Local NBC coming to Peacock TV ... for a price

Peacock TV has been a good service for the cost. The NBCUniversal catalog is really big, and the free tier offers 1/2 to 2/3 of the catalog (depending on how you count it). The Premium service, which contains the entire catalog, plus lots of live streaming offerings, particularly sports programming, is a good deal at $5/month (free for Xfinity Internet customers).

Peacock even has an ad-free tier, which is another $5/month, totally $10/month for everything and no ads for on-demand content (actually, there are ads on a very limited number of items; of course, all live streams have ads).

The pricing of the service is similar to that of Paramount+ (no free tier for Paramount, by the way). But Paramount+ has one advantage. Well, had, since that's won't matter soon. Paramount+ $10/month tier includes local CBS affiliate streams.

Peacock TV will soon be adding local NBC affiliate streams to the service. According to reports, it's already rolling out in some areas:

Once the new feature is available in your market — some are going live as early as today, and everyone will have live TV by November 30th -- you'll see a new channel on the Peacock homepage that matches your local broadcast network.

The 24/7 live stream means you'll be able to watch local news and sports, plus NBC's primetime hits like Law & Order: SVU, Young Rock, Chicago Fire, and Dateline NBC. And we can't forget about mainstays like The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live.

I'm checking out Peacock Premium Plus this month, and the local NBC affiliate out of Savannah isn't available. Once it does roll out, I'll see just how well it works.

I have a feeling it will work well, just like Paramount+ and local CBS. Whether or not it's worth it is something each streamer will have to decide. I likely won't keep it year-round as part of my Streaming Life, but I do see using it from time to time.

Netflix with ads

Netflix recently launched its new ad-supported tier. It's $7/month, and is the same as the $10/month plan, except you can't download content for off-line viewing, and there are ads.

Being someone who doesn't do Netflix, I wasn't sure what it would be like. I dropped Netflix several years ago. I realized several years back that I didn't need to subscribe to everything all year long. Netflix was the first major service I dropped, and it was years before I ever used it again.

I only subscribed to Netflix when they brought back Mystery Science Theater 3000, and only kept it until I watched all the episodes. Then canceled it again. They brought the show back for one more season, so I subscribed again, then dropped it again.

Recently, I logged in (I only canceled service; I didn't delete the account) and picked the Basic with Ads tier to give it a try.

So, how did it go?

Well, so far, I've only watched a couple of things.

First, I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There was a 30-second ad break to start, then about a half-hour in, there was a 75-second ad break, and one every 15 minutes (thereabouts) afterwards. It wasn't directly on the minute, and the breaks came at reasonable times within the film. If you are familiar with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you know it's a bunch of skits thrown together within a King Arthur narrative. What I'm saying is the ad breaks came at reasonable spots, and not in the middle of a sentence, like you'll see on some free ad-supported services. They put some work into it to make it less of an intrusion.

The next movie I watched was The Dirty Dozen. No ad breaks within the entire film. Just the one before the film, but once the actual film started, there were no breaks for ads.

Now, whether or not this was an error, I don't know. Perhaps it was a fluke. But, when I watched two movies on the same day, one had ads at convenient places, and one had no in-movie ads at all.

Of course, these are both older films. But then, I wanted to ensure if I watched something, it was something I enjoyed. I could just put it on while doing something else and check to see when ad breaks happen. Maybe I'll do that.

But, my first impression is a good one. You see, I don't really mind ads. I just don't like them interrupting the flow of a scene. To the credit of Netflix, the experience was good.

The downside is that the Basic with Ads tier, as well as the Basic tier, are only 720p. So, that was not quite as good as the $16/month or $20/month plans, which are 1080p and UHD/4K respectively.

But, as I won't keep Netflix beyond the time of the subscription, and was only interested in seeing how the ad experience was, that's not that big of a deal. I knew going in what to expect. What I didn't expect was that ad experience would be so much better than most services.

Netflix did ads right. If you want Netflix in your Streaming Life, and the 720p resolution works for you, then consider saving another $3/month and go with the Basic with Ads tier. Next time I need to subscribe to Netflix, it's the way I'll do it.

Watching election results

It's election day. Now, yes, I know, many people vote early. I won't go into the argument about early voting. Rather, I'm going to focus on how you can watch the election results.

If you're streaming, and want to watch the results, there are plenty of free options. There are also paid options.

Let's cover the free options first, okay. And, keep in mind, these aren't all of the free options, but these are the most popular. You may already know of these, but if not, and if you want to watch the election results, here are a few.

• NBC News NOW
• ABC News Live
• LiveNOW from FOX
• Newsy
• Reuters
  

Most streaming devices have apps for these. And some live streaming services may have channels for these.

