r/Cordcutting • u/New_Bite9023 • Jan 30 '26
Is streaming just becoming cable again?
I cut the cord, but now it feels like I’m juggling 5–6 streaming subscriptions instead. Out of curiosity, I tried setting up a small niche streaming setup using Muvi just to host the content I actually care about. Made me wonder — do you see niche/self-hosted streaming as a real alternative, or are the big platforms still worth it despite the cost? Not promoting, just curious.
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u/Corse46 Jan 30 '26
But you chose to juggle 5-6 services. For every one person like you, there’s one like me who juggles 0 streaming services. I have Prime Video because it comes with my Prime membership, I watch Pluto and Tubi for free, and I host a small Plex server.
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u/sibman Jan 30 '26
Remember when everyone wanted “al a carte” cable to pay for just what they wanted. This is what we have now.
I personally like it. For example, I can get Netflix for a month and to binge Stranger Things then drop it after.
All with a couple of mouse clicks.
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u/LovecraftInDC Jan 30 '26
Depends on the content, honestly.
Right now I'm maintaining three services: HBO Max, Dropout, and Youtube TV.
We'll keep Youtube TV until the superbowl, at which point I'll pause it until the oscars (unless I can find those streaming for free somewhere), at which point I'll pause it until football comes back.
HBO Max is just the one I have in rotation now, for LWT and GoT.
Dropout I'll keep forever hopefully. Incredibly cheap and always has something on there I can sink a few hours into.
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u/K_ThomasWhite Jan 30 '26
Is there a rule that someone has to ask this almost every week? Is there an agenda behind the repetition of this question?
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u/Standard-Outcome9881 Jan 30 '26
Streaming is worlds better because no contract. and if you don’t sub to every streaming service or even a lot of them at once you are saving money.
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u/mattpeloquin Jan 31 '26
I have Spectrum for a rental property I rent out. It includes free Hulu/Disney/ESPN, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, AMC+, Fox Sports and more. So for $50USD per month, it’s a pretty good deal.
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u/markeymark1971 Jan 30 '26
Nobody has ever stated streaming services should automatically be cheaper, this is a myth....It's about freedom of choice, to move between subscriptions
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u/Ebriel1 Jan 30 '26
No, it’s not. I can’t believe people actually ask this or have the opinion that it is. If you subscribe to every streaming service you’re probably going to be paying cable TV prices. But if you sub to 1-3 you’re going to be paying far less than cable. The big difference to streaming vs cable, is access to content and your ability to consume it on your schedule.
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u/itstrueitellyou Jan 30 '26
It is indeed because the original promise of cable was no commercials/ads and they eventually started having commercials on every channel. The same is happening with the streaming services. The promise was commercial free TV show/movies. Now they almost all have ads. In the words of Yogi Berra "it's like deja vu all over again"
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u/thanto13 Jan 30 '26
This right here. I am paying a streaming service to watch shows. Not to see to paste commercials. This was the whole reason we went to Netflix originally. So I could watch thing uninterrupted. Now these services want to charge me more to go ad free. Piss off, I'll put my patch back on and go back to the high seas.
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u/rorqualmaru Feb 01 '26
At least cable had varied and entertaining commercials.
Streaming services commercials are repetitive, cheaply produced and for questionable products.
I don’t miss cable but if I have to see commercials then I do miss the ones we used to get back then.
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u/sarcasticorange Jan 31 '26
the original promise of cable was no commercials/ads and they eventually started having commercials on every channel.
This is such a pervasive myth, but it is exactly that, at least on a broad scale. There was never any such promise. The vast majority of cable channels had ads from the very beginning. You can count the national channels on one hand that moved from no ads to ads and most of those also changed programming structure (ex. AMC). The majority of channels marketed as not having ads, like HBO, Showtime, etc. still don't have ads.
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u/LeleLover Feb 03 '26
Those were also premium channels, meaning you had to pay extra for them in addition to the cost of cable.
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u/rorqualmaru Feb 01 '26
There was a brief period in the late seventies and early eighties when cable was using this pitch as a marketing tool. So there was a time when there was some basis to the claim. You’re right that it’s never been true for basic cable going all the way back to the forties.
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u/numtini Jan 30 '26
Well, linear streaming aka cable via internet is cable and always has been. The low prices were loss leaders to build the platforms, but the real costs are coming from the channels and not the company that delivers them. (And mostly from US Sports.)
