Consumer Reports – September 2019

on the market all off er more

than one tier of service, going

from as few as 33 channels

up to 140-plus channels. That

boosts your odds of fi nding

a mix of content that feels

right for the price. And if you

change your mind, you can

quickly switch to another tier

or even a diff erent company—

no appointment with the

cable guy or satellite-dish

installer needed.

Here’s why you might

want to switch to a cable-

replacement service.

Lower Prices

Even with recent price

hikes, most of the cable-

replacement plans cost less

than half as much as the

average pay-TV bill, according

to market research fi rm

Services

or an Apple TV. You can buy a

streaming player outright for as

little as $30, and there are no

recurring hardware charges.

No Confusing Fees

The aggravating, hard-to-

understand charges you fi nd on

cable TV bills don’t show up on

invoices from cable-replacement

streaming services. You may

choose to pay extra each

month for more DVR storage

or for premium channels, but

those are optional charges for

added services.

And ... the Case Against

It’s true that cable-replacement

services deliver broadcast

and cable channels over the

internet—but there are caveats.

Live local broadcasts aren’t

available from every service

eMarketer—admittedly for far

less programming. You can

get a bunch of channels for as

little as $15 per month. More

robust services that off er 60 or

70 channels, including local

broadcasts and cable channels

such as CNN and HGTV, are

typically priced around $45 or

$50 monthly. Compared with

basic cable, that’s cheap.

No Box Rental

Most cable companies require

you to rent a set-top box for

a monthly fee of $10 or so,

which can add up to more than

$100 annually; receivers with

DVRs can cost even more to

rent. By contrast, you access a

streaming service using an app

on a smart TV or a streaming

device that plugs into your set,

such as a Roku Streaming Stick

LIVE TV STREAMING SERVICES THAT WANT YOU TO DUMP CABLE

DirecTV Now

$50 to $70 per Month

for Featured Plans

Like the satellite

service but without

the dish. You get

more than 45 live

TV channels in the

basic plan, plus

on-demand titles

and even HBO.

in every TV market—and entire

channels are missing from

certain services. As just one

example, Sling TV doesn’t have

CBS anywhere in the country.

You need to check carefully to

make sure a particular plan

delivers the channels you want.

The savings vary, too. Cable-

replacement services are still

typically less expensive than

cable TV, but the gap is eroding.

Most of the companies raised

monthly rates by $5 or $10

earlier this year.

And services may limit

how many users can access

the service at one time. For

instance, the base plans from

DirecTV Now and Hulu + Live

TV let just two devices play

content simultaneously, though

you can often add users for

$5 or so per month.

FuboTV

$55 per Month

A cable-style

streaming service

for sports fans.

The base plan has

about 100 channels

with live sports,

shows, and movies,

plus a cloud DVR,

You can add more

DVR storage for

$10 per month and

30 extra channels

for $6 more.

Hulu + Live TV

$45 per Month

A good option for

those who like both

local channels and

cable networks,

because you also

get everything in

Hulu’s $6-per-month

streaming library. You

get more than 60 live

and on-demand

channels, including

TV shows, movies,

and Hulu originals.

Includes a cloud DVR;

you can pay more to

get more storage or

additional content.

Sling TV

$25 to $40 per Month

An option for cord

cutters on a budget.

Sling TV offers two

$25 plans—Sling

Orange and Sling

Blue—plus a $40

option with about

50 channels that

combines both.

(Orange has ESPN

but no locals; Blue

has NBC and Fox

but no ESPN.)

You can pay for

additional channel

packs; a cloud DVR

costs $5 per month.

Sony

PlayStation Vue

$50 to $85 per Month

The streaming service

that gets closest to

a cable TV package.

You get between

50 and about 100 live

TV and on-demand

channels, including

local broadcasts,

regional sports

networks, and cable

channels. The priciest

plan includes HBO

and Showtime. A

cloud DVR with

28-day storage

is included.

YouTube T V

$50 per Month

A good choice

for those looking

to save money

without giving up

sports or major

cable channels.

YouTube T V of fers

70-plus broadcast

and cable channels,

plus major sports

networks such as

CBS Sports, ESPN,

and Fox Sports.

A cloud DVR with

unlimited storage

for up to nine

months is included.

SEPTEMBER 2019 CR.ORG 29