Do you need a year-round live streaming service?

If you cut the cord and replaced cable with a live streaming service -- YouTube TV, Fubo, Vidgo, Sling TV, Phio, etc. -- I have a question for you: why?

Why did you simply replace cable with a live streaming service? What was it about cable you didn't like? The price? Okay, I get that. If the live streaming service is cheaper, that's great.

Or was it paying for channels you didn't watch? Well, if that's the case, does the live streaming service have channels you don't watch? I bet it does. So what did you solve? Price? So we're back to that, which is fine, but I'm trying to understand why you actually cut the cord. The real reason.

Is it more control of your viewing options? That's legit. There is nothing wrong with wanting to control your TV, rather than ceding that to the cable company. With cable, you probably have only one or two cable options. With streaming, you have many options, including those listed above. You can switch easily, with month to month service, unlike cable where you are often locked into long term contracts.

My reason was price, and it's still true that I'm saving money vs paying for cable. But I don't have a live streaming service year-round. I'll subscribe to one during part of the year, usually for a total of four months, though not four back-to-back months. I'll let time pass between them. And I'm wondering if you should do that too.

Do this little thought experiment. Suppose you didn't have a live streaming service. Everything you have for streaming is there, just not the live streaming service. Would you be okay with that? Now, perhaps your first reaction is "no." But is that really your final answer. Let's go through this and see.

If you did not have a live streaming service, would you just not watch TV? I suspect you would find something to watch. Likely, you have other services, such as Netflix, Disney+, Discovery+,  Prime Video, Paramount+, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Peacock, or one (or more) of the many many other services. If you have one or more of those services, you can find stuff to watch.

Of course, while you can watch something, you wouldn't be able to watch everything you want, losing the control you may be after. So is it a bad idea to drop live streaming? Well, for you, it may be. But it is something to consider.

If you only subscribed for a few months out of the year, how big of a problem would that be? If you subscribed every other month, would that be a problem? If you could catch up on the missed shows, would the savings in money, cutting the live streaming costs in half, be worth it? What about if you subscribed one month a quarter? Or four months a year, spread out in some manner? Would the savings make the delay in watching some shows worth it?

You can't do this with cable. If you are on a month to month billing with cable, after your long-term contract is up, and you drop cable, they'll sometimes have a reconnect fee. Or they may require a long-term contract to go back. Streaming services don't require that, and you can subscribe and drop as often as you like.

I'm really not trying to talk you out of a live steaming service, but I am trying to get you to put some thought into ways to save money. You have options streaming that you don't have with cable. If utilizing these options saves you some money, then you're ahead of the game. Heck, you're not just ahead, you've won.

If you put a little thought into your Streaming Life, you may end up putting some money in your wallet. That's a good thing.

Are new Chromecasts coming?

I so want to like the Chromecast with Google TV device. However, the more I use it the more trouble I find it. Storage is one of the big issues that I've encountered. I've been hoping for a better Chromecast device with more storage. And, it looked like one was coming, according to a report from 9to6Google.

Part of the charm of the Chromecast with Google TV is the simplicity of the dongle form factor, but demand has been rising for a higher-end device to compete with the Nvidia Shield TV series. In that vein, perhaps Boreal could be a more premium Google TV box. Google has pursued this model in the past with the $69 Chromecast Ultra and $99 Nexus Player.

But now, it appears the new Chromecast will be a low-end device, if the report from Protocol is correct.

The new low-end Chromecast is said to be based on an Amlogic S805X2 CPU with a Mali-G31 GPU. This would allow it to support decoding of the AV1 video codec — something Google has been pushing other hardware makers to adopt. The dongle will have 2GB of RAM at most, and support 1080p streaming with a maximum frame rate of 60fps.

Google’s most recent streaming dongle, called Chromecast with Google TV, sports a more powerful chipset capable of 4K streaming, but doesn’t currently support AV1 hardware decoding. The device retails for $50, making it likely that the new HD-only Chromecast will sell for $40 or less.

I hope that it's simply a mixup, with two devices coming. To me, the best thing would be to replace the low-end Chromecast with a low-end Chromecast with Google TV, and to replace the current 4K Chromecast with Google TV with an upgraded 4K that had more on-board storage.

There's no evidence that this is what will be happening, but if it did happen, then both stories could be true, and the discrepancy could be simply confusing the code names of the new devices.

I so want to like the Chromecast with Google TV. If they fix the storage issue, that would be a huge step in the right direction. Chromecast with Google TV is a part of my Streaming Life, just a small part. An upgraded device would make it much easier to use it more. I really hope that's what happens.