I'm not sure if I'll actually watch the election results. Yes, there are some races in which I have great interest, and will have cast my ballot by end of day today, I'll probably simply have my laptop on an election results Website or have my phone next to me while I watch something entertaining on my TV.

After all, I wanted more entertainment options as part of my Streaming Life, and haven't missed the yelling talking heads on the TV at night. But, if you want to watch election results life, these are some good options.

Hulu raises price on live streaming service

list of live streaming services that are raising their prices continues. This time, it's Hulu. Only I'm not sure you can blame this increase on the same reason as the recent Sling TV increase.

Recently, Sling TV increased its prices by $5/month because of the settlement of a carriage dispute with Disney. Because of the increased fees Disney charges for their services, Sling TV has now gone up in price.

This increase for Hulu+Live TV isn't because of a carriage dispute, however. Disney owns Hulu, so Disney is paying itself for the service. But, the fact that other services have gone up recently -- YouTube TV, Fubo TV, and Vidgo all saw increases ahead of Sling TV -- means that Hulu+Live TV now goes up as well, and it gets lost in the mix.

Well, it's not lost on everyone.

Disney caused the price increases in the other services, then the day after the last service they gouged announced an increase, Disney's own service (Hulu+Live TV is owned by Disney) went up too.

I see what you did there, House of Mouse.

Disney first sent notices to subscribers last week, before streaming news outlets picked up on it. The first one I saw was the story on Cord Cutters News:

The price of Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV, Disney+ (No Ads), and ESPN+ (With Ads) will increase from $75.99/month to $82.00/month beginning 12/08/22.

The price adjustment will be reflected in your first billing cycle on or after December 8. Your payment method on file will be charged the new price unless you cancel before the start of your first billing cycle on or after December 8.

While Cord Cutters News has been running on a skeleton staff -- or so it appears -- for several months, they did get the jump on others with this, so good on them.

Bad for us, though, as this price increase is simply another in the long line of things that have cost a lot more in the lasts two years. It's getting harder to keep the price down on your Streaming Life. But it's like that with everything, it seems.

Still running with my non-privacy phone

I've been testing a privacy phone for a few months now, and have decided on the phone to go with. I'm using the Google Pixel 4a running Lineage OS.

While the phone is a Google brand, it doesn't have Google Services running. That means some apps won't work, but most of the apps work just fine, or I have found alternate apps that work fine.

However, not everything is fine. And that's the problem. There are still some things that are very difficult to do with my Lineage OS phone. And, it related directly to apps.

This week, for instance, I'm out of the office at a conference, and the conference is using an app for keeping up with events and such. The app runs on iOS and Android, but it won't run on Lineage OS. At least, it won't show up in the Aurora Store, not the F-Droid Store. Maybe I should try to download from Google Play, but I'm trying to keep everything Google away from the phone. I don't want a Google back door.

So, I'm still running an iPhone with the app I need. I'm running it as secure as I can, but it still connects to Apple all the time, so that's not ideal.

For this conference, using the Whova (that's the app the conference is using) Website won't do, as it's not mobile friendly.

This continues to be a sore spot for those that want to run a secure, privacy focused phone. It's certainly a sore spot for me.

Watching college football games this weekend: Week 10

Watching college football games this weekend: Week 10

College football season in now in Week Ten. The highlight will be the only match-up of two unbeaten teams as Tennessee plays at Georgia.

The other four unbeaten teams are also playing, and are all favored. Two are expected to be blowouts -- Ohio State and Michigan are big favorites -- but two are only one-score spreads -- Clemson and TCU are favored close.

If you want to watch all of the games this season, you need access to most of the networks, which can get expensive. Of course, you might not want to be able to watch all the games.

This weekend, only one game will not be on these networks. Here are the networks carrying games:

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big 12
• Big Ten
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• ESPN
• ESPN 2
• ESPN 3
• ESPN U
• SEC Network
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• Longhorn Network (No games this week)
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• Peacock
• Stadium

Here is how to watch these networks listed. Note the prices reflect the announced price increases for Sling TV:

ABC

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ACC Network

• Sling Orange, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Choice, $90/month.

Big Ten Network

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Choice, $90/month.

CBS

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• Paramount+ Premium, $10/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

CBS Sports Network

• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Ultimate, $105/month.

ESPN

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ESPN2

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ESPN U

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.
• Fubo TV Elite, $80/month.

ESPN3

ESPN3 is usually included with a service that carries standard ESPN/ESPN2.

