My Streaming Life

The "Cable News Network" is currently navigating an identity crisis that is both a financial necessity and a strategic gamble. Recent regulatory filings and audience data reveal that the "Big Three" news networks are no longer just competing for your television screen; they are fighting an existential war to see who can survive the decline of the cable bundle. For cord-cutters, the 2026 landscape shows that while Fox News remains entrenched as the "King of Cable," the runner-up spot has completely flipped once you move from the set-top box to the streaming app. The "Cable Cliff" is No Longer Theoretical The admission that the traditional cable model is in a managed decline is finally appearing in black and white. In a recent proxy filing released by Warner Bros. Discovery on January 20, 2026, internal projections for CNN show a projected 4% annual compound decline in traditional linear revenue through 2030. While the network is projected to g...

The convenience of a streaming stick is undeniable. They are small, portable, and easily tuck away behind a television. Because these devices use a USB cable for power, it is incredibly tempting to simply plug that cable into the USB port on the back of the TV rather than running it to a wall outlet. It keeps the setup clean and eliminates one more cord hanging down the wall. I have always recommended using the included power adapter plugged into a wall outlet. In 2026, that advice remains the same. While many users have powered their devices this way for years without seeing a catastrophic failure, the technical risks have actually increased as streaming technology has advanced. The Amperage Gap in Modern Hardware The primary issue is a simple matter of physics and power requirements. Most standard USB 2.0 ports on a television are designed to output a maximum of 500mA (0.5 amps). In the early days of streaming, this was occasionally enough to get by. Today, the landscape is very ...

It is no secret that the cost of streaming has gone up. Almost every major service has increased its monthly subscription fee over the last few years. While the approach of keeping every subscription active simultaneously is convenient, it has become unsustainable for many household budgets. The most effective strategy to counter these price hikes is to rotate your services. The premise is simple: instead of subscribing to Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and Paramount Plus all at once, you subscribe to just one. You watch the content you want on that service for a month, cancel it, and then move on to the next one. This method allows you to see all the content you want over the course of a year, but you only pay for one service at a time. The financial impact The savings generated by rotating are substantial. If you have six services and you only pay for one each month, you are saving the cost of five subscriptions every single month. Because the individual prices are higher now tha...

It all comes down to this. The college football postseason ends tonight with the national championship game. The preseason number 10 Miami and the preseason number 20 Indiana wound up number 10 and number 1 respectively. The Game This is it. This is for all the marbles. January 19 One game, between two teams. One that didn't even make their conference championship games, and one that made it this far as the only undefeated team this season. College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T (7:30 PM ET on ESPN) (#10) Miami (13-2) (#1) Indiana (15-0) How to Watch There is only a single network broadcasting the game tonight. ESPN ESPN Unlimited: ($30/month) Sling TV Orange: ($46/month) Fubo (Sports & News): ($56/month) DirecTV Stream MySports: ($70/month) YouTube TV: ($83/month) Hulu+Live TV: ($90/month) My Streaming Life is consumed by football during this time of the year. We hope you enjoy watch the games during this 2025 College...

+ In this video titled "I QUIT Paying for Streaming and Use These 5 Alternatives Instead," Spencer Campbell from the channel Spencer's Adventures discusses the frustrations of rising subscription costs and the loss of true digital ownership. [ YouTube ] Spencer examines the trend of "enshittification" in the streaming industry, where platforms prioritize profit over user experience by increasing prices and adding ads to paid tiers. He argues that streaming has become a cycle of monthly rentals where consumers have no control over their libraries. To combat this, he outlines five practical alternatives: utilizing free ad-supported services like Tubi and Pluto TV, investing in physical media, buying DRM-free digital music, using a broadcast antenna for local TV, and making use of the free digital and physical collections at public libraries. The point Spencer makes about digital ownership is one that is becoming harder to ignore. We have seen instances where v...

If you're a cord cutter, or thinking of becoming one, an option you should consider is getting a TV antenna. Most people in the USA live close enough to at least one broadcast tower and could pick up TV signals over the air. That's free. A long time ago, that was the only way to watch TV. We had an antenna pointed toward the TV towers in Savannah, and we'd watch the stations from that city. It was the closest place that had TV signals. The increase in streaming services has put a huge dent in cable, and is partly responsible for people remembering, or finding out for the first time, about over the air TV. What was an old market was resurrected and became a hot new market again. And what happens when a new market emerges? Someone wants to take advantage of it. A lot of TV antennae that you see in stores make some really outrageous claims. I've seen antennae claiming 200 mile range. Let me tell you a secret. They're lying. Here's why I can tell you they are lyi...

If you cut the cord and replaced cable with a live streaming service -- YouTube TV, Fubo, Sling TV, or Hulu+Live TV -- I have a question for you: why? Why did you simply replace cable with a live streaming service? What was it about cable you didn't like? The price? If that's the case, take a look at your current bill. With YouTube TV at $83 , Hulu+Live TV at $90 , and Fubo starting at $85 (often exceeding $100 once regional sports fees are added), that price gap has nearly vanished. Or was it paying for channels you didn't watch? If that's the case, does your live streaming service have channels you don't watch? I bet it does. So what did you solve? If the answer is "price," then we are back to the same problem: the cost of live TV is rising everywhere, regardless of the delivery method. The real benefit of streaming is control. There is nothing wrong with wanting to control your TV rather than ceding that to a cable company. With cable, you are oft...

The media has a favorite story they like to tell: "Traditional TV is dead." We have heard it for years, and as I celebrate my 15th anniversary of cutting the cord this week, I have heard it more than most. But as I look at my own habits lately, I have noticed something strange. I am actually watching more antenna-based TV now than I was five years ago. For a long time, I thought I was just an outlier. Then I looked at the actual data from the last five years (2020-2025), and the numbers tell a story that the "streaming-only" crowd isn't talking about. The Great Compression: 2020 vs. 2025 Category 2020 Data 2025 Data 5-Year Trend Pay TV Households (Cable/Sat) 81% of homes 44% of homes -45% Antenna (OTA) Households 18% of homes 23% of homes +28% Big 4 Average Viewers 19.3 Million 15.9 Million -18% Top Minor Networks ~1.3 Million ~1.6 Million +23% The Truth Behind the Numbers The "catch" in this data is exactly w...

Michael Timmermann on Auditing Your 2026 Streaming Budget Michael Timmermann, a personal finance journalist and cord-cutting expert from the Michael Saves channel, provides a strategic look at how to audit your viewing habits to avoid the "bundle trap" in 2026. [ YouTube ] The video highlights a common mistake for cord-cutters: trading expensive cable packages for equally costly live TV streaming bundles. Michael Timmermann suggests auditing viewing habits by listing specific shows and sports rather than just channels to determine if a large bundle is truly necessary. He recommends a DIY approach, such as combining an indoor antenna for local stations with more affordable standalone services like ESPN Unlimited, NFL Plus Premium, and Peacock Premium. This strategy can save around $40 per month compared to a standard $94/month YouTube TV plan by prioritizing cost savings over the simplicity of a single app. I saw the video recently and while I've shared much of the sa...