Fewer streamers

I wrote the other day about a couple of streaming services that increased their user base. But not all services are increasing. Hulu+Live TV lost 100,000 subscribers.

While Hulu added subscribers and reached a total of 39.1 million subscribers by the end of the quarter, Hulu with Live TV dropped 100,00 subscribers and ended the quarter with 3.7 million, down from 3.8 million in the previous quarter.

According to the report, Hulu added subscribers overall, but lost on the live streaming service end of things. So, yes, there are more streamers, but fewer streamers when it comes to Hulu+Live TV.

While this is bad news for that particular segment of streaming, Hulu overall is doing well. And, sister company Disney+ did increase subscribers. Overall, it was a good report for Disney.

I don't understand why Hulu+Live TV lost subscribers, though. It's a good live streaming service. I wonder if enough Hulu subscribers came to think like I do that a live streaming service isn't necessary. Or, maybe they found Sling TV or another cheaper service more to their liking. I don't know what the reason might be. It doesn't really make sense.

Regardless, overall streaming is up, as more and more people enjoy a Streaming Life.

Watching NFL Football

I stopped watching professional football a few years ago. There are more and more players that think they're God's gift to mankind. They're not. They're grown men playing ball. There have always been players like that ever since the National Football League was founded. But, and I really don't remember the year, but the tipping point -- the place where it became too much for me -- arrived a few years ago, and I haven't watched an NFL game since. Well, I take that back. I did watch the Giants win the Super Bowl over the previously undefeated New England Patriots, as I recall fondly the undefeated 1971 Miami Dolphins team. The Giants-Patriots game was after the 2007 season, so my tipping point was reached before then.

Still, just because I don't watch NFL football doesn't mean that everyone is like me. In fact, most people are not like me. It's the most popular sport in the U.S., even without me watching. My failure to watch doesn't make a dent in the ratings.

So, as a streamer, I've never really cared about how to watch NFL football online, but with the pre-season now underway, I got to thinking about it. How would an NFL fan watch their teams play? Well, I checked. It seems that the major live streaming services that carry local affiliates -- Hulu+Live TV, YouTube TV, Fubo TV, and AT&T TV -- all carry the local affiliates for the 32 NFL teams. That means, when the local station carries the game, you're good to go.

Note that Sling TV isn't listed. That's because Sling TV doesn't carry local channels. You need an antenna to watch local channels if you use Sling TV. You can get Air TV to integrate it into the Sling TV app. Tablo is also an option for putting local channels from your TV antenna onto your streaming device. Amazon Fire TV users can use Fire TV Recast to accomplish the same thing. There are other methods, but those are the most popular ones.

Oh, just to be complete, there are certain markets where Sling TV does carry local channels, but those are limited. If you're in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York (Giants), Philadelpha, or Washington, you can get the local affiliate for those respective teams.

What if your team isn't carried on your local TV station? Well, the NFL Game Pass on NFL Network will carry out of market games. And NFL Network if available on Hulu+Live TV, Sling TV, YouTube TV, and Fubo TV, but not on AT&T TV.

Additionally, if you're in an area serviced by Locast, you may find your local affiliate carries the games you want.

If your favorite team is carried by CBS affiliates, you may be able to watch with a Paramount+ subscription.

If you're want to watch NFL games, you have ways to have them in your Streaming Life.

More streamers

A couple of news articles this week reported that two streaming services are continuing to increase subscribers. That's not a surprise to me, but it is evidence of what I knew.

Fubo TV had a larger increase than expected in the last quarter:

FuboTV added 91,000 subscribers in the June quarter, ending the period with 682,000 total subscribers. Analysts expected the New York City-based company to add 12,000 new subscribers in the second quarter for a total of 602,000 subscribers.

That's a few days after Sling TV reported an increase of 65,000 subscribers, bringing the total to 2.44 million. That helped parent company Dish top their earning expectations despite losing 67,000 pay-TV subscribers overall:

Dish's revenue for the quarter rose to $4.49 billion from $3.19 billion, while analysts had been modeling $4.43 billion. The company's net pay-TV subscribers declined by about 67,000 in the second quarter, compared with a net decrease of roughly 96,000 a year earlier. Dish finished the quarter with 10.99 million pay-TV subscribers, including 8.55 million from Dish TV and 2.44 million from Sling TV.

Fewer subscribers but more earning. Streaming is saving these companies. It's is the future of TV. Heck, it's the present of TV.

More and more are enjoying the Streaming Life.

ESPN+

As a sports fan -- mostly college football -- I've been through the difficulties of finding sports I'm wanting to watch online. In the early days of streaming, there was nothing when it came to live sports. Today, there are a lot of options.

You can watch ESPN and Fox Sports on many live streaming services: Sling TV, Vidgo, Hulu+Live TV, YouTube TV, Fubo, and AT&T TV. Bally Sports is on AT&T TV. There are other sports networks available through streaming services. Oh, and there are some that are not available on any streaming service.

Those that are available streaming have something in common: they're a part of a streaming package, a cable replacement service, if you will. You can't get ESPN standalone. You can't get Bally Sports networks standalone. If I want ESPN, I have to pony up at least $35 for the cheapest streaming service that carries it.

