Connect with us

Technologies

Best Live TV Streaming Service for Cord Cutting in 2022

Are you looking to cut cable but want to keep live sports, news and originals? YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV or Sling TV could be the services for you.

In this article:

Cutting the cable cord is a popular way to save money, but you may find you need to augment your Netflix or Disney Plus with live broadcasts as well. Enter live TV streaming services. These cancel-anytime live TV bundles give you the ability to watch local and national news as well as live sports and events. All you need is a streaming device or smart TV.

Unlike on-demand platforms, live TV streaming services offer you a live channel lineup, and they also don’t need a contract like cable does. The best services start at $40 a month, which can help save you money on a cable subscription, while the more expensive services such as YouTube TV are closer to $70. Whichever you choose, you can stream live channels such as CNN, NBC, ESPN and Fox on a host of different devices, including set-top boxes and mobile devices. It’s easy to get started — you don’t even need a technician to stop by your home.

Want to improve your cybersecurity?

We’ll teach you why protecting your identity and data is important. Plus, get recommendations for VPNs, Password Managers and Antivirus Software.

Read more: Cable vs. Streaming Services: Which Is Cheaper? We Do the Math

What’s the downside? Pricing and channel availability are two things that are still in a state of flux. For instance, Sling TV went up by $5 in November. In addition, sometimes less popular services, such as AT&T TV Watch TV, TVision or PlayStation Vue, are simply phased out.

Welcome to the brave new world of live TV streaming over the internet. If you need help deciding on the best streaming service or streaming bundle, read on. We’ll continue to update this best streaming service list periodically as things change (which they frequently do).

Live TV streaming services we also tested

  • Philo: A cheap live TV streaming service with a variety of channels, but it lacks sports channels, local stations and big-name news networks — although Cheddar and BBC news are available. Philo offers bread-and-butter cable staples like AMC, Comedy Channel, Nickelodeon and Magnolia Network (formerly DIY), and specializes in lifestyle and reality programming. It also includes a cloud DVR and optional add-ons from Epix and Starz. We think most people are better off paying another $15 for Sling TV’s superior service, but if Philo has every channel you want, it’s a decent deal. Read our Philo review.
  • FuboTV: There’s a lot to like about FuboTV — it offers a wide selection of channels and its sports focus makes it especially attractive to soccer fans or NBA, NHL and MLB fans who live in an area served by one of FuboTV’s RSNs. It’s also a great choice for NFL fans since it’s one of three services, alongside YouTube TV and Hulu, with NFL Network and optional RedZone. The biggest hole in Fubo’s lineup is the lack of Turner networks, including CNN, TNT and TBS — especially since the latter two carry a lot of sports content, in particular NBA, NHL and MLB. Those missing channels, and the similar $70 price tag, makes it less attractive than YouTube TV for most viewers. Read our FuboTV review.

How to shop for cord-cutting live TV services

Each of the TV streaming services above offers a different mix of channels, so your first step should be choosing one that carries your «can’t miss» cable channels and shows. And some of the most important channels are locals, namely ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. Not every service offers all of them in every area, but the best streaming service for you will include the majority of what you love to watch, so it is worth shopping around. The live TV streaming service lineups are in constant flux as networks scramble to secure access to popular channels (ones with highly watched original shows and regional sports networks are especially in demand). There’s also the chance that a certain cable channel could disappear from a certain service after a network contract expires, which is what happened in 2020 with the regional sports networks.

These negotiations lead to other changes, too. Over the past few years, Sling TV, Hulu (multiple times), Philo and the newly renamed DirecTV Stream have all raised their prices. Google and Roku resolved a contract dispute which prevented users from downloading the YouTube TV app, while users lost the use of Disney channels for two days due to a different dispute.

Broadly, each of these streaming services can be broken down into two main groups: Budget, with prices ranging between $25 and $40 and few or no local channels; and Premium, with prices from $65 and up including local channels and supercharged cloud DVRs. That’s right, all of the services allow you to record and play back shows, just like a traditional cable or satellite DVR, but they often come with restrictions.

