Watching the bowl games, Day 6

There are 42 college bowl games and playoff games this year. The bowl season kicked off December 16 and concludes with the national championship game on January 9. In all, 82 schools will be playing games this post-season.

Streamers college football is a lot easier than it used to be -- legally that is -- and today you have many options options when it comes to watching the bowl games.

December 22, 2022

One game is scheduled today.

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
7:30 PM on ESPN

Baylor University (6-6)
vs
United States Air Force Academy (9-3)

How to watch

To stream the game, you need one of the following service.

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.

If watching college football bowl games is something you want in your Streaming Life, you have plenty of options.

Watching the bowl games, Day 5

There are 42 college bowl games and playoff games this year. The bowl season kicked off December 16 and concludes with the national championship game on January 9. In all, 82 schools will be playing games this post-season.

Streamers college football is a lot easier than it used to be -- legally that is -- and today you have many options options when it comes to watching the bowl games.

December 21, 2022

One game is scheduled today.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
9:00 PM on ESPN

Western Kentucky University (8-5)
vs
University of South Alabama (10-2)

How to watch

To stream the game, you need one of the following service.

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.

If watching college football bowl games is something you want in your Streaming Life, you have plenty of options.

Watching the bowl games, Day 4

There are 42 college bowl games and playoff games this year. The bowl season kicked off December 16 and concludes with the national championship game on January 9. In all, 82 schools will be playing games this post-season.

Streamers college football is a lot easier than it used to be -- legally that is -- and today you have many options options when it comes to watching the bowl games.

December 20, 2022

One game is scheduled today.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
3:30 PM on ESPN

Eastern Michigan University (8-4)
vs
San José State University (7-4)

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
7:30 PM on ESPN

Liberty University (8-4)
vs
University of Toledo (8-5)

How to watch

To stream the game, you need one of the following service.

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.

If watching college football bowl games is something you want in your Streaming Life, you have plenty of options.

Watching the bowl games, Day 3

There are 42 college bowl games and playoff games this year. The bowl season kicked off December 16 and concludes with the national championship game on January 9. In all, 82 schools will be playing games this post-season.

Streamers college football is a lot easier than it used to be -- legally that is -- and today you have many options options when it comes to watching the bowl games.

December 19, 2022

One game is scheduled today.

Myrtle Beach Bowl
2:30 PM on ESPN

Marshall University (8-4)
vs
University of Connecticut (6-6)

How to watch

To stream the game, you need one of the following service.

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.

If watching college football bowl games is something you want in your Streaming Life, you have plenty of options.

Xfinity Internet price hikes

About a month ago, we talked about Comcast TV price increases. We mentioned that it was expected that other services, including Xfinity Internet, would be going up in price as well.

There were details about the TV price hikes, mostly due to increased broadcast TV fees. That's the money you are charged to get local TV stations. These are stations you could get for free if you had an antenna. To be fair to Comcast, they have to pay to carry the stations, and they pass that along. They should simply include it in the base price. They quote you one price, then add on fees, in some cases of over $20, to the bottom line, making you pay more than they advertised.

While the focus of the report that we talked about was on cable TV price increases, there are also increases to Xfinity Internet.

I got my price increase notice yesterday. Mine is going up 6.1%.

Now, they didn't tell me that. Not exactly. They provided a link that I could use to find the document that had the price increase on it.

Simply put, if you look at the paper bill, or download the PDF of the bill, you'll find it on one of the latter pages. In my case, it's a $3/month increase. As my bill has been $49/month for Internet, that translates to a 6.1% increase in my Internet bill.

If you're an Xfinity Internet customer, you're Streaming Life just got a little more expensive. Mine by over 6%. I'm not happy about. But, I have to credit them for reliable service. I just don't like the idea of having to pay more for it.

How to watch the bowl games, Day 2

There are 42 college bowl games and playoff games this year. The bowl season kicked off yesterday and concludes with the national championship game on January 9. In all, 82 schools will be playing games this post-season.

Streamers college football is a lot easier than it used to be -- legally that is -- and today you have many options options when it comes to watching the bowl games.

December 17, 2022

Six games are on tap today. One includes a ranked team, but all should be pretty good matchups. Four of the games are one-score spreads.

Wasabi Fenway Bowl
11:00 AM on ESPN

University of Cincinnati (9-3)
vs
University of Louisville (7-5)

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
2:30 PM on ESPN

University of Florida (6-6)
vs
Oregon State University (#14) (9-3)

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel
3:30 PM on ABC

Washington State University (7-5)
vs
Fresno State University (9-4)

LendingTree Bowl
5:45 PM on ESPN

Rice University (5-7)
vs
University of Southern Mississippi (6-6)

New Mexico Bowl
7:30 PM on ABC

Southern Methodist University (7-5)
vs
Brigham Young University (7-5)

Frisco Bowl Presented by SERVPRO
9:15 PM on ESPN

University of North Texas (7-6)
vs
Boise State University (9-4)

How to watch

To stream the games, you need one of the following services, or an antenna in some cases.

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.

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.

If watching college football bowl games is something you want in your Streaming Life, you have plenty of options.

How to watch the bowl games, Day 1

There are 42 college bowl games and playoff games this year. The first two are today, and the last one, the national championship game, is on January 10. In all, 82 schools will be playing games this post-season.

