Are you still a cable watcher? My parents are. They pay hundreds of dollars a month for cable. I always suggest to them to ditch the cable and pick up some streaming services. It’s unfortunate that every TV station seems to have its own paid streaming service anymore and will probably cost you as much as cable.
Many of our customers end up making the switch because they’ve mounted their television. Not everyone has a wireless cable box or the wired one isn’t as aesthetically pleasing when the TV is mounted. So if you’re thinking about making the switch, let’s go through the most popular options available in the United States.
Live TV Options
There are quite a few services that offer something equivalent to cable, it’s just over the internet rather than a box or satellite.
YouTube TV
YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet, behind Google. They now offer their own live TV options. There are over 70 channels for $64.99 a month. Up to 6 people can be added to the service so they all have their own unlimited DVR. However, only 3 devices can be streaming at once. See their pricing here.
Hulu+ Live TV
Hulu offers a lot of options but it can add up quickly. A regular Hulu subscription with ads is $6.99/month. No ads are $12.99/month. They offer a regular subscription (ads and no ads) with Live TV, Disney+ and ESPN+ for $69.99/month and $75.99/month. Hulu also offers movie channel add-ons (HBO Max, STARZ, Cinemax, and SHOWTIME) for an additional cost. They also offer unlimited screens, sports, Spanish, and additional channels for an additional cost. See their pricing here.
Sling TV
Sling has multiple options when signing up. They offer an Orange plan, a Blue plan, and an Orange & Blue plan, priced at $35, $35, and $50 respectively. Go through what each option offers to make the best choice. They also have add-ons at an additional cost to give you more channels in a specific genre (comedy, news, etc.), more DVR space, and specific channels (EPIX, DOGTV, CONtv, etc.). Finally, they’re one of the very few that offer Pay-Per-View options. See their pricing here.
Philo
If you have no interest in the news, local channels, or sports, this one might be for you. It’s one of the cheapest options but that’s because of the different channels it offers. They offer up to 10 profiles per account, with 3 devices streaming at once. There are 60+ channels and it only costs $25/month. You can add on several movie channels for an additional cost. See their pricing here.
FuboTV
On the other hand, if you’re looking for some cable shows and lots of sports, this is for you. fuboTV has three plans, Latino, Pro, and Elite priced at $32.99/month, $69.99/month, and $79.99/month respectively. The focus is on how many sporting events you have access to (the Latino plan has 100+ sporting events). Pro and Elite also give you unlimited screens so all of your TVs and phones can watch without issue. See their pricing here.
There are more options but these are the more popular options. Some cable companies are offering their own streaming Live TV service (DirecTV and Spectrum), so if that interests you, check it out.
Sports Options
If you’re just looking to watch your favorite teams, check out these streaming services.
ESPN+
This service doesn’t actually let you watch ESPN, ESPN 2, or any other traditional channels. You can watch the games that are on, ESPN+ originals, all things UFC, and a few other things but it’s not a substitution for regular ESPN programming. You can get it with Hulu and Disney+ (mentioned above) or you can get just their subscription for $6.99/month. See their pricing here.
For specific sports, you have options. NBA League Pass, MLB.TV, NFL Game Pass, NHL.TV, UFC Fight Pass, WWE Network, F1 TV, and even PokerGo have their own subscriptions. Prices vary, and yes there are more.
Other streaming services
There are probably hundreds of streaming services worldwide. Here are some of the more popular ones in the US to consider when making the switch from cable to streaming.
Netflix
Netflix offers original and third-party content. Their original content is what makes their service a near necessity if you’re one who likes to stay hip to what’s new on TV. Some of their shows include Stranger Things, The Witcher, and Squid Game. They are notorious for raising their prices too often, and they’ve recently been scrutinized for finding ways to stop password sharing. They currently offer 3 plans between $9.99 and $19.99. And yes, you can still get a DVD plan. See their pricing here.
Hulu
Outside of their Live TV options, they offer a regular streaming service. As stated above, they offer several plans and add-ons. Their basic streaming services (with and without ads) are $6.99/month and $12.99/month respectively. You can also add it to a Disney+ and ESPN+ bundle. See their pricing here.
Disney+
This is my most used service because I am always watching The Simpsons or Marvel movies. This is a broadcast-specific streaming platform, so all movies and TV shows here are owned by Disney. But that’s a huge number of options. Again, you can bundle this with ESPN+ and Hulu, or keep it as an individual service starting at $7.99/month. See their pricing here.
Amazon Prime Video
If you’re paying for Amazon Prime, you have access to Amazon Prime Video. Netflix is estimated to have around 5,000 titles. APV has over 16,000 titles. However, they have a much larger selection of low-quality films and TV shows AND not everything is included. Some titles are an additional cost (as renting or owning). For Prime and Prime Video, it’s $14.99/month and for just Prime Video, it’s $8.99/month. See their pricing here.
HBO MAX
This is also another one of my most used platforms because I use it to watch Friends. They have a good chunk of movies and TV shows available, with more added every month. They offer shows and movies from DC, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Studio Ghibli, HBO, and more. They have an ad and ad-free plan for $9.99/month and $14.99/month respectively. See their pricing here.
Paramount+
Paramount+ used to be CBS All Access. Most, if not all, of the shows on CBS All Access are available on Paramount+. They offer an Essential plan and a Premium plan. The Essential plan is $4.99/month, and the Premium plan is $9.99 but includes no ads and access to your local CBS station (it’s noted they cannot remove ads from live programming). You can also add SHOWTIME and get a bit of a discount. See their pricing here.
Peacock
Owned by NBC, Peacock offers original NBC shows and other things owned by NBC. They offer a free plan with limited ads and you get 50+ “always-on channels” and 40,000+ hours of “hit movies, TV shows, and more.” They also have a Premium plan ($4.99/month) and a Plus plan (ad-free, $9.99/month) with their own perks. See their pricing here.
Discovery+
If you like watching HGTV, Animal Planet, Lifetime, and more channels similar to these, then Discovery+ is for you. They offer ad and ad-free plans for $4.99/month and $6.99/month respectively. See their pricing here.
Redbox
The DVD Kiosk? Yes! They have all the movies available to rent and buy on their website. See more information here.
Shudder
If you’re into scary movies and TV shows, this is all yours. They have one of the largest, if not the largest, selection of horror. Their plan starts at $4.75/month. See their pricing here.
BritBox
Looking for those good ole British shows? BBC and iTV bring you BritBox. All the new and old British shows are available to stream. Their plan is $6.99/month and it’s ad-free! See their pricing here.
There are so, so many more options. They almost have something for everybody. If you’re looking for a complete list, you can read about them on Flixed and find something for you.
Again, if you’re looking to mount your TV indoors (and especially outdoors), then switching to a streaming service or two (or more) is sometimes the best if you’re concerned about looks and workability. If you’re looking for more information and you’re ready to schedule an appointment for TV mounting, reach out to us and ask us about it.
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