Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) - 2021 version

[ShadowBloom]

I think the strategy of the streamers is to raise the ad-free price and try to get you to switch to the ad-supported tier.

They make more money from the ad-supported tiers, even with a much lower subscription price.

I had been wondering why Netflix sent me an email suggesting I switch to their lower-priced tier with ads. That explains it!

 

[ychuck46]

Discovery+ just announced a price increase. From my email.

I'm surprised they didn't have the obligatory "improving the service" comment included when they do nothing other than a price increase.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I got an e-mail today from Britbox offering me $59 for a year with a promo code, normally $89.
This deal expires November 5th.

 

[Buckeye]

I got an e-mail today from Britbox offering me $59 for a year with a promo code, normally $89.
This deal expires November 5th.

Do you already have Britbox?

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Not right now but I have had it in the past.
I usually get the Black Friday deal for 3 months and then they offered me another deal earlier this year for 2 or 3 months.

 

[Trailwalker]

Tis the season for streaming deals, especially ad-supported.

Today, I signed up for Hulu for 99 cents/month for a year and Max for $2.99/month for six months. The Hulu offer is at https://hulu.com/gma

I had to use an alternative email but same credit card for Hulu.

 

[GenXguy]

Tis the season for streaming deals, especially ad-supported.

Today, I signed up for Hulu for 99 cents/month for a year and Max for $2.99/month for six months. The Hulu offer is at https://hulu.com/gma
.

I hate to pay to watch ads when I know I can watch free options like Pluto, Xumo, Tubi, Freevee, and more. Both the Hulu and Max deals include ads. My Peacock Premium had ads also, and I dropped that when they were going to start charging me for it. I do, of course, realize different and original content is available for people that are interested.

 

[Trailwalker]

I hate to pay to watch ads when I know I can watch free options like Pluto and Xumo. Both the Hulu and Max deals include ads. My Peacock Premium had ads also, and I dropped that when they were going to start charging me for it.

I understand. I do watch free options like Pluto also, but there are some shows on Max, Peacock and Hulu that I like and can't see elsewhere. I'd rather pay a low monthly price than the high ad-free price. And there is a substantial difference. Ads give me a chance to check my phone or do a short task or two.

 

[euro]

I understand. I do watch free options like Pluto also, but there are some shows on Max, Peacock and Hulu that I like and can't see elsewhere. I'd rather pay a low monthly price than the high ad-free price. And there is a substantial difference. Ads give me a chance to check my phone or do a short task or two.

I usually go by the principle that I will put up with paying a service fee or dealing with ads, but NOT BOTH. So, if I'm going to subscribe to a streaming service then it has to be ad-free. Otherwise, I can just go back to cable

Same goes for podcasts too. Sometimes I choose to support the podcast via subscription, but then ?I don't want to listen to any ads.

 

[Qs Laptop]

My current dilemma. I'm watching LA Law on Amazon Prime Video. It is 480p resolution being upscaled by my TV. It's the usual old style TV screen ratio of 4:3 sizing, so big black bars on the sides of the image. Basically, it looks grainy and crappy, esp. on a big screen. There are no ads and the soundtrack is 5.1 surround sound and sounds fantastic.

Hulu has the entire series of L.A. Law recently restored in hi-definition video and 16:9 screen ratio. I don't know what the soundtrack is like but I'm assuming it is in 5.1 surround sound.

I'm already paying for Amazon Prime video but I can get Hulu (with ads) for $.99 per month. Hulu with no ads is $17.99 per month. I'm too cheap to pay $18.00 a month for likely the next 3 to 4 months to watch L.A. Law and I can't stand watching ads.

So, pay $.99 a month to watch the show in hi-def with ads, or pay nothing extra and keep watching lo-def with no ads?

 

[MissMolly]

Tis the season for streaming deals, especially ad-supported.

Today, I signed up for Hulu for 99 cents/month for a year and Max for $2.99/month for six months. The Hulu offer is at https://hulu.com/gma

I had to use an alternative email but same credit card for Hulu.

Thanks! We have always had free Hulu through our phone plan, but I changed it last month so we were losing Hulu in 4 more days. Now I've got it for year for only $12! I can live with ads for $12.

 

[aja8888]

Tis the season for streaming deals, especially ad-supported.

Today, I signed up for Hulu for 99 cents/month for a year and Max for $2.99/month for six months. The Hulu offer is at https://hulu.com/gma

I had to use an alternative email but same credit card for Hulu.

I've never had Hulu. I tried to find a list of channels that come with this offer, but can't seem to get to it. All Hulu tries to do is shove other packages at me. So what does $0.99/mo get you? Any sports channels?

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

My current dilemma. I'm watching LA Law on Amazon Prime Video. It is 480p resolution being upscaled by my TV. It's the usual old style TV screen ratio of 4:3 sizing, so big black bars on the sides of the image. Basically, it looks grainy and crappy, esp. on a big screen. There are no ads and the soundtrack is 5.1 surround sound and sounds fantastic.

Hulu has the entire series of L.A. Law recently restored in hi-definition video and 16:9 screen ratio. I don't know what the soundtrack is like but I'm assuming it is in 5.1 surround sound.

I'm already paying for Amazon Prime video but I can get Hulu (with ads) for $.99 per month. Hulu with no ads is $17.99 per month. I'm too cheap to pay $18.00 a month for likely the next 3 to 4 months to watch L.A. Law and I can't stand watching ads.

