Monthly Archives May 2019

As streaming video continues to chip away at cable TV subscriber numbers, Comcast is making some of its Internet speed increases available only to customers that pay for both Internet and video service.

Last week, Comcast announced speed increases for customers in Houston and the Oregon/SW Washington areas. The announcement headlines were “Comcast increases Internet speeds for some video customers.”

Customers with 60Mbps Internet download speeds are being upped to 150Mbps; 150Mbps subscribers are going to 250Mbps; and 250Mbps subscribers are getting a raise to 400Mbps or 1Gbps.

Comcast says speed increases will kick in automatically without raising the customers’ monthly bills—but only if they subscribe to certain bundles that include both Internet and TV service.

“Cord cut...

Another year, another increase to your monthly pay-TV bill.

Giants including Comcast Corp., Dish Network Corp. and AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV plan to raise rates again in the new year, a move that could boost revenue but risks alienating subscribers who have been ditching their traditional TV subscriptions in record numbers.

Recommended Video

Cable and satellite providers are hoping to squeeze more money from consumers who remain loyal to their packages with hundreds of channels, Philip Cusick, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst, said in a note this week, even though “this strategy could accelerate video sub declines.”

It’s common for pay-TV providers to raise prices in the new year...

Six years ago this month, my household gave up cable TV. We’d been handing over more than $1,600 a year for AT&T’s U-verse service, and in the first year of being cable-free, we spent less than $600 to watch TV.

If you were a cord-cutter looking to save some cash back then, life was good. Today, while it remains possible to spend a lot less on TV, costs are mounting, particularly if you want to keep a cable-like bundle of channels to watch. Two stories from the past week hammer that home.

On Wednesday, Google’s YouTube TV announced a price increase, taking the service from $40 to $50 a month...

Streamed media is all the rage these days. There was a time when cable used to be king but the convenience of streaming has proven to be a more powerful force.

Some might even call streaming an addiction or at least addiction-inducing. Netflix, arguably the world’s largest TV streaming service, seems to be even competing with sleep since its content is so captivating.

WHAT IS A STREAMING STICK?

The small size of streaming sticks means that they are quite portable and won’t take up too much space. This is convenient for those who wish to stream their favorite shows on the go.

They aren’t as powerful as a streaming TV box, however. As a result, they won’t be as zippy as you scour the user interface. Their storage space is also limited.

It’s rare to find a streaming stick w...

One question I often get about cord cutting is whether it’s possible to record streaming video as you can with cable or over-the-air television.

Study the type of DVR service you will get

This might seem like a straightforward question, but the answer is complicated. Some streaming services do offer DVR, but with restrictions that don’t apply to cable. Others, such as Netflix, don’t allow you to record shows, but offer all their content on demand anyway. And while a workaround exists for streaming services that don’t offer DVR, this brings its own set of trade-offs.

In the interest of having an article to reference whenever someone asks me about streaming DVR in the future, here’s a rundown of all your options:

DVR for live TV streaming

If we’re talking about li...