My Streaming Life

There's a new channel on streaming services (and cable). Only it's not new. It's just a new name. Hallmark Family debuted yesterday, with the same stuff it's been playing for a while. Yes, that actually does make sense. Before Wednesday, the channel was called Hallmark Drama. But, on Wednesday, it became Hallmark Family . Only the name changed. Why the change? Well, I don't really know. I suspect that Great American Family channel is why. That competitor from former Hallmark executives has made inroads into the traditional Hallmark market. Enough that it could be the reason Hallmark rebranded Hallmark Drama as Hallmark Family. Or, it could have nothing to do with it. (I really think it did.) Hallmark Family is available streaming from most streaming services, as this chart shows. My Streaming Life has enjoyed Hallmark Drama (now Hallmark Family) for a while through Frndly TV, the cheapest way to watch the three Hallmark channels. Oh, and yes, the Great American F...

I saw a couple of articles yesterday about a new service offering local channels via streaming. Locast did something like this a couple of years back, but were sued and lost, forcing a shutdown of that service. However, the reason for the ruling was that Locast was practically forcing users to "donate" $5/month for the service, and used it to expand, making them a for-profit business, rather than a not-for-profit business. Had Locast been declared a not-for-profit business that was following proper rules and regulations, they may have won and still be in operation. But that's not what happened. Now, a couple of reports are out about a company called LocalTV+ that currently operates in Boston. So far, there have been no legal challenges to the company and its service, according to Cord Cutters News : ... a new service called LocalTV+ has launched to offer free ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC in the Boston area. It is also accepting donations, and now the question is whethe...

I've considered dropping Amazon Prime for some time. I went ahead and let it renew last month. I almost didn't, but until Walmart Plus gets shipping on par with Amazon, I can't talk myself into dropping Amazon Prime. I don't use the Prime Video service much, but I do use the shipping benefits. I've been a member since that's all Amazon Prime was: shipping benefits. Before Prime Video even existed, I was an Amazon Prime member. So, with the price now at $139/year, how much benefit am I getting? Well, Amazon says I'm getting $39.44 of benefit from my $139 subscription. That means, according to Amazon's own numbers, I'm behind by $99.56 over the past 12 months. And I believe it. Maybe I should be watching more Prime Video. They would have to have more that I want to watch for that to happen. Maybe I should order more. They would have to have more stuff that I couldn't find elsewhere for that to happen. Or maybe, just maybe, I should drop Ama...

Frndly TV has been a favorite of mine since the service launched in 2019. It is cheap, starting at $7/month, and lives up to its name in being a source of family friendly TV. The interface has always been simple, defaulting to a cable-style TV guide. It also had a section for on-demand movies and on-demand TV shows, plus a place where your recordings were stored. Now, Frndly TV has added a new home screen that makes it more like other services. As you can see, it has the top carousel of suggested content, with live TV suggestions below. Scrolling down gets you a "Continue Watching" section, a "Recommended For You" section, a "Tending Now" row, a "Coming Soon" row, "Critically Acclaimed," followed by other rows of content. It's new, and I really haven't decided if I like it or not. Maybe I will come to really like it. Or maybe I'll jump straight to the Guide each time. I can see why some would like it, and maybe that wil...

Next year, Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10. If you don't have any Windows 10 computers, you don't need to worry about that. But, if you run Windows 10, and if your computer won't install and run Windows 11, you have a very big problem. Your options are to buy a new computer, use an unsupported hack to install Windows 11 anyway (there are many reasons to not do this), or to switch to another operating system. Recently, a new requirement for Windows 11 emerged, but in this case, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Here's a video about the new requirement: [ YouTube ] This specific requirement isn't a really big deal for most people. However, as the video said, this could simply be the first of changes that will impact more and more older computers. The reason this isn't that big of a deal is that this new requirement only impacts computers over 15 years old. It's probably time for an upgrade. That's easy enough to say, but not ...

I cut the cord in 2011 to save money. That was the actual reason. Sure, I thought it was an interesting idea and I wanted to try something new and different, but I wasn't going to do it if it cost more money. So, I compared prices of cable vs streaming. And, after two years of research (I put some serious thought and research into it), I pulled the plug in January 2011. But why would someone today cut the cord? Well, I asked Google Gemini and ChatGPT both the same question: Why should I consider cutting the cord? Here is what each said. Google Gemini There are many reasons why you might consider cutting the cord, depending on your priorities and viewing habits. Here are some of the main pros: Cost savings : This is often the biggest motivator. Cable bills can be expensive, and with streaming services, you have more control over what you pay for. You can choose individual services for shows and movies you actually watch, rather than paying for a bundle of channels you never us...

