TV Streaming: Untangling Video on Demand

TV Streaming: Untangling Video on Demand

- in Deals, Home & Garden, Money, Technology

Tech Talk
By Tak Sato

When you hear ‘streaming,’ what comes to mind? 

For many people, it’s Netflix. Others associate streaming with the cut-the-cord movement, a way to combat rising cable and satellite TV costs and get television shows through streaming services or an over-the-air antenna.

Changing consumer habits and the ways we get entertainment are clear: many cable and satellite providers are including streaming free for subscribers. 

Streaming media content into our homes or devices started with music but has evolved to video on demand (VOD) providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which include movies, TV series and more.

The convenience of VOD streaming over the internet was one reason video stores collapsed in 2010. 

Future View
All this brings us to the current streaming market. Today, live TV (including regular and premium channels you can traditionally receive through cable or satellite, and local network affiliate channels such as Cleveland’s WKYC, WEWS and PBS and others) can be streamed through the internet for monthly subscription fees. 

The confluence of several innovations helped grow the streaming market for consumers. One was the commercialization of SmartTV which enables TVs to connect to the internet to receive content (entertainment). The second was the wide use of smartphones and tablets that are always connected to the internet. Third was specific social media platforms that offered short videos (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram).

Below are tips and examples of services. I have cut the cord for over a decade and use a combination of streaming services and OTA for our family entertainment.

Although the number of streaming services may be intimidating, a way to narrow the field is to determine if a company is a live TV streaming service that offers regular and premium channels consumers traditionally received through cable or satellite providers. The others are streaming services offered by movie studios, TV networks or other companies.

Tak’s Tips

  • Look for online coupons, check your credit card issuer’s member benefits, your mobile phone service’s benefits, and other special deals for savings. Apple, for example, has been giving several months of free AppleTV+ services for purchasing Apple products.
  • If you want to cut the cord to save money, try out the streaming service first. Many offer trial periods. If you don’t like the service, remember to cancel before your trial is up so your credit card isn’t charged. Cutting the cord may not work for your needs.
  • Many streaming services have special rates for college students. 
  • Don’t forget the library. Many offer digital library cards (available online) that have just an Ohio residency requirement. Free library streaming services include Hoopla and Kanopy.
  • SmartTV computer circuitry to connect to the internet can get old. If the picture is still good and the SmartTV has an available HDMI connection, don’t buy a new SmartTV. Instead, buy a streamer for as low as $20 (Walmart’s ONN brand). Others are Chromecast with Google TV, Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, & NVidia Shield.
  • If you subscribe to Prime Video, you can watch a Prime movie or TV show without paying anything more than your subscription fee. If a movie or TV show you want to stream is not labeled Prime, you can rent it for 48 hours or buy it and stream it anytime by logging into Amazon Prime Video.

Live TV with select services offering Local TV channels (always check channel lineups and prices before subscribing):

  • YouTube TV ($65/month)
  • Hulu+Live TV ($70/month)
  • SlingTV (starting $35/month)1  

Movies, TV series, shows:

  • Hulu with or without ads ($8 or $15/month respectively)
  • Prime Video2  (see footnote)
  • and Paramount+, HBO Max, Disney+ … too many to list, so Google them.

Ad-supported (free) streaming services Tak has used:

  • Pluto TV (pluto.tv)
  • Tubi TV (tubitv.com) 
  • Puffer (puffer.stanford.edu)3

1. Tak subscribed for several months out of a year during the NBA season. 

2. This started out as a benefit to their Amazon Prime service but if you are not interested in expedited shipping or don’t shop at Amazon, you can get only the VOD service for $9/month.

3. Project at Stanford University that “re-transmits free over-the-air broadcast television signals received by an antenna located on the campus of Stanford University.” If you don’t mind the West Coast time zone, this is an interesting project to see the potentials that streaming offers.

About the author

Tak Sato, author of Boomer's Tech Talk column, is a founder of the Cleveland-area nonprofit, Center for Aging in the Digital World (empowerseniors.org). The organization teaches digital literacy to people 50+ through the free Discover Digital Literacy program.

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