Items tagged with cord-cutters
It’s a Christmas miracle! A law that will be going into effect on Sunday will make it so customers no longer have to pay rental fees for their own networking equipment. Also, ISPs will be required to delineate and itemize everything that goes into a bill. This is a big win for consumers everywhere and a step forward in tackling the issues with the telecommunications business. For the legal nerds among us who want to read up on the law, you can find it under Public Law 116-94, 133 Stat. 3200-3201. If you are like me and do not want to scroll through everything, here are a few vital abbreviated excerpts from the law: CONSUMER RIGHTS IN SALES.— ‘‘(1) RIGHT TO TRANSPARENCY.—Before...
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Yesterday, we reported that Google was raising the price on YouTube TV from $50 per month to a staggering $65 per month. In return, customers would get an extra eight channels; many of which current subscribers have said that have absolutely no interest in. What once started off as a $35/month service has now priced many customers out of the market. Now, we're learning that FuboTV is making a similar move, although the percentage of its price increase isn't as large. The FuboTV family bundle is getting a price increase from $60 to $65 per month. In addition, current subscribers to the "standard" plan that was priced at $55/month will now be forced onto the family bundle. So, they are...
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Anyone who pays for cable television knows that the low rates that big cable companies advertise aren't the rates you end up paying over the long haul. Cable TV bills commonly get inflated when it comes to the myriad of fees that are tacked on in your billing statement. Thankfully, new legislation has made it past the House and Senate in the U.S. and is now heading to President Trump's desk for his signature. A new bill has been lobbied for by Consumer Reports that's called The Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019. The act was stuffed inside an appropriations bill, but the cable TV industry was aware and was able to pull some last-minute shenanigans and have a key provision in the bill changed....
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For a long time, big cable companies like Charter and Comcast were trying everything to prevent cord cutters from ditching cable TV programming packages and going with internet-only offerings. Those times have passed as the big cable companies, who are also often the only broadband internet providers in an area, have become indifferent on cable subscribers and have stopped offering the discounts customers were previously accustomed to. As the big cable companies are backing off on their discounts for plans, they are also increasing prices on their cable TV subscribers. Bloomberg mentions one subscriber who called Charter when his bill went up $40 monthly. Charter refused to offer any discounts...
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Following its initial launch in select markers back in 2017, Google has announced that its YouTube TV streaming service is now launching nationwide today. YouTube TV is up against a number of big players in the market including DirecTV Now, Sling TV, and Hulu + Live TV. This market expansion should make the service appealing to even more Americans at a $40/month price point. Google says that YouTube TV is now available in the top 95 markets, as of today, and that 98% of households in the U.S. are covered. The remainder of the people not covered today will get coverage "shortly thereafter" today's nationwide launch. The benefit of YouTube TV is that it allows users to watch feeds...
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People all around the U.S. are tired of paying high prices for cable or satellite TV. High cost has led to a big movement of people cord-cutting and going to streaming services, rather than paying big cable or satellite. A recent survey showed that cord-cutting is going mainstream as more and more people move to streaming only; big cable and satellite companies see the writing on the wall and are moving to appeal to these users. Comcast recently unveiled a set-top streaming box to lure back some of the 106,000 subscribers it lost in its most recent quarter. Roku has announced new services that might push sports fans, who have been on the fence about cutting the cord, to get out the scissors....
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The adage "the more things change, the more they stay the same" seems very apt for the cord cutting streaming TV market. Many TV fans left behind cable and satellite services because the prices were always increasing and the service never got better. The rub is that now that cord cutters seem to have reached a sort of critical mass and streaming services are plentiful, streaming firms are starting to raise prices just like cable companies. AT&T DirecTV Now raised its prices earlier this month by $5 per month. YouTube TV and Sling TV also recently raised prices. Now PlayStation Vue is following right along with the masses. All Vue plans are seeing $5 monthly price increases across the board....
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If you thought that cutting the cord would absolve you from the price hike tomfoolery that has become commonplace in the cable/satellite TV industry; guess again. Some of the most popular streaming TV services for cord-cutters are raising prices, and AT&T's DirecTV Now is the latest to hop on that bandwagon. All of AT&T's DirecTV Now plans will see a $5 increase, meaning that the most basic "Live a Little" plan will now cost you $45. The next step up, "Just Right", rises to $55 (from $50) while the "Go Big" plan has increased to $65. For those that want everything including the kitchen sink, the "Gotta Have It" plan is now $75. According to cordcutters,...
