One option for so-called cord cuttersis to sign up for Sling TV, DirecTV Now,
or one of the other cable-replacement
streaming services that have sprung
up in recent years to supply live
broadcast and cable channels over the
internet. Remember, to do this you
still need decent broadband service,
and that’s likely to come from the
same company that supplied your TV
service in the first place.
If you’re thinking of going the cord-cutter route, the decision is more
complex than it was just a year ago.
CR’s advice then was to make a list of
your favorite channels, find a cable-
replacement service that provided
them, and then simply sit back and
count your savings each month.
That process still works, but themath has changed significantly.
Almost every cable-replacementstreaming service has hiked prices
recently, and channel lineups
seem to change every few months.
Prices are also rising for on-demand
streaming video services, such as
Netflix, and major media companies
are getting ready to launch their own
services, adding consumer choice —
but also confusion.
Meanwhile, cable companies are
trying to hang on to subscribers
by promoting limited packages
at discounted prices. This new
marketplace competition is a boon
to consumers who no longer have to
tolerate the old “take it or leave
it” days of cable TV. Now we have
lots of choices when it comes to
programming and pricing.
However, putting together
your household’s strategy for TV
entertainment is trickier now. Whether
you decide to stick with cable, opt to
cut the cord and sign up with a cable-
replacement service, or decide to just
stream videos from a service such
as Hulu or Netflix, you might not get
everything you want from a single
service—or even two.
“It’s pretty clear the growing number
of options has made it much more
confusing for consumers,” says Dan
Rayburn, principal analyst at media
research firm Frost & Sullivan. “Morepeople will find themselves having to
pay for and manage content across
multiple services rather than getting
everything from a single provider.”
The juggling act is underway in many
households, with so-called “stackers”—
people who subscribe to multiple
streaming services—on the rise.
More than 70 percent of U.S.
households that use streaming services
subscribe to more than one, according
to research firm Ampere Analysis. Just
under a quarter subscribe to three
services, and nearly 20 percent sign on
to four or more services.
That’s confusing. It can be
expensive, too. In many of these
homes, the monthly cost for streaming
is approaching or exceeding a
traditional cable bill. If you subscribe
to a cable-replacement service, a few
premium channels, such as HBO and
Starz, plus Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video, and maybe a Major League
Baseball streaming package, you might
not be saving money by cord-cutting.
In this report, we’ll help you decide
whether a cable TV package or a cable-
replacement streaming service makes
the most sense for you—or whether
you’d be better off with neither of these
options. Quite a few people get by with
just a streaming service, such as Hulu
or Netflix, especially if they can get
good TV reception using an antenna.
We’ll also give you a rundown on
streaming services you might not
know about, including free options,
and help you choose a streaming
media device to access video
over the web.
The old world of TV entertainment
was easy for people to understand,
but the lack of choice was frustrating.
The new world is complicated but
ultimately has much more to offer.Every year, more Americans
decide to fire their traditional
pay-TV provider, whether that’s
a cable service or a satellite TV
company. In 2018, the traditional
U.S. pay-TV providers lost
more than 3 million subscribers,
according to industry analysts
Leichtman Research Group.
26 CR.ORG SEPTEMBER 2019