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I did a video a lot like this about a year ago
where I asked whether cord cutting still saves money,
but a lot has happened in the last 12 months or so:
war, inflation, scandals,
the Moon Knight series on Disney, whatever.
It makes you wonder whether there's anything good
in this world at all, and I'm here to tell you
that, for cord cutters at least, yeah, there is.
I've crunched some numbers,
and for all of you cord cutters out there,
it is looking good.
The question we'll answer in this video
after a lot of table setting is weather cord cutters
are really saving money in their life after cable.
What sort of budget can you have
for streaming TV after you've cut the cord?
And between Sling TV and Hulu Live
and YouTube TV and fubo and Direct TV Stream,
do any of these actually fit the bill, so to speak?
In other words, can any of them
actually recreate the cable experience and save you money?
Well, to find out, let's dive in.
(casual music)
Thanks for joining me today, everybody.
Don't forget to like and subscribe
if you enjoy this video, if it's helpful to you.
Okay, let's get into it.
The question we want to answer is
whether cord cutting can save you money
if you're still getting the same channels
that you did with cable.
We're gonna break this down into a few questions,
and we need to start with a baseline.
So our first question is
what do cable and internet currently cost?
Well, according to the most recent numbers,
it's 114 bucks a month on average per household.
Now, does that sound like a lot?
It might, but it used to be worse, a lot worse.
And obviously, I know there's a lot
of variation in the numbers.
Your numbers are probably gonna be different.
We're talking about a national average here, okay,
so this is just a starting point.
Our second question is what does internet currently cost?
We're gonna try to pull that out from that number
and isolate what does just internet cost.
The reason for that is if you're gonna stream your TV,
well, you're gonna need to do that over the internet.
So you need a good internet connection,
and then we can figure out how much you're able
to spend on TV after that.
But first, let me tell you a story
about how good you have it right now.
According to the most recent
US Telecom broadband pricing report,
yeah, that's a thing that exists,
the average internet cost in 2022 was $45.49.
That's for the average plan.
We're not talking about the highest speeds out there.
We're not talking about the lowest here.
That's your average plan in 2022: $45.49.
But here's what we're gonna do.
I'm gonna be throwing a lot of numbers at you from here,
and when I'm doing comparisons,
I'm going to use 2015 dollars,
and the reason for that is simple.
If you're gonna compare one year to another,
you have to take inflation into account.
So when I'm doing these comparisons,
I'm gonna switch into 2015 dollars,
which is a pretty standard measurement right now.
Okay, so if we do that, then in 2022,
the average internet cost would be $36.33
versus 2021 when the average internet cost was $42.59.
So that's a 15% decrease
over the course of the last year or so, not too bad.
But if we zoom out, the numbers get even more stark.
Again, $36.33 in 2022.
But seven years earlier in 2015,
that number was $65.62.
Holy smokes, that's a 45% decrease over seven years
in how much we are paying on average
for our internet access.
But hang on a second, because that's just the cost.
That doesn't tell us how good the product
actually is, right?
Well, if we look at the average internet speed
that homes are getting in the US in 2022,
it's 98 megabits per second.
In 2015, it was 43 megabits per second,
and that's a 128% increase, that is huge.
Now, if we put all those numbers together,
we get a cost per megabit per second.
In 2015, it cost $1.52 for each megabit per second
in download speed that you're getting.
In 2022, the latest numbers that we have,
37 cents per megabit per second.
That's a 76% decrease over the last seven years.
That's impressive.
So with those numbers,
somebody paying $45.97 for internet this time
that's switching back into today's dollars, okay,
they should be getting about 99 megabits per second.
Not bad.
Now, just for the sake of ease,
and to account somewhat for tax and of course inflation,
let's just round that number up to 50 bucks a month
as what we should expect to pay for good internet.
And yes, you may want more or less. That's fine.
We're gonna play the averages game here.
So if the price we're trying to beat
by cutting the cord is 114 bucks a month
and 50 of that is going to internet,
that leaves us $64 to work with.
And since we rounded up a bit on the internet number,
let's go ahead and keep it simple and do the same with TV.
That's $65. That's our budget for TV.
Now, that's a rough number, okay, because cable bundles,
as they were, as they are, I suppose,
aren't quite as simple as
internet cost plus TV cost equals bundle cost, I know,
but we're doing the best we can here
for illustrative purposes.
And let me anticipate another objection.
"Wait, Craig," you say,
"We want to save money,
not just equal the cost from cable,"
and that's fair enough.
But cord cutting isn't just about the pure dollar amount.
