Fire TV searches to include ads

I totally missed this story last week. If you missed it as well, you might now find it interesting.

Fire TV will start inserting ads into search results.

Think about that for a minute. You're wanting to search for something on your Fire TV device, and the results include advertisements. According to AFTVNews, this will start later this year:

The search result screen is one of the last Fire TV interfaces that has remained ad-free but that will change later this year when the new Fire TV AI voice search arrives. Once the new conversational voice search arrives, expect to see ads mixed in with your actual search results. Other Fire TV advertisement changes being made include allowing non-media and entertainment brands to advertise in the first slot of the Feature Rotator, which is the big banner ad that takes up the upper half of the Fire TV home screen.

Of course, you get stuff like this when you search Google in your Web browser. That doesn't mean it's okay. It means they're getting paid to give you results you didn't ask for.

This is on the heels of Amazon putting more ads on the home screen. Sure, the amount of screen real estate isn't changing, but the content is including more ads, rather than related promotional materials (which, to be fair, are ads, although unpaid ads).

My Streaming Life is used to ads. I use more ad-supported content, and don't subscribe to a live cable replacement service. Ads aren't a big deal. That doesn't mean I want more of them.

How much can you save by streaming vs cable?

When I cut the cord in 2011, I had run the numbers on how much it would cost me to watch TV via streaming rather than with cable. I only counted streaming, not over the air antenna. My totals for 2010 showed that I would have saved $65/month. So, how does that compare to 2023?

A new report from Leichtman Research Group, says that the average savings of streaming over cable is nearly $65/month. Imagine that.

But what about my particular situation today? How much am I now saving by streaming?

I'm not sure an exact comparison can be made. First of all, I don't live where I lived in 2011. I have a different Internet Service Provider and have a different cable provider in this area. So, the $65/month savings applied to my ISP and cable provider there. But now I'm here. Still, I can run the numbers and see what they show.

I'm currently paying $52/month for Internet, and (roughly) $30/month for streaming services. During football season, I have a cable alternative service such as Sling TV ($40/month). But let's go higher and use YouTube TV ($73/month) instead.

That means in a year, I'm paying $624 for Internet, $360 for streaming services, and $292 for sports programming. That's $,1276/year or $107/month (rounding up) for all the streaming TV I want.

But... I have Amazon Prime, and I had Amazon Prime when I had cable, and would still have Amazon Prime if I went back to cable. So, that changes the monthly streaming service cost from $30 to $18. That brings the yearly cost to $216 rather than $360. That makes the total cost $1,132/year or $95/month.

For Xfinity/Comcast Internet and cable TV, the total is $138/month. That means I'm only saving $43/month ($516/year) by streaming, which is around 2/3 the national average, and 2/3 of what I used to save. It's still worth it, is what all this means.

My Streaming Life has saved me money over my old cable TV life. It still does.

(Almost) All About Frndly TV

This week, Luke Bouma at Cord Cutters News did a recap of Frndly TV, one of my favorite live streaming services.

[YouTube]

I've been a Frndly TV subscriber since the service launched. I subscribed to Feeln (now Hallmark Movies Now) but dropped it for Frndly TV when the service launched in 2019.

My Streaming Life has included family friendly TV for years, and this will continue to be part of it foing forward.

Watching College Football in 2023: Week 10

Week 10 of college football for 2023 is underway. There are 65 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this week, with nine already played (two Tuesday, two Wednesday, three Thursday night, and two last night).

Today, there are 56 games scheduled. There are five games that feature two Top 25 teams playing each other:

• Missouri (12) at Georgia (2))
• Kansas State (23) at Texas (7)
• LSU (14) at Alabama (8)
• Washington (5) at USC Southern Califormia (20)
• Oklahoma (9) at Oklahoma State (22)

The rest of the Top 25 all play unranked teams. For the first time this season, all Top 25 teams are playing.

Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all the games:

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big Ten Network
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• CW
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• Longhorn Network
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• Peacock
• SEC Network

Note: No games are on Longhorn Network this week.

Between this weekend's games and next Saturday, there are ten games involving Division 1-A/FBS teams, one involving a ranked team (at least, by this week’s poll). Those games will be broadcast on:

• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• FS1

It’s possible that before the season ends, there may even be another network or two that carries games, but these are the ones that are confirmed as the season begins. Here's how to get all the networks:

ABC

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (8 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

ACC Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Big Ten Network

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

CBS

• Antenna (free)
• Paramount Plus (Premium) $12/month
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

CBS Sports Network

• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Ultimate) ($139/month)

CW

• Antenna (free)
• Not available streaming.

ESPN, ESPN2

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

ESPN+

• ESPN+ (standalone) ($10/month)
• Disney Bundle ($15/month)

ESPNU

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro + Fubo Extra) ($83/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Fox

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (18 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

Fox Sports 1

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

Longhorn Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

NBC

• Antenna (free)
• Peacock (Plus) ($12/month)
• Sling TV (11 markets only) ($45/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

NFL Network

• Sling TV (Blue) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Pac 12 Network

• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)

Peacock

• Peacock is its own service, and can be used to watch NBC live programming with the $12/month plan.