There have been reports recently that Amazon will be shutting down Freevee. There are a number of reports that say it isn't shutting down. The source for all the shutdown rumors is an article in AdWeek. The story by quotes three people described as "familiar with the strategy," "familiar with the matter," or "familiar with the situation" saying the service will shut down within the next three months : Freevee, which Amazon rebranded from IMDb TV in April 2022, has historically functioned as a free, ad-supported alternative to Prime Video, where content largely requires an Amazon Prime subscription for access. But when Amazon introduced advertising to Prime Video in January, the decision threw the fate of Freevee into question. With both services already sharing certain titles, Amazon is essentially hosting a similar slate of ad-supported programming on two separate apps. This redundancy, combined with several other factors, compelled Amazon to wind dow...

How much are you spending on streaming services? A recent study indicates that streamers in the U.S. are paying $924/year for streaming services. That's $77/month. Cord Cutters News reports that the amount is still a lot less than cable : Bango, which provides software to companies that help them bundle together subscriptions, asked 5,000 people about their streaming habits and found the average person subscribes to 4.5 services ranging from streaming, gaming, news, home tech, and online retailers. The survey found that 10% of participants signed up for more than ten services, while 2% said they had more than 15 accounts. For streaming specifically, 76% said they pay for at least one streaming video-on-demand platform and 13% pay for sports video-on-demand services. Due to recent price hikes roaming across platforms, 57% said they had canceled a subscription, and 67% reported they couldn’t afford all the subscriptions they wanted. All in all, Bango found people spend an a...

A report from Cord Cutters News says that the number of streamers that are watching free ad supported television (FAST) content is increasing. If the report is accurate, I think this is good. It means streamers are getting more sophisticated in their approach. But first, the "if the report is accurate" part needs some exploring. The report cites Neilsen ratings in it's top ten streaming platforms for 2024. Here Are The Top 10 Streaming Services: YouTube: 8.6 percent Netflix: 7.9 percent Prime Video: 2.8 percent Hulu: 2.7 percent Disney+: 1.9 percent Peacock: 1.6 percent Tubi: 1.5 percent Max: 1.3 percent Roku Channel: 1.1 percent Paramount+: 09 percent Pluto TV: 0.7 percent *Note: YouTube is for the main site not YouTube TV and Hulu is for the video-on-demand not the live TV service. Here's the catch: the story cited and linked , as least as I write this, is from June 2023. That's nearly eight m...

A friend just moved to the area from a large city. She's a family friend, actually, that I met through the family (of course). She lived in the Washington DC area and I've visited her house there with family. She's moved from that area to southeast Georgia recently. As in within the last week. She's setting up house, getting things organized, and making the adjustment from DC to SE GA. During a conversation this past weekend, she mentioned in passing that she doesn't have Wi-Fi, which I took to mean she did not have Internet at her new house. At least, not yet. When we visited her, we didn't watch any TV, so I don't know if she had cable or not. Or satellite or not. I don't know what she had. Anyway, her comment that she didn't have Internet got me to thinking. Should I ask her about her plans for TV? Maybe she just doesn't watch TV. Maybe she loves satellite TV. Maybe she's a fan of cable. Whatever her preference is, that's her preferenc...

Today is Washington's Birthday. Okay, it's not the actual anniversary of the day George Washington was born. That's coming up on Thursday, the 22nd. But today is a national holiday, and that holiday is called "Washington's Birthday." Now, before you argue about what today is, keep reading. And if you were going to argue, if you do keep reading, you may learn something. Here is the listing of this year's holidays from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management : You may not be able to see it clearly in that image, but at the bottom, it says: **This holiday is designated as "Washington's Birthday" in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law. Some of you may be thinking that tod...

Is privacy important to you? Most people don't think so. "I don't have anything to hide" is a common phrase. And maybe you don't. But it's really not that simple. Naomi Brockwell has some thoughts on privacy. [ YouTube ] My Streaming Life involves streaming devices that report more information than I like. While I would prefer more privacy, I am aware of what's going on, and at least know the consequences of my actions. I'm not blind to it. Maybe you aren't either.

