Trying Disney+ with ads

This week, Disney launched Disney+ with ads. I knew I wanted to try that, because a few things were interesting.

First, I've always used the basic Hulu service, which has ads. To be clear, I'm not talking about Hulu+Live TV. Yes, I've tried that from time to time, but I normally just use standard Hulu, which has always had ads. There is a "no ads" version, and I tried it, but it's not worth it to me. I can deal with ads.

Next, I've tried Netflix with ads. I don't subscribe to Netflix often, but I did recently give it a month with the ad-supported service. It was fine, and saved $3/month over a regular subscription. Yes there were ads -- most of the time; some content still didn't have ads -- but they did a good job with it. It was kind of like watching Hulu, but with even fewer ads.

Finally, I've tried HBO Max ads. It's $10/month rather than the $15/month price of the traditional plan. As with Netflix ad-supported and standard Hulu, it was fine. Not a lot of ads, but some, and they were placed properly and not intrusive.

So, with this week's launch of Disney+ with ads, I decided to try it. So, I subscribed.

I was actually going to wait, but didn't. The reason for waiting was that I'm still in my month of HBO Max. If you've followed here for some time, you're aware that I'll subscribe to a single service for a month, watch all I can, then cancel it, and subscribe to a different service the next month. I continue that over the year. I do get to watch everything on-demand that I want, and I pay a lot less over the year.

I don't normally double up on services, and I'm in the midst of HBO Max, so that means I would wait, right? Well, normally, yes. But there are several shows on Hulu that have been collecting, awaiting on my to subscribe again. And I took advantage of the HBO Max special of 3 months for $6. So, I can afford to double up and no go too far outside budget.

With Hulu and Disney+ together for only $10/month -- ad-supported pricing -- I decided to do this.

So, how is it? Well, I don't know. I just did this. I mean, literally, I subscribed then opened the laptop to type this. I haven't watched anything yet. But I'm about to. Well, after breakfast.

I'm very curious to see how this works into my Streaming Life. I think it will go well. But let's find out.

Illegal IPTV streaming

I started to write about something I haven't in a while, but something that needs to be kept in mind for cord cutters and streamers: illegal IPTV streaming services.

I've written about it before, and I didn't want to just repost what I had posted before. I wanted it to be something a little different, but still give the same information, as it all still applies.

Well, Tyler the Antenna Man came to the rescue. He doesn't know, of course. He just so happened to have posted a video recently about this very topic. So, I'm going to simply let you watch his video, as he does a proper job on explaining things.

[Direct YouTube link]

Of course, Tyler runs an antenna service, and his video channel is for promoting that as much as sharing information. But he's not high pressure, and offers good information that you can use without purchasing one of his antennae or using his recommendation service. I will add that his recommendation service is very good, and something I would recommend if you aren't certain about your antenna purchase plan.

And, of course, his information about illegal IPTV services is spot on. Stay away from those services. Sellers have gone to jail. Subscribers have been hit with fines. Plus, it's just plain wrong to use them. Don't incorporate something like that into your Streaming Life.

More cord cutters

So you're a cord cutter. Guess what? So are more and more people. That means you were in or cord cutting before others.

Well, unless of course you aren't a cord cutter, in which case ... why not?

But let's say you are. New data indicates more and more people are joining your ranks -- our ranks -- and dropping traditional pay TV.

Data released recently from Moffett Nathasson indicates that pay TV subscribers dropped by large numbers in the third quarter of this year by over 6%:

The drop in pay TV subs was slightly worse than the 6.2% slide seen in Q2 and the 5.2% decline seen a year ago in Q3 2022. 

MoffettNathan's definition of pay TV includes both traditional cable and satellite operators as well as newer vMVPDs like Fubo TV and YouTube TV. 

To put this in perspective, MoffettNathanson reported that the "Q3 loss of 655K subscribers is the largest third quarter loss ever; last year’s loss was…617K and the year before just 91K" in Q3 2020.

So, is this good news? Not for TV subscribers. That means higher fees for carrying local stations.

According to the report, that means smaller income from broadcast retransmission fees, which could translate into even higher fees for the remaining subscribers.

Recently, Comcast announced increases, and the vast majority was due to the broadcast fees. And this report indicates more could be coming to other pay TV services.

While broadcasters may view this as a trend reaffirming the value of their over-the-air broadcasts, it also promises to create some serious financial problems for stations, which in recent years have relied heavily on retransmission consent payments from pay TV providers.

