No, you don't really need a live streaming package. Probably.

Nearly three years ago, I asked the question: Do you really need a live streaming package?

I spent a long time not really answering the question. What I eventually said was "if you want one, get one." And that really doesn't answer the question.

Of course, it's true that if you want one, you can get one. But, do you really need one? No.

In the last three years, free live streaming services have expanded, so you have a lot more options. But the question is really about cable-like services, such as YouTube TV, Hulu+Live TV, Sling TV, Fubo, Vidgo, and the like.

If you want cable, but watch it streaming, then those services will give you that. They are simply streaming versions of cable TV. They have much the same content as cable: live TV (well, not so much with Vidgo, and even less with Sling), and the major cable channels.

But, if you want the same type of programming that you get on cable, you don't really need a pay TV service such as those streaming packages.

Pluto TV, Tubi, Roku Channel, Plex, Crackle, Sling Freestream, as well as platform specific options such as Live TV from Fire TV and Google TV devices, offer much of the same type of content as a pay TV streaming service.

Note that I say ":same type of content" rather than "same content." To explain what I mean, let's first look at the top cable channels of 2023.

1. NBC
2. CBS
3. ABC
4. Fox
5. Fox News
6. ESPN
7. Univision
8. MSNBC
9. Ion
10. HGTV
11. TNT
12. Hallmark Channel
13. Telemundo
14. TBS
15. History
16. TLC
17. INSP
18. Discovery Channel
19. USA Network
20. Food Network

The first four are the major broadcast networks. I'll skip those, at least for now. I'm looking at the major FAST (Free Ad Supported Television) services:

• Pluto TV
• Tubi
• Xumo Play
• Freestream
• Local Now
• Roku Channel
• Plex
• Crackle

At 5 is Fox News, while MSNBC is 8. Those FAST services have lots of news channels. Ion (9), Hallmark (12), INSP (17), Discovery (18), and Food Network (20) have content of the type that can be found on the FAST services. In fact, apart from the broadcast networks, only ESPN with its live major sports coverage doesn't have a substitute channel on the FAST services.

If you want ESPN, then yes, you need a pay TV live streaming service. If you want the major broadcast networks, you can get an antenna, or subscribe to a live TV streaming service.

If you don't care to watch those five channels, then you can find the same type of content on a FAST service.

My Streaming Life doesn't involve a pay TV service most of the time. I do like ESPN during college football season, but the rest of the time, I don't care for that channel. I have an antenna. I don't need a pay TV live streaming service. Maybe you don't either.

Definitely more Chromecast

Nearly six months ago, three weeks into September 2023, I wrote that I was going to use more Chromecast. What I said was:

I've used all four of the major platforms, and like Roku best overall. However, some family members seem to really like Fire TV. Lately, I've used more Fire TV, but still stick with Roku when it's just me watching TV.

This has come at the expense of my familiarity with Android/Google TV and Apple TV. I'm not comfortable with that. Beginning this weekend, I'm going to start using more Android/Google TV. Chromecast will be the the primary device I use. I have Chromecast attached to all my TVs already, so it'll be a matter of setting out the Chromecast remote in place of the Roku remote.

It's now 25 weeks later, and I have used more Chromecast. I mean, I have really used more Chromecast.

Actually, I've used more than just Chromecast. I've use Walmart's Onn Streaming Box, as well as the Onn Streaming Stick, I've used the NVIDIA Shield, in addition to Chromecast.

The Walmart Onn devices and the Chromecast have the Google TV interface. The NVIDIA Shield device is Android TV, but doesn't have the Google TV interface. Similar, but not quite the same.

I said I would focus on those "for the next month or so." It's been a lot longer than that. I've used other devices, including my beloved Roku, but I have used the Google TV devices, primarily the Chromecast, as my main device.

My Streaming Life began with Roku, and it's been a part of it ever since. But I've rarely used it in the last six months. I kinda miss it. But I'm still liking Google TV in all its forms.

Roku credit card breach

When I posted yesterday about how to remove credit card information from your Roku account, I hadn't heard about the data breach.

Now, I wish I had posted it earlier. I had it ready to go a while back, but kept putting it off. I'm sorry I waited.

As far as I know, I wasn't impacted by the Roku data breach, as I've not received a notification that I understand they sent to those impacted. Maybe they just haven't gotten to me yet, but I'm guessing I wasn't actually impacted.

According to reports, some 15,000 Roku accounts were compromised. Roku has 80-million user accounts, so the number is actually a small percentage. That doesn't make it okay, just that it's unlikely I'm impacted. 

