Less than half of USA had cable TV

If you are a cord cutter -- and of course you are -- you are no longer in the minority.

I cut the cord in early 2011, after getting a Roku device in late 2010. And, according to a study in late 2011, at the time, over 71% of USA homes had cable TV then.

A new study from the Leichtman Research Group suggests that 71% of U.S. households still have pay TV.

However, the new figure -- which accounts for cable, telco, satellite and internet-delivered virtual MVPDs -- still represents a significant decline from penetration rates five years ago. The research firm said this latest percentage is down from 82% in 2016, 87% in 2011 and 86% in 2006.

A new study says that less than half of USA homes have cable TV in 2023.

For years cord cutters were often looked at as this weird small group of people who didn’t watch TV. Now according to Samba TV, 52% of Americans no longer pay for cable TV.

You can clearly see this change as broadcasters have increasingly moved content off of traditional broadcast TV to streaming. NBCUniversal has been one of the largest movers of content off of NBC and over to Peacock.

This is a big shift. And if you've been a cord cutter for some time, you were ahead of the curve. If you're new to cord cutting, welcome aboard. Enjoy your Streaming Life!

Sling TV's "new" free service

Sling TV has announced that Freestream, a live streaming service, has launched. It's on Roku now, and will be on other platforms soon.

But think for a minute. Sling TV already had a free tier. Sling TV offered over 160 channels of free content for some time now. I wrote about it in 2021, and again in 2022.

So, what's new?

Well, there are more free channels available. The nag to subscribe upon launch isn't there. That means it's simply an expansion of the existing free tier of Sling TV, although a welcome expansion.

Is it worth checking out? Of course. I previously said how much I liked the Sling TV free tier -- which is how it works with Air TV for non subscribers -- so an expansion of that is great.

If you want another good free streaming option, Freestream, the free portion of Sling TV, is a great addition to your Streaming Life.

Watching the Super Bowl

If NFL football, or even just the Super Bowl, is your thing, you have plenty of streaming options.

The game is tonight at 6:30 -- well, kickoff will be later than that, but that's the official game time -- and a lot of people will be watching.

If you're a streamer, how will you watch?

You got options. Lots of options.

Fox network is carrying the game, and it's free on lots of ways. Of course, if you subscribe to one of several live streaming services, you have access to Fox network.

Fox

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• Fox Sports app, free.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• Fubo TV, $75/month.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $75/month.

My Streaming Life doesn't have any of those paid services, but fortunately for me, I have the free options available.

ESPN standalone service is coming ... some time

Something that I've been wanting for quite some time will be happening. But not soon.

Cord Cutters News had an article this week that covered a point in the Disney earning call that was of interest to me and some other sports fans.

According to the report, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that ESPN would offer a stand alone streaming service in the future, but made it clear it would not happen soon. Just eventually:

When asked about the future of ESPN as a direct streaming service during Disney's 1st quarter 2023 earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said, "Regarding ESPN and when we might make the shift, if you're asking me, is the shift inevitable? The answer is yes, but I'm not going to give you any sense of when that could be, because we have to do it, obviously, at a time that really makes sense for the bottom line. And we're just not there yet," Bob Iger said. "And that's not just about how many subscribers we could get, it's also about what is the pricing power of ESPN, which obviously ties to the menu of sports that that they've licensed."

This is not the first time Disney has hinted at offering ESPN directly to consumers, but this is the most forceful we can remember. Clearly, Disney and others are looking closely at when and how to jump off of the cable TV bundle and go a la carte.

This is good news, insofar as confirming it will happen. This is bad news in that it will not happen any time soon.

Personally, I'm ready for a standalone ESPN subscription in my Streaming Life. And many others are as well.

Netflix password sharing cost

As many know, and as we talked about a week ago, Netflix has changed its stance on password sharing over the last few years.

Well, they have kind of changed their stance. They used to promote password sharing. Now, they are saying don't share. Except where they are saying you can pay to share.

Confusing? Welcome to the world of streaming.

Streaming itself is a great thing. Companies trying to find ways to get every dollar they can from you is not so great. And now that is happening in streaming.

To the point of this post, Netflix has announced the pricing for password sharing. It's not available in the USA yet, so they would rather you not share. But it's coming, and the pricing is available.

