Now that Apple’s exclusivity period has come and gone, users of Android devices will finally be able to access HBO Now, the standalone streaming service that lets users access HBO content online without having to pay for a basic cable package (or borrow a friend’s HBO Go password). [More]
cord cutters
Lifetime Bets On Cord-Cutters Willing To Pay $3.99/Month For Streaming Library Of Schlocky TV Movies
By 7.2.15
Are you thinking about getting rid of cable but simply can’t because you have to catch the next Lifetime Movie Network schlockfest starring actors from ’80s and ’90s TV shows alongside 20-something Canadian thespians pretending to be American high school students? Then you may be in luck, as Lifetime’s parent company is launching a $3.99 on-demand streaming subscription service just for you. [More]
Showtime’s New Streaming Service Will Be Available On Roku, PlayStation Vue
By 6.8.15
With Apple’s big developer conference getting underway this morning, we expect to hear more news of Apple exclusives. But fans of Penny Dreadful and Homeland who aren’t into the whole Apple ecosystem thing get a nice bonus this morning, as we find out that something isn’t actually locked only to Apple’s world. [More]
Standalone Showtime Service Confirmed To Launch In Coming Months
By 5.7.15
While CBS Corp. didn’t provide any pricing details today on the long-hinted-at standalone Showtime streaming service (a la HBO Now), the company did confirm that it will indeed be giving consumers this new cable-free option at some point in the coming months. [More]
Cablevision Now Offering Free Digital Antennas For Cord-Cutters
By 4.23.15
Most pay-TV providers don’t like to remind consumers that there is plenty of freely available over-the-air TV, but the folks at Cablevision seem to be taking a “if you can’t beat ’em, give ’em antennae” attitude by acknowledging that some customers are destined to cut the cord (or to never connect that cord in the first place). [More]
Sony Unveils Pricing For PlayStation Vue Streaming Service, Confirming It’s Not Very Cheap
By 3.18.15
For months now Sony has left the pricing details of its PlayStation Vue streaming television service up to our wandering imaginations. Now the company has all but confirmed previous reports that the service would cost a pretty penny, while announcing its availability in certain areas of the country starting today. [More]
Should You Ditch Cable? This Calculator Will Tell You
By 1.12.15
We’ve been posting about cord-cutting, or ditching pay cable TV in favor of paid and free streaming video sites, for years now. However, products announced in the last year can better simulate the content available through cable. Sports, premium cable channels, and other things that were once cable-only are now available to cord-cutters. Yet making the switch doesn’t always make financial sense. [More]
Survey Says: Yes, Everyone Really Is Binge-Watching A Lot More Netflix (And Cutting Back Cable)
By 12.10.14
Americans watch a lot of TV. But increasingly, we don’t watch it “on TV.” If you feel like everyone you know is spending Saturday devouring whole seasons of programming on Netflix instead of channel-surfing on the cable box, you’re not alone. At least half the people you know are doing that, a new survey confirms — and those numbers just keep going up. [More]
CBS Joins HBO, Launches Online-Only Subscription Service
By 10.16.14
On the heels of yesterday’s surprise announcement that HBO is creating an online-only, cable-free, streaming-access package in 2015, broadcast network CBS has announced that it, too, is joining the cord-cutting party. [More]
Some Small Cable Companies Are Dropping TV, And Customers Don’t Seem To Mind
By 10.1.14
Plenty of people have cut back on pay TV — cable and satellite — and gone to internet-only subscriptions in order to save some cash. But the individual cord-cutters aren’t the only ones realizing how expensive programming can be, and how they can live without it in the broadband era. Some small-scale cable companies are also taking the plunge, and cutting out TV service altogether. [More]
Comcast Hoping Free Campus Cable Will Stop Cord-Cutters Before They Start
By 8.21.14
With their ever-changing schedules, yearly changes of living situation, it’s easy for a college student to realize there’s little value in a pricey pay-TV package they may rarely ever get to use. Throw in HD wireless devices and ready access to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu — hell, even Crackle — over public WiFi and you’ve got a petri dish for growing an entire generation of consumers who have no need for 13 Discovery Channels and 27 variations on Nickelodeon. That’s why, in the hopes of getting the hook into students before they learn they can live without MTV’s new Tuvan throat singing channel, Comcast has partnered with a handful of colleges to include a cable package in the cost of room and board for students. [More]
I Have To Pay Another $23 Because 5th Season Of Breaking Bad Was Split In Half
By 8.12.13 — Updated: 9.9.13
Martin is really annoyed. Last year, he bought season 5 of “Breaking Bad” on iTunes, which means that the fresh episodes should show up on his Apple TV at the same time they air on cable. After all, the episodes on now are the second half of the fifth season, not the sixth season. [More]
When You Change Cable Packages, Don’t Assume Anything
By 7.3.13
When subscribing to cable TV or making changes to your plan, get a list of what your package includes in writing. Otherwise, you risk what happened to Alyssa’s household. Alyssa writes that she called up Comcast to downgrade her plan, paying extra to receive some channels in high definition. The problem was that she didn’t get all the basic cables in HD…which included the channels she actually wanted. [More]
Comcast Entices Cord Cutter Back, Can’t Manage To Ship Him A Box
By 5.16.13
Comcast wanted Craig back. Well, not Comcast so much as the entire cable industry wanted him back. Do you blame them? He was a successful cord cutter, who managed to leave cable TV behind but keep his broadband Internet connection last year. Kabletown called him up and enticed him back with an amazing offer and a year of HBO. He couldn’t refuse…but then Comcast turned cold once it was time to actually ship him the equipment he needed. [More]