Read more: Top 100 Channels Compared Across Hulu, Sling TV, YouTube TV, FuboTV, DirecTV Streamand Philo

Next, there’s the multistream question. If you want to watch more than one program at the same time — for example, on your living room TV and on a bedroom TV, or the main TV and a tablet or other devices — you’ll want to make sure the video streaming service you’re watching has enough simultaneous streams. Sling Orange only allows one stream at a time, and if you try to watch a second, it’s blocked. Other services have higher simultaneous stream limits.

Keep in mind that, especially if you do have more than one person watching at once on supported devices, you need to make sure you have fast, reliable broadband internet. A 100Mbps download service will cost around $50 to $60 a month, and sadly that’s where the savings of cutting cable can get swallowed up.

Here’s a live TV streaming shopping list to consider:

What streaming TV services won’t give you

Streaming TV services are great, but there are some things they can’t do compared with a traditional cable box.

First, it’s worth looking at the channels that you can’t get with any of these live TV streaming services. For example, only two of the services are able to offer PBS: YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream.

With sports returning in force from the pandemic-enforced hiatus, fans will want to make sure they can find the sports channels to follow their teams. Most services carry ESPN and local channels for NFL football, but if you follow a professional baseball or basketball team, you might need its specific channel — called a regional sports network or RSN — to watch regular season games. RSN coverage varies widely for each service. Sometimes, even if you live in the right area, you may be mistakenly blacked out due to an IP address error. If this is the case, you can fix this by signing up for a sports-friendly VPN.

Every live TV service’s video streaming is a few seconds to a minute or more behindthe «live» stream you’ll get from your local cable TV or satellite provider. That means you could get a preview of scores or big plays from Twitter, phone alerts or phone calls from friends slightly before you see the action on screen.

If you’re used to 5.1-channel surround offered by cable or even OTA, then you may be disappointed that YouTube is the only service to offer surround sound on live broadcasts. The other services include stereo sound only on live channels, though 5.1 audio is available on some on-demand material.

Don’t care about live TV? More cord-cutter staples

In 2022, streaming fans have more choices than ever, including NBC/Comcast’s Peacock, AT&T’s HBO Max, Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus. While Peacock differs in that it has live news the other services lack traditional live channels — focusing instead on back catalogs and new original programming — but they can still eat into your entertainment budget.

Netflix: One of the first streaming TV services, Netflix is so popular that it’s become a generic term for streaming in the same way as «Magic Marker» or even «Coke» in the South. And then there’s the ever-popular «Netflix and chill.» Ad-supported plans now start at $7 a month, and the service offers thousands of TV shows and movies, including original TV series like The Crown and Stranger Things (be aware you may need to trade up to the $9 plan to watch some content). Then there are Netflix original movies like Oscar winners Roma and The Power of the Dog.

Amazon Prime Video: The «other» major streaming service, which is included as part of a $139 annual Prime Membership or $15 a month. The interface isn’t as user-friendly as Netflix, but the service also offers shows not on its rival, including original content like The Rings of Power, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Expanse. Amazon Prime also has the ability to add premium channels (HBO and Showtime and more), making it a potential one-stop shop.

Disney Plus: One of the biggest streaming services to launch in some time, Disney has gathered a mix of movies, TV shows and exclusive content, including Loki, Andor and She-Hulk, for $8 a month (though it will increase in December). Read our Disney Plus review here.

Paramount Plus: Previously CBS All Access, Paramount Plus costs $5 a month or $10 monthly for ad-free streaming. The service offers live TV (in some cities), sports and on-demand content from CBS, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network, plus its Paramount Pictures movie studio. Paramount Plus also offers exclusive originals such as Star Trek: Discovery, Picard and the Good Fight.

Vudu and Movies Anywhere: Digital libraries (or lockers) that incorporate legacy UltraViolet content and streaming movies and TV that are only available for purchase, such as new releases.

Peacock: Now live nationwide, Peacock is NBC’s answer to Paramount Plus. Its main claim to fame is that its basic tier, with 7,500 hours of content, is free. Peacock Premium unlocks more content for $5 a month while an ad-lite version called Peacock Premium Plus is $10 monthly.

It’s also worth investigating free, ad-supported services such as Roku Channel, Amazon Freevee, Tubi, Pluto and Crackle, which offer a wealth of content. Read CNET’s roundup of free TV services here.

Is an indoor or outdoor antenna a viable option?

