Cord-cutters keep spending more money, on a seemingly annual basis, when it comes to the ever-rising price of streaming services. And they must wonder "isn't this why I left cable?" Especially when two of the most popular options — Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV — saw their prices go up again in 2020, and they're now both $65 per month.
And when I saw the news, I wanted to rant about how this should push people back to cable. But then I checked my cable bill and discovered that's not the case.
Cutting the cord is getting pricier
But before I get to that, let's break down the pricing hikes that cord-cutters have faced, as this year's increases were familiar for long time users. 2019 saw Hulu with Live TV's price rise twice: $40 (its original price, since 2017) to $45 in January, and $45 to $55 in November. YouTube TV, which started at $35 in 2017 went to $40 per month in 2018 and to $50 in 2019.
Sling TV, the other major player, went from $20 (its original price from 2015) to $25 in 2018, and then raised Orange and Blue tier prices by another $5 per month in late 2019.
And, yes, I'm not even going into the crazy price changes that AT&T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now) has gone through. We don't recommend that service, so I won't waste space on it here.
Along the way, users have seen some reasons for the price increases, such as YouTube TV adding 8 Viacom channels when it raised prices by $15 this year. Other times, like Hulu's recent $10 increase, there doesn't seem to be a reason for the uptick.
All the while, we hear the same reasons: rising carriage fees for broadcasts networks — of which YouTube TV and Hulu have all, and Sling TV has only 2 — which continues to be a reason people consider buying one of the best TV antennas.
| YouTube TV | Hulu with Live TV | Spectrum TV | |
| Monthly price | $65 | $65 | $127.15 (fees vary by subscriber) |
| Channels | "More than 85" | "More than 60" — plus Hulu Originals | 216 |
| Simultaneous streams (or cable boxes) | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| DVR | Free and unlimited | Free for 50 hours | $19.99 fee, unspecified storage |
But cable TV is still too damn high
To be frank, none of these price hikes should be enough to get people to move back to traditional cable TV. And I know, because I still have cable. For reasons that don't really matter for this conversation, I've yet to cut the cord, but I still see the Spectrum TV bill.
While Spectrum advertises that the TV Select package (with a whopping 216 channels) starts as low as $44.99 per month, there's a big ol' asterisk next to that price. So you can tell that the expensive caveats are coming, especially as those prices are just for the first year. Years into our package, the Spectrum TV Select package now costs $73.99 per month according to my bill (we bundle it with internet, and not phone), and that's before a ton of surcharges.
The broadcast TV surcharge (for those pricey broadcast networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC) is $16.45 per month. Then there's the fact that you're renting your cable boxes. That price may or may not go up in the next year, but you're gonna need to werk if you want to keep it. Sling TV? They've got a 1-year price lock guarantee right now, which is more trustworthy.
Yes, those slow and seemingly always hot-to-touch cable boxes, those giant eyesores? Spectrum charges $7.99 per receiver per month for theirs. And that doesn't include the $19.99 per month you pay for the right to DVR. YouTube TV has an unlimited DVR that's free, while Sling includes 10 hours of DVR for free (and charges $5 per month for a 50-hour cap). Hulu's got 50 hours of DVR space included (and charges $15 per month to go to 200 hours).
And, yes, that means you're paying an extra $7.99 for simultaneous streaming if you have a second TV (we do). Hulu with Live TV throws in a second stream for free, YouTube TV has three free streams and Sling gives you 3 with its Blue plan and only 1 with its Orange plan.
Then, it's $8.71 in taxes, fees and charges. That's a total of $53.16 on top of whatever you argue the monthly package down to — for us that's $127.15.
Outlook: The streaming services are the big winners
After doing all that math, I have no choice but to give it up to the streaming services — and now I’m wondering how I can leave cable behind. These services were able to start at a low monthly price and work their way up, and since cable TV is so brutally priced, they don't need to worry about their customers going back to cable.
Here’s my plan to cut the cord: I’m going to do a sort of speed dating, trying each streaming service for a small amount of time.
Starting in the new year, I'm going to be spending one month with each of the top streaming services, to see what it's like to rely on their offerings. Our Sling TV review, Hulu with Live TV review and YouTube TV review show that each is a strong competitor, but since TV is so personal, I want to see how I'd fare with each and no more cable. I'd give Fubo TV a shot too, but I'm not a huge live sports fan, so I'm good without its dozens of world sports channels.
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December 06, 2020 at 07:00PM
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YouTube and Hulu Live TV price hikes suck — but I’m still ditching cable - Tom's Guide
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