From time to time, I'll reexamine the apps on my streaming devices and find some to remove. It doesn't really hurt to leave apps I don't use on the devices, but I prefer a cleaner experience. So, I decided to look at the apps and see what could be removed. I have the Sling app, but that's for when I subscribe to Sling TV for ESPN during college football season. I should remove it. ESPN was only used with the Sling TV credentials during football season. It's now been removed. Xumo Play is another I don't use. I actually don't like it, since it plays content without my pressing "Play" and there's no way to turn it off. There is no option to disable Autoplay or Auto Preview. So, yeah, it's now removed. Netflix was to watch Dave Chappelle last month. I canceled at the end of the month, but never removed the app. Well, I have now. YouTube Music isn't used on my streaming device, so it's now cleaned off. Starz is one that I'm still wa...

My Special Lady did something unexpected the other day. She lost the remote to her Chromecast. She's not one that often does stuff like that. I mean, she actually lost the remote. Not simply misplaced it and found it later. She actually turned the house inside out looking for it. It's gone. Missing. Nowhere to be found. So, what to do? Well, the easy answer is to replace the remote. So, how much does one cost? That's not easy to answer, because it depends on where you buy it, and from who you buy it. Google sells the Chromecast remotes for $20 . There are compatible remotes on Amazon for the same price , but would arrive sooner. There were even other remotes for a lower price, but not that much lower in price. So, spend $20, right? Well, yes, but not in the way we discussed. I simply spent $20 for the new Walmart Onn Streaming Box. That gave me a comparable Google TV device, but a 4K/UHD one rather than a standard HD device. It also meant that I didn't need to wait on i...

If you've cut the cord, or are thinking about cutting the cord, you may have wondered how you watched TV for free without an antenna. Well, an antenna is a great thing to get, if you live close enough to stations to easily install one. But not everyone can or wants to do that. I would suggest that a reconsideration is in order, as the benefits of an antenna are great. But still, what about without an antenna? There are a number of free streaming video services. Many of them have live streaming, as well as on demand. But which are the best? Consumer Reports recently (late 2023) had an article on that. It's an interesting read, and gives good information about a number of services. And, of course, Consumer Reports (yes, I'm a member) is based on actual consumer reviews. Generally. You'll see what I mean shortly. If you can't read the entire article (some can be read for free, others require a membership; I'm not certain which this is), or just want the summary, h...

As much as I am a big streamer -- I've been streaming exclusively for over 13 years -- I haven't been big on streaming for Valentine's Day. Christmas movies? Sure. Hallowe'en horror movies? Yep. Valentine's Day? Not so much. I don't know why that is, and maybe I need to change that. Well, there's a list by Good Housekeeping that might be a good place to start : Valentine's Day Sylvie's Love 50 First Dates The Sun Is Also a Star The Perfect Find Moonstruck Waiting to Exhale Long Live Love! Your Place or Mine Brown Sugar There are 40 more to check out. My Streaming Life doesn't involve streaming Valentine's Day movies, but maybe that'll change by next year.

Recently, Amazon started showing ads on it's Prime Video service. They will remove the ads if you pay $3/month. But now there is word that Amazon has removed some functionality of the standard (now ad-free) plan. According to Forbes, Amazon has dropped visual and audio quality for subscribers : ... the Prime Video with ads tier also denies subscribers the previously available benefits of Dolby Vision high dynamic range pictures and Dolby Atmos sound. So as well as having to put up with adverts on a subscription they may well have taken out months ago out with no expectation that ads would be involved, basic tier subscribers now find that they also no longer get the same potential premium picture and sound performance features they once had. This is just dirty. It says a lot about the character of the decision makers at Amazon. My Streaming Life doesn't utilize Prime Video much, so I'm not really impacted, at least not much. Still, it's a bad thing that Amazon has done. ...

Tom's Guide had an article recently that I found interesting. I didn't necessarily agree with it, but I did find it interesting. The article was titled "5 best streaming services you've never heard of" and covered some specialty services. I was familiar with four of them . Whether you're a cinephile yearning for meticulously curated cinematic masterpieces, a thrill-seeker immersed in the spine-chilling allure of horror films, or love the world of Asian dramas and animation, these niche streaming services all have libraries that you might just want to check out! The article then listed them, along with descriptions. Here are the names of the five: Shudder Crunchyroll Rakuten Viki BroadwayHD MUBI None are really my cup of tea. MUBI is the one that is of most interest to me, but I won't pay $15/month for it. Oh, the one with which I was not familiar? BroadwayHD. Again, not really my cup of tea. But one or more of them might be yours. For years, I've thoug...