BIA has predicted that subscriber fees from retransmission consent agreements will increase from $14.55 billion in 2022 to $17.37 billion in 2030, growth that will be difficult to maintain if the pay TV ecosystem continues to collapse.

But you're a cord cutter, right? These things don't impact you.

You are a cord cutter, right? Right?

If not, you may want to look into it. I cut the cord in early 2011, and have never once regretted it. My Streaming Life is good. You should try it.

Christmas movies for free

With December well underway, many are looking to add Christmas movies to their regular TV watching schedule. So, how do you go about doing that?

One way would be to watch content from Hallmark. We recently talked about that.

While watching Hallmark content is a great way, it's not the cheapest way. Well, not always.

If you recall, some services do offer free streams of Hallmark content, although not current Hallmark movies.

• Plex
• Roku Channel
• Pluto TV
• Xumo
• Sling TV (free tier)

But is that all? Are there other ways to watch Christmas movies for free? No.

Pluto TV

The granddaddy of FAST apps has a Season's Greetings section. It has nine linear (live streaming) channels. If you look around the live channel guide, you'll see Christmas channels in other sections, but they are duplicates of what's in the Season's Greetings section. Of course, some other channels will occasionally have Christmas or other holiday content. These nine are all Christmas content, including movies, fireplace, music videos, and one Spanish language channel.

Xumo

The Comcast backed FAST service has a Holiday Hub that has 18 live streaming channels. This includes five music channels and a music video channel, but no fireplace channels.

Crackle

This long-time favorite now has a more family friendly approach since it was acquired by Chicken Soup for the Soul. Crackle doesn't have a live-streaming hub of holiday content, but does have a Holiday section of 160 on-demand movies. They are mostly Christmas themed, but there are other holidays represented, including Thanksgiving.

Tubi

The Fox-owned Tubi has a Holiday Hits category with 200 on-demand selections. There is no linear content, but that is a fair number of on-demand movies and TV. Tubi has some fireplace and Christmas music based selections that run about an hour each.

Plex

This service has both live streaming and on-demand sections. However, it's doesn't contain the focus of other services. There is no Holiday or similar category in the Movies & Shows section. However, there are over 250 on-demand holiday themed movies. But beware: there are all sorts of sub-genre and mixed genre holiday movies, including horror films. Not everything is suitable for family viewing.

Unfortunately, in the Live TV section, there is no category for holiday content.

Roku Channel

In the live streaming section, there is no section for Christmas movies, but there are some Christmas channels. My suggestion would be to mark them as Favorites.

Roku Channel does have a Seasons Streamings section for on-demand content, however. And a pretty good selection.

Pub-D-Hub

This offering is a little unusual, but the free Pub-D-Hub service does have a Christmas section. It's all really old content -- Pub-D-Hub is public domain content after all -- but some is really good. This may become a favorite of older viewers.

There are other apps and services that offer Christmas content, of course, but these are the highlights of the most popular. And all of these are free.

There are ways to get Christmas content into your Streaming Life. These are but a few of the free ways, but some of the best.

How to watch Hallmark Channel

Hallmark has meant quality television for years. More recently, it has become known for its Christmas movies. As we're nearly a week into December, you might be wondering where you can watch Hallmark Channel, or Hallmark's related channels, as a streamer. The answer is: a lot of places. Which particular place is right for you depends on exactly what you want. Answers are never simple, are they?

Let's start simple. Where can you watch Hallmark Channel? By that, I mean the same channel that you get with a cable or satellite subscription. If you've cut the cord, or are looking to, you may want to ensure that you are able to watch Hallmark Channel.

We'll cover that, as well as Hallmark's other channels -- Hallmark Drama and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries -- as well as it's on demand services -- Hallmark Movies Now and Hallmark Movies & More -- and the differences. Plus, some free Hallmark content.

You may right now be saying why would you want to know where you can subscribe to it when you can watch it free. Well, the free streaming channels don't have the current movies. They have Hallmark movies, to be sure, but not the same ones you can see on the standard Hallmark Channel.

If the mere fact of Hallmark content -- albeit older Hallmark content -- is enough, then you can watch it for free at a few places.