Watching Hallmark movies

During the Christmas season, it's almost cliché to think about the Hallmark Channel and all their Christmas movies. People will joke about how bland and predictable they all are, but watch them anyway.

Of course, Hallmark doesn't just have movies during Christmas. The Hallmark Channel, and the Hallmark channels (there are more than one), offer content year-round. And, sure, you could make the same jokes about the other Hallmark movies that you do about their Christmas movies (most of the same jokes) but the reality is, you'd probably like those movies just as well.

There are several ways for a streamer to watch Hallmark movies and TV shows, ranging from expensive to cheap to free.

Expensive

The services that carry the three Hallmark channels carry more than just Hallmark. However, it's a good idea to look at their other channels to see if it's worth the cost. It may be. Or not. If your only want is Hallmark, these are probably not the way to go. All of the expensive ones carry news channels and, mostly, local channels as well. Note that Hulu+Live TV, which would be listed in the Expensive category isn't listed because it doesn't have any Hallmark channels.

DirecTV Stream

The DirecTV Stream service is the most expensive, at $70/month, but includes a lot of channels, including local channels, plus two Hallmark channels: Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. You can add Hallmark Drama as part of the Movies Extra Pack, which is another $5/month. That pack also includes AMC+, Hallmark Movies Now, Lifetime Movie Club, A&E Crime Central, HISTORY Vault, Pantaya, UP Faith & Family, Pantaya, Revry, and DOGTV.

Fubo TV

Fubo TV, at $65/month, includes the three Hallmark channels, as well as local channels and around 80 other channels.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV is $65/month includes the three Hallmark channels, with the ability to add Hallmark Movies Now for another $6/month.

Vidgo

Vidgo is cheaper than Fubo or YouTube TV, and offers the three Hallmark channels in their $55/month package.

Cheap

Cheap is a relative term. Compared the the services listed above, these services are at least $20/month cheaper. None of these carry local channels, and only one, Sling TV, has any news or sports channels.

Sling TV

Sling TV is a little complicated. That's because Sling TV has a free tier that most people don't realize or think about. Free Sling TV is similar to Xumo or Pluto TV, but doesn't offer as much content. What it does offer is a "best of" in that the offerings they do have are many of the more popular ones of the free streaming services. That includes some on-demand content from Hallmark Movies Now. To be sure, it's not the entire library, and it's not the current year's content, but it is Hallmark content, and it's free.

For Sling TV subscribers, whether the Orange or Blue plans ($35/month) or the combined Orange+Blue plan ($50/month), you can get the three Hallmark channels with the add-on Lifestyle Extra package for another $6/month.

Philo

At $25/month, Philo is one of the best deals available for live streaming entertainment, with over 60 channels, including the three Hallmark channels.

Frndly TV

For $7/month, this is the cheapest way to get the three Hallmark channels, with live streams plus on-demand content.

Oh, if you have a service that doesn't have any Hallmark content, it may be easy enough to

Free

Yes, you can get some Hallmark content for free. You won't get the full live streams of the three channels, but you will get some content, which is better than no content. And you'll get it for free, which is better than paying through the nose.

Live streams

These apps and services offer free Hallmark content live streaming.

• Xumo (Hallmark Movies & More)
• The Roku Channel (Hallmark Movies & More)

On demand

These apps and services offer free Hallmark content on-demand.

• Xumo (Hallmark Movies & More)
• Sling TV Free (Hallmark Movies Now)

Alternatives

I know we're talking Hallmark content, but the reality is that Hallmark doesn't have a monopoly on the types of movies they show. You can find similar content on many services. For example, on Netflix, if you search for "Hallmark" you'll find no matches. You'll also find a list of movies that are similar, and if you didn't know better, would think that many of them were Hallmark movies.

If Hallmark movies and TV are what you're after, you can add some content for free, or all content for as little as $7/month.

Am I still saving money by streaming? Yes. Yes I am.

I first cut the cord in 2011. At the time, I was saving $65/month by cutting cable. Yes, I had to buy some equipment for streaming, but that up front investment was paid for by the savings within the first two or three months. That meant that first year, I saved about $650.

That was over a decade ago. If I were to cut the cord today, would I save that much? Would I save anything at all? I feel that I would, but I haven't run the numbers. Until now.

There are a couple of ways looking at this. I'm going to look at a scenario where I've been a cable TV user for some time, and comparing the cost to switching to streaming. And, since I'm not a gamer, I'm going to consider an Internet speed that is sufficient for streaming, but may not suffice for heavy gaming.

