Apple TV+ doesn't seem to have enough content to justify that price.

They are adding Formula 1 next year. I hope it's included in that price.

What.... Did someone say they want even another streaming service?

ICYMI: TNT to pull sports from HBO Max, launch standalone streaming app

Read more ⬇️https://t.co/w4xlGAZfdT

— TheDesk.net (@TheDeskDotNet) September 5, 2025

I'm not sure how reliable this source is, but isn't it (sports) already not on the basic level for HBO?

Iowaggie said:

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What.... Did someone say they want even another streaming service?

ICYMI: TNT to pull sports from HBO Max, launch standalone streaming app

Read more ⬇️https://t.co/w4xlGAZfdT

— TheDesk.net (@TheDeskDotNet) September 5, 2025

I'm not sure how reliable this source is, but isn't it (sports) already not on the basic level for HBO?

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Awesome for March Madness.

Ferg said:

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Iowaggie said:

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What.... Did someone say they want even another streaming service?

ICYMI: TNT to pull sports from HBO Max, launch standalone streaming app

Read more ⬇️https://t.co/w4xlGAZfdT

— TheDesk.net (@TheDeskDotNet) September 5, 2025

I'm not sure how reliable this source is, but isn't it (sports) already not on the basic level for HBO?

---

Awesome for March Madness.

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Last year, I cancelled YouTubeTV immediately after the Super Bowl and use HBO to watch March Madness. I really hope this rumor isn't true, because I was hoping to do the same after this football season.

I know a decade ago, a-la-carte cable was the holy grail that was supposed to solve everyone's cable headaches. We pretty much have that now with streaming services, and, at least in this implementation, it's not really any better. The only thing that makes it better is being able to cancel at anytime.

But being able to cancel at anytime is a pretty big improvement.

The big pain, at least for me, is the switching between channels that used to be easy with "Previous Channel" button when we had cable/sat. Now, even if two games are on the same app, it takes a minute to switch. If on different apps, forget it.

The old cable/sat system is still around. Because of this thread, I went and checked out Direct TV again, just to see if the old Genie still allows fast forwarding between ads. That also has gotten really complicated because a lot of those old cable/sat systems now come with the streaming service (like Peacock or Disney+).

I agree cancelling at anytime is huge. I didn't mean to down play it. Even traditional cable companies seem to be adopting it finally.

I also agree on the channel switching. It's really a pain for sports. Having a universal search and recommendation engine would be nice, too. I know there are apps on the phone that do this, but it needs to be integrated to the TV. Unfortunately, I don't really see it getting better. There's no technical reason they can't solve these things now. Everyone just wants to lock you into their walled garden and not let you out.

double aught said:

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I went to a neighbor's house recently. They still have satellite Directv. I was in charge of putting football on, and the simplicity of it was refreshing.

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How high is the DTV bill these days? I guess locking you into multiyear deals at ever increasing prices that you can't get out of simplifies things too?

The Succession issue has been resolved.

Rupert Murdoch has resolved the bitter dispute over his sprawling media empire, handing his eldest son Lachlan future control of the business and buying out his three other children from their family trust in a $3.3bn deal. https://t.co/tgJsHoDpVx pic.twitter.com/5x0z0SiKcl

— Financial Times (@FT) September 8, 2025

Wow -- the new Rupert Murdoch is now Lachlan Murdoch. His three siblings (James, Elisabeth and Prudence Murdoch) will take $1.4 billion and have no stake in the trust that owns Murdoch's businesses.

In Succession terms, this is as if Kendall Roy became Logan's successor and… pic.twitter.com/bR8EramMhE

— Heidi N. Moore (@moorehn) September 8, 2025

WSJ reporting that Paramount readying a bid for all of WBD, as is. Not quite a streaming industry update but streaming would be a part of it of course.

https://deadline.com/2025/09/paramount-exploring-bid-warner-bros-discovery-1236529093/

superunknown said:

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WSJ reporting that Paramount readying a bid for all of WBD, as is. Not quite a streaming industry update but streaming would be a part of it of course.

https://deadline.com/2025/09/paramount-exploring-bid-warner-bros-discovery-1236529093/

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I wonder how Apple and Disney respond to such a move if it happens.

This would be absolutely horrible for the industry, but it's also inevitable, I'm afraid.

Dekker_Lentz said:

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superunknown said:

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WSJ reporting that Paramount readying a bid for all of WBD, as is. Not quite a streaming industry update but streaming would be a part of it of course.

https://deadline.com/2025/09/paramount-exploring-bid-warner-bros-discovery-1236529093/

---

I wonder how Apple and Disney respond to such a move if it happens.

---

I think any (publicly traded) company who's primary source of income is linear media is turbo effed but I've been saying that for years. At some point the scraps of linear media (which I think will always exist in some form, and can still be very profitable) will be shucked off to other companies etc. and there's going to be a LOT of consolifation over the next few years, especially with linear media. Nexstar has announced plans to acquire Tegna which would combine the biggest TV station owner with the 4th largest and last month the FCC pulled back almost 100 rules (most of which don't have anything to do with ownership tbh) plus the "top 4 rule" which disallowe any 1 company from owning more than 1 of the top 4 stations (measured by revenue) has been nullified by the 8th circuit. Brendan Carr (FCC chair) has already said they're going to look at all ownership rules in the very near future. It's very, very clear that there will be big changes coming in the name of "competition" which (in my opinion) will result in much more consolidation. It's not out of the question that 1 or 2 companies own most/all of the TV stations that cover 90% of the country.

If you know what Clear Channel (iheart these days) did to radio...that's what's coming to linear TV.

Agree with TCTTS, this is going to be awful all the way around.

So it does seem like a WBD/Paramount+ merger would help with TNT + Paramount being much more competitive in the world of sports. It would have a strong catalog.