Bleeping Computer says Roku announced the breach on March 8:

On Friday, Roku first disclosed the data breach, warning that 15,363 customer accounts were hacked in a credential stuffing attack.

A credential stuffing attack is when threat actors collect credentials exposed in data breaches and then attempt to use them to log in to other sites, in this case, Roku.com.

The company says that once an account was breached, it allowed threat actors to change the information on the account, including passwords, email addresses, and shipping addresses.

This effectively locked a user out of the account, allowing the threat actors to make purchases using stored credit card information without the legitimate account holder receiving order confirmation emails.

"It appears likely that the same username/password combinations had been used as login information for such third-party services as well as certain individual Roku accounts," reads the data breach notice.

"As a result, unauthorized actors were able to obtain login information from third-party sources and then use it to access certain individual Roku accounts."

"After gaining access, they then changed the Roku login information for the affected individual Roku accounts, and, in a limited number of cases, attempted to purchase streaming subscriptions.

Roku says that it secured the impacted accounts and forced a password reset upon detecting the incident.

Since I can log into Roku without having to reset my password, I assume I wasn't impacted.

I don't like the way Roku has handled this. They're downplaying it, and that's not good. Any data breach is bad. If someone's account is compromised because they have an easy password, then that's not Roku's fault. But if the Roku systems were breached, that is Roku's fault, and that's inexcusable. No reputable company should experience that type of data breach.

My Streaming Life has involved Roku since 2010. The recent actions of the company have disappointed me greatly.

How to not be billed by Roku

Do you have a Roku device? Most streamers do.

Well, maybe not "most" but certainly there are more Roku devices in use than other devices, and by a pretty decent margin.

So, if you have a Roku device, did you notice that when you set it up, it asked you for a credit card? And if you did at the time, did you forget about it?

If you have a Roku account, there's a good chance you have a credit card tied to the account. That may or may not be a good thing. Here's why.

If you have a credit card tied to your Roku, it's really easy to purchase stuff. Mostly, I'm talking subscriptions to services through Roku Pay, which is what the Roku payment service is called. Maybe you really want that. The ease of subscribing to a service is nice if all you have to do is click "Subscribe" and there it is.

One problem with having a credit card on Roku is that is someone buying something without realizing it. And yes, that happens.

Another is forgetting about a subscription, then getting billed for it again. If you subscribed through Roku, then stopped using the subscription, if you haven't canceled it, you will still get billed.

Then, there is the recent update of Terms of Service that Roku announced.

We wanted to let you know that we have made changes to our Dispute Resolution Terms, which describe how you can resolve disputes with Roku. We encourage you to read the updated Dispute Resolution Terms. By continuing to use our products or services, you are agreeing to these updated terms.

Thank you for making Roku part of your entertainment experience. 

The Roku Team

A lot of people don't like the way Roku went about the change in terms.

Anyway, if you don't want to have a card on file with Roku, then remove it. It's easy to do:

To remove your payment method and stop using Roku® Pay:

1. Sign in to your Roku account
2. Select Update under Payment method
3. Select Remove payment method at the bottom of the page
4. Select Remove

Once removed, you’ll be prompted to update your payment information the next time you make a purchase. Before your payment method can be removed, you must cancel or turn off auto-renew for any active subscriptions billed through Roku Pay.

My Streaming Life has used Roku since 2010, before I finally cut cable in 2011. I don't have a credit card on file with them. I prefer it that way.

More password crackdowns: Max

Password sharing crackdowns continue across the streaming landscape. The latest to crackdown on password sharing is the Max app, formerly HBO Max.

Reports in the last week talk about this new attack on password sharing.

Of course, you're going to know what I say, if you've seen my earlier posts on other companies who have done this: "Eh."

If the rules are you can't share passwords, then you can't share passwords. Most of the complaints are from people who are freeloading on family members, either with or without permission. But their complaints haven't stopped companies from cracking down:

Netflix kicked off the movement, veering away from a feature of streaming that it had once championed, back in early 2023 with the first major password-sharing crackdown. People were outraged, assumed it was a massive error on Netflix's part and expected subscription numbers to collapse.

And then ... they didn't. In fact, it worked brilliantly for Netflix. Netflix reported "more new subscriptions in the U.S. ... than in any other four-day period" during the end of May and 6 million new subscribers in Q2 2023. That number grew in Q3, with another 8.8 million subscribers joining the streaming service and Netflix declaring itself "completely satisfied" with the password-sharing crackdown.