Netflix has four plans:

• Basic with Ads ($7/month)
• Basic ($10/month)
• Standard ($16/month)
• Premium ($20/month)

The cost of password sharing? That will be $8/month. And, you must have the Standard ($16/month) or higher plan to get a sharing add-on.

It would be cheaper to buy the kinds a Basic with Ads account.

The password sharing is rolling out in select countries, not the USA, and offers some restrictions and options that will make a few people unhappy:

So over the last year, we’ve been exploring different approaches to address this issue in Latin America, and we’re now ready to roll them out more broadly in the coming months, starting today in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. Our focus has been on giving  members greater control over who can access their account.

• Set primary location: We’ll help members set this up, ensuring that anyone who lives in their household can use their Netflix account.
• Manage account access and devices: Members can now easily manage who has access to their account from our new Manage Access and Devices page.
• Transfer profile: People using an account can now easily transfer a profile to a new account, which they pay for — keeping their personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games and more.
• Watch while you travel: Members can still easily watch Netflix on their personal devices or log into a new TV, like at a hotel or holiday rental.
• Buy an extra member: Members on our Standard or Premium plan in many countries (including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain) can add an extra member sub account for up to two people they don’t live with — each with a profile, personalized recommendations, login and password — for an extra CAD$7.99 a month per person in Canada, NZD$7.99 in New Zealand, Euro 3.99 in Portugal, and Euro 5.99 in Spain.

I see all kinds of problems with this, notably the fact that some ISPs will change your IP address, and even route you through different cities, fooling systems into thinking you are away from home, when you aren't. That will be a huge problem.

However, if you want to use Netflix after these changes roll out, you'll have these potential issues to address as part of your Streaming Life.

Good reception, bad location? No problem!

If you've looked into getting an antenna, but find that you don't get good reception on your main TV, but can get great reception on another TV in an inconvenient location, what do you do?

For example, suppose the reception in a guest bedroom is great, but in the living room, you only get a few channels. What then?

Well, you can do like I did and get a network connected Tablo.

The antenna is located on the side of the house, near a bathroom and guest bedroom. It's not located near the living room. But that's not a problem. In the guest bedroom, I have a network connected Tablo device. The antenna is connected there, and with the Tablo connected to the network, I can watch TV on any TV in the house. I use the Tablo app on my Roku. If you use Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, or Google/Android TV, you can use the Tablo app as well, and watch antenna TV on any of your TVs.

If this sounds like a commercial for Tablo, it's not. Well, it's not a paid ad. It's how I actually do this.

I was inspired to tell about this because of a Q&A post at the Tablo Website that talks about this very thing. The question is a little odd, because the questioner doesn't understand how things work. And what they're trying to ask makes sense, just how they asked it was awkward. But Tablo answered it, and what they said is essentially what I'm doing.

If you want to add a TV antenna to your Streaming Life, a Tablo is a great way to do just that.

Want to watch the best shows? Don't look to cable.

This got past me. It got past a lot of people. But Luke Bouma at Cord Cutters News noticed it several weeks after the fact, and that's where I saw it.

USA Today had a list of the best TV shows of 2022 back in December, and the top ten included no cable shows.

Well, you could say that one of them is available of cable, since it's on ABC, and most cable systems carry the broadcast networks. However, if you have an antenna and can pick up your local ABC station, you don't need cable to watch that one show. The other nine are all on streaming services:

1. Andor (Disney+)
2. Reservation Dogs (Hulu)
3. The White Lotos (HBO Max)
4. For All Mankind (Apple TV+)
5. Abbott Elementary (ABC)
6. Heartstopper (Netflix)
7. Pachinko (Apple TV+)
8. The Bear (Hulu)
9. Starstruck (HBO Max)
10. Bluey (Disney+)

I've not seen any of these shows. Well, I did watch the first two seasons of For All Mankind, but haven't seen the most recent season. And I've seen none of the others listed. I'll look into them.

If you haven't seen them because you don't stream TV, you are missing out. And spending more money than you should.

Oh, and if you say "Yeah, but to subscribe to all those services would cost more than cable" then you aren't doing it right. Subscribe to one service for a month and watch all the stuff you want on that service that month. Then cancel. And the next month, subscribe to something else. Do that over and over, and you still get to watch everything, and spend a lot less money.

My Streaming Life gives me lots of options. And I'm glad to see there are some good ones that I can look into. I'll be doing that soon.