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Hey everyone, it's Michael here with
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your streaming TV news and updates this
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time for December 2025 and we're
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covering the big changes from all these
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brands and more. I want to start with
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something that's been building all year
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long and that's the blurred lines
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between live TV streaming and standalone
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apps. And this has played out in ways
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that I didn't expect at the start of the
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year. So, when I first talked about this
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back in January, I was mostly referring
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to standalone apps like Netflix and
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Prime Video adding live sports and how
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that ultimately ends up driving up
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prices for everybody. Those aren't bad
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examples, but as it turns out, Peacock
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was actually the best example of this
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playing out in 2025. It's basically a
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mini sports bundle now. The service has
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deals with the NFL, NBA, and it's even
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getting MLB games next year. And of
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course, the cost of all those sports
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deals gets passed along to us, the
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subscribers. Peacock raised prices by $3
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a month in July, and many of you noticed
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it didn't offer a Black Friday deal over
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the holidays like in years past. Now, I
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don't think the service is done with
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deals completely. Peacock isn't in the
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same position as, let's say, Netflix. I
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do think the deals in general are
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becoming more targeted. Retention offers
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to prevent a cancellation and email
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offers to win return customers back. And
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I'm still watching for general deals,
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especially timed to head of big sporting
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events. But you can see how $20 a year
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for Peacock really doesn't work anymore
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with the service spending so much money
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on live sports rights. So, that's one
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side of how the live TV lines blurred
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this year. And here is that second part.
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Just recently, we saw NBC Universal
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relaunch the NBC Sports Network on
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YouTube TV. It's a channel that provides
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content that also streams on Peacock.
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Plus, more live TV plans like Direct TV
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genre packs. They now include standalone
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apps, Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max, and
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since its launch in the fall, ESPN
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Unlimited has been added to more pay TV
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plans, too. With some deals still in the
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process of being worked out, all these
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crossovers may be convenient, but they
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do come with a price, and if you're not
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careful, they could really cost you. So,
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if a service starts adding things you
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don't need or bundling apps that you
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just won't use, switch to something that
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actually fits how you watch TV. We got
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to stay flexible. It's still the best
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way for cord cutters to keep their cost
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down. All right. So, if you've got
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YouTube TV, I've got one question for
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you. It's right here. Would you consider
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switching to a cheaper skinny bundle
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that includes mostly sports and
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broadcast networks? And now that the
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Disney dispute is resolved, there may be
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more options ahead to keep your monthly
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bill in check. After the agreement was
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reached, YouTube TV's official blog
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talked about offering more flexibility
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in the future, and Disney's news release
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got into even more detail. ESPN
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Unlimited to be made available to
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YouTube TV subscribers. Some networks
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added to genrespecific packages and
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Disney Plus and Hulu included in select
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offerings. To get a sense of what
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YouTube TV skinny bundle may look like,
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here's what I recommend. Take about 5
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minutes and review Direct TV's My Sports
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Plan. I'm not telling you to switch.
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Just look at the channel lineup.
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Whatever YouTube TV comes up with, I
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think it may have a lot of overlap with
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DirecTV's plan. I actually think Direct
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TV genre packs are underrated and should
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be more popular, but honestly, maybe
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it's going to take YouTube TV launching
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a skinny bundle for more people to pay
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attention to options like these.
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Something I'll be following in the weeks
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and months ahead. Right now, I'm
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following a couple rapidfire updates and
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Fubo customers lost access to NBC
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Universal networks in late November. At
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recording time, this dispute is ongoing.
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Now, the main issue appears to be that
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NBC Universal wants Fubo to carry
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non-sports entertainment networks in its
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sports bundle. Fubo is automatically
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applying a $15 credit during the
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dispute. Sling TV will continue offering
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its flexible day passes, at least for
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now. In late November, a federal court
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denied Disney's request to block Sling
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from selling those passes. This fight
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isn't over yet, though. The breach of
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contract lawsuit is ongoing. It's the
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season for price hikes, and I've got two
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quick alerts to tell you about.
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Paramount Plus is raising its prices
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starting a mid January. It's a $1 a
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month increase for both plans. The
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service also said it is retiring free
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trials and reviewing its discount
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practices. T-Mobile's free Apple TV perk
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won't be free anymore. Select T-Mobile
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customers will now get a $9.99 Apple TV
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discount, meaning they'll pay $3 a month
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out of pocket. Apple TV raised its price
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to $12.99 a month over the summer. If
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you've logged into Disney Plus recently,
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you may have noticed the app looks a
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little different. Disney rolled out a
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refresh with a cleaner homepage, new
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navigation, and a for you tab with
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personalized recommendations. You'll
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also see separate tabs for Disney Plus,
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Hulu, and ESPN depending on your
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subscription, plus a new live hub for
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events and 24/7 streams. All this part
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of Disney's move toward a more unified
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app experience next year. If you or
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someone in your household is an NFL fan,
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two big things to know this month.
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Christmas games are on Netflix again.
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Dallas vers Washington and Detroit
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versus Minnesota. Plus, a Christmas
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night game, that one on Prime Video.
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Then on Saturday, December 27th, Peacock
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will be the exclusive national home of a
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week 17 prime time game. Black Friday is
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over, but I think we need to do a deal
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debrief because based on how things
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went, I know some people are going to be
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wondering if the deals are drying up
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forever. It's not exactly the way that I
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see it. First, let me tell you what I
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got. The HBO Max deal that won $2.99 a
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month for up to 12 months, and this was
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my top pick of the season. I also got
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the ads supported Disney Plus and Hulu
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bundle $5 a month, but because I have a
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credit card with the Disney streaming
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credit, Amex Bluecash preferred, it
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actually offsets the entire cost of the
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plan. And finally, I renewed Walmart
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Plus and selected Peacock as the perk.
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And I was able to stack a retention
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offer with a credit card offer to renew
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Walmart Plus for basically free. So, I'm
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only paying $2.99 a month out of pocket
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for all those services. But, I did have
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to get more creative to make it all
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work. Combining the general deals with
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the targeted retention offers as well as
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the credit card offers. But now, after
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taking advantage of a few deals, these
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services are my base for the next year.
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And I'll just rotate in live TV
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streaming services or other standalone
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apps, maybe an ad-ree one, only as
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needed. Plus, I've already got a
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calendar reminder set up to cancel
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before the promos expire. I usually do
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that about a month before. Some of the
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phone and internet Black Friday deals
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have actually been extended until the
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end of the year. Now, it does take more
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time to switch those services, but the
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savings, they can be significant. This
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year's monthly news update videos have
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gotten more than 1 and a half million
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views. So, thank you for watching and
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thank you for supporting my channel.
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I'll see you next time and on michael