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ESPN+

ESPN+ is a standalone sports programming service. It is not the same thing as regular ESPN that you get with cable or one of the live streaming services. Some content from ESPN, ESPN2, or other ESPN networks may be available on ESPN+, but often, it's content that is only available on ESPN+.

• ESPN+, $7/month.
• Disney Bundle, $14/month.

Fox

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

Fox Sports 1

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

Longhorn Network

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.

NBC

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

NFL Network

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.

Pac 12 Network

• Sling Blue, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• Fubo TV Pro, with Fubo Extra, $78/month.
• Fubo TV Elite, $80/month.

Peacock TV

Peacock is a standalone streaming service that carries NBCUniversal programming, including much sports from NBC as well as exclusive sports programming. Peacock Premium is $5/month, but is included with Xfinity Internet plans.

SEC Network

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Choice, $90/month.
• Fubo TV Ultimate, $100/month.

Stadium, Mountain West

• Website, free.
• Stadium app, free.
• Plex, free.
• Roku Channel, free.
• Sling Free, free.
• STIRR, free.
• Tubi, free.
• Xumo, free.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.

This list of networks covers all the games airing today. It also covers games next week through Friday, as the early games next week are all on one of these networks.

NOTE: Longhorn Network is not needed this weekend.

To watch all the games, having an antenna won't really matter, as in order to get all the networks carrying games, the services also carry the OTA stations. So, how much to watch them all?

The services necessary will cost $85. That's $78 for Fubo TV Pro + Fubo Extra, along with $7 for ESPN+.

If you want college football in your Streaming Life, you have options, though it can get expensive depending just how many games you want to watch.

Sling TV is raising its prices. Thanks Disney.

If you're a Sling TV subscriber, you'll get (if you haven't already) a notice that prices are going up. Sling TV will be $40/month going forward. That's a $5/month increase.

For Sling TV subscribers, the price will be effective for the next bill received on or after December 3. For new subscribers, it's effective immediately.

In case this is a shock to you, well you haven't been paying attention. Most of us saw this coming.

Sling TV is owned by Dish -- not everybody realizes this, but it is so -- and Dish Network announced a price increase a few weeks ago.

That was on the heels of the dispute with Disney a month ago where Disney pulled ESPN and the rest of their channels from Dish and Sling TV at the last minute just in time for a weekend of college football.

A lot of people got all mad at Sling TV over that, rather than Disney, who was the one who suddenly broke off talks and walked away, causing the outage. After the weekend, Disney resumed talks and allowed Dish and Sling to resume carrying Disney's channels.

The result of all this is that Disney is getting more money from Dish (and Sling TV) and their customers are paying more money as a result.

Sling TV isn't publicly blaming Disney, rather they are simply blaming the economy and the very high inflation those leaders in Washington have caused.

With the change, the monthly cost for Sling Orange or Sling Blue will now be $40, and Sling Orange & Blue will be $55, which is a $25 savings when you buy both.

Raising prices for our customers is not something we take lightly. We recognize that historically high inflation is impacting our customers every day and our goal is not to be another burden to your wallet. During these challenging times, Sling will continue to deliver the lowest price combined with an industry-leading user experience, flexibility and ease to watch top channels such as CNN, ESPN, FOX News, NFL RedZone, TNT, FOX Sports 1, and many more. However, Sling doesn’t own the networks you watch — we pay programmers for their channels, and the price of programming continues to rise. We’re deeply committed to keeping costs low and continually work with programmers to provide service you can rely on, which is why we haven’t raised prices in nearly two years, maintaining a generous cost advantage compared to our competitors.

Our focus on value and innovation has never been stronger and we have a robust list of new features we’re excited to share in the future, including plans to add 150-plus new channels through 2023, new User Profiles for your household and auto Binge Watching capabilities.

If you don't want to blame the politicians running Congress, you can blame Disney. Up to you. Bottom line is, this isn't the fault of Dish and Sling TV.

Sling TV is still  one of the best deals when it comes to live streaming services. And, they are the best deal that offers sports and news. If you want a live service with news and sports in your Streaming Life, Sling is still the cheapest way to go, despite the efforts of Disney and the ones running Congress.

Comcast + Charter + Walmart = Xumo

For years, Xumo has been one of my favorite FAST (free ad-supported television) services. That will change slightly in 2023.

Following an announcement by Comcast and Charter, the joint venture between the two pay TV giants will become known as Xumo.

In case you didn't know, Walmart is in the picture as well, as a retail outlet for devices that will be available. Walmart currently has its own brand of streaming device under its ONN brand. Those run Android/Google TV currently. The ONN devices range from awful (stick) to okay (box). ONN TVs run Roku TV platforms currently. Just how much the new devices from Comcast/Spectrum will impact current ONN devices is not known.