There are other benefits to it as well
that we can take into account.
So if I'm paying 114 bucks a month
to have a one or two year contract,
that's not as good to me as paying 114 bucks a month
and having the freedom to quit a service anytime I want.
That freedom is worth something too.
All right, now with that in mind,
question number three is how much does streaming TV cost?
Well, as nice as the price decrease in internet has been,
unfortunately, the same can't be be said for streaming TV,
and you know that.
They've raised their prices across the board
many times over the same period.
So do the averages shake out? Do we break even at least?
Well, let's take a look at the numbers.
So for each streaming TV provider,
I chose the lowest tier package.
And I also didn't do any signup bonuses,
so no 20% off for your first three months,
or here's this hamster, thanks for signing up.
All right, so no promotions,
just the base cost for the base package from each provider.
And with that in mind, Sling came in as per usual
as the cheapest of the major options.
They're gonna be either 40 or 55 bucks a month.
It's 40 bucks a month if you can get away with it,
but most people are probably gonna end up
using that 55 bucks a month package on Sling,
the Orange plus Blue.
We'll talk more about that in just a moment.
YouTube TV has held steady for a while at 65 bucks a month.
Hulu Live comes in at 70 bucks a month.
fubo is now $75 a month, which matches Direct TV Stream,
also 75 bucks a month for the base package.
So what were our benchmarks?
Well, if we have our average internet bill
at 50 bucks a month,
and we're trying to stay under 114, call it 115,
then we can't spend more than $65 a month
on our TV service.
So that pretty much leaves us with Sling and YouTube TV.
Now, I recognize that there is more context
to be had here, like I said earlier,
but this isn't a full-blown review
of each of these services.
If you want that, though,
you can search for those on this channel.
But without going into too much depth, I can recognize
that Hulu Live, for instance, is pretty pricey in part
because it's not just the live TV.
It also includes Hulu and also Disney+
and ESPN+ these days.
So it's not that bad, all things considered,
if you like having all those things bundled together.
And Sling does come in the cheapest,
but like I said earlier,
there's some more context to be had there.
For instance, I think it's fair to say
that local channels aren't an emphasis on Sling.
So if those are important to you,
and you wanna get Sling TV, you'll also need,
A, an antenna and, B, a prayer that antenna will work.
But hey, it does save on cost;
those local channels are actually really pricey
for these providers to carry.
And so that's why Sling comes in a little lower
than the others that do put an emphasis
on the local channels.
Now the good news is that with Sling,
you could potentially drop down to that 40 bucks a month
if you only need the channels on the Orange or Blue package.
But let's be honest, though,
these packages are kind of designed to make you want both,
so we should assume the $55 price tag on that one.
All right, so there's a little bit of context,
and yes, there is more to be said about,
for instance, YouTube TV's DVR or fubo's sports channels.
But again, let's keep our focus on price.
The question is can you still this year save money
by streaming the same channels you were getting on cable?
Eh, kind of.
Sling will save you a bit,
YouTube TV will at least least keep you on par,
and the rest of them will potentially cost a little extra.
Like I said earlier in the video, though,
there is something to be said
for having an easy escape hatch
if you don't want or need a certain TV service anymore.
In other words, not having a contract is worth something.
There's even actually a monetary value
attached to this idea.
When the cord cutting revolution was beginning in earnest,
I remember Xfinity, my TV provider at the time,
offering a no contract option for $10 a month more
than their normal plan.
And they probably still do this.
Honestly, I'm not sure, I haven't looked,
and I don't care, I'm not going back.
(casual music)
But if we factor that in, then once again,
yes, the answer is yes.
Cord cutting is in fact saving us all,
at least a little bit.
Though, if we're being honest,
if we're talking about live TV services,
those kind of cable imitators, it's not saving us a bunch.
Okay, now it's your turn. Go hit the comments.
I tried to anticipate a couple of objections,
but hey, this is the YouTube comments section
we're talking about here, I know you've got more.
Besides, a lot of you are very smart about this stuff,
so let me have it, head down to the comments.
And on your way down there,
don't forget to like and subscribe.
Thanks everybody for watching. I will see you next time.
This video is sponsored by Sling TV.
Sling costs a lot less than cable,
so you can save potentially hundreds every year
if you switch today.
And it's got everything you're used to
from your old cable package:
cooking shows, home improvement shows, dramas, comedies,
football games, 24/7 news coverage.
Plus, there's no contract, so you can cancel any time.
Save money, watch all the content you love,
and escape the financial stress of contracts?
Seems like a no-brainer to me. Go check out Sling TV today.