Cutting the cord, but not the expense

I cut the cord to save money. However, I realize others cut the cord for other reasons. I'm not about to think everyone cut the cord for the same reason I did. But it is the reason I cut. And that colors how I look at others when it comes to how they stream.

There's a study that says a lot of people who cut the cord spend a lot of money on streaming services. Now, I don't know if it's a true reflection, or a manipulation of the data, but spending $85 on average?

Many consumers who dropped their traditional pay TV services are finding that they can still face some hefty monthly bills for OTT services, with new research from Parks Associates reporting that cord-cutters are spending $85 a month on average for OTT services. 

That is roughly $30 less than what they were paying for pay TV services, according to Park’s "Cutters, Nevers, and the Rebundling of Video" research report.

That's a lot of money.I don't understand it. Keep in mind that during most of the year, my streaming cost is $6 for Hulu and $6 for Frndly.TV, which means there is someone spending $158 for every someone spending $12.

Of course, I'm not counting Amazon Prime Video cost because I had that anyway. I've been a Prime subscriber from way back, before there was a Prime Video. So, I'm not counting an existing expense into my cost. If I didn't cut the cord, I'd still have that cost, so it's off the table when it comes to figuring things.

And that's the key to these reports, I suspect. They're counting everything as part of "the cost of cord cutting" even if the cost was unrelated to cord cutting. It's dishonest. So, my cost doesn't include something I had anyway.

And, to me, Netflix is a lot like that. If you already had Netflix before you became a cord cutter, then the cost of Netflix shouldn't be counted. I'm not counting it as an expense because I dropped Netflix some years back. But, even if I still subscribed, I wouldn't count it.

Unless, of course, they are new expenses. If I wasn't a Netflix subscriber, then became one as part of cutting the cord, then yes, it counts. Same with Amazon Prime. But, for pre-existing subscriptions? Nope, it doesn't count.

So, I'm not sure what to think of the report of the average cord cutter spending $85/month on streaming. Maybe so, but I suspect it's inflated with pre-existing subscriptions or costs. Although my motivation for cutting the cord may be clouding my judgement.

Here's the thing, though. Even if it is, so what? If it give the users what they want, and they're happy with the service and the cost, then it's a good thing. Just like if a cable subscriber is happy with the service and the cost, then they're where they need to be.

But, I still suspect the numbers are all distorted. I know my Streaming Life costs nowhere near that much. And I enjoy it immensely.

Epix on the Roku Channel

I said recently that I would be checking out The Roku Channel to see why everyone was so high on it. The Roku Channel gets a lot of love from cord cutter Websites and articles, but it's something I've not done much with. So, I'm trying it out.

Shortly after starting that, I found out this was going to take a lot longer than I thought. It turns out there's a lot to The Roku Channel. The free streaming content is what I have always focused on, and that's understandable. After all, that's one of the features that Roku most often emphasizes. But it's not the only thing they have.

Roku is really big on buying stuff. Most companies are. And Roku wants you to buy subscriptions using Roku Pay. I've already said I'm not a fan of Roku Pay, but I do understand it's a revenue stream for Roku, and that there may be valid reasons for it to be the way for you to go.

The Roku Channel offers subscriptions to premium services. I subscribed to Epix in order to try it out. And, quite honestly, it worked pretty good. But not perfect, you might note.

First, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing, is that when you subscribe to a premium service through The Roku Channel, a separate app is actually loaded on to your Roku. An app called "Epix on The Roku Channel" appeared. Again, not a bad thing. If I want to watch Epix content, it's all right there. And, it's also available within The Roku Channel.

The two problem I had with Epic on The Roku Channel were the lack of a search feature and the limited content.

The search is kind of a big deal, but then again, there's a workaround. The Epix app, the real one, with a separate subscription directly to Epix, has search capabilities, unlike Epix on The Roku Channel. The workaround is that you can still search within The Roku Channel, just not the Epix on The Roku Channel app.

The limited content is the big thing with me, and I didn't find a workaround. What I'm talking about is that not everything that's available from Epix is available through Epix on The Roku Channel. Oh, and I'll call it Epix/TRC to differentiate going forward, okay? Anyway, Epix/TRC didn't have everything. If you go to the various categories of content, say, science fiction or comedies, you'll see up to 40 titles in the category on Epix/TRC. You'll see everything on Epix on Epix.

Apart from that, the Epix/TRC app is easy to use. It worked as expected. No crashes. It's fine. Just not all the Epix content. And it's the same price as a stand-alone Epix subscription, so you're paying the same thing for less.

Of course, if the missing content isn't something you want, then they're actually doing you a favor by not cluttering things. But, you don't know if you care about that content unless you know what the content is.