Here are the places that carry various Hallmark content

Plex

• Live Hallmark Movies & More
• On demand Hallmark Movies & More
  

Roku Channel

• Live Hallmark Movies & More
• Subscription Hallmark Movies Now
  

Pluto TV

• Live Hallmark Movies & More
• On demand movies
  

Peacock

• Live Hallmark Channel
• Live Hallmark Movies & More
  

Xumo Channel

• Live Hallmark Movies & More
• On demand Hallmark Movies & More

Sling TV free tier

• On demand Hallmark Movies Now (limited)
  

Those are a lot of options, and they may be enough to get you what you want. However, if you want to current Hallmark Channel and its sister channels, you'll need to subscribe to a live streaming service. You have plenty of options there as well.

Hallmark's channels

• Frndly TV ($7/month)
• Philo ($25/month)
• Sling TV Orange + Lifestyle Extra ($46/month)
• Sling TV Blue + Lifestyle Extra ($46/month)
• Sling TV Orange+Blue + Lifestyle Extra ($61/month)
• Vidgo Plus ($60/month)
• YouTube TV ($65/month)
• Fubo TV ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($70/month)
• DirecTV Stream ($70/month) Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries included; Hallmark Drama available in an add-on package.

Like I said, the answer isn't simple. But if you know what you want, you have some options.

One thing to consider is if you want the current Hallmark Channel, look at the various packages and see what other channels are avaialble. You may find the $7/month Frndly TV is suffiicient. Or you may find one of the others more suited.

What all this means is that you have plenty of options -- maybe more than you want to deal with -- to include Hallmark content in your Streaming Life. If you don't know what to do, watch the free content until you decide. I mean, it's free, right?

College Football Playoffs: A better idea (2022 Edition)

For years, some of my online friends have suggested ways to improve the college football playoffs. To be clear, we're talking about Division 1-A/FBS, since Division 1-AA/FCS has had a championship since they split Division 1 football in 1979.

Our idea has been to have a 16 team playoff. Every conference champion would automatically qualify. Let's be clear, all conference champions, not just the self-proclaimed Power 5. The field of 16 would be filled in with the best teams that didn't win a conference championship.

We've been calling for this since the BCS days, and if they had done this, a lot of the conference realignment would not have happened. The college football landscape would be very different.

In a couple of years, the field of four will expand to 12. It's a good step, but I think it should include all conference championships. Winning a conference championship is a big deal. Winning the SEC is a big deal. Winning the MAC is a big deal. Not as big a deal, but still, it's a major college football conference championship. In my mind, they've earned something special, and a spot in the playoffs would be the proper reward.

Once you have more than eight teams involved -- such as the upcoming change to 12 -- you have four rounds. The season won't last any longer having 16 teams than 12 teams. The only thing 12 does is give 4 teams a bye, and leave out four conference champs.

Having said all that, the College Football Playoff Committee announced the four team field yesterday afternoon:

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Texas Christian
4. Ohio State

Two of those are conference champions, one is a conference runner up, and one didn't make the conference championship game. So, eight conference champions were left out. Our plan of a field of 16 would solved that as well.

So, what would the playoffs look like if our plan was in place? First, let's see what the 12-team version that starts in a couple of years looks like.

1. Georgia (SEC)
2. Michigan (Big Ten)
3. Clemson (ACC)
4. Utah (Pac 12)
5. Texas Christian
6. Ohio State
7. Alabama
8. Tennessee
9. Kansas State (Big XII)
10. Southern California
11. Penn State
12. Tulane (American)

In the upcoming plan, the first four teams would receive a bye, and the other eight would play each other, with 5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10, and 8 vs 9.

This is actually a good start. But, if you want it done right, here is our playoff field:

1. Georgia (SEC)
   
2. Michigan (Big Ten)
   
3. Clemson (ACC)
   
4. Utah (Pac 12)
   
5. Kansas State (Big XII)
   
6. Tulane (American)
   
7. Troy (Sun Belt)
   
8. Texas-San Antonio (Conference USA)
   
9. Fresno State (Mountain West)
   
10. Toledo (MAC)
    
11. Texas Christian
12. Ohio State
13. Alabama
14. Tennessee
15. Southern California
16. Penn State

That seeds the conference champions first, followed by the non-conference champions. This is in line with how the NFL does it, and how the byes in the CFP 12-team works.

