But now we’re seeing streaming prices skyrocket, and we’re finding more and more reasons to go back to cable TV. Subscribing to streaming TV services used to be the go-to if you wanted to save money on entertainment, but now, the tables have turned—it’s worth going back to cable. So, let’s find the answer to this question: should you ditch your streaming service subscriptions and go back to good ol’ cable? Now, live TV streaming services are increasing their prices due to the rising costs of programming, such as Disney Channel, CNN, and TBS. And now, their pricing is looking similar to that of cable television. But the downside to getting 400+ channels with Verizon Fios TV and Optimum TV is that they’re not widely available across the US. For example, you can’t get either service if you live on the West Coast. So we recommend double-checking during your checkout process if you’ll be able to access all news, sports, kids, movie, and entertainment that TV offers. Some cable TV providers also have on-demand content to watch whenever you’d like. That’s the nice thing about on-demand content: you can watch it while cleaning in the early morning or when you can’t sleep in the middle of the night. Although you can potentially get more content through cable TV (it just might not be neatly categorized in rows like it is with streaming), some streaming services have more storage capacity. YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV have an unlimited DVR storage space. Xfinity TV has up to 300 hours of DVR space, and Cox TV has 1,000. But it’s 2023. So you might consider a TV and internet bundle. You can bundle an Xfinity TV plan with internet of 400 Mbps download speeds for $50 more per month than if you were to order only TV (for the first year). If you don’t need Wi-Fi and internet access, that means more savings for your new big screen 4K TV. That’s an extra cost you won’t have to worry about when you switch over to cable. But we must warn you: cable TV does have fees that you’ll have to budget for. Just to prepare you, some fees might include:
Cable box rental fees DVR service fees Broadcast and regional sports fees (for your local and sports channels)
Live TV streaming services don’t have contracts, so you can cancel at any time.Your monthly pricing for cable TV usually increases when your contract expires. (At this point, we recommend calling your cable company to “threaten” that you want to switch back to streaming to see if they offer you a deal.)Not only do you get live channels with a live TV streaming service, but the ease and availability of on-demand content sound better to you than recording content.
We recommend you check out our list of best cable TV providers. But if a big on-demand content library and unlimited DVR storage space sound better than receiving double the channels, you might consider a live TV streaming service. Sports fans should also check out packages available on cable and streaming.
