News YouTube and Hulu Live TV price hikes suck — but I’m still ditching cable

[admin]

Hulu and YouTube TV went up by $30 to $35 in the last three years, and cable TV's price gouging is so bad that they'll get away with it.

YouTube and Hulu Live TV price hikes suck — but I’m still ditching cable : Read more

 

[Scottm_dj]

I still have cable too and I am into the second year & have to do something myself to bring that crazy bill down. There's a couple really strong reasons to consider keeping cable a lot of people don't think of!

1. Channel, channels, channels. You don't get near the local channels with any streamer (and only YTTV has even PBS).

2. Fox RSNs for NBA starting up soon? Not happening on now all the streamers.

3. Got a surround sound system to hook up? Only cable or AT&T TV will cover 5.1 surround for local/movie/music channels. YTTV is blatantly missing this for the price they charge.

4. Unlike streamers, you don't need massive internet speed--in fact you don't need any internet at all to watch cable TV.

5. Finally...lagggg. Who the !#@$ wants to watch a live sporting event up to a minute behind real time?

------------------------

There's a few things you can do to bring that bill down I've researched..

1. Depending on your provider see if you can just get certain channels on tiers rather than packages (Spectrum Gold&Silver non-premium channels are offered on separate tiers)

2. Use a streaming device like a Roku on your other TV rather than a box to save money on the ridiculous DVR charge. If you don't need a DVR you could even use it on your main TV and have zero hardware cost.

3. A lot of people aren't aware that Spectrum for one offers a "seasonal hold" on your account. By doing this, you actually still get all your local channels and even all the music channel-- along with a perfectly surfable 1.3 mbps internet connection. Sure you won't be downloading any 4K videos, but if you're of the dial-up modem era it's a speed burner. The cost is only $5 for each service so that's a whopping $10/mo!

4. Use a service like BillTrim to have them call on your behalf with "professional negotiators" to see if they can lower it. Apparently, word is that can be pretty successful...

We're both in the same boat...good luck!

 

[JSM2020]

In your formula for the 2 streaming service you don't have a figure for the internet you need for streaming itslef, which would make the total cost of either of those 2 services almost the same as your spectrum account cost. Either way we're all paying more, cord cutting or not.

 

[maccorf]

Not sure this article is very helpful at all, since 1. you aren't factoring in the cost of internet for streaming services, and 2. your provider, Spectrum, seems to be exorbitantly expensive. Verizon is offering 400 mbps internet plus TV for $120 dollars in my area, which is now the same cost as my 250mbps data connection plus Hulu Live TV. True, you get the Hulu catalog with that, but that's basically the only savings at this point. There is one reason I am not switching yet, and that's flexibility. Cable locks you in for a time period, but streaming services can be cancelled and switched at any time. If Verizon stopped doing that, I'd switch.