- Overall, cutting the cable cord can be a great way to save money and get more control over your TV watching experience. However, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons before making a decision.
- Streaming television programs to dedicated apps on your TV requires the patience of a learning curve from the way we’ve traditionally watched TV.
- If you’re still not sure whether or not to cut the cable cord, you can try out a few streaming services for free before you commit. Many services offer free trials, so you can test them out and see if they’re right for you.
Updated 4/13/24:
We are truly in the age of overwhelming choice when it comes to TV. There are more shows available to watch than ever before – across more platforms than we can keep count of. As well as cable or satellite TV, there’s a host of streaming services out there like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, (HBO) Max, Paramount+, Peacock and AppleTV+.
Years ago phone/TV/internet providers persuaded people to bundle services together to save money. In recent years the price for TV service has skyrocketed mainly due to rising fees from the content providers, prompting people to consider cancelling or cutting back to save money on TV channels that are mostly unwatched.
With so much choice, deciding which option is best for you can be tricky. Should you ‘cut the cord’ and switch to streaming TV? If so, which service(s) should you subscribe to? Are all of the services that you want available on your Smart TV, or do you need an external streaming device? Is streaming cheaper than cable or satellite TV anyway? Should you UN-bundle to save money?
These might be some of your questions. We’ll aim to answer them below.
First things first: what is streaming?
Streaming is a form of video sharing that occurs over the internet rather than via your cable box or satellite dish. Streaming offers an advantage over traditional live TV in that you can start or pause shows or movies at any time (on-demand), you’re not forced to watch at specific times. Though that’s handy for watching old shows, live TV is still best for watching real-time news and sports broadcasts. You can stream live TV as well, but that costs a lot more.