SEC Network

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

That's this week in Division 1-A/FBS college football, and covers all the networks -- so far -- that are carrying college football games in 2023. My Streaming Life focuses on college football during this time of year.

More ads on Fire TV?

Good news everyone! Amazon is giving you more ads on your Fire TV screens! Huzzah!

This is where I have to tell a certain group of people that I am being sarcastic here. You knew though, didn't you.

Yes, Amazon thinks more ads are a good thing for you. Hang on. Let me try that again: Amazon thinks more ads are a good thing for you them. That's better.

Ad Exchanger has the details:

... starting on Wednesday, Amazon will begin making [the Fire TV home screen] available to any type of advertiser so all brands have an opportunity to get in front of viewers before they’re sucked into an ad-free show, said Charlotte Maines, director of Fire TV advertising, monetization and engagement.

So, maybe it's not that you'll see more screen area taken up with ads, just more and different types of ads.

My Streaming Life includes a lot of ad-supported content. This is intended to reach those that pay to get rid of ads, by showing them ads anyway. Just more ads. More ads for everyone.

YouTube blocking ad blockers

YouTube is taking a hard line against ad blockers. There are a few reasons for this.

The problem with ad blockers is that they block ads. Yes, that's obvious, but people use ad blockers and that cuts into Google's profits.

It also cuts into the content creators' profits as well, as they get their money from Google. And if ads aren't displayed, Google doesn't get money from ads, and don't pass along money to the content creators. Google has a financial interest in playing ads. Ad blockers are against Google's interest.

On Google's YouTube Help pages, they give you their explanation of things:

Ads on YouTube help support the creators you love and let billions of people around the world use the streaming service. When you block YouTube ads, you violate YouTube’s Terms of Service. If you use ad blockers, we’ll ask you to allow ads on YouTube or sign up for YouTube Premium. If you continue to use ad blockers, we may block your video playback. To avoid the interruption, allow ads on YouTube or sign up for YouTube Premium.

Yes, blocking ads is a ToS (Terms of Service) violation. Yes, fewer ads means less ad revenue, of which some goes to the content creators. And the page goes on to offer instructions on how to turn off ad blocking on their Websites.

So, am I suggesting you give YouTube money by subscribing to YouTube Premium? Well, no. And yes. It depends.

If you choose to watch YouTube for free, accept the fact that it's an ad-supported service, and watch the ads. Skip them when you can if you wish, but don't block ads. Watch them.

Or, if you don't want to watch ads, use their YouTube Premium option to stop the ads. You get the added bonus of YouTube Music Premium included with the YouTube Premium subscription. If you already subscribe to YouTube Music Premium ($11/month), you may want to consider adding $3 and getting the $14/month YouTube Premium plan and omitting ads in YouTube as well.

My Streaming Life does include YouTube. I don't mind ads, generally. But if YouTube Music was a consideration, I'd easily recommend YouTube Premium. If you really hate the ads, it's almost worth it anyway.

Rotating subscription streaming services

I like to rotate my subscription streaming services. Well, some of them. Let me explain.

There are a lot of good quality streaming services, and they carry lots of programming I like. And probably lots of programming you like. Let me share some of my favorites. Note that these are not necessarily in the order I like them, just a list of my favorites.

• Hulu (standard, $8/month)
• ESPN Plus ($11/month)
• Disney Plus ($8/month)
• Prime Video ($140/year = $12/month)
• Frndly TV ($8/month)
• Peacock ($6/month)
• Paramount Plus ($6/month)
• Apple TV Plus ($10/month)
• Britbox ($9/month)

You may have noticed that Netflix is not in the mix. I dropped Netflix a long time ago. I found that I rarely watched the service, and nothing has changed that over the years.

If you add all these up, that's $88/month. And you may have noticed that no cable replacement services -- Sling TV, YouTube TV, Fubo, DirecTV streaming, etc. -- are listed. That's because I don't use them. Well, during football season, I'll get one to get ESPN, but otherwise, I don't use it. If I did, the price would go up by either $40, $69, or $73, depending on which service I picked.

So, I pay $88/month for subscription services? No. I do keep Frndly TV year-round, and I've subscribed to Amazon Prime for years, meaning I'm paying $20/month.

I also have Peacock included with an Xfinity Rewards redemption, so I have it, but don't pay for it. And, since I use Walmart Plus, I get Paramount Plus. Those two services, normally $12/month together, are included in other services I'd have anyway.

During college football season, I take ESPN Plus, bringing the total up to $31/month. Except that I can get the Hulu, Disney Plus, and ESPN Plus package for $15, giving me another service, and dropping the price to $27/month. Packages make the numbers look weird.

During football season, this is how it goes. But, the rest of the year, I'll keep Amazon ($12/month) and Frndly TV ($8/month), then add one of the other services, keeping that additional service for only 30 days, then switching to another. That means I'm paying around $30/month or less for subscription services.

If Walmart will improve their shipping times, I'll drop Amazon Prime, saving $12/month. If they don't, I'll keep it for another year. I'm not looking forward to that.

Doing it this way, I get the same content as $88/month for $30/month. Yeah, I have to wait to watch certain content that's only on certain services, but saving that much money makes it an easy call for me. My Streaming Life costs are higher than I would like, but they're not as much as they could be, if I didn't put a little bit of effort into it.