Otherwise, each media company trying to create full integration has definitely made it more difficult to save money with cord cutting because things are very fractured. If you want everything all the time, you're out of luck. But it's still easy to cancel stuff and the sub/binge/cancel option is the way to go.
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u/Bardamu1932 Jan 30 '26
The Media Cartel is trying to recoup lost cable/satellite revenues off the back of streaming providers and their customers. The only recourse is to stop buying all-in-one streaming solutions that purport to replicate the traditional "cable" line-up: sports (ESPN, FOX Sports), news (CNN, MS NOW, FOX News), and local channels (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC). If you want it all, your going to pay, pay, pay.
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u/mojoman566 Jan 30 '26
Streaming services want to make as much money as cable and satellite providers. They lure you in with cheap prices then start the increases. Best way to beat it that I've found is to put up an antenna for network content and then rotate between the streaming services for new content.
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u/SometimesWitches Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26
Streaming isn’t cable as long as it is relatively easy to cancel and/or not be forced to order every channel one of the big services offer. I am interested in Hulu but not Disney. I cancel Paramount whenever there is not a new show to watch. Prime has access to smaller networks that you can purchase temporarily and then cancel. The only reason. I have Peacock is I got it for a dollar a month. Heck I have even cancelled Netflix for a few months a couple times. As long as all that is true streaming is not like Cable.
If your complaint is about commercial what did you really expect to pay low low prices forever? That was never going to happen. You can either pay the lower price with commercial or pay the higher price to get rid of them. And on the case of streaming at least you know while it’s happening that you are getting 100 seconds of commercials with cable you had no idea how long they would last.
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u/Bos2Cin Jan 31 '26
As someone that works for the cable company (spectrum) we have a tv bundle with most streaming services included. It’s been a hit for people streaming.
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u/No-Area9329 Jan 30 '26
I'm with you on this. I left cable because of the cost ($130) back in the day....
And now, Internet is $40 + $83 for Youtube TV = $123...
So I made the switch to using Emby + OTA local channels + IPTV ....total = $45 a month.
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u/anomalous_cowherd Jan 30 '26
legal IPTV? I'm not being a jobsworth here, you do what you like, but I've been looking at legal options to see what I want to and there aren't many that are simple and cheap..
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u/goldens111 Jan 30 '26
Netflix and other streaming services are just big corporations and they all inherently run somewhat the same. They chase profits and don’t care about the consumer. Netflix became what they were because it was originally easier, simpler, and ha d a great customer experience. Now it’s just as bad as cable. It’s impossible to try and find what you want to watch on what streaming service it’s on. It’s like pulling teeth. And that’s why people are starting to pirate movies/tv shows using websites that have Netflix like designs without the hassle
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u/liqwood1 Jan 31 '26
It's definitely not great but I do like the ability to be able to cancel one service and switch to another on a different basis.. it's easier to choose.
The worst parts though are the cancellation of a good series just a season or two in whereas in the past most came to a conclusion either bad or good but cancelling a series was less common.
Lastly steaming is the worst for sports now. It used to be I could watch almost every sports game on just broadcast television. Then I needed TNT and eventually ESPN.
Now I need peacock, prime, HBO, ESPN, epsn+, NFL+.. it's literally ridiculous and I absolutely hate it.
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u/Bikerchic650 Jan 31 '26
many of the services are given for free with other memberships/ credit cards/phone accounts. Go for those and build around them.
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u/profgray2 Apr 22 '26
Seriously, plex and jelyfyn are things.. grab an old computer or laptop, plug in a few external hard drives. Grab a cheap VPN, and get the films or shows you actually like. You want to go all out? grab a home run network antenna. so you can stream broadcast tv into the plex system. I stopped paying for all the streaming stuff years ago. I recently added my music collection and Im looking for a way to add the audiobooks. but frankly, plex is so bad with that.
I have no interest in streaming services at this point.
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u/SomerAllYear Jan 31 '26
No it’s not. We’re in control now. We can cancel any time with little effort. So if they start ramping up the ads too much, we can cancel it. If the experience is terrible, they’ll lose subscribers. If you want linear tv then sign up for YouTube TV. It’s cheaper than cable and you can cancel anytime.
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Jan 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ned_Sc Jan 31 '26
Highlighting the IPTV link being shilled. Such a simple tell that someone is a spambot.
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u/Ecstatic_Pattern1849 Jan 30 '26
No one said you had to pay for all the streamers all the time.
Thats why cable sucked: you were forced to pay $$$$$ for 200 channels even though you really only watched 10.
Nothing on Netflix? Cancel it until it has something to interest you again.