0:00
Hey, it's Michael here, and today's video is a first. My first ever streaming audit
0:05
Greg is a viewer of this channel. He cut the cable TV cord back in 2021
0:10
That's when he dropped Xfinity and switched to Hulu Plus Live TV
0:13
Now he wants to get rid of Hulu Live. Greg says he's tired of paying $80 a month for
0:18
a big bottle of channels when he only watches 5 or 10 of them. He's seen my videos where I talk
0:24
about dropping a live TV service altogether to save money, but will he be able to do that
0:29
and still watch all his favorite content? I'll help answer that question today
0:34
Let's get started. Here's a look at Greg's current setup, and Hulu Live makes up the majority of his
0:39
streaming TV spending. That's his premium live TV streaming service. Hulu Live includes the Disney
0:45
bundle, which Greg tells me is important to his household. That's regular Hulu, Disney Plus
0:50
and ESPN Plus. On top of that, he subscribes to Netflix, Prime Video, and a niche service
0:55
called Viki. Remember, Greg's goal is to drop his live TV streaming service. But to see if that's
1:01
possible, I asked him to send along a list of the channels that he watches with Hulu Live
1:06
Turns out, it's only about 10 of the nearly 100 channels in Hulu Live's base plan. Now
1:11
Greg's list does not include his local channels. He gets them with Hulu Live
1:16
but Greg tells me he's open to using an indoor antenna to pick up his locals
1:20
That's a good start. Let's see what else we can do. First up on Greg's channel list is ESPN and some of its sister stations. Unfortunately
1:28
you cannot sign up for ESPN as a standalone service at the time I'm recording this video
1:33
But that option, it's coming in the fall of 2025. That new ESPN service will reportedly cost between
1:40
$25 and $30 a month. Before then, in the fall of 2024, a new sports streaming service is expected
1:46
to launch, and that will include ESPN's cable networks, as well as ESPN Plus. And that service
1:53
is expected to cost somewhere between $40 and $50 a month. TBS and TNT, they're next on Greg's list
1:59
and those two networks are expected to be included in that new sports streaming service
2:04
launching in the fall. Another option is Max's BR Sports add-on. That'll get you live games from
2:09
TBS, TNT, and TruTV. This one requires a Max-based subscription, and if you have Max, you know that
2:15
the BR Sports add-on has been available free of charge for a limited time. That add-on is expected
2:21
to cost $9.99 a month after the promo ends. Max is also a good alternative for the next channel on
2:27
the list, and that's the Food Network. With Max, you can stream many Food Network shows on demand
2:33
but you don't get the 24-7 feed of the cable network. Discovery Plus, that's still around
2:38
It also has Food Network content, and its plans are cheaper than Max. The next two channels, Lifetime
2:44
and Hallmark. The best alternative for these networks is another live TV streaming service
2:49
but not one with a high monthly price. Lifetime and Hallmark, they're included with Friendly TV
2:54
and that's less than $10 a month. Some households watch these networks seasonally, like during the
2:59
holidays, so maybe this is a subscription that you could rotate. Hallmark channel, by the way
3:04
is also included with a subscription to Peacock. Now to NFL Network, another channel with a lot of
3:10
seasonal viewers. You can subscribe to NFL Plus and get NFL Network with either plan
3:15
and that includes the ability to watch on a TV set. But just know that much of the other NFL Plus
3:21
content is limited to mobile devices. Now we haven't talked about news yet, but here it is
3:26
CNBC is also important to Greg. It's too bad, but there's no affordable way to subscribe to
3:32
only the CNBC network. CNBC Pro, which includes a live stream of daytime programming, that is $35
3:39
a month, or $300 when you pay annually. There is a lot of free CNBC content out there. That includes
3:46
CNBC radio and podcasts, as well as the CNBC and CNBC television YouTube channels. There's one more
3:54
channel on Greg's list, but let's stop for a second and acknowledge the ridiculousness of what I just
3:59
shared. Greg watches only about 10 channels, but he would need a handful of streaming services to
4:06
replace what he gets with Hulu Live or another live TV service. And in some cases, I wasn't able
4:12
to provide another option outside of the bundle. The final channel on his list is NBC Sports Bay Area
4:19
That's a regional sports network only offered through pay TV providers. It does not have a
4:24
standalone app like Valley Sports. A lot of people who reach out to me don't understand why their pay
4:29
TV provider won't let them pay for the 5 or 10 channels that they watch and nothing else. Listen
4:35
to what Philo CEO Andrew McCollum told me about that. This is from a couple of years ago
4:40
I am a believer in bundling. I think that versus the typical cable options, there does need to be
4:46
more choice. Obviously, we have an entertainment-focused package. We have no problem with
4:53
sports per se. Sports are great. The issue is not should you be able to get sports. The challenge is
5:02
can you offer it in a way that doesn't force everyone to pay for it if they don't want it
5:08
For example, does that in the future look like a non-sports package like maybe we have today
5:13
and then a sports package for people who want that content? It includes those channels that
5:19
bring a lot of cost, but also for the people that want them, provide a lot of value. Then maybe
5:26
news could be a category in and of itself as well. Still, I think some concept of bundling
5:32
where you're not having to individually decide every channel and every service that you want to
5:37
subscribe to and figure out on an ongoing basis what shows are where and which things you need to
5:45
subscribe to or unsubscribe from to create your optimal TV package. I don't think that really
5:51
serves anyone best, including consumers. It's really complicated. It drives up costs because
5:56
when you're subscribing to everything individually, the price is higher. It just generally
6:02
makes everything a lot more complex than it needs to be. Here's another way to explain it
6:06
Take a look at the estimated cost of Disney-owned channels for YouTube TV subscribers. This is from
6:12
2021, so the numbers are dated, but stick with me. Disney got around $15 a month per YouTube TV
6:18
subscriber at that time. But if YouTube TV subscribers could select channels individually
6:24
nobody would pay for all 15 of the networks listed. That means Disney would make a lot less
6:30
money. The biggest risk of all would be losing the revenue for ESPN, which accounts for more than
6:35
half of the $15 total from 2021. Remember, the way it is now, Disney gets that revenue from YouTube TV
6:42
whether you watch these channels or not. Bottom line, bundling works out best financially for the
6:48
channel owners, and they're all trying to figure out how to navigate the shift to streaming. But
6:52
in the meantime, they've made it very difficult for people who want locals, news, and sports to get
6:58
everything they want outside of the bundle. That's why I've always said the best candidates
7:02
for dropping live TV altogether are people who don't consume a lot of sports and news
7:08
Since Greg watches a lot of sports and some news, I think a premium live TV service actually makes
7:14
sense for him. And his pick of Hulu Live also makes sense since he uses the Disney bundle
7:20
To save some money, Greg could consider pausing some of his on-demand subscriptions or downgrading
7:25
to the ad-supported plans. And depending on viewing habits, perhaps he could pause the live
7:30
TV service for maybe a month or two. For people who've cut the cable TV cord and switched to
7:35
streaming, I know how frustrating it can be to see the prices go up. Greg switched from Xfinity
7:40
to Hulu Live in 2021, and in that time, Hulu has raised its prices multiple times. But it's important
7:47
to keep in mind that Xfinity has also raised prices, and it's very unlikely that you'd save
7:53
money by going back to cable. Thanks a lot to Greg for this email. And if you've got any other
7:58
solutions for him, leave them down in the comments below. Thank you for watching today, and I'll see