I'm a Comcast/Xfinity customer, and I'm using their plans to check this. Currently, a plan with 50 mbps service with 125 cable channels, including local channels, is $109/month plus tax. Oh, the broadcast fees and regional sports fees add another $29.30/month to this, bringing this to $138.30/month, plus tax.

Now, during the first year, with a one-year agreement, there is a $29/month discount.

Also, the 125+ channels package has less than 125 channels if you don't count the music audio only channels, and you don't double count the channels with both an SD and and HD feed. Taking the audio-only music channels, and not double-counting the SD/HD feeds, there are 112 channels. Take out the local channels and you're left with 93 channels that you can't get with an antenna.

My current Internet only 50 mbps service is $49/month. That's it.

Okay, there is more, because we have to add TV channels. There are a couple of ways to do this. I'm close enough to some TV towers to pick up 25 over the air channels reliably. There are more channels I can occasionally pick up, but I'm ignoring those channels. I'm only looking at channels I can pick up. I get 25 local channels. That's six more local channels than Comcast/Xfinity cable offers.

So, what if I add a streaming service to get those other channels, what's the cost? Well, before I go down that road, I need to determine if I really want all those channels. And a quick look shows that I don't.

Of course, I don't care about any of the cable channels outside college football season, but others might. So, what service gets someone what they want?

There are three categories of live-streaming cable replacement services. One category has no news, sports, or local channels. Another category has news and sports but no locals. One category has news, sports, and locals.

If you feel you really need local channels because you don't or can't have an antenna, you probably feel you need the third category. As of this writing, those services, and starting prices, are:

• YouTube TV ($65/month)
• Fubo TV ($65/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month)
• DirecTV Stream ($70/month)

If you have an antenna, or otherwise don't care about local channels, then it comes down to whether or not you want news and sports.

If you do, then you have one option: Sling TV ($35/month).

If news and sports aren't important, but you still want cable channels, then your best options depend on just what you want. You have three main options, depending on the channels in your wish list:

• Frndly.TV ($7/month)
• Philo ($25/month)
• Sling TV ($35/month)

Yes, I know I included Sling TV in two categories, but the fact is, they have some popular channels that Philo and Frndly.TV don't have. Look into the channels you want, really want, and pick the cheapest one that meets your needs. For example, if Hallmark is a must-have, you may be able to get by with Frndly.TV ($7/month). Or, if HGTV is your must have, then Philo ($25/month) is your best option. And, if USA is your must-have, that means Sling TV is your cheapest option.

Of course, you don't have to subscribe to any service year-round. You can subscribe to a service for 30 days only, then cancel if other services will suffice. By other services, I'm talking bout Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, Discovery+, or others.

That's an important thing to consider. There's no year-long commitment to any streaming service, whether a live or on-demand service. You can subscribe to a single service for a month, then change to another.

For me, I'm saving a lot of money by streaming instead of having cable. I don't need a live streaming service year-round. I don't need an on-demand service year-round, and there are enough to swap around month to month.

Will you save money? Or ar you already saving money? If you plan things right, you may be able to save a lot of money in your Streaming Life, and use that money for something, or someone, else. Valentine's Day is coming, after all.

Netflix troubles

Netflix announced this week that their subscribers grew by 8.3 million in the 4th quarter.

The company on Thursday forecast an increase of 2.5 million subscribers in the current quarter, compared with four million a year earlier. It also slightly missed its subscriber estimate for the fourth quarter, adding 8.3 million subscribers instead of the projected 8.5 million.

Netflix stock fell 20% in after-hours trading, while shares of its main streaming rival, Walt Disney Co. , were down 3.4%.

It's not so much the increase in subscribers, but that the increase isn't enough to satisfy the stock gurus. Netflix revenue went up 16%, to $7.71-billion. That's a lot of money, but not enough for some people. And, their stock fell 20% because of that.

Think about if your income went up 16% in three months, and people were disappointed in you. But, that's how things work in business.

Netflix offers a lot of content that people like. A lot of people like it, and spend over $2-billion/month to do use the service. And that is disappointing investors. So, what'll happen? Probably not much. Well, maybe Netflix will have less original programming. Or more. I don't know. All I know is that it's a valuable part of the Streaming Life of a lot of people. I hope it streamers continue to have good options.

DirecTV Stream price increase

This past year, Hulu, Netflix, Frndly.TV, and other services have raised their prices. Now, DirecTV Stream, the most expensive of the live streaming services, is raising prices on most plans this week.

According to a notice on their Website, the prices for service will go up tomorrow on most plans, but not on their cheapest plan. That plan remains at $70/month. The bigger plans, though, go up $5-$10. For grandfathered plans, the increases will be $4-$10.