If you have a TV in your house — that is, a screen that incorporates a tuner — you’re part-way to cutting the cord already. An affordable indoor antenna hooked up to your TV will let you watch free TV over the air from any channel you receive in your local broadcast area. Antennas cost as little as $10. See our comparison of indoor antennas here.

You can also add a hardware DVR such as the Amazon Fire TV Recast or TiVo Edge for Antenna if you want. Then you can record those live TV antenna channels, play them back and skip commercials, just like on a standard cable TV DVR. Here’s CNET’s roundup of the best OTA DVRs for cord-cutters.

A solid, lower-cost alternative to live TV streaming services is the combination of an antenna for live local channels and an on-demand service such as Netflix or Hulu. That way you’ll still be able to watch live programming and also have a choice of on-demand content.

Conclusion: Try it yourself

Streaming live TV services are still in flux. Since launch, every service has increased its prices by at least $5 a month, TV channel selections and cities with local channel access are changing all the time, and reports persist about some services losing money, or even closing in the case of T-Mobile’s TVision. While streaming is undoubtedly the future, and cable the past, it will be some time before both prices and the services offered settle in.

That said, if you want a cable-like experience both at home and for on-the-go devices, without the dead weight that a cable subscription brings, a streaming service is worth a look. There’s no contract to sign, and if you don’t like the service you’re on, you can easily switch. So whether you’re looking for a basic package such as Sling TV or want to pay more for a deluxe experience from the likes of YouTube TV, there should be a streaming TV service to suit you.

More streaming advice

Technologies

Gen AI Chatbots Are Starting to Remember You. Should You Let Them?

An AI model’s long memory can offer a better experience — or a worse one. Good thing you can turn it off.

Until recently, generative AI chatbots didn’t have the best memories: You tell it something and, when you come back later, you start again with a blank slate. Not anymore. 

OpenAI started testing a stronger memory in ChatGPT last year and rolled out improvements this month. Grok, the flagship tool of Elon Musk’s xAI, also just got a better memory.

It took significant improvements in math and technology to get here but the real-world benefits seem pretty simple: You can get more consistent and personalized results without having to repeat yourself.

«If it’s able to incorporate every chat I’ve had before, it does not need me to provide all that information the next time,» said Shashank Srivastava, assistant professor of computer science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Those longer memories can help with solving some frustrations with chatbots but they also pose some new challenges. As with when you talk to a person, what you said yesterday might influence your interactions today.

Here’s a look at how the bots came to have better memories and what it means for you.

Improving an AI model’s memory

For starters, it isn’t quite a «memory.» Mostly, these tools work by incorporating past conversations alongside your latest query. «In effect, it’s as simple as if you just took all your past conversations and combined them into one large prompt,» said Aditya Grover, assistant professor of computer science at UCLA.

Those large prompts are now possible because the latest AI models have significantly larger «context windows» than their predecessors. The context window is, essentially, how much text a model can consider at once, measured in tokens. A token might be a word or part of a word (OpenAI offers one token as three-quarters of a word as a rule of thumb). 

Early large language models had context windows of 4,000 or 8,000 tokens — a few thousand words. A few years ago, if you asked ChatGPT something, it could consider roughly as much text as is in this recent CNET cover story on smart thermostats. Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash now has a context window of a million tokens. That’s a bit longer than Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel War and Peace. Those improvements are driven by some technical advances in how LLMs work, creating faster ways to generate connections between words, Srivastava said. 

Other techniques can also boost a model’s memory and ability to answer a question. One is retrieval-augmented generation, in which the model can run a search or otherwise pull up documents as needed to answer a question, without always keeping all of that information in the context window. Instead of having a massive amount of information available at all times, it just needs to know how to find the right resource, like a researcher perusing a library’s card catalog.

Read more: AI Essentials: 27 Ways to Make Gen AI Work for You, According to Our Experts

Why context matters for a chatbot

The more an LLM knows about you from its past interactions with you, the better suited to your needs its answers will be. That’s the goal of having a chatbot that can remember your old conversations. 

For example, if you ask an LLM with no memory of you what the weather is, it’ll probably follow up first by asking where you are. One that can remember past conversations, however, might know that you often ask it for advice about restaurants or other things in San Francisco, for example, and assume that’s your location. «It’s more user-friendly if the system knows more about you,» Grover said.

