Finally, Walmart+ has a Paramount+/Showtime option

In summer 2022, Walmart+ added a new benefit. Walmart+ subscribers can get Paramount Plus Essential plan. It wasn't all good news, however. If you wanted to upgrade to the Paramount+ with Showtime (formerly the Premium plan), you couldn't. It was the Essential plan, or you have to pay full price for the Premium plan.

That's now changed.

Walmart+ now has an upgrade option for Paramount+, and I'm happy about that.

Normally, the Essential plan is $6/month or $60/year. It's included with Walmart+.

The Premium (now called Paramount+ with Showtime) plan is $12/month or $120/year. With Paramount+, it's $65/year (there is no monthly plan).

With Walmart+, you get $60 off the Essential plan, or $55 off the Premium/with Showtime plan.

That's a great deal, and I'm thinking about doing that. I really don't care much about Showtime, but the live local CBS is nice, as is no commercials.

My Streaming Life has included Paramount Plus from time to time, as part of a rotation. Since Walmart+ added the perk, it's been a regular thing. I'm happy I now have the option to upgrade at a discount. I might not upgrade, but I might.

Testing the new Onn Stick

Recently, I purchased one of the new Onn Sticks from Walmart. I had one of the original Onn Sticks, and hated it.

Of course, there is a lot of potential in cheap Android/Google TV device. The problem with the original Onn Stick is that it was way underpowered. When an updated version was announced, I had hopes it would be a more powerful device.

The good news is that it is. But is it enough?

I'll be finding out soon enough. I've begun testing the new Onn Stick. So far, it's going well. But when I got the original device, I used it for a few days before I realized it was not a good device. The original had some issues right off the bat, but I tested it for a few days to make sure about it. It didn't take many days to determine I didn't like it.

The new one might be okay. I did already test the new streaming box, and I like it much better than the original streaming box. It could still benefit from more RAM and a more powerful device would be better, but it is a good device.

My Streaming Life has traditionally used more powerful devices, and the specs on the new Onn Stick aren't that great. But the first little bit of testing has gone well. We'll see after a week or so just how well it holds up.

YouTube TV reduces delays, and that may not be good

Last week, Google announced that users could reduce the delay on YouTube TV. That may not be a good thing.

Okay, if you're watching live sports, it's good -- in theory. In practice, maybe not.

Here's what Google posted last week about the new feature:

Broadcast delay is the delay between the camera capturing an event and the event being displayed when you’re watching on your TV.

The lower the broadcast delay, the less buffer the video player will have. With a lower broadcast delay, you’re more likely to experience playback interruption.

Internet congestion, Wi-Fi interference, and other factors may also cause live programming issues, which can delay the stream. Delays can happen even when you have a great network.

What does that mean? Well, TV Answer Man Phillip Swann answered it well:

In other words, if you choose to reduce the delay between the live action of a sports event and when you see it on screen, the odds increase you will experience buffering, picture freezing and other issues. Consequently, I suggest you try it but turn it back off if you undergo more picture problems than normal.

My Streaming Life only uses services such as YouTube TV when live sports is involved. To be, the delay isn't really a problem. But, if it is for you, do as TV Answer Man suggested and give it a try. You may be happy with the result.

Hulu and Disney Plus apps combined

I saw reports recently that Hulu had been integrated into the Disney Plus app. I didn't find that to be the case, but that's probably because it rolled out to different platforms at different times.

Now, it is on my devices, and I have some thoughts on them. First, here's a rundown of the integration of the apps from Cord Cutters News:

[YouTube]

Now, my thoughts. I don't like it.

No, I'm not being ornery. I might be ornery, but that's not the reason I don't like it. There is some missing and important functionality. I'm not talking about Hulu+Live TV either. I don't use that service, and it being missing isn't a problem. There are other things missing that I like about the Hulu app.

The primary thing, and a deal-breaker for me, is that the "My Stuff" section of Hulu is missing. That's important.

If you're not familiar, "My Stuff" is essentially your watch list. You add shows to "My Stuff" and when new episodes are released, or if there are episodes you haven't watched, they'll appear there. This is missing from the Disney Plus app. Shows I've added to "My Stuff" are not highlighted in Disney Plus. To me, this is an important feature, and one that they are erring by leaving it out.

Sure, the Hulu section of Disney Plus is listed as "Beta" meaning it's not the final version. But the fact that they didn't incorporate it from the beginning either means they don't think it's important, or they found it hard to do. Neither of those is a good sign.

My Streaming Life has included Hulu since 2010. I plan to keep it, and enjoy it for many years to come. If the integration into Disney Plus doesn't improve, that will severely impact its usefulness to me. Just another way Disney is becoming something I don't like.

Windows 10 extended security updates

Microsoft is dropping support for Windows 10 in October 2025. You may wonder if that's a big deal or not. Well, for some people, it is.

Windows 11 has some pretty serious hardware requirements. That means someone (maybe you) could have a perfectly good computer that is missing some component that is a requirement of Windows 11. A perfectly good computer may not support Windows 11. Or is it that Windows 11 may not support a perfectly good computer. Either way, that is a situation where the operating system becomes out of date in less than two years. To me, that's a big deal.