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AT&T is riding high after its big win against the U.S. Justice Department in its effort to acquire Time Warner. While the transaction was able to go through without any stipulations placed on the combined companies, some of AT&T's past bad acts are rising to the surface thanks to some investigative reporting. AT&T employees -- with direction from their superiors -- are accused of using unethical sales practices in order to drive up subscription numbers for the DirecTV Now streaming service. DirecTV Now is a paid service that is competitive with Sling TV, YouTube TVand Hulu Live TV. As more cord-cuttersdrop their traditional cable and satellite TV packages, streaming...
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There is a lot of turmoil going on in the cable TV market right now, with plenty of shakeups taking place. The wild swings in the marketplace and rise of companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook with regards to video delivery is precisely why AT&T is looking to hook up with Time Warner to better compete. Quarterly earnings are in for some of America's top cable providers, and the numbers aren't looking good with respect to subscriber counts. Charter reported that it lost 122,000 video subscribers for its most recently completed quarter. What's interesting is that this figure is far above the 43,000 loss that analysts were predicting. Things weren't much better at Comcast, which lost 96,000...
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Are you one of the millions of Americans that are sick and tired of paying high rates for cable TV and satellite packages? Many are paying outrageous prices for dozens (or even hundreds) of channels that they probably don't even watch. Given the rising costs of TV packages, more and more people are cutting the cord. Just how expensive have cable and satellite TV options become over the years? Well, according to Kagan, S&P Global Market Intelligence, the average monthly cost for premium TV packages has increased 74 percent since 2000 from just under $60 to nearly $100. Given that median wages of U.S. workers [obviously] haven't increased at the same rate, it should come as no surprise that...
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If you are looking for another reason to cut the cord with your cable company, Philo has an announcement that you might be interested in. Philo is a streaming TV service that has been around for a while now and the service has bundles of channels that you can subscribe to that are much cheaper than traditional cable TV. Philo announced that the service has now launched on the Apple TV and on Amazon Fire TV streaming devices. Prior to launching on those two devices, the primary way to watch the service was via a web browser on your computer, Apple mobile devices, or by casting to your Chromecast. Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV support slots in alongside the support for Roku devices that has been...
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A la carte TV streaming services, or "skinny bundles", are becoming more popular these days. Astute customers aren't keen on paying inflated priced for hundreds of channels that they may never watch, so these pick-and-choose streaming TV services are an economical way to view a select few channels that interest you the most. Spectrum is the latest to jump on the bandwagon with Spectrum TV Choice, which is being rolled out to a larger segment of the company's subscriber base. Spectrum TV Choice was initially only available in a few pilot markets, but according to a new report, it has been expanded to "most" of Spectrum's existing markets including those that were once serviced by Time Warner Cable...
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Plex is looking to become your one-stop-shop for all things related to digital media. Plex has already become an incredinly popular destination to organize your movies, TV shows, photos and music, and recently became a centerpiece for directing operations for your local Live TV and DVR. Now, Plex wants to leverage its acquisition of Watchup to bring you Plex News. Plex News is a personalized newsfeed that brings you video from over 190 global news publishing partners. There is even regional content, which helps bring you news from your local area. Some of the news sources that you will be able rely on include CNN, CBS News, The Street, Sky News and Financial Times. Now we should put this out...
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Fall is almost here, which means cooler weather (unless you live in Texas where fall weather is at least three months away) and sports to watch on TV. This is when many cord cutters start to get nervous. It's great to not have to pay that cable (or satellite) bill, but it's not so great to miss out on all the cool fall shows and football games. Hulu has your back though with the announcement of a new Live TV streaming service that supports both Mac and PC platforms. Hulu hasn't come out and said that this service is beta, but it sure sounds like it is. Hulu is warning Mac and PC streamers that "...rather than wait until we’ve finalized our new Web experience, we’re opening up a basic version...
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If there was any doubt about Netflix’s huge popularity in North America, consider that according to a new report from Sandvine, the streaming video service accounts for more than one-third of all Internet traffic. Netflix was responsible for 31.6% of traffic, but with a bump to Super HD (4K) content for users, it’s already boosted that number to 34.2%. Perhaps of even greater significance is the fact that “cord cutter” types who rely on services like Netflix as opposed to traditional pay TV are responsible for a whopping 54% of all monthly network traffic. These folks consume an average of 212GB of data every month and watch the equivalent of 100 hours of content every...
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