The new name will leverage the Xumo brand, according to a news release.

Along with the naming of the joint venture, Charter and Comcast also announced that Flex, the 4K streaming device Comcast licensed to the joint venture will become Xumo Stream Box and XClass TV will become Xumo TV. Both devices will remain powered by Comcast’s global technology platform and feature an entertainment experience designed to make it easy for consumers to find and enjoy their favorite streaming content through a world-class user interface and voice search. Xumo will go-to-market with its first branded devices in late 2023, distributed by Comcast, Charter and Walmart, with additional distributors to be announced in the future. 

Xumo’s FAST service, which consists of hundreds of linear channels and on demand options from a growing collection of networks and content creators, will be rebranded Xumo Play. Xumo Play will anchor the free content offering on Xumo devices and continue to be available as an app on other streaming platforms.

This will be interesting. I currently utilize Flex (soon to be Xumo Stream Box), since I'm an Xfinity Internet subscriber. I also run the Xumo (soon to be Xumo Play) app on my streaming devices. Just how big of an impact this will be on my Streaming Life isn't clear. Some news names may be it. But I have a feeling that there's more to it than simply adopting new names for current stuff.

Maybe we're not all going to Hell in a hand basket

If you are like me and sometimes just sit and wonder if we're on the right path as a species -- SPOILERS: we're not -- then I saw an article online recently that gave me just a little hope.

I saw an article on The Streaming Advisor the other day that I found interesting. I want to share my thoughts on it.

The post by  Ryan Downey talk about a recent report that showed a massive increase in viewership for Frndly TV. According to Mr. Downey's article, Frndly TV experienced a 53% increase in viewership over the same quarter a year ago:

The third quarter report from the company shows that viewership was up 53% in the quarter, compared to 3Q a year ago. Viewing per subscriber was up 9% and weekly active users rose 40%. The service has been adding channels since its launch and has maintained a very low price point for those who are looking to cut the big bloated cable packages but still have access to programming that would otherwise be out of reach.

That's huge. More people are watching Frndly TV. That means a few things, in my mind.

First, as Mr. Downey indicated, people are looking to save money when it comes to watching TV. Frndly TV is the lowest priced subscription TV service that offers live TV of channels that you normally find on cable. It's true that the number of channels is small when compared to other services, but over 40 channels is still a decent amount.

The other thing, which is where I'm getting a small glimmer of hope, is that Frndly TV is, as the name says (though it's missing all the vowels), friendly TV. You won't find channels with cursing animated fourth graders. You won't find stuff that used to be found only in a P. T. Barnum sideshow but nowadays walking down the city streets.

On Frndly TV, you'll find stuff you can watch with all members of the family. You'll find quality TV at a low price. And it seems that more and more people are discovering that. They want simple, wholesome television to watch, not 24/7 shock TV.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this. If I'm deluding myself, allow me to have my delusion. I'm happy that I'm not the only person that thinks good family friendly TV is still something that many people want in their Streaming Life.

Hallmark coming to Peacock TV

For some users, me included, there is a desire for content from Hallmark Channel. And there are many ways to get that content. I'm always looking for the cheapest way, and it's been Frndly TV for some time.

There are free options, but those don't offer as much content, nor recent content. Still free methods such as Pluto TV, Xumo, and Roku Channel, and others, exist. Other cheap methods, though more costly than Frndly TV's $7/month price, are Philo and Sling TV, at $25 and $35 per month respectively.

More expensive services such as Vidgo, YouTube TV, Fubo, and DirecTV Stream also carry the Hallmark Channels.

Now, add another to the mix. Peacock will carry content from Hallmark as part of its package:

"As we continue to make Peacock a premium streaming destination, Hallmark is exactly the type of brand we want to align with," said Kelly Campbell, President of Peacock, and Direct-to-Consumer, NBCUniversal, in a statement. "Through this groundbreaking partnership, we’re giving Hallmark viewers a unique viewing experience while continuing to grow our audience, boosting engagement across both brands."

The hub will be available on Wednesday, November 2 and will feature live simulcasts of all three channels, next-day current on-demand programming and a library of movies. The hub’s VOD collection will include previously released Hallmark movies as well as new premiere movies for Peacock Premium subscribers.

The content will be live and on-demand content from Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Mysteries & Movies, and Hallmark Drama.

Peacock is $5/month for the Premium plan, and $10/month for the ad-free Premium Plus plan. There is a free tier, but it doesn't carry all of the content.

If Hallmark Channel is something you want in your Streaming Life, as of tomorrow, you'll have one more option, and an inexpensive option at that.