Of all the attacks on cord-cutting that we’ve heard over the years, the most common is what I call the “gee whiz” argument: The idea that if you subscribe to a bunch of streaming video services, then gee whiz, the cost of all those subscriptions really adds up. This obvious point is routinely presented as an epiphany by cord-cutting naysayers, none of whom seem to realize that being able to pick and choose is the entire point of ditching cable.

This week, however, I’d like to argue in favor of letting things add up. Given what we know about the average cost of traditional pay TV service—it’s about $100 per month for TV alone, according to Leichtman Research Group and my own examination of FCC data—cord-cutters often have plenty of wiggle room to stack up streaming services and still save money.

In fact, you might even be able to combine multiple live TV bundles for more complete coverage and still come out ahead of cable, even when you’re paying for some of the same channels twice. Read the full column on TechHive.
 

Inescapable Discovery: If there's one problem with the ideas presented in this week's column, it's that all streaming TV bundles are getting larger and more homogenous. This week, Discovery announced that it's made deals with both Hulu and Sling TV to get its channels into respective live TV services. Hulu will begin carrying Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Motor Trend (nee Velocity), and Animal Planet in December, and will also add some Discovery content to its on-demand service. It's unclear which Discovery channels Sling TV will get, but they'll also arrive in both the Sling Orange and Sling Blue base packages by year-end.

I imagine the news will make some subscribers happy, but omitting Discovery networks was also one of the ways that Sling TV, Hulu, and several other bundles have kept their prices down. And while neither Hulu nor Sling TV say they're raising prices now, it's an open secret that these streaming bundles are already losing money. (And for what it's worth, Sling TV already raised the price of its Orange plan from $20 per month to $25 per month in June.) Packing in more channels means that at some point, something's got to give.

A nice improvement for Tablo: One of my outstanding gripes with Tablo's otherwise-solid over-the-air DVR is its inability to browse through the channel guide while you're watching live TV. This week, Tablo updated its Roku app to address the matter. Just press up or down on the remote, and a mini-guide will pop up over the current video, letting you scroll through live channels and see what's on next.

It's not the prettiest implementation--the guide covers up most of the left side of the screen--but it is smooth and responsive on Roku's latest devices, and it beats having to exit videos completely to see what else is on. There's no word yet on bringing the mini-guide to other devices.

If you've never tried Hulu's $8 per month on-demand streaming service, or have tried it but are no longer a subscriber, you can sign up now and save $2 per month for the next year. Hulu's service combines broadcast shows (mainly from ABC, NBC, and Fox) the day after they air, a large back catalog of network shows, and originals such as The Handmaid's Tale. Just head to Hulu's welcome page to get started.

The only downside to this deal? You can't get it with the $12 per month no-commercials version of Hulu.