Cable or streaming? Both offer a variety of movies and TV shows, but you’ll always find pros and cons for each type of service. Regardless of how you watch TV, you don’t want to pay for something you’re not using.
As summer approaches and your travel plans take shape, you may want to consider pausing your service while you’re away. Why not just cancel and reactivate when you return? Well, that’s more inconvenient and could end up costing you more. Tap or click here for our report.
No doubt streaming is here to stay, but going back to cable or satellite might be a consideration for some cord-cutters. Should you go back? We’re here to help with your decision. Keep reading for five reasons you might want to reconsider cutting the cord.
1. Your combined streaming services are more expensive than your old cable bill
Streaming services by themselves may be cheaper than cable, but the bills add up when you subscribe to more than one service. Why would you do this? Perhaps you want to watch reruns of an old show and only one company has the streaming rights.
And when it comes to new content, each service has its library of original material. Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO Max and others produce content to lure in audiences. If you want to stream in HD or 4K to multiple devices, you’ll need fast internet service to keep up. That’ll add more to your bill.
Want to know how much internet you need? Tap or click here for our handy guide.
2. You only watch shows on network TV or cable channels anyway
Streaming services such as Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling, FuboTV and DirecTV Stream offer prime-time network shows and sports. The problem is that each one won’t offer every available cable channel, so you may need to sign up for more than one to get the channels you want.
When it comes to sports, you may miss out on regional games or live events only broadcast to local channels. Let’s say you want to have FuboTV and YouTube TV. You’ll pay a combined $135 per month for the basic plans, plus whatever you pay for internet service.
Alternatively, you can combine a cable plan with sports with a 10mps internet plan for less than $100 a month. Check with your local provider for bundle deals.
3. You won’t be subjected to price hikes between contracts
Streaming services like Netflix are raising their prices. If your subscription is set to auto-pay, you will pay that difference. Even if you pay your bill a month at a time, you’ll have to shell out more when the price goes up.
Cable providers typically won’t mess with your existing contract. If you pay for a year at a specific price, it shouldn’t change until you renew your contract. When that time does come, you can try something that won’t work with streaming services: negotiate.
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4. Some streaming services might come included with a cable subscription
If you’re struggling to decide between cable and streaming, look into packages that include both.
For example, if you subscribe to HBO through certain TV providers such as DirecTV, Hulu, Optimum, Verizon Fios, Xfinity, YouTube TV or Cox, you may get access to HBO Max with your subscription.
You can get access to Peacock Premium for free with certain Xfinity subscriptions.
5. Some sports are ONLY included in cable/satellite packages
Sports are among the last holdouts of cable and satellite TV. While the NFL is slowly making deals with streaming services to show its games, you won’t be able to see too many of them without a network TV subscription. The same goes for the NHL deal with ESPN+ and Hulu.
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