DIRECTV Stream packages (Current)	Monthly price increase amount
Minimum service ENTERTAINMENT	No increase
CHOICE	$5
ULTIMATE	$10
PREMIER	$10

This is not unexpected. Prices increase because that's what prices do. Or have done to them. Bottom line is it costs more.

How do you deal with this? What can you do about it? Well, there are several ways to go.

One way is to just put up with it. Prices went up, and you pay more. Simple. But that might not sit well. It wouldn't with me.

Another option is to look for a cheaper service. DirecTV Stream is the most expensive service, so just about any other service will save you money. If another service has the channels you want and is cheaper, you can save money by switching services.

And there's the old "do I really need this" option. I don't use a live streaming service year-round. Ask yourself if you need it year round. If you can skip a month or two during the year, you'll end up saving money, even with the price increase.

You can also do both the second and third option. Get a cheaper service that has the channels you want, and only subscribe part of the year. Along with that, look into the free services, such as Pluto TV or Xumo, and see if the content there can substitute for some of the channels on your expensive live streaming service. You might be surprised what you find. Even with the price increases, you may be able to save some money in your Streaming Life.

TV antennae and distance

If you're a cord cutter, or thinking of becoming one, an option you should consider is getting a TV antenna. Most people in the USA live close enough to at least one broadcast tower and could pick up TV signals over the air. That's free.

A long time ago, when I was just a wee lad, that was the only way to watch TV. We had a TV antenna pointed toward the TV towers in Savannah, and we'd watch the stations from that city. It was the closest place that had TV signals. Next closest was Jacksonville, Florida. Or maybe Charleston, South Carolina. But we usually watched Savannah stations. And we used an antenna because that's how you watched TV.

Later, a company ran cable in our area, and we eventually switched over in order to watch the newer channels that were available beyond the Big Three networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Fox and CW came much later.

Cable became big. Really big. It made Ted Turner millions, and Braves fans out of many people across the country. It was the part about making millions of dollars that people latched onto. Cable was big. However, the whole time, over the air TV still worked. Many people didn't use it though. Cable was expensive, but convenient.

The increase in streaming services has put a huge dent in cable, and is partly responsible for people remembering, or finding out for the first time, about over the air TV. What was an old market, an only market, was resurrected, and became a hot new market again. And what happens when a new market emerges? Somebody wants to take advantage of it.

A lot of TV antennae that you see in stores make some really outrageous claims. I've seen antennae claiming 200 mile range.

Let me tell you a secret. They're lying. Here's why I can tell you they are lying: the earth is round.

Try this experiment. If you can't do it in person, do it in you mind. Or read this article. You'll see what I mean. Go to the ocean. Stand on the beach and look out over the ocean. See the horizon? Where the sea meets the sky? That's a little over five miles away. Well, for me it is. If you're taller, maybe a little more, and if you're shorter, a little less.

Now, if you're higher, say on top of a building, you can see even farther, maybe ten miles away. Now, if there's a TV tower, those are a bit higher, and you can see them even farther away from the top of a building. But how far away? Maybe as far as 70 miles. Maybe not quite that far.

There are other factors to consider as well. Ground clutter -- the natural or man-made obstructions between you and the object (TV tower, in this instance) -- can negatively affect the signal. The antenna itself can make a difference. All antennae are not created equal. Also, all TV signals are not created equal.

TV stations that broadcast on channels 2-6 are VHF low, channels 7-13 are VHF high, and 14 up are UHF. You need a different antenna for each of those bands. The good news is that you can find an antenna with all three in one. The key thing is, every antenna has all three combined.

Another thing is that not every TV station actually broadcasts on the channel you think. The actual channel may be different than the virtual channel. Let me use my local stations as an example.

All the stations in Savannah except one operate on the same channel by which they identify. WTOC channel 11 broadcasts on channel 11. WJCL channel 22 broadcasts on channel 22. However, WSAV channel 3 actually broadcasts on channel 16.

A better example is Jacksonville. WJXT channel 4 actually broadcasts on channel 42. WJXX channel 25 is on channel 10. WTLV channel 12 is on channel 13. There are more, but I think you see the point. It's complicated.

Regardless of the fruit basket turnover involving virtual and actual channels, if you have an antenna that picks up all three bands, you still need to be close enough to a tower to pick up the station.

There is no such thing as a 200 mile antenna. If you take nothing else away from this, take that. Marketing hype is a fancy term for lying. Don't believe the hype. Do some research, or reach out to an expert. One is Tyler the Antenna Man, but there are others.

If you can, find a good antenna. Use the resources available to get the local channels, if you live close enough.