A chatbot with a longer memory can provide you with more specific answers. If you ask it to suggest a gift for a family member’s birthday and tell it some details about that family member, it won’t need as much context when you ask again next year. «That would mean smoother conversations because you don’t need to repeat yourself,» Srivatsava said.

A long memory, however, can have its downsides.

You can (and maybe should) tell AI to forget

Having a chatbot recommend a gift poses a conundrum that’s all too common in human memories: You told your aunt you liked airplanes when you were 12 years old, and decades later you still get airplane-themed gifts from her. An LLM that remembers things about you could bias itself too much toward something you told it before.

«There’s definitely that possibility that you can lose your control and that this personalization could haunt you,» Srivastava said. «Instead of getting an unbiased, fresh perspective, its judgment might always be colored by previous interactions.»

LLMs typically allow you to tell them to forget certain things or to exclude some conversations from their memory. 

You may also deal with things you don’t want an AI model to remember. If you have private or sensitive information you’re communicating with an LLM (and you should think twice about doing so at all), you probably want to turn off the memory function for those interactions. 

Read the guidance on the tool you’re using to be sure you know what it’s remembering, how to turn it on and off and how to delete items from its memory. 

Grover said this is an area where gen AI developers should be transparent and offer clear commands in the user interface. «I think they need to be providing more controls that are visible to the user, when to turn it on, when to turn it off,» he said. «Give a sense of urgency for the user base so they don’t get locked into defaults that are hard to find.»

How to turn off gen AI memory features

Here’s how to manage memory features in some common gen AI tools.

ChatGPT

OpenAI has a couple types of memory in its models. One is called «reference saved memories» and it stores details that you specifically ask ChatGPT to save, like your name or dietary preferences. Another, «reference chat history,» remembers information from past conversations (but not everything). 

To turn off either of these features, you can go to Settings and Personalization and toggle the items off. 

You can ask ChatGPT what it remembers about you and ask it to forget something it has remembered. To completely delete this information, you can delete the saved memories in Settings and the chat where you saved that information.

Gemini

Google’s Gemini model can remember things you’ve discussed or summarize past conversations. 

To modify or delete these memories, or to turn off the feature entirely, you can go into your Gemini Apps Activity menu.

Grok

Elon Musk’s xAI announced memory features in Grok this month and they’re turned on by default. 

You can turn them off under Settings and Data Controls. The specific setting is different between Grok.com, where it’s «Personalize Grok with your conversation history,» and on the Android and iOS apps, where it’s «Personalize with memories.» 

Continue Reading

Technologies

It’s OK if You Didn’t Preorder a Switch 2

Commentary: As good as the new console looks, it’s also fine to wait.

FOMO for new tech is hard. And new game consoles are exciting. I get it, and I’ve contributed to that coverage excitement too. The Nintendo Switch 2 finally became available to preorder in the US this week, and as expected, it looks sold out for now. That’ll change over time, but it’s unclear when, or how, and it’s equally unclear what the constant tariff fluctuations might do to future game console pricing. 

That said, having played on the Switch 2 recently at an event, may I help ease your FOMO somewhat by saying you’re probably OK waiting on it?

I felt this way after my full-day Switch 2 experience, and I’ll reiterate it now: As good as the upgrades the Switch 2 has, and as fun as the new Mario Kart and Donkey Kong games seem to be — and the GameCube gaming library also seems like a blast of retro fun — the Switch 2 is very much an iterative upgrade for now. The very best games on the Switch 2, and its most unique exclusives, are likely still to come.

Nintendo has clearly designed the Switch 2, at least for the moment, to exist as a bridge to the current Switch, with many upcoming games intended to work on the original Switch too. Much more than the debut of the first Switch, the Switch 2 is designed to be a system you could wait to upgrade to. In that sense, it’s following the path of the current gen of Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5 consoles.

You can build up your Switch library now and be Switch 2-ready when you eventually upgrade

The Switch 2 plays all the Switch games, which wasn’t the case with the Switch and previous Wii U and 3DS hardware. That means you could skip the Switch 2 now if you needed to, play games on the Switch, and then move your library over whenever. Switch 2 versions of games cost more (ranging from $10 to $20 more), but you can just buy the Switch 2 game upgrades later for a similar price — or play the versions you’ve already got minus the enhanced graphics and game extras.