The NFL playoffs concluse today with the NFL championship game, Super Bowl 58 (LVIII). Four teams remain, two in each conference, including the top seeds hosting the games. The Game The two teams have met in the post-season just once. Since they're in different conferences, they could only meet in the Super Bowl. In 2020 (2019 season), Kansas City beat San Francisco 31-20 in Super Bowl 54. They have met 14 other times, with the teams splitting at 7 games apiece. Super Bowl 58, the NFL Championship Kansas City (AFC champions) vs San Francisco (NFC champions). CBS How to watch The various networks carrying the games are available to streamers in several different ways. CBS Antenna (free) Paramount Plus (Premium) $12/month Hulu+Live TV ($77/month) YouTube TV ($73/month) Fubo (Pro) ($75/month) DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month) My Streaming Life does not often involve professional football, particularly NFL games. But, there is no denying the popularit...

It took about 4 years for Windows 10 to surpass Windows 7 as the top version of Microsoft's operating system. It's been around 2½ years since Windows 11 was released, and it's lagging behind Windows 10 having 2½ times the users of Windows 11. That's how it goes. Microsoft doesn't like that, however, and is pushing Windows 11 hard. [ YouTube ] One of the biggest reasons people aren't upgrading is that Windows 11 requires more updated hardware than many users have. They'll have to buy a new computer, or purchase extended support for Windows 10. Or, and hear me out on this, switch to another operating system. ChromeOS is a good choice for extending the life of outdated computer hardware. Linux is also a good choice to extend hardware life. My Streaming Life uses Windows to drive my Plex server. It's still running Windows 10, but it is upgradable to Windows 11. If it was not, I would install Linux.

This week, reports came that Plex now had a movie rental store available within its app. I checked it out -- no, I didn't rent anything, just looked it over -- and sure enough, you can rent movies through Plex. I'll say up front that I don't see myself taking advantage of this. At least, not much. I don't often rent movies, unless it's something I really want to see, and it's not available on a streaming service I am subscribed to at the time. Rarely have I rented movies, but I have. If it's not a "watch with subscription" movie, I'll usually buy it when it goes on sale, either for a price similar or cheaper than the rental cost. However, I could see times that I would rent a movie. So, this may be something I try. As you can see, it's a pretty standard layout. There isn't anything special about Plex movie rentals as far as I can tell. However, as the next picture shows, they seem to be fair when it comes to offereing how to get th...

ESPN, Fox, and Warner have teamed up to start a new sports streaming service. The service will carry the major sports leagues, including NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, as well as college basketball and football. The Wall Street Journal reports that the service will launch later this year : The as-yet-unnamed service will be offered directly to consumers, who would be able to stream all of these companies’ sports content, the companies said in a statement, following a report in The Wall Street Journal about the new venture. Each of the companies will have one-third ownership of the new service, which is expected to launch in the fall. The companies didn’t announce pricing. The chief executives of Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney -- ESPN's majority owner -- said the new offering would increase choice for fans and give a new sports-centric service to those who have cut the cord to traditional pay-TV. I've been wanting a service that offered major sports apart from cable. N...

Quick, what's the largest live TV streaming service? If you said "YouTube TV" then you either are very smart, or you read the title of this article. Figures released recently show that YouTube TV now has over 8-million subscribers. YouTube's CEO Neal Mohan wrote a blog post recently that included that bit of information : We’re also seeing growing consumer interest in our subscription services. We’re excited to announce that we have more than 8 million subscribers to YouTube TV. And we passed 100 million Music and Premium subscribers, including trials. Music subscriptions help us deliver on our goal to be the best place for artists to connect with fans, from insider access to Coachella to Shorts challenges with NewJeans, Dua Lipa, Tate McRae, and more. The 8-million subscribers total is the most of any live TV streaming service, according to Cord Cutters News : With this jump, YouTube TV has nearly doubled the subscribers of Hulu + Live TV, the next larges...