Some critics of our plan over the years don't like the MAC or Mountain West teams ranked higher than, say, Ohio State. I don't agree. I think winning a conference should give you an advantage. But, if you prefer to have non-champions above some conference champions, here is that seeding:

1. Georgia (SEC)
2. Michigan (Big Ten)
3. Texas Christian
4. Ohio State
5. Alabama
6. Tennessee
7. Clemson (ACC)
8. Utah (Pac 12)
9. Kansas State (Big XII)
10. Southern California
11. Penn State
12. Tulane (American)
13. Troy (Sun Belt)
14. Texas-San Antonio (Conference USA)
15. Fresno State (Mountain West)
16. Toledo (MAC)

I prefer the former, but if you want to do it that way, I'm okay with it. I just want all the conference champs involved. They did something great, and should be rewarded with a chance to win it all.

What does all this have to do with streaming? Well, other than that's how I watch all my games, nothing specific to streaming. But as a streamer, I appreciate the fact that I can watch any post-season game I want. My Streaming Life is good.

New Linux project

Somehow along the way, I have transitioned to a Linux user. I've owned Windows devices since the 1980s, Mac devices since 2007, and ChromeOS devices since 2013 or so. It's not like I didn't have, and use, other options.

Well, if you've been following along, I did a project where I built my own streaming device, and that involved a Raspberry Pi, which uses a form of Linux. I've used Linux before, but I didn't mention that because I haven't had a device running Linux continuously since that time back in the early 2000s. I had installed Linux on a device, but stopped using it, and I don't even know what eventually happened to it.

Anyway, that streaming project reignited my desire to have a working Linux device, and now I have a couple. My daily laptop -- the one on which I'm writing this -- is running Linux. And a desktop computer is running Linux as well.

But, not everything I do, do I do using Linux. For example, I have a large digital movie library with nearly 1800 movies. When I get a DVD, or more commonly, a digital movie purchase, I like to have a local copy for playing digitally on my local network. I can't do that with Linux.

That's not to say it can't be done, but rather that I have that capability on Windows and Mac -- both of which I also still have running -- and haven't bothered to find a Linux way of doing it. That's something I need to recitify.

So, here's my next project: find good quality Linux software that will allow me to rip out DVDs and digital movie purchases.

DVDs should not be a major problem. That's been done for years, and I expect the technology required is readily available in Linux.

Digital movie purchases may be another matter. Some movie purchases, most in fact, have some copy protecting software that stops piracy.

I understand the reasons for that, and I am opposed to piracy. People have a right to earn from their work, and piracy is simply stealing from them. I'm think piracy is wrong.

On the other hand, I only work with movies I have purchased, and do not distribute them. They are for my own personal use.

The problem is that most of the software that will accomplish this is easily available on Mac and Windows, but I haven't found any Linux software to do this. And that's my target.

I'm looking into free open source software (FOSS) that will allow me to convert both my DVDs and digital purchases into a format I can use for my own personal library.

While I can continue to uses Mac or Windows to convert my DVDs and digital purchases, my project is to accomplish this with Linux. That's the last major thing to overcome in order to complete a transition to Linux. Once that's done, I'll be able to do everything in Linux that I want to do.

Pausing the live streaming

Today is the day of the conference championships -- well, the rest of them, since Utah won the Pac-12 and Texas-San Antionio won the MAC last night -- and that means a pause to college football. Okay, the Army-Navy game is next week, but that won't figure into my plans. Not that I'm not going to watch -- Go Army! -- but that it's not applicable for today's topic.

While some games are on ABC, CBS, Fox, or NBC -- all of which I can pick up via an antenna -- most games are on ESPN or another cable service that I can't get via an antenna. And that's why I will subscribe to a streaming service -- Sling TV, YouTube TV, Vidgo, Fubo TV, Hulu+Live TV, or DirecTV Stream -- that carries those sports programming channels.

During the rest of the year, I don't have any use for a service such as that. And, I stop my subscription during most of the year. Generally, I'll subscribe to a service -- most often Sling TV, since it's the cheapest -- for 30 days, and let it expire. Then, when the next weekend rolls around, I'll subscribe again for 30 days and let it expire. Then again.

Why letting it expire and not just let the service continue? Well, I don't use the services during that time. For example, if I subscribe for Week 1, and let it run for 30 days, that covers through Week 5. Look at a calendar and see what I mean. If Saturday is Day 1, then Day 30 is five weeks later, covering 5 Saturdays.

Since I'm usually not interested in things until the following weekend, I can let the service expire and not use it for Monday through Friday of the next week. So the new Day 1 is on Week 6, and the new Day 30 is on Week 10. Then I do it again, and that brings me through Week 15.

