Streaming is still cheaper even with rising rates

We've all seen the various meme's by now about how between Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Paramount+, Peacock, and others once you have everything you want you're paying more per month than you would with cable. While we're all crunchy about the rising rates of streaming services the price of cable TV hasn't remained static. To add insult to injury cable TV packages don't give you all of the needed fees until you've gone through everything and are ready to get off of a phone call or long wall of text. Then lets not forget the price raises after the "introductory period" and the amount it raises is arbitrary.

Lets do a quick comparison. I'm going to use the rates from today for all of the services above.

Streaming

Here's our services and their prices as of the writing of this article. The plan I'm using is documented and may not be the most expensive. Also this is a worst case scenario. You absolutely do not need to get all of these services. For most people just the Hulu/Disney+/ESPN bundle is more than enough. Also much of Peacock's library has been relocated to Netflix. But for this comparison lets go with all of the services in the image.

Netflix (Standard)	$15.49
Hulu / Disney+ / ESPN bundle (Trip basic)	$14.99
Paramount + (Essential Tier)	$5.99
Peacock	$5.99
Crunchyroll (Premium)	$9.99
Internet (Because you obviously need it)	$54
TOTAL	$106.45

Now lets compare to cable TV. I'm going to go with Spectrum, Comcast, and WOW as together they cover most of the US market. Now I'm going to go with cable TV packages only. No package deals. As the meme is only trying to state that "streaming TV is more expensive than cable TV" I'm only pricing out TV packages with mandatory add ons such as a single cable box. I won't use less expensive options such as Spectrum's app for Roku as you must have spectrum internet in the bundle to make that work. Once you do that it also blows up the price. I'm basing these prices off of actual bills provided by anonymous volunteers in my area.

Spectrum (Select) 12 mo price	$64.99
Broadcast Fee (Sports tv fee)	$25.75
Cable Box Fee (1 box)	$12.50
Tax and franchise fee	$7.33
Total	$110.57

Comcast (Popular TV)	$60
Cable Box Fee	$10
Broadcast TV Fee	$19.05
Regional Sports Fee	$10.15
Taxes Fees and other charges	7.12
Total	106.32

So you'll notice that despite having different pricing both Spectrum and Comcast come out to about the same price in the end. While on the 12 month deal Comcast is slightly cheaper than streaming. However please note that once the 12 month deal is up both Comcast and Spectrum are MUCH more expensive. I can't tell you how much because neither company reveals this information on their page now.

And finally....

Wide Open West... oh shit!

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So Wide Open West is the first cable company to do what the others are heading to. Kill off TV service in favor of faster broadband speeds.

TV, both analog and digital, takes up bandwidth. When you're a fully fiber based network like AT&T's Fiber offering this means almost nothing. However when you're a cable company with coax cables in your network every bit of bandwidth matters. The latest standard DOCSIS 4.0 allows cable companies to offer speeds rivaling fiber right now. Up to 10 Gig per second symmetric. This is where both Comcast Xfinity and Charter Spectrum are getting their claims of a "10G network" in their recent ads. This is deceptive marketing aimed at attracting cell phone customers because other cell carriers use a 5G network (The G here stands for "Generation" not "Gigs". A 5G cell network can go 20 Gigs per second smashing the cable company speed limit under DOCSIS 4.0). However this is a theoretical max with a perfect network AND NO OTHER SERVICES UTILIZING BANDWIDTH! This means TV. Landline and cell phone through cable services have always been internet based. The land line is IP Phone, and the cell phone works through wifi calling. TV until now has been a non IP service that is a constant drain on bandwidth. As cable companies try to survive into the future you'll find them eliminating standard TV entirely. WOW is the first. Comcast and Spectrum are trying this by offering a disjointed smattering of services. Both offer Xumo and will happily lease you a box (Do not least this box! Just buy it from Xumo or better off install the Pluto.tv app on your TV.). Spectrum has a IPTV offering that requires you to have their internet to work.

Now in most cases everyone needs internet. If we even this out to include internet bundles for all providers and equipment fees not only does their pricing explode, but you can add more streaming services such as Sling TV.

Does this hold up? No. Here's why. You do not need to get every streaming service. For most people the Hulu/Disney+/ESPN ad free bundle ($24.99 per month) is more than enough. Then put up an antenna for your local stations... or don't. I have an antenna and I've not watched my local TV in 3 years. I put on PBS for the dog when we leave for a few hours to run errands and that's about it. The only people who will find they pay a lot for streaming are die hard sports fans. You need something like Sling TV, YouTube TV, or Hulu TV to get Fox sports. Most everyone else will pay at most $35 for TV if they switch to streaming only.

So honestly even if you're a sports fan kill your cable TV now. It's coming down the line for all of us. Make the switch now when you have control. If you have a fiber internet provider in your area just kill your cable company bill entirely and switch. Then get streaming services. Lets face it. Your cable company has had this coming a long time. Give them the boot in the ass they deserve.

-Dad Prime