An email sent to Hulu subscribers this past week indicates the service is beginning to crack down on password sharing. On January 31, this showed up in my email: We're Updating Our Subscriber Agreement We wanted to let you know that we are making some updates to our Subscriber Agreement. These terms will apply as of January 25, 2024 for new subscribers. For prior and existing subscribers, like you, these terms will be effective beginning on March 14, 2024, unless you acknowledge an in-app notice of these changes earlier. Until then, the terms of our prior agreement apply. We encourage you to review the updated Subscriber Agreement in full and save a copy for your files. Once effective, it will govern your use and enjoyment of your Hulu subscription. We are as committed as ever to making sure you have an enjoyable streaming experience. Please visit our Help Center for more information about your subscription. We have highlighted some of the changes for your reference: We...

In 2021, I bought and tested the Walmart Onn Streaming Box. It went poorly . Last year, Walmart released an updated Onn 4K Streaming Box. That went well . In fact, I like the devices so well that I plan to add them to TVs that don't have a Google TV interface available. The $20 price is $30 less than the 4K/UHD Chromecast device, and has the same functionality. Okay, I said I like it, and that's true, but I didn't give many details of what I like. I'll do some of that now. First, the box comes with everything you need. Besides the device itself, the remote, alkaline batteries, and the power cord, there is also an HDMI cable and double-sided adhesive tape. The thing I don't like about the device is that it's so small and lightweight, that the stiffness of the HDMI and power cables can keep the device from sitting flat. The double-sided tape can be used to keep it attached to a shelf, or better, the back of a TV. It's not a stick, but it can be out of s...

The NFL playoffs are not done. There is still the NFL Championship, Super Bowl 58 (or LVIII, if you like their silly Roman numberals thing). But that's next weekend. Today, it's the all star game, called the Pro Bowl. The best players of the AFC and the NFC square off in Orlando. Well, the best players that could be bothered with playing. Players from the two Super Bowl teams won't be playing. And a lot of otehrs that would qualigy have opted out. But still, it's pro football with a lot of starts. Well, sort of pro football. It's a bunch of pro football players who have been playing a lot of activities, including dodgeball, and the championships are this afternoon. Oh, along with a flag football game. The Game The Pro Bowl Games championships and flag football game are today. AFC vs NFC. ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ How to watch The various networks carrying the games are available to streamers in several different ways. ABC Antenna (free) Sling TV ( 8 market...

Some people are getting upset because Amazon has added ads to Prime Video, and are asking for $3/month to remove those ads. Some that are paying the money are upset that they are still getting ads. I hate to say it, but Amazon is correct about still showing ads. The problem is that people assume things they shouldn't assume. Of course, the bigger problem is that Amazon started showing ads as a hidden way to increase the price of their service. Getting $140/year isn't enough for them, it seems. Here is why I'm saying that Amazon is correct in still showing ads. Follow me on this, if you initially disagree. Amazon had places that had ads already. They recently added ads to their Prime Video service, but have always had ads on Freevee (formerly IMDB TV) and other free streaming channels. If Amazon hadn't made their recent change, you would not have ads on the Prime Video content, but you would have ads on Freevee and similar services. Now, Amazon has added ads to Prime Vid...

I saw an announcement from Cord Cutters News yesterday that Verizon had launched a new nationwide 5G home Internet service. I knew Verizon had service available in many places, and was waiting on it to become available everywhere. When I saw that article, I thought to myself, "Self, you should check this out." This morning, I did. And I learned something. Nationwide service isn't available nationwide. I know that, because I live in the nation. My state was one of the 13 original states when this nation became a nation. Nationwide should cover this part of the nation. It's not like Georgia just became part of the nation. No state has been part of the nation longer. Well, unless you are Verizon. Or Total by Verizon . The prepaid carrier, which is available in hundreds of stores throughout the country or online, will be offering the service, which costs $50 a month, or $45 if you sign up for its auto-pay discount. The company touts unlimited data and download speeds of...

I will occasionally subscribe to a streaming service. For a while, I've been subscribing to one streaming service a month, and changing out each month to a different service. That way, I could watch the content from several services, but not pay the cost of all of those services each month. That way has been a good way to stream. Only, I've noticed something over time. I would subscribe to a service, then not watch anything on the service. The reason that happened is that my process was to subscribe to a service at the start of the month, then toward the end of the month, set a reminder to cancel, and do that before the month ended. Then, at the start of the next month, I'd subscribe to another service. And the cycle would repeat. And that was a pretty good way to do things, except that I would sometimes subscribe because it was time to, but never watch the service. This wouldn't happen all the time, but it would happen sometimes. Then, I decided to subscribe, set a rem...