So, pay $.99 a month to watch the show in hi-def with ads, or pay nothing extra and keep watching lo-def with no ads?

Pay the 99c and be done with it. There's always something you can do when the commercials run. Restroom, check your e-mail, grab a snack, grab a beer. Put the dog out, let the dog in, reply to or send new texts, I could go on and on....
I'm too cheap to pay the full price with ads but for 99c it's a no brainer for me and you can cancel at any time once you've watched everything you need.

 

[GenXguy]

I've never had Hulu. I tried to find a list of channels that come with this offer, but can't seem to get to it. All Hulu tries to do is shove other packages at me. So what does $0.99/mo get you? Any sports channels?

No, I think you have to get Hulu + Live TV to get a bunch of channels for $77/mo, and there's a sports ad on for a few things like NFL Redzone.

 

[aja8888]

No, I think you have to get Hulu + Live TV to get a bunch of channels for $77/mo, and there's a sports ad on for a few things like NFL Redzone.

That's what I thought so it's just some minimal set of channels that are not that popular and probably can be seen for free elsewhere.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

This is not live TV streaming, but there is so much to watch.

Check this link and click along the top on TV Shows, Movies Etc to get an idea of what's available. When you click networks some may need an additional subscription like MAX and some are included with the $7.99 Hulu subscription which is currently on sale for 99c a month.

https://www.hulu.com/hub/tv

My suggestion is sign up for a month at 99C and you have plenty of time to check it out and it's easy to cancel if you don't like it.

 

[GenXguy]

That's what I thought so it's just some minimal set of channels that are not that popular and probably can be seen for free elsewhere.

Not even channels - just their streaming library from what I understand, no live TV included in that basic plan.

Edit: looks retiredandlovingit summed it up.

 

[aja8888]

Not even channels - just their streaming library from what I understand, no live TV included in that basic plan.

Edit: looks retiredandlovingit summed it up.

Thanks. Just not interested in watching real old stuff (again). But some of it looks OK.

 

[REWahoo]

But some of it looks OK.

Live a little! Go wild, blow that dough ($0.99) and give it a try for a month. You can cancel whenever you want.

 

[aja8888]

Live a little! Go wild, blow that dough ($0.99) and give it a try for a month. You can cancel whenever you want.

Yes, I don't have to save for a new A/C system or anything like that since a new one came with my downsized house!

I guess blowing the dough on this will be offset by the electricity cost I am saving by buying a $35,000 EV!

This getting old is messing up my analytical abilities.

I'll sign up so I can with the entire series of The Sopranos again, which I saw on real live TV. Maybe I missed an episode over those years it ran.

 

[GenXguy]

Yes, I don't have to save for a new A/C system or anything like that since a new one came with my downsized house!

I guess blowing the dough on this will be offset by the electricity cost I am saving by buying a $35,000 EV!

This getting old is messing up my analytical abilities.

I'll sign up so I can with the entire series of The Sopranos again, which I saw on real live TV. Maybe I missed an episode over those years it ran.

I took it that you had to add Max to watch The Sopranos.

 

[aja8888]

I took it that you had to add Max to watch The Sopranos.

I haven't signed yet. I thought I saw the Sopranos in the linked list that RetiredAndLovingIt posted above. I'll have to recheck that.

Edit: Just did and it's under Max which I didn't know was not part of the $0.99 deal.

Where do you go to get to see what is ONLY included in the 99 cent deal?

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

If you clicked on the networks at the top and then clicked on each one individually it will tell you if it's included in the $7.99 plan (now 99c) or not.

A&E says Watch A&E with any Hulu plan starting at $7.99/month

Max says "Add Max to any Hulu plan for an additional $15.99/month"


I deleted my inappropriate comment and sorry. It's well worth 99 cents to get it for 1 month to check out what's available. There is no complete list of everything that's available on Hulu Basic but it's a lot of stuff and shows get added or removed all the time.

 

[aja8888]

If you clicked on the networks at the top and then clicked on each one individually it will tell you if it's included in the $7.99 plan (now 99c) or not.

A&E says Watch A&E with any Hulu plan starting at $7.99/month

Max says "Add Max to any Hulu plan for an additional $15.99/month"

You should probably just save the buck and move on, I suspect it won't meet your expectations.

Yes, I have never signed up for any of these services as when DW was alive last year, she insisted on Comcast only, But that worked and was expensive. It seems like if you want to watch sports and live TV, you pay through the nose no matter what you choose. And these services are complicated to even figure out what you are actually buying.

My Son in law has Comcast internet and Sling and I'll go with Sling for the sports for a few months. I really don't care much about what's on TV anymore anyway. News is everywhere so you really don't need to watch that opinionated stuff.

Right now (new house, new service) all I have is a 1.0 Ghz fiber connection and Prime so I can just watch that along with any free stuff I run across.

I go to a local sports bar to watch the NFL games with friends.

 

[Trailwalker]

Thanks. Just not interested in watching real old stuff (again). But some of it looks OK.

Hulu isn't just old stuff. For that, I get Tubi for free. Here's a list of what someone thought was the best stuff on Hulu. There's at least a half dozen here that I like and can't watch elsewhere for free.

https://www.tvguide.com/news/best-shows-on-hulu/