The other issue with Epix/TRC is that you are limited to watching it on a Roku device. You can't watch the content through The Roku Channel on, say, a Fire stick. Yes, The Roku Channel is available for Amazon Fire TV, but Epix content -- like all premium content to which you subscribe via The Roku Channel -- isn't available on the non-Roku platforms.

One thing I really liked, and I wish more would do this, is that when I approached the end of my free trial (it comes with a 7-day free trial) Roku did email me. That allowed me the option to cancel before I was charged. Most services won't do this, and leave it entirely up to you, the consumer, to keep up with all of that, hoping you'll forget and they get to charge you for a month you really don't want. Roku isn't like that. And I found that a welcome change.

So, Epix on The Roku Channel? It works well enough. If you're all in with Roku, it's a good choice. If you want to be able to use it on a non-Roku platform, then don't subscribe to it; rather, subscribe to Epix directly and get the flexibility you want.

Oh, and it did help up my opinion of The Roku Channel a little, which is how this whole thing started. I can see more usage of The Roku Channel happening in my Streaming Life.

Fire TV again

I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of Amazon Fire TV devices. I've used a Fire TV box and the Fire Stick. Or is it Firestick? Let me check.

Oh. It's Fire TV Stick. I'll try to remember that.

Anyway, I've had Fire TV devices, including the box, the Stick, and even a television with built in Fire TV. I've not liked them.

Part of the problem is the blending of Amazon into the interface. I get why it's there, since it's an Amazon device. I wouldn't expect it to be all iTunes or Google Play. Of course, Apple TV integrates iTunes or Apple store content into the interface, and Google integrates Google Play Store into the Android TV/Google TV interfaces. So, it's not like Amazon is doing something different. However, it just seems more obvious to me, too "in your face" to my liking.

I could, of course, be wrong. And if they are promoting Amazon content over others, so what? If the device is easy to use and gets the user what is wanted, that's actually a good thing.

But that's the lesser issue I have with Fire TV devices. The main issue is the responsiveness of the Fire TV devices I've used.

Now, the actual TV with Fire TV built in doesn't fall into that category. The TV I used was responsive. There were other concerns, that really weren't Amazon's fault, but rather the TV manufacturer that was the problem.

However...

It's been some time since I've used a Fire TV device. And I've read reports that the new Fire TV Stick 4K is a good device that is responsive, as it should be. So, I'm going to try one.

This will be the fifth or sixth Amazon Fire TV device I've had over the years. If this one is actually as good as I've read, then it will finally be something useful.

I ordered a Fire TV Stick 4K and it arrived yesterday. I'll be using it off and on for the next bit. Maybe I'll be happy with it. Or at least not as disappointed as I've been.

Fingers are crossed. Maybe this will be a useful addition to the hardware I use in my Streaming Life.

Football, eh

One of the most challenging aspects of cutting the cord has been being able to watch a favorite sports team, or sometimes even a favorite sport overall. In the early days of cord cutting, this was quite true.

As a fan of college football, it was hard to watch the sport with a streaming device. Now, Sling TV launched in 2015, the first major live streaming service, so there have been options since then. But, I cut the cord in 2011, so while that was some years back, the early years helped form you outlook, and helped raise awareness that everything may not be easily available.

Having said that, college football isn't all that hard to find these days. Pro football can be a little more difficult, unless price is no object. You'll need the higher priced live streaming services to watch NFL football.

But the NFL isn't the only game in town. Well, I guess it is, it's not the only game on TV. There is the Canadian Football League.

I remember watch CFL football years ago. The rules differences were interesting, and took a little getting used to. I recall thinking, "Why did they make the rule changes they did?" You see, I didn't realize that Canadian football was actually the predecessor of U.S. football. Sort of.

Yes, football as we know it -- not soccer -- was a U.S. sport, but didn't catch on. Canada embraced it, and the Canadian game is closer to the roots of the game. The sport made its way back to the U.S. with some rule changes that eventually became the separate but similar sports we have today. But even with the differences, you can tell they're the same sport, just a few different rules.

Why am I bringing up Canadian football? Because the CFL 2021 season opens today. And, CFL football is available for viewing in the U.S. And not just a game of the week, like the old days. The entire CFL schedule is available for streaming online.

As part of a multi-year agreement, ESPN2, ESPNEWS and ESPN+ will combine to present every CFL game live, culminating with the Semi-Finals, Finals and 108th Grey Cup on Dec. 12. The 2021 schedule features 14 games for each team, which includes Thursday night games in the summer, Friday night football each week and Saturday night games throughout the season.

This is good. More online access to content is always helpful.

CFL football may not be your cup of tea. But, it is somebody's. Heck, I'm going to watch some of the games. It's a little different than what I'm used to, but it is fun football nonetheless. It may make your Streaming Life more fun. It will mine.