Does it mean one less app for me to subscribe to? If yes, I'm good with this.

Would look a lot better imo if WBD had kept NBA right.

Hulu just went and raised their rates again across all subscriptions

It's about time to drop Hulu again and hope for the Black Friday special w/Disney+ and I'll hope for ESPN, but it will probably be Starz.

Jessica Chastain 'not aligned' with Apple's decision to pause The Savant https://t.co/iTuxxGkeBT

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 24, 2025

wangus12 said:

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Hulu just went and raised their rates again across all subscriptions

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Amazing. Wife wanted to cancel Hulu after they put Kimmel back on the air, and one day later a 10-12% increase? Looks like we're switching back to YouTube at the end of the billing cycle.

Everything You Need to Know About The Hulu + Live TV & Fubo Merger https://t.co/zRVmSXTOkj

— CordCuttersNews (@CordCuttersNews) September 24, 2025

Interesting. I've never actually seen the Fubo platform. This announcement says the Hulu name goes away and they move to Fubo. I wonder which platform will win out because the Hulu Live platform is crap.

If they offer a sports only package I could be swayed.

I find it odd they would keep the Fubo name over Hulu as I would think Hulu is a more well known name than Fubo. I would think they would keep Hulu as the streaming-only platform and kill off the "hulu+live tv" option and just keep the Fubo name for the option to add live cable channels. Then again, with Disney+ now having more and more Hulu content they prob could kill Hulu off and merge that in with Disney+ as part of a higher tier within that app.

cajunaggie08 said:

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I find it odd they would keep the Fubo name over Hulu as I would think Hulu is a more well known name than Fubo. I would think they would keep Hulu as the streaming-only platform and kill off the "hulu+live tv" option and just keep the Fubo name for the option to add live cable channels. Then again, with Disney+ now having more and more Hulu content they prob could kill Hulu off and merge that in with Disney+ as part of a higher tier within that app.

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Well, now that memory is coming back to me they already announced in August that the Hulu brand was being merged into and underneath the Disney platform thereby superseding the Hulu platform/interface so this move now makes more sense in that context. So it seems like we are going to get the Disney interface for all of it or some new version of that.

We may get quite a few bundle options here with all of this merging but who knows.

Live TV
Content Catalog
Sports

If I can just pay for a Sports package that gets me Aggie football (to ruin my weekends) and Tennis (for my wife) then I could be persuaded to get that, if it exists.

YouBet said:

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cajunaggie08 said:

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I find it odd they would keep the Fubo name over Hulu as I would think Hulu is a more well known name than Fubo. I would think they would keep Hulu as the streaming-only platform and kill off the "hulu+live tv" option and just keep the Fubo name for the option to add live cable channels. Then again, with Disney+ now having more and more Hulu content they prob could kill Hulu off and merge that in with Disney+ as part of a higher tier within that app.

---

Well, now that memory is coming back to me they already announced in August that the Hulu brand was being merged into and underneath the Disney platform thereby superseding the Hulu platform/interface so this move now makes more sense in that context. So it seems like we are going to get the Disney interface for all of it or some new version of that.

We may get quite a few bundle options here with all of this merging but who knows.

Live TV
Content Catalog
Sports

If I can just pay for a Sports package that gets me Aggie football (to ruin my weekends) and Tennis (for my wife) then I could be persuaded to get that, if it exists.

---

For Aggie football, all you need is the ESPN app and sign up for the $29.99/month package. Every A&M game is on that app with the exception of non-conf road games and we already played our only road one. Just about any bowl that A&M will play in will be on the ESPN app.

3 out of the 4 tennis majors are currently on the ESPN app as well. The French Open is on NBC/Peacock.

https://plus.espn.com/

These things usually get worked out, but this one would have a big college football impact

ESPN content could become unavailable on YouTube TV as the streamer is in yet another carriage dispute.

The Disney–YouTube TV contract expires Oct. 30, and both sides are beginning to run consumer alerts about the potential loss of those channels on the service.

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 24, 2025

My wife wants to watch every tennis tourney she can get her hands on so ESPN not enough. She wakes up at 0400 to watch tournies in China.

I used the free 5 day Fubo trial to watch football games on ESPN/ABC yesterday. UI looks like most other UIs. Changing channels is a poor experience. Takes 3-5 seconds for channel to switch.

Is everybody excited about the price increases across the board for most every streaming service this fall? I really hate the fragmented market at this point.

I guess one could argue that Disney's attempt to go fully vertical as both carrier and content provider could conceivably bring back that one-stop shopping experience, but unless they've made changes to the mechanics of Hulu Live since I fired them several months ago, it's a **** experience compared to YTTV. Also seems like we are getting into MS browser war monopoly territory with Disney's recent moves.

Carriers
- Disney Hulu Live (merging with Fubo later and one of these goes away)
- Disney Fubo
- YTTV
- DTV
- DISH Sling

Problem with above is that Disney as a carrier owns so much content in addition to owning 2 of 5 carriers (soon to be 4) they can hold hostage the remaining carriers who own no content. This setup is ripe for ever increasing prices. There is not a pro consumer outcome here other than people just quitting the overall live TV packages which are the most expensive of the myriad of options. This really only benefits Disney since they own ESPN where all of the sports that matter live which would be the driving factor for most to just quit live tv altogether. So, even if you get fed up and quit your live tv option you are then still giving Disney your money by just buying the ESPN package.

So, higher prices for all and more money for Disney. Smart business move by them which likely sucks for us.

Disney owns following content:
- ABC
- ESPN
- NatGeo
- Disney
- Marvel
- Star Wars
- FX
- Hulu
- 20th Century Studios
- Searchlight Pictures
- Pixar