Now, what about ESPN+ you say? Well, it's a standalone service, but it doesn't include ESPN. You can't subscribe to ESPN+ and watch what's playing on ESPN right now. It's a supplemental service, adding additional content but not including basic ESPN.

That's not to say that ESPN+ isn't a good service. It is actually, but it's not ESPN. Still, you can get a lot of good content. Maybe that's why the price is going up.

Starting on Aug. 13, the price of an ESPN Plus subscription will rise to $6.99 a month and $69.99 a year, up from $5.99 a month and $59.99 per year.

Today is the last day at the old price. Am I recommending you get it? No, but I'm not saying wait either. If I get it for college football -- lots of games will be on ESPN+ -- it'll be cheaper to get the service now. But, in order to watch the games, I'll have to subscribe longer. So, is it a good deal for me? Actually, no. It'll be cheaper to subscribe for one less month at the higher price. Only about a dollar cheaper, but still cheaper. And I'm a cheapskate.

The other thing is that ESPN is putting more and more content on ESPN+. Maybe they'll eventually have a standalone service for ESPN, similar to the HBO Max standalone service, or any of the other services.

When that day comes, and I think it will, just not soon enough for me, it will make my Streaming Life so much better.

Fox News app and streaming services

The most watched news network is Fox News. I don't care if you are a lover of Fox News, or a hater of Fox News, the fact is that it is the most watched network. That means there are a lot of streamers that want to watch Fox News. And there's the problem.

Fox News is available as part of six live streaming packages:

• Sling TV (Blue) $35/month
• Vidgo $55/month
• Hulu+Live TV $65/month
• YouTube TV $65/month
• Fubo $65/month
• AT&T TV $76/month

If you subscribe to one of those services, you get Fox News in the streaming package. To watch it, just go to that channel, like you would any other channel.

Fox News also has an app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android/Google TV, and other platforms. However, the app requires authentication against a TV provider. That means a cable service, a satellite service, or a streaming service.

There are 582 different services that can be used to subscribe:

• 575 cable services, too many to list here.
• Two satellite services
• DirecTV
• Dish
• Five streaming services
• AT&T TV
• Fubo
• Hulu+Live TV
• Vidgo
• YouTube TV

Note that Sling TV is not one of the streaming services. I'm a little surprised, since Sling TV is owned by Dish, and Dish is one of the authenticating services. DirecTV satellite service is also an authenticating service, as is their streaming service AT&T TV. So, I don't know why Sling TV isn't, but it isn't.

That's unfortunate since Sling TV is the cheapest live streaming service that carries news services, including Fox News.

There is one thing about the app that bothers me, and I don't really know how to resolve the issue. A lot of Roku users report that they have to constantly authenticate against the service. There are not a lot of reports about this with other news service apps. Perhaps that's because Fox News is the most watched news service, and therefore more are using the app than are using the other services' apps.

There's also another possibility. Many, actually.

One is that the account used to authenticate is being shared. That is, users from different locations are logging in with the same app. Some services don't approve of user account sharing, and when a login form a different IP address is detected, or if a login from a distant IP address is detected, Fox or the provider requires the timeout to be much shorter. In other words, it's an anti-account sharing function.

Another is that the app is poorly coded. All of the major streaming platforms use different operating systems, and the code for one Fox News app won't run on another platform. They have to code a different app to work the same. Poor coding can be the issue.

Another is that the device has a bug in it. This is related to the poorly coded app reason in that the reason for the bug could be software related. Removing and reinstalling the app may fix it. Note that is the device is a Roku, you should remove the app, then reboot the Roku, then reinstall the app. Skipping that second step is common, and wrong.

Another is that the service provider simply requires a shorter timeout. It's not a bug, it's an intentional function.

And then there's the other reason. It's not really happening. You see, all apps that require authentication will time out. This is so that they can confirm that you still subscribe to a service that carries Fox News. This can be monthly. People may have to re-authenticate on a monthly basis, and it just seems like it happens a lot.

It may be that different users are impacted by different reasons. One could be using a "borrowed" account (which isn't allowed). Another could have a service provider with a short timeout. Another could have a corrupt installation requiring a remove/reboot/reinstall. And, another may simply think he's having to re-authenticate more often than the really is. Different reasons all, but they all have the same complaint. That makes it hard to troubleshoot.

I think the primary reason is the coding of the app. The language used to code Roku apps is not as common as the language to code other apps, so the app developers may not be a savvy in regards to that platform.

Most of the issues I've seen relate to cable authentication. And, if what I'm seeing is actually widespread -- it's cable subscribers that have the issue, not live streaming service users -- then cord cutters really don't have the problem.

I don't subscribe to a live streaming service that carries Fox News, or any news for that matter, so I don't have this issue. I'm not a fan of any cable news service. If I wanted to hear idiots yelling at each other, I don't have to turn on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, or any other news service. I have crazy relatives. I can contact them. But I won't. I'll just not watch those talking head channels, and enjoy my Streaming Life without them.