So it's no surprise that the other streaming services — all of which are still struggling to turn a profit — are following Netflix's example. Hulu announced its password-sharing crackdown on Feb. 1 and Disney Plus confirmed its password-sharing crackdown a mere six days later. Both password-sharing crackdowns will begin rolling out on March 14.

Again, it's okay with me if they stop people from violating their terms of service. Personally, if a company has a service I want, I'll pay for it.

My Streaming Life doesn't involve any paid service I'm not paying for.

Microsoft and forced Windows updates

Microsoft was forcing updates to Windows 10 and Windows 11 users recently. That has now changed.

Britec has the information on its YouTube channel.

[YouTube]

I'm of both minds on this issue. On the one hand, I don't like the idea of being forced to get features I don't want. On the other hand, I see Microsoft's side that security is improved.

I really don't that that secuity is Microsoft's motivation. It's the ability to gather more data from users to sell. These features are for that reason, when you get right down to it.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with Microsoft making money. I just don't like that they gather data from me and sell it.

Not that Google is any better. I think that for security, ChromeOS, being a version of Linux, is much more secure than any version of Windows. Privacy is the biggest issue I have with ChromeOS. I like most things about it, such as its ease of use, it's security, its lightweight use of resources, and how well everything works together. But it takes a lot of work to tweak the settings so that your data isn't passed to Google, who uses it to push their search results. That's why Google is generally a more reliable search engine.

I don't really mind turning off Windows features I don't want. But this isn't something most people can or will do. Microsoft knows that, and looks to exploit it.

My Streaming Life doesn't rely on Windows. My every day life doesn't either. But many people's every day life do rely on Windows. Microsoft making these updates optional is the better way to go..

Best streaming players (according to Tom's Guide)

Tom's Guide recently had a review it called "Best streaming devices in 2024."

I thought they did a good job covering the devices. I don't agree with all the choices, but the selections they made are some I can't really argue, because the devices are still good devices.

Straight to the conclusion first, their overall pick is the Roku Streaming Stick 4K.

Our current pick for the very best streaming device overall is the Roku Streaming Stick 4K. This model added faster performance and Dolby Vision on top of its predecessor. Some of us at Tom's Guide own multiple entries from this list of the best streaming devices, to see how they evolve over time. Not only do we spend hours and hours watching shows and movies from the top streaming services on these devices, but we compare them against those with similar prices, to help you figure out which is best for your budget.

Using all of these devices often shows us the benefits of spending more on your streaming device, as the cheaper Fire TV devices control your whole home screen experience, while the Apple TV has no ads and more customization. ...

That last paragraph shows that there is no one device that has everything everyone wants. It's their pick of the best. I would suggest the Roku Ultra as the best, with the Roku Streaming Stick 4K a close second.

And while it would be good to click through to the entire article, here are their top devices:

• The best streaming device: Roku Streaming Stick 4K (2021)
• The best budget streaming device: Roku Express 4K Plus
• The best for live TV: Chromecast with Google TV
• The fastest streaming device: Apple TV 4K (2022)
• The best Android TV streaming device: Nvidia Shield TV
• The best Fire TV Stick: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max

I have a couple of nits to pick regarding a couple of items. First, the "best for live TV" is an Android TV device, but not the "best Android TV streaming device." How can that be?

Well, although it's Android TV, the Chromecast has the Google TV interface, which is great for live TV, while the NVIDIA Shield doesn't have the Google TV interface. It's a great device, but the interface isn't as good as the Chromecast, or the $20 Walmart Onn Streaming Box.

And, they had to specify specific platforms to get the NVIDIA Shield and any Amazon Fire TV device to top a category. At least Apple TV didn't need an Apple TV category to top a category. Or Roku for that matter.

Don't get me wrong, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a good device. But it's not the best of any particular category, unless you are specifically looking for a Fire TV Stick. Then, yes, it's definitely the best.

And the NVIDIA Shield is a great device, but I would have picked the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro device, since it also has much better specs. Compare them yourself and see.

The other disagreement is the "best budget streaming device" category. I think Walmart's Onn Streaming Box is the better deal. The specs on the Roku are better, but the Onn device is good, and cheaper.

My Streaming Life has a lot of experience with many streaming devices. But Tom's Guide is usually a very good source for this kind of lists. You won't go wrong with any of the choices they made, but do consider mine as well before you decide anything based on that list.