YouTubeTV Price Increase

Having made the leap to cutting the cord a couple of years ago, I still don't regret the move.

We have seen price increases across the board now with most of the services, so it seems like a great time to reevaluate all the services that we are using, and maybe, not using.

I have acquired quite a few online digital services for my online entertainment content. I listen to quite a few audio books and I was quite lucky to be able to take advantage of my early membership with Audible to have latch on to the 5 credit per month at the 2 credit price. They don't even offer more than 2 credits anymore! This kind of membership allows me to quickly take on a new author's book series and consume it. This is not even on the table.

We also have the Kindle Unlimited service. This is probably one that we could dial back on but my wife is starting to better understand that service. So it is another one that for now we will keep but watch if it continues to be something we take advantage of.

Now back to what originally started this article! YouTubeTV. It is my core TV service so it has to stay in as well as the 4K option. With the increase in the primary and the decrease in the 4k I still have a net $2.00's savings. This is a no brainer. However, we have Hallmark Movies and I think this is going to go. my wife just like gave me confirmation. This service will be terminated. Sorry Hallmark!

Amazon Prime has to be a keeper as well. It has a couple of series that I enjoy and the other benefits of service makes it a service to keep as well.

Hulu is a strange one that we don't visit much. With YouTubeTV giving us the opportunity to record anything with unlimited storage, why would we? That is another expense that I’m having a hard time justifying.

Netflix we use a lot for comedy specials and of course movie's so I am pretty much stuck there.

Peacock is another example where special content makes you come back.

Acorn has become our go to service for our favorite TV series to watch. We just love British shows and believe it or not, this is the least expensive of all of the services. I have to keep this one, too.

Add them all up and I really still feel that we are getting good value for our money compared to what cable offers. l am still quite happy with our decision to cut cable television from our lives.

How about you?

Note: Hallmark Movies gone! Hulu is still making the cut!

YouTube TV now available in the Pittsburgh Area

I just signed up for the trial version last night and was suitably impressed at the connection speed and resolution of the image stream. This service is just $35/month and provides basic cable channels for you with unlimited DVR functions. If you are only interested in local sports and news this is a great alternative to other TV options. I’m currently looking at a $250+ bill each month for my current Comcast account. If you are thinking about cutting the cord then let’s look at the math.

Looks like a no brainer to me. The only thing I am loosing that I touch once in awhile is HBO. So…

If you decide that this is something you want to consider, you will probably want to purchase a couple of ChromeCasts for your TV’s around the house. This gives you the ability to access YouTube TV right from there without a problem.

Shared YouTube TV memberships & family groups

Create a family group to share YouTube TV—as well as other Google apps and services—with up to 5 other people.

How family groups work on YouTube TV

• If you've purchased a YouTube TV membership, you can create a family group to share your membership with up to 5 people at no additional cost. When you create a family group, you become the family manager.
• As the family manager, you can invite family members (ages 13+) to join your family group. 
• As a family group member, you can build your own personal library of content in YouTube TV. Your viewing preferences and DVR are all your own—we won't share your library or watch history with your family group.
• Sharing YouTube TV as part of a family group also lets you share other Google services with the same people. Learn more about family groups on Google

Watch YouTube TV on multiple devices

You can use YouTube TV on up to three separate devices at the same time. For example, if you're watching YouTube TV on both a computer and a mobile device, this counts as two of the three available devices—even though they’re being used by the same account.

This looks very tempting to me except that two of the channels my wife watches PBS and Hallmark, are not included and for local sports we are missing Root for the Penguin Hockey games and Pittsburgh Pirates. I have another eight months on my current Xfinity Contract so hopefully we will see some other changes over the next couple of months.