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Streaming TV service reviews: While I was on vacation last week, TechHive published a couple of updated live TV streaming service reviews I'd written beforehand.
Hulu with Live TV is still technically in beta, but it's one of the best values in live TV streaming at $40 per month. That price gets you all four major broadcast networks, the big three cable news networks; national and regional sports from ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports Network, and NBCSN; and a slew of entertainment channels. It also includes access to Hulu's on-demand service (normally $8 per month), so you can watch originals like The Handmaid's Tale and a sizeable back catalog of network TV shows (Seinfeld, hello!). While Hulu's menu system is polarizing, it's improved substantially over the last year, and now includes a live TV grid guide.
I'm not quite as enamored with DirecTV Now, which despite a revamped interface still has lots of little annoyances. But at least it finally includes DVR service, and its live TV grid guide is without equal. While DirecTV Now can be more expensive than other streaming bundles, it also has a broader channel selection, and AT&T wireless subscribers can defray the cost by $15 per month by pairing the TV service with an unlimited data plan.
Et tu, Netflix? This week, Netflix confirmed that it's testing a new price hike of sorts in Europe, in which users might have to pay more to retain specific features. Currently, Netflix's $11 per month HD video plan lets users watch on up to two devices at once, while a $14 per month 4K HDR video plan allows up to four streams at a time. Under the plans Netflix is testing, the HD plan would drop to a single stream, while the 4K plan would offer just two streams at a time and would no longer include HDR video. Watching in 4K HDR on up to four devices would require a new, more expensive "Ultra" plan.
In a statement to CNet, Netflix said it's only trying to "better understand how consumers value Netflix," and may never offer the specific prices and features it's testing now. Netflix also just raised prices for U.S. subscribers last fall, and CEO Reed Hastings said a few months ago that the company has no immediate plans to raise them again. Still, it's no secret that Netflix wants to increase prices over time as its original content costs go up. Charging more for certain features--particularly ones that facilitate password sharing--might be one way to do that.
No Fox Sports networks for Disney: The U.S. Department of Justice has approved Disney's plan to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox, under one condition: Disney should be required to offload Fox's regional sports networks first. (The deal already excludes Fox's national sports channels, news channels, and broadcasting business, which would be spun off into a separate company.)
The stipulation could be good news for cord-cutters and cable subscribers alike. Disney already owns ESPN; and owning a major source of local sports coverage would give the company much more leverage over TV providers. This could lead to higher prices and even more bloated bundles. That said, Fox and Disney shareholders have yet to approve the deal themselves, and there's no guarantee Fox's sports networks won't eventaully get snatched up by another major media company looking to secure some more leverage of its own.
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