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Hey everyone, Michael here and I'm back
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with your streaming TV news and updates
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this time for February 2026. And if
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you're watching this video, there's a
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good chance you'll be tuning in to
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either NBC or Peacock sometime this
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month. It is a huge month for live
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sports, and that is where you're going
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to be able to watch the Super Bowl, the
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Winter Olympics, and the NBA All-Star
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game. NBC Universal out with this,
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announcing that Sunday, February 8th,
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will be 4K all day. So on that day,
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you're going to be able to watch the
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Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in
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4K. That's on Peacock and also on NBC if
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your plan and provider supports it. And
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just so there is no confusion, well, NBC
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is going to have a lot of Winter
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Olympics coverage on TV. Peacock is the
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place where you can stream every event
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live and on demand and it's going to
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have extra features like multi- view.
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So, let's pick up there. And if you are
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signing up for Peacock, the Peacock
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premium plan is the entry point for all
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the live sports this month. Do not sign
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up for this, the cheaper Peacock Select
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plan, because that tier doesn't include
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live sports. Look, Peacock has raised
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prices over the past year, and I'm not
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seeing a deal directly from its website
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at recording time, but there are still
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ways to save, and this one is my
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favorite, Walmart Plus, which has a
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30-day free trial. Once you sign up, you
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can choose Peacock Premium as your video
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streaming perk, and yes, even use it
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during the free trial period. Let's say
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you only care about NBC and don't have
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an antenna. Well, live TV streaming
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services like YouTube TV, Direct TV, and
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Hulu Live, they've all got NBC, but at
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the time of this recording, Fubo remains
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in a carriage dispute with NBC. So,
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double check that before you sign up.
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And if you're looking for an affordable
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option, Sling TV offers NBC, but in
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select markets only. And while we're
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talking about Sling, the service has
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just raised prices. This one is a little
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confusing though because not everyone is
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affected. This price increase affects
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some Sling Blue customers, so not Sling
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Orange. And what this really comes down
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to is how many local stations you get
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with Sling Blue, which can range from 0
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to three. Just depends on where you
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live. If you get no local channels, the
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price stays the same, $45.99 a month.
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But if you get one or two, you'll now
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pay a new $4 a month search charge for
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locals. And in the handful of markets
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where Sling has three local stations,
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the total price now comes to $54.99 a
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month. And it's too bad, but Sling
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doesn't offer a way to opt out of locals
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and pay a lower price if they are
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included in your area. So, how much are
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you paying for streaming TV, internet,
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and phone service to start the year? I
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asked and here's what you told me. Take
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a look. Let's start with streaming TV.
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And 44% of people who responded say
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they're paying under $50 a month. But at
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the same time, a whole lot of people are
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paying over $75 a month. And that's the
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group that I'm hoping can make some
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changes this year, leaning into cheaper
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bundles and rotating standalone apps.
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Now, the results for internet service
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are interesting because they're kind of
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all over the place. My takeaway is that
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if you're willing to try a non-fiber
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provider, you definitely get into one of
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the lower ranges. Some of the cable and
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5G options are right around the $50
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mark. And for phone plans, this is
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pretty encouraging. Well over half the
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people who responded are paying under
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$50 a month per line. A good chunk of
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them even under $25. And I like seeing
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all the mentions of lowcost providers in
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the comments. Back when I started, the
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big savings was with cutting the cable
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TV cord, so the streaming TV portion.
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But now, I'd say it's more about
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internet and phone. And increasingly,
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providers are offering pretty good
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discounts when you bundle both of them.
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So, I did it. I signed up for YouTube TV
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again. My first time back with the
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service since cancelling in 2024, and it
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may actually be the last time I have
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YouTube TV on the main base plan. I
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resubscribed specifically because of the
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10 plus genre packs that YouTube TV is
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rolling out. And once those are live, I
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just want to be able to give you an
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informed recommendation on whether
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existing customers can downgrade, save
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money, and still get what they want. And
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also ahead, YouTube CEO Neil Mohan
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confirmed in his 2026 preview that fully
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customizable multi- view is coming to
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YouTube TV. I've been hearing from a lot
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of you about this because as it stands
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now, multiv- view is limited to
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pre-selected streams. All about to
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change. And something you may have
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noticed, a new live guide rolling out on
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mobile devices. It looks a lot more like
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the guide on your TV set. So now you can
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easily scroll ahead to preview content
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and long press if you want to preview a
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specific program, read the description
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or add it to your library. One more
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quick note. You may have seen this on my
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community tab. The $10 off for 6 months
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offer is back again for some users and
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some people have seen it for the first
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time. To check, log into your account
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from a web browser, not the mobile app.
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Then go to settings, membership, and
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manage. This one is targeted, so not
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everyone is gonna see it. Usually in
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these videos, I'm using a Roku device
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like the one right behind me, but I've
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got Fire TV on a secondary TV, and I
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want to tell you about some changes on
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the way. So, why don't I show you? This
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is the Fire TV interface that you're
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used to. I'm seeing ads at the top, the
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main navigation in the middle with
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shortcuts to apps to the right of that,
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plus all the featured content below.
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Now, here is what the new interface is
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going to look like according to Amazon's
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news release. And the first thing I
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noticed, more modern and more rounded
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corners. The navigation bar positioned
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where it belongs, right at the top. And
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Amazon says you're going to be able to
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pin more apps to the home screen. So,
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not just six, up to 20. Amazon says the
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redesign is meant to help you find
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content faster across all your apps. And
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the new interface is going to be 20 to
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30% faster in some cases. And there are
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also updates coming to the Fire TV
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mobile app, turning your phone into more
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of a second screen for browsing and
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managing your watch list. The changes
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show up in February and continuing into
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the spring. If you made it this far into
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the video, thank you for watching. And
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one more thing I got to share with you.
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I know I mentioned Sling Spin and Win
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contest before and recently a friend of
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mine actually won a year of free
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service, but customer support initially
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refused to honor it. The way I
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understand it, Sling told her she wasn't
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eligible because she had a short-term
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pass. But even Sling says no purchase is
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necessary. The contest is open to Sling
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users, both free and paid. You can
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understand why she was confused. And
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after getting nowhere with Sling, I
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recommended that she contact the FCC,
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she filed a complaint and that escalated
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the issue to Sling's parent company,
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Dish Network, and they made it right.
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She was able to redeem her prize and get
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a year of free Sling. Bottom line, for a
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lot of the providers that I cover,
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filing a complaint with the FCC can be
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effective, but only after you reach out
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to customer service and try to resolve
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things on your own. Give this video a
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like if you found it helpful. I'll see
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you next time and on michaels.com.