Streamers college football is a lot easier than it used to be -- legally that is -- and today you have many options options when it comes to watching the bowl games.

December 16, 2022

HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl
11:30 AM on ESPN

Miami University (6-6)
vs
University of Alabama at Birmingham (6-6)

Duluth Trading Cure Bowl
3:00 PM on ESPN

University of Texas at San Antonio (#25) (11-2)
vs
Troy University (#24) (11-2)

How to watch

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.

If watching college football bowl games is something you want in your Streaming Life, you have plenty of options.

DirecTV Stream price increases

Starting in January, DirecTV Stream will cost more.

That's not totally unexpected, but it's never a welcome thing. There have been other price increases lately in live streaming services, and DirecTV Stream is simply the latest one.

So far, in 2022, there have been price increases by Vigo, Hulu+Live TV, Fubo, and DirecTV Stream. While this latest price increase won't take effect until January 22, 2023, their last increase was January 23, 2022, so DirecTV Stream did have a price increase this year, and this announcement is for next year.

So, what's the total cost going forward? Glad you asked. The Streamable has lists of the increase for the current plans, and for those still on one of the older DirecTV Now plans (yes, those grandfathered in get to share in the higher prices):

DIRECTV STREAM Plans

• Entertainment: $74.99 a month (+$5)
• Choice: $99.99 a month (+$10)
• Ultimate: $109.99 a month (+$5)
• Premier: $154.99 a month (+$5)

DIRECTV NOW Legacy Plans

• Live a Little: $84.99 a month (+$5)
• Just Right: $102.99 a month (+$8)
• Go Big: $114.99 a month (+$10)
• Go Big Early Adopter Plan: $89.99 (+$10)

Price increases are never good news. These days, they're never unexpected. And this is simply the latest.

I don't often use a live streaming service. When I cut the cord in 2011, they didn't have any live streaming services such as these, and I quickly adapted to finding content without any such service. And, when they were finally introduced, I tried them and found I was fine without spending the money. Which is a heckuva lot more money these days.

However, most newer streaming simply look to replicate cable when they transition to a Streaming Life. These services act like a streaming cable service, complete with price increases and everything.

IMDB top streaming movies of 2022

Yesterday, we talked about the top streaming TV of 2022, according to IMDB. But the report by IMDB contained two lists. Not only did they cover the top streamed TV shows, they also covered streaming movies.

During the year, the largest streaming year yet, there were several films that were watched. IMDB reported the top ten streaming movies. Spoilers: I've seen none of them.

IMDb Top 10 Movies of 2022*

1. The Batman
2. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
3. Thor: Love and Thunder
4. Top Gun: Maverick
5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
6. The Northman
7. The Gray Man
8. Everything Everywhere All at Once
9. Death on the Nile
10. X

*Among the movies released in the U.S. in 2022, these 10 were consistently most popular with IMDb users, as determined by the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. This exclusive and definitive data is derived from IMDbPro movie rankings, which are updated weekly throughout the year. IMDb users can add these and other titles to their IMDb Watchlist at https://www.imdb.com/watchlist. IMDb users can also rate movies they’ve seen from each film’s IMDb title page to help other users discover and decide what to watch.

Some of these are Marvel movies, but I've never been a comic book fan. And, yeah, I know they don't like the term "comic book" but that's exactly what it is. Those Marvel films are huge. But I'm not in the audience on those. I've seen some, and don't care when another one is released. They just don't appeal to me. None of them. Marvel, DC, none of them.

I'll look into a couple of these and perhaps I'll find a gem that I've missed. And if you've not seen them, even the Marvel ones, you may want to check them out. Just because it's not my cup of tea doesn't mean it shouldn't be on your menu. Only you can make that choice. After all, I have my Streaming Life, and you have yours.

IMDB top streaming TV of 2022

This time of year, there are all kinds of "top this of the year" and "top that of the year." Well, with streaming, and the popularity it has gained, there are now lists about streaming.

I saw an article on The Streaming Advisor about an IMDB list of the top streaming TV shows of the year. I found it interesting.

The actual list included several shows I've never seen, but a couple I did watch.

IMDb Top 10 TV and Streaming Series of 2022*

1. Stranger Things
2. House of the Dragon
3. Better Call Saul
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
5. Euphoria
6. The Boys
7. Moon Knight
8. The Sandman
9. Ozark
10. Inventing Anna

*The 10 TV and streaming series that released new episodes in 2022 and consistently ranked highest on the proprietary weekly TV rankings on IMDbPro throughout the year. IMDbPro rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. IMDb users can add these and other titles to their IMDb Watchlist at https://www.imdb.com/watchlist. IMDb users can also rate series they’ve seen from each show’s IMDb title page to help other users discover and decide what to watch.

I've seen two of these. Better Call Saul was a favorite of mine, and I've like Stranger Things overall. But I've watched none of the other TV shows. A friend has recommended Ozark, so I may give it a shot soon. I may check out some of the other shows, since many seem to think they're worthwhile.

If you haven't seen these shows, they may be worth checking out. As I said, I was a huge fan of Better Call Saul, and recommend it. They may be worth considering adding to your Streaming Life.