Oh, and since there is actually a Week 0 that I usually want to watch, everything shifts one week, meaning that subscription schedule takes me through Week 14 (this weekend). So 15 weekends of football for three 30-day subscriptions, with pauses between each subscription.

Next weekend's game is on CBS, meaning I can watch it via an antenna, so I'm good to go.

The bowls will start up in a couple of weeks or so, but another 30-day subscription from the first bowl I want to watch will take me through the national championship game. So, in a year, four subscriptions of a live streaming service let me watch all my college football games. And that's the only thing I need a live streaming service for.

Of course, if I were to want to watch other cable channels throughout the year, I can do something similar. And, I can probably do it cheaper. While Sling TV is the cheapest service with sports programming, it is not the cheapest service overall. Philo is $25/month. And Frndly TV is only $7/month. While they don't have sports programming, for the cable channels I may want to watch on occasion, one of those will do the job. So I can subscribe for 30 days to one of those, if I feel I need to. But usually I don't.

Look at your viewing habits. Do you really watch those channels that much all year long? Have you looked into the content on free ad-supported television (FAST) services? Might those work for most of the year?

If you do give it a look, you may find you can spend a little time balancing your subscriptions and save a lot of money in the process. It's what I do, and makes my Streaming Life more affordable.

Watching college football games this weekend: the final games

College football season in now in at the end of the season.There are two regular season games left -- a makeup of a postponement, and Army-Navy -- and a shipload of conference championship games. This weekend will set the college football playoffs.

The three remaining unbeaten teams can secure playoff spots with wins, but if chaos reigns, then the playoff committee will have some decisions to make on Sunday, and there will be plenty that won't like their team being left out.

If you want to watch all of the games this weekend, you need access to several networks, which can get expensive. Of course, you might not want to be able to watch all the games. All the conference championship games are available streaming on major networks. One game -- Valparaiso at New Mexico State -- is on FloSports streaming service.

Here are the networks carrying games:

• ABC
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• ESPN
• ESPN+
• Fox
• FloSports

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.

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.

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.

FloSports

• FloSports app, $13/month.

That list of networks covers all the games airing this weekend, and next weekend (Army-Navy).

To watch all these 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 $65 for YouTube TV, along with $7 for ESPN+, and $13 for FloSports.

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.

Roku Channel adds more channels

Last month, Roku announced that their free ad-supported television (FAST) service, Roku Channel, had added a number of new channels. I missed the announcement when it happened, but did get around to checking it out.

For the longest time, I wasn't impressed with Roku Channel. The idea of it at first was okay, but the implementation was lacking. It paled in comparison to Pluto TV.

Of course, the Pluto TV interface was buggy in the beginning. Specifically, the "Favorites" functionality didn't work. Once they fixed that, though, it became one of my favorite apps/services.

Roku Channel came along later, and took a bit to build up its content, but now it's a pretty darn good service. And it keeps getting better. A blog announcement from mid-November told about the 35 new channels they added:

We're bringing you endless content from your favorite food & lifestyle icons Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse with two all-new Roku owned channels, with library content as well as their Roku Original series.

We’re also bringing you a stacked lineup of all your favorite content from The Great British Baking Show universe. Gear up for our upcoming Roku Original special The Great American Baking Show Celebrity Holiday Special by streaming The Great British Baking Show, Celebrity Baking Show, Baking Show: An Extra Slice, and more on this all- new channel.

Plus, get a head start on your holiday shopping and learn about the latest steals and deals from fan-favorites QVC and HSN.

By my county, this brings the total of channels available on Roku Channel up to 383. Last time I counted Pluto TV, it was not that many. And, it's now kinda hard to count the number on Pluto TV, because the same channel will appear multiple times, each time with a different channel number.

I could be wrong, but I think Roku Channel has now passed Pluto TV in number of offerings. And if I am wrong, I'd be right in saying that the gap has been closed insofar as offering quality content. Both are excellent options for a FAST service. The only edge Pluto TV has is that it's available on more platforms. Roku Channel is available on Roku (of course) and Amazon Fire TV. I'm hoping it will become available on Apple TV and Google TV soon.

In the meantime, if you use Roku or Fire TV, you can use the free Roku Channel app and service to watch a lot of quality content. It's a worthwhile addition to your Streaming Life.