Cut the Cord tagged posts

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.

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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...

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...

With Apple finally launching its own TV streaming service, Apple TV Channels and original programming with Apple TV+, the streaming entertainment market just got that sweet little dollop of fudge on top of an already over-sized and tilting sundae.

Apple brings out the big guns

Apple trotted out Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon, Steven Speilberg, Big Bird and freaking Oprah so you know that there is some serious bank behind Apple TV+, which is a service on top of Apple TV Channels. So the cost to the consumer is surely going to be a base fee for Channels, then an added fee for the plus service. The Apple TV presentation coolly left out any pricing details, but we’ll pay. We’ve cut the cord. We’re committed to streaming.

Be Careful…costs can add up quickly

But w...

TV is changing. Cable and satellite TV subscribers peaked in 2012, and pay TV is losing millions of subscribers a year as consumers cut the cord and adopt Internet-based streaming services.

Consumers today watch more TV than ever – the average household watches nearly eight hours a day. More Americans own a TV than a computer or a smartphone. But they’re changing what they watch – and the way they watch. This year, six people will cut the cord every minute. 

Here are five reasons we believe cord-cutting is set to accelerate in 2019:

1) Streaming is vastly improving the TV experience

Research suggests TV habits change long before a cable subscriber cuts the cord...

AT&T Inc.’s shrinking traditional TV subscription and wireless phone businesses continued to take a toll on the giant’s financial performance in the latest period.

The Dallas-based company has made a big push in media and entertainment as its core wireless business stalled.

Acquisitions of new companies

Already the largest domestic pay-television operator following its acquisition of satellite company DirecTV, AT&T is trying to buy Time Warner, owner of CNN, HBO and the Warner Bros. film and TV studio. The deal, under regulatory review, is expected to close by year’s end.

AT&T said the number of subscribers to its video services fell by 89,000 in the quarter ended Sept. 30, as customers abandoned its fiber-optic-video and satellite-TV services...

I’d like to help you save money by canceling cable TV and replacing it with free and cheap alternatives. It’s called “cord cutting” and the techniques I present in this site are completely legal!

The average cable customer spends $100 a month on cable. That’s $1,200 per year for the rest of your life or about $60,000 in your lifetime! Why pay when you can watch many of the same shows for much less or free?

The solution to the ridiculous cost of cable and satellite TV is to switch to a FREE broadcast digital TV using an antenna like one of the ones below. If you live near or in a decent-sized metropolitan area, this can get you the network channels (ABC, CBS, NBS, Fox, WB) plus PBS and local stations with an inexpensive indoor antenna.

If you have an Internet connect...

Streaming services started as an add-on to DVD and digital download offerings with a trickle of second-run movies and TV shows. They were supplements to the programs you watched on their first (and second) runs on cable TV. But speedier internet connections and an abundance of video streaming devices have accelerated the decline of traditional cable. More and more viewers are cutting the cord entirely in favor of dedicated streaming alternatives.

Tech Giants enter the fray

Entertainment and tech giants are not blind to the threat, however, and the media landscape is rapidly changing. Consolidation and curation (that is, owning the most media properties and serving the best content) seem to be the overarching goals of the players involved.

For instance, AT&T’s (which operates live...

Are you unhappy with your cable or satellite provider? Looking for a cost-effective alternative to those services that will allow you to get you the entertainment you want at an affordable price?

If so, chances are you’re shopping for the best streaming device, otherwise known as a streaming media player.

For our top streaming device recommendations, please see the product list above. We’re confident you’ll find something to suit your needs.

To learn more about streaming media players and how to make an educated purchase, please read our product shopping guide below.

Box vs Stick

Media boxes, which run the same way as a provider’s box
To the untrained eye, it may seem inconsequential which one you get. After all, they’re both designed to do the same thing.

Bu...

Save your wrath for the media giants that own lots of cable TV channels.

Cable TV is expensive. According to the FCC, the average cost of an expanded basic cable subscription reached $64.41 in 2013. The price of expanded basic cable has risen at about two and a half times the rate of inflation since 1995.

CABLE PROVIDERS LIKE TIME WARNER CABLE ARE NOT THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF SOARING CABLE BILLS.

The inexorable rise of cable prices explains why so many consumers are eager to cut the cord. But why is cable so expensive in the first place? Many people assume it is because pay-TV operators like Time Warner Cable (UNKNOWN:TWC.DL), AT&T (NYSE:T), and DIRECTV (NYSE:DTV.DL) are greedy — but that is not the whole story.

It is all about the bundle

The most frustrating thing for many c...