The Switch 2’s current upgrades are good, but not shockingly good

After playing several of the Switch 2 Edition versions of Switch games for a bit, I noticed better frame rates and graphics resolution, but I honestly didn’t find it to be that much different. I’d prefer playing the enhanced Switch 2 editions, but the experience reminded me a bit of the PS5 Pro versus PS5 versions of games when I first played on the console with Sony last year.

If you have a big TV, you’ll likely appreciate the difference. The bigger Switch 2 screen shows off games in higher-res 1080p with HDR, but you could play on the older Switch and be fine. I’m playing on a Switch OLED again, and after the Switch 2 experience, I don’t have massive I-wish-this-were-a-Switch-2-envy. 

I’m sure this will change as games are developed to take better advantage of the amped-up Nvidia-powered Switch 2 GPU, and when more exclusives arrive. It’s similar to how I felt about the Meta Quest 3, which has better graphics than Quest 2 but didn’t feel like an absolute must-get until a year into its release.

You can still play upcoming Nintendo games on OG Switch

While Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are Switch 2 exclusives, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and Pokemon Legends Z-A also play on the Switch. It’s unclear how well these games will play on the Switch versus Switch 2, but you can get a good dose of New Nintendo this year on the older hardware and upgrade the hardware upgrade later. Think of it as a bit of a FOMO buffer.

Looking at Nintendo’s game history, the company often supported its previous consoles for a good couple of years after the new hardware’s release. I’d expect that after 2026 the Switch 2 will start to become the go-to platform for most big game, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a handful of key Nintendo games still supporting original Switch for another year at least.

There’s no ‘whole new experience’ you’ll miss other than Game Chat, that camera and the mouse 

The original Switch was an eye-opener because it was a portable, full game console that could dock with your TV and turn into a shareable console with modular controllers. It was different from anything Nintendo had made before. The Switch 2 is mostly the same proposition, just nicer.

You won’t feel the same regret for missing out on a whole new way to play this time, since it’s a continuation of the same idea. There are two new features you might envy: audio or video Game Chat among friends and the new Joy-Cons working like mice in some supported games. But Game Chat works only with other Switch 2 owners and needs a Switch Online subscription. The mouse functions are fun at times, but could also end up as just a gimmick. For now, the Switch 2 hasn’t pulled that many wild new functions out of its hat, but that could change, knowing Nintendo. There are also some fun camera-connected party game modes for Mario Party Jamboree if you happen to connect a camera, but no other games even have new camera-based features yet.

It’s fine to wait, but tariffs are still a question mark

I’m saying this well before I’ve had a chance to review the Switch 2, and for sure, it looks like the best Nintendo console in a long while and worth upgrading to. But take some comfort that missing out on getting one early this time isn’t quite as big a deal as it was in 2017, even if you’re feeling the pull of regret. 

The only wild card remains the question of the effect tariffs will have on future console pricing. Will it fluctuate? I hope not, but the prices of Nintendo’s Switch 2 accessories have already gone up as a result of Trump’s chaotic tariff policies, and it’s unclear if that might happen again. The state of pricing and consumer electronics is still in an unknown zone, but in the meantime, you can still have a lot of fun on the Switch you already have, now and even in the near future.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Apple to Shift All US iPhone Assembly to India Amid Tariff Turmoil, Report Says

The manufacturing move aims to address massive US tariffs against China that could spur higher prices on the company’s biggest-selling product.

Apple could be sourcing its entire line of iPhones for the US market — about 60 million devices a year — from assembly facilities in India by the end of 2026, according to a report from the Financial Times

The planned move comes against the backdrop of the Trump administration imposing tariffs against China of up to 145%, although some products such as mobile phones and computers have been exempted for the time being. Apple has long centered its iPhone production in China, making it vulnerable to any trade war between the two countries and spurring speculation that tariffs could mean price increases for the company’s biggest-selling product. 

By moving third-party assembly of US iPhones to India, Apple could avoid the most significant cost pressure of a trade war, though India itself faces new tariffs as well.

The company had already begun shipping iPhones made in India, adding to its product reserves, before new tariffs became active.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.   

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media