Do you stream?
I finally took the plunge. Googled “what is streaming tv?” and OMG a whole new world has opened up for me. To say nothing about all the money I have been wasting for the past few years on my Comcast bundle (just to ensure I have access to TRMS and Laurence), along with my subscriptions to Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix.
At the risk of making an utter fool of myself, I’ll come clean here and admit that I just discovered that if you have a broadband connection you can ‘stream’ tv shows on the internet or on your tv without the need of a cable or satellite company.
For all these years, I’ve been listening to my friend talk about their Roku and never knew what I was missing! I’ve been living in the dark ages.
Streaming is hotter than ever these days, with on-demand services such as Netflix and Hulu, along with a litany of live TV streaming services such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now, and PlayStation Vue, all attempting to capitalize on the cord-cutting phenomenon. Channels and hit series once strictly bound by the confines of cable can now be accessed for a smaller monthly fee with no contract, no equipment rentals, and no crappy customer service to deal with. Add in free HD broadcasts and there’s never been a better time to kick cable to the curb.
I wish I had thought to google this before spending hours last week bargaining down my monthly Comcast and canceling my Hulu subscription. Does this mean I can cancel all my subscriptions? How do I even start.
I cherry picked some information from Cord-cutting 101: How to quit cable for online streaming video:
- Test your internet speed during peak hours
- Get an HD Antenna
- Trade up for a real streaming device (from $60 for a Roku stick to $190 for an Apple TV)
- Research which services you want (Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now, Showtime)
- Look into live tv streaming services, like Sling, PlayStation VU, Direct TV Now
Content
A Tuesday NYT article (Netflix Is Raising Prices. Here’s Why) revealed last year Netflix (I subscribed six years ago for House of Cards and watched the first three seasons) was $2 billion in the red because of all its original content. They will be increasing rates for new customers this month and current customers within the next few months.
The stakes for owning content have risen. Big-pocketed players like the Walt Disney Company, AT&T and NBCUniversal plan to compete with Netflix with streaming services of their own. Both Disney and AT&T’s WarnerMedia plan to unveil their products by the end of the year, and NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast, is working on an ad-supported model streaming service that it plans to make available in early 2020.
Not to be left out, Amazon offers a streaming service as part of its Prime shipping program for $13 a month, or $120 a year. Hulu sells an ad-free service for $12 per month. (Disney will take control of Hulu once it completes its acquisition of the bulk of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox business, sometime around the middle of the year.)
At the end of last year, Rolling Stone published an article The 20 Best Shows Made For Streaming — So Far, noting that since Netflix released House of Cards six years ago, the “Big Three streaming networks (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu) have produced and premiered close to 150 original scripted series for adults.”