My Streaming Life

For some time, I've been subscribing to one streaming service a month. A the end of the month, I'd cancel that service, and the next month, subscribe to a different service. At different times I've had different services in my rotation. Generally, they are: Apple TV+ Paramount+ Peacock TV Max (formerly HBO Max) Disney+ Netflix Hulu AMC+ Starz Prime Video Discovery+ That's a general listing, and they really don't all apply to me. Those were, at the time, the largest services in terms of subscribers. Not in that order, but those were the most popular. I'd probably a few more to the list: Brit Box Frndly TV Showtime I'm sure I'm missing a couple that should be on the list, but you get the general idea of the apps about which I'm speaking. With a list such as this, if you subscribed to one a month, it would take over a year. So, my thinking would be to take a couple of the $5/month services, and do two on some months. For the more expensive services, say

A recent article on Cord Cutters News talks about how many cord cutters are cutting back on their streaming services. I'm glad to see more and more people thinking that way. The article by Kayla Wassell cites a recent study by Parks Associates that says turnover in OTT services is nearly 50% : Recent reports from Park Associates found that 37 percent of households subscribe to OTT services through a cable provider. The turnover rate for OTT video services has been 47 percent for quite some time now. "There is so much to talk about – direct subscription has been losing ground to aggregation, and bundling is becoming more important," said Jennifer Kent, Parks Research Associate’s Vice President. The comments are where there is more direct talk about rotating services. Some of the comments talk about only subscribing to certain services for a period of time. That's one of the things I've done for some time. I have had Amazon Prime since before it included stream

Well, I missed it. The NBA finals started last night, and the Nuggets took a 1-0 lead. However, there are 3 to 6 more games in the series, and you can watch them streaming. ABC is broadcasting the series, and you can watch ABC streaming by a few methods. ABC Antenna, over the air, free. DirecTV (Entertainment), $65/month.  Hulu+Live TV, $70. Vidgo 9Plus), $70/month. YouTube TV, $73/month. Fubo (Pro), $75/month. If you can pick up your local ABC affiliate with an antenna, that's the cheapest way, as you can see. Next cheapest is the DirecTV Entertainment streaming package. My Streaming Life contains ABC with an antenna, so I am getting by pretty cheaply. If you have an antenna, you're in luck as well. If not, you still have options.

If you have cut the cord, or are thinking about it, you will probably want to pick up local channels. The easiest way is with an antenna. Most people in the U.S. are able to pick up the major network stations with an antenna. Some, such as me, need a large outdoor antenna to get everything, but it's still possible to pick them up. This isn't true for everybody, however. There are some areas where it is not easy to pick up the major network stations. Some family friends recently moved to an area where it's difficult to pick up the major networks. They can pick up a local (12 miles away) PBS station, consisting of four channels. They are in range of another station (51 miles) that has Ion, CourtTV, Ion Mystery, Grit, Laff, and a few other shopping and news channels. And that's it. No ABC. No CBS. No Fox. No NBC. No CW. This isn't common, but it does happen, and it's a problem they're wanting to overcome. But how? Well, they could subscribe to one of the major

I have a decision to make soon. I'm an Xfinity Internet subscriber, and Xfinity Internet subscribers get Peacock Premium free. That's changing next month. According to Comcast, NBCUniversal will stop offering the service for free to Xfinity Internet customers : Why is this changing? NBCUniversal included Peacock Premium at no extra cost to customers with Xfinity services, and that offering is concluding. This is a classic example of blaming others when it's yourself. Comcast owns NBCUniversal, so if they say Xfinity gets Peacock for free, Xfinity gets Peacock for free. That's like a parent blaming one kid for not sharing with another kid something the parent owns. If it stands, it's the parents who let it happen. Anyway, on June 26, 2023, I love my free Peacock service. I'll have to decide by then if I want to pay for Peacock. There are two tiers. One, Peacock Premium, is $5/month while the other, Peacock Premium Plus, is $10/month. The difference i

I read an article on Cord Cutters News this week that surprised me. I did a little digging and found more about it. The numbers in my research are a little different, but the point of Luke Bouma's article is still valid. The story was that Local Now had topped 450 live streaming channels. That's a big number. And, it is true, but there's a catch. First, a little of what they said : Recently Local Now topped 450 free live TV channels making it one of the largest free streaming services for cord cutters when looking at the number of free live channels. Local Now also provides localized news, weather, sports, traffic, and entertainment, produced by various leading news organizations in more than 225 markets across the U.S. Local Now is not done expanding as it recently announced a deal to add all local PBS stations later this year. No dates have been announced yet for when all of the local PBS stations will be added other than it should happen in 2023. Already though, in a han

I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering works on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem, the music of which can never be sung. With words we make promises, plight faith, praise virtue. Promises may not be kept; plighted faith may be broken; and vaunted virtue be only the cunning mask of vice. We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue. For the noblest man that lives, there still remains a conflict. He must still withstand the assaults of time and fortune, must still be assailed with temptations, before which lofty natures have fallen; but with these the conflict end

There are reports out that viewership of the traditional TV networks -- ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC -- has continued to drop year over year. In fact, according to the study, CBS has lost nearly half its viewers in ten years. The conclusion that Cord Cutters News reached is that cord cutting is the reason. The headline is " ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Primetime Viewership is Falling Fast as Cord Cutting Speeds Up " which I think is a little off the mark. The article cites the increase in cord cutting over the last decade, along with lower broadcast network viewership as the result. Only, what about antennae? Isn't putting up an antenna (or using an existing antenna) often a part of cord cutting? You drop cable, put up an antenna (indoor if close enough), and you still get the broadcast networks. I mean, they broadcast their signal over the air, right? I don't see cord cutting itself as a reason for drop in viewership. I look at it more as a drop in cable. With cable, it's easi

I got my Netflix email this week. Yes, I know. I talk about how I don't watch Netflix. And I don't. So, why did I get an email from Netflix? Well, having a Netflix account doesn't mean I watch Netflix. But I am paying for Netflix for someone else. For the time being, anyway. At this writing, the subscription ends in June. I may extend it with the ad-supported plan. Back on topic: I got my Netflix email this week. You know the one. The one where Netflix is letting people know that you can't share passwords with people who live outside your household: Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with — your household. You can easily watch Netflix on the go and when you travel — either on your personal devices or a TV at a hotel or vacation home. To control how your account is used, you can: Check who’s using your Netflix. Review which devices are signed in to your account. Sign out of devices that shouldn’t have access and consider changing your password.