CORD CUTTING MADE EASY

With an expanding menu of streaming services, saying goodbye to your cable company's entertainment options has never been easier.

- EMMA PATCH

THE world of streaming media is constantly evolving and expanding. All you need to enjoy TV shows and movies is a good internet connection and a smart TV or internet-capable device.

And unlike traditional cable, streaming services are typically paid month-to-month and have no cancellation fees. Signing up takes only minutes online, and it’s easy to cancel your subscription or temporarily pause it.

“Today, over 80% of households have one of the top three streaming services: Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime,” says Bruce Leichtman, of Leichtman Research Group, which specializes in research and analysis of the broadband, media and entertainment industries. And lately, the options for streaming live TV, such as live sports, news or events as they broadcast, have been growing. Not only do streaming services offer on-demand video content and a reserve of popular shows and films to tap into whenever you’d like, but you can also watch major broadcast TV events such as the Super Bowl, the Oscars and the Olympics with a live TV streaming plan.

Finding the best sports coverage can still be dicey. Many live TV streaming services ask you to pay for an add-on, such as ESPN+, NFL RedZone, NFL Network, MLB.TV or NHL Network, to get your favorite sports content live.

STREAMING LIVE TV

Cable bills have increased by 52% in the past three years alone, according to CordCutter News.com, averaging about $147 per month. So it comes as no surprise that replacing cable with a streaming service continues to be a popular trend among value-conscious consumers. Cable providers lost about 2,215,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2023, the steepest loss of any previous quarter, according to Leichtman Research Group.