me that she’s been getting calls saying that her streaming bills are overdue and she needs to pay immediately. She did the right thing, which is to hang up the phone and check directly with her TV provider (Verizon, in this case). The caller was most likely a scammer seeking credit card info.
While we’re on the topic, remember that legitimate streaming devices like Roku and Fire TV will never charge you for activation or tech support. If someone on the phone or in an online chat says otherwise, you’re getting scammed.
More catch-up
- The once-popular piracy app Popcorn Time becomes a vector for malware due to an unpatched update mechanism.
- LG and Samsung will strip Microsoft Copilot from their smart TVs, to the dismay of no one.
- The “NeverStream” website is good for a laugh.
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.
Last week, I wrote that Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K is on sale for $20 with code FTV4K. I’m still seeing that offer on my end, but some of you have told me that the code doesn’t work, so it may be for select customers only. You should see the offer on the product page if it’s available.
Other notable deals right now:
- Horror streaming service Shudder is $30 for a year.
- DirecTV’s MyEntertainment bundle is $35 per month for the first two months.
- Paramount+ is still half-off two months of Premium with code SHO2MO. I’m keeping an eye out for new $1/mo codes.
As always, I keep a full list of up-to-date streaming deals on this page.
Meanwhile in Advisorator …
I’ve been helping folks take better digital notes with a couple of recent stories:
- Why you should be using a notes app, plus the best apps to use and how to get more out of them.
- My personal notetaking setup in Obsidian, an endlessly expandable app for building the knowledge system you’ve always wanted.
Consider an Advisorator membership to get these stories and more in-depth tech advice from me each week.
Thanks for reading!
Kind of a slow news week on the streaming front, but that’s okay. I don’t think anyone’s ever complained to me about a shorter newsletter.
Got cord cutting questions for me? Reply to this email and I’ll do my best to answer.
Until next week,
Jared