What does Microsoft say to do? They offer three options:

• "Refresh ineligible PCs to new Windows 11 eligible devices." That means buy a new computer.
• "Migrate to Windows 11 in the cloud with Windows 365." This is really an option for businesses, but if you have a business with a lot of Windows 10 computers that can't upgrade to Windows 11, this may be an option.
• "Extended Security Update program for Windows 10." Yep, pay Microsoft for security updates.

Britec has a video telling all about this:

[YouTube]

My Streaming Life does use Windows. My Plex server is running on Windows 10. I'll be changing that soon. Whether it's to Windows 11 (my comptuer is compatible), or moving to a Linux server, I'm not sure. I have done Raspberry Pi as a Plex server, and that has worked well. I'll make up my mind soon enough. I just don't like being foreced into a move.

College Football Playoffs, fixed

For many years (not quite 20 years), some online friends and I have been advocating a 16-team playoff for Division 1-AA/FBS college football.

It took the NCAA years to get around to having a championship, and then they did it wrong. They only had two teams involved. It wasn't until 2014 that they expanded to four teams. Not nearly enough. This year proves that, if nothing else.

Next year, they're expanding to 12 teams. That's still not enough, and that will come to light eventually, just as this year showed that four is way too few.

What my friends and I have been advocating for years is a 16-team playoff. And, it's simple. Every conference champion gets the top spots. The remaining spots are filled with the best teams that did not win a conference title. That covers independents (think: Notre Dame), and the best teams that did not win their conference, either because they lost the title game (such as Georgia) or didn't make the title game (such as Ohio State). And with every conference champion in, there would be no snub, such as what Southern Methodist experienced.

With that in mind, here would be this year's College Football Playoffs (fixed):

1. Michigan (Big Ten Conference) (1)
2. Washington (Pac 12 Conference) (2)
3. Texas (Big XII Conference) (3)
4. Alabama (Southeastern Conference) (4)
5. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference) (5)
6. Liberty (Conference USA) (23)
7. Southern Methodist (American Athletic Conference) (24)
8. Troy (Sun Belt Conference)
9. Miami, Ohio (Mid-American Conference)
10. Boise State (Mountain West Conference)
11. Georgia (At-large) (6)
12. Ohio State (At-large) (7)
13. Oregon (At-large) (8)
14. Missouri (At-large) (9)
15. Penn State (At-large) (10)
16. Mississippi (At-large) (11)

All ten conference champions get the top ten spots, and the six best non-champions get the last six spots. The seeding is by the CFP rankings, within that guideline.

Some may think it's silly that Liberty, Troy, Miami (Ohio), and Boise State are seeded ahead of Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Missouri, Penn State, and Mississippi, but if they wanted a higher seeding, they should have won their conference. Conference championships should mean something, right Florida State?

The first round matchups would be:

• Mississippi at Michigan. SEC vs Big Ten is always fun.
• Penn State at Washington. This could easily have been a Rose Bowl scenario in the old days.
• Missouri at Texas. A Cotton Bowl matchup from back in the day.
• Oregon at Alabama. Bo Nix vs Alabama. Can he beat Saban again?
• Ohio State at Florida State. This should be good.
• Georgia at Liberty. Okay, not every matchup is an even matchup.
• Boise State at Southern Methodist. A good, but not great matchup.
• Miami, Ohio at Troy. Another good, but not great matchup.

The seedings, with conference champs at the top, will give seven good or great matchups. And while there is one that's a total mismatch on paper, you never know what may happen.

Highest remaining seed plays lowest remaining seed, second highest plays second lowest, and so on, until the championship.

This is how this year's college football playoffs should have gone. It makes the conference championships mean something. It rewards really good teams for nearly perfect seasons. It creates some really good matchups. It offers the chance for a true Cinderella story. This is college football as it's should be.

If I didn't have an antenna

I watch local channels with an antenna. Tablo is my DVR of choice, and it allows me to watch local channels on any device on my network. Actually, I own the antenna at my mother's house, and I use Tablo Connect to watch from that antenna on the TVs at my house.

But what if I didn't have an antenna? How would I get local channels then?

Well, there are a few options I have. One is to simply not watch them. That's the cheapest way.

Another depends on what it is I want to watch. If I want to watch NBC, ABC, or Fox network TV shows, then I can use Hulu for $8/month and watch the content the next day. If I want CBS, I have to subscribe to Paramount Plus for $6/month for next day viewing. If all I want is NBC, Peacock TV for $6/month gets next day viewing.

If I want local content, or live content, I can get local and live CBS by subscribing to Paramount Plus for $12/month, and local and live NBC by subscribing to Peacock TV for $12/month. There are no cheap options for live/local ABC or Fox.

If I want all four of the major networks, I have to subscribe to a service that carries them. The cheapest is YouTube TV at $73/month, or Hulu+Live TV at $77/month and includes the Disney Bundle.

There are other live streaming services, such as Fubo and DirecTV streaming, but they cost even more.

Without an antenna, it costs a lot to get live local channels. With an antenna, I get 35 over the air channels (actually, 41, but there is some duplication of content) for no monthly charge.

My Streaming Life includes an antenna. That $73/month can be spent on other stuff.