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you've already canceled cable now you're
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thinking about dropping your expensive
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live TV streaming service today I'm
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going to share five mistakes to avoid
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let's get started number one paying just
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as much after cancelling and I'm
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starting with this mistake for a very
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important reason because with the
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unbundling of pay TV services we've got
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more options than ever before from
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standalone apps these are just two of
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the new options and here's what stands
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out the standalone streaming apps from
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ESPN CNBC and others well they're just
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more expensive than the apps that
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launched 5 or 10 years ago the ESPN app
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it's almost four times the cost of
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Netflix's basic plan with ads this is a
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trend that I expect to continue
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especially with any new apps that
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include local stations live sports or
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cable news key components of a pay TV
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package let me explain fox One is
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another new app and the company has flat
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out said it's pricing the new service so
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it will not encourage people to leave
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their big bundle here's the quote
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pricing will be healthy and not a
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discounted price now more than ever
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these companies are pricing things
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carefully they don't really want you to
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downgrade and save by leaving live TV
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behind it is still possible though and I
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hear all the time from viewers who are
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dropping live TV it does help if you can
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pick up locals with an antenna and you
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don't need a bunch of apps just to
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follow live sports so here's my general
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rule stick to three or fewer paid
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services at one time the trick is to
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avoid swapping one expensive bundle for
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a DIY bundle that ends up costing just
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as much start small add only what you
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actually watch and then rotate services
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when you can of course some people get
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stuck because they're chasing a list of
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channels that's our second mistake today
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and I'm going to show you a recent
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streaming audit that really illustrates
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this this is from a YouTube TV
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subscriber and at first glance it looks
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like they have to stick with the big
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bundle there's lots of broadcast and
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cable TV channels right i thought the
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same until I asked this user about the
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actual content they watch turns out
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they've been using YouTube TV mostly to
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watch reruns shows that are available on
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Peacock or Paramount Plus and some of
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the same shows even stream free on Pluto
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TV so here's the takeaway with content
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spread across so many apps think less
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about must-have channels and more about
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must-have content two free tools can
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really help with this for shows and
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justwatch.com it tells you where to
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stream and how much it will cost and
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ESPN's where to watch tool it's great
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for figuring out your sport streaming
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options there still can be some
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exceptions like local stations and
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regional sports but shifting your focus
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to content over channels is the mindset
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that will open the door to real savings
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mistake number three today not factoring
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in the convenience tax and this one gets
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overlooked a lot one main reason why
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people tell me they stay with the live
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TV service they enjoy the simplicity a
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lot of content and it's available from a
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single app for the streaming audit I
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just mentioned YouTube TV is their
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number one app and by far and even if
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they could save money by building their
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own bundle of let's say 3 to five apps
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that shift would mean changing their
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routine and they'd have to open up
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multiple apps a day instead of
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navigating within only one in other
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words you're trading simplicity for
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savings that is the convenience tax but
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by now many people are comfortable
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switching in and out of apps and this is
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not a problem but for others some will
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sign up and stay with Direct TV
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streaming service because they want the
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old cable TV look and feel and even
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complete with channel numbers when using
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the Gemini Air device others place a
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high value on cloud DVR the major live
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TV services let you save as many shows
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and movies as you want then you watch
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when you want without worrying about
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replays or missing live airings and then
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there are people who really like the
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features youtube TV's multi- view comes
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to mind and they wouldn't want to move
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to a new service that doesn't have the
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same bells and whistles look I'm just
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here to test out the money-saving
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options and report back to you but if
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you're cutting back to the point where
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watching TV becomes kind of a chore then
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maybe you want to stick with your live
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TV plan michael Saves is not a death of
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TV YouTube channel i want you to
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actually enjoy what you're watching on
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TV mistake number four today
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overthinking the cancellation i've
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tracked more changes in streaming in the
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last 5 months than the last 5 years
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combined but here's the thing you don't
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need to overthink cancelling your live
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TV service let's talk about why think
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back to why you dropped cable or
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satellite and switch to streaming in the
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first place for most people I've helped
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the price simply got too high and now if
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you're thinking about cancelling live TV
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streaming ask yourself is it the price
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again has the quality of programming
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gone downhill or are you just spending
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more time on other apps anyway all of
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these are valid reasons to move on the
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other day I logged into my mom's YouTube
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TV account i wanted to test for a
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retention offer unfortunately she didn't
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get one and I accidentally processed the
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cancellation but because live TV
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services are contract free there was no
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risk i reactivated her plan in seconds
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and nothing was lost so here's a simple
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way to test dropping live TV try a
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summer pause rip the band-aid off cancel
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for a month or two and see if you
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actually miss it a lot of people tell me
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they don't and they still find plenty to
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watch and if you try out new standalone
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apps and like them you might end up
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making that summer pause permanent but
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even if you go back to live TV the break
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could still pay off i cancelled YouTube
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TV in June 2024 and since then they've
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emailed me multiple times with discounts
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trying to win me back and don't forget
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if you return to a different service new
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customer offers are still a thing i
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track the latest deals on
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michaelsdealss.com mistake number five
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today letting frustration push you back
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to cable with more standalone apps and
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flexible bundles this may be the worst
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time to go back to a traditional pay TV
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bundle now I said traditional bundles
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for a reason some cable companies are
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responding with new plans and they work
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more like streaming services for example
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Xfinity has a live TV streaming bundle
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for sports and news and another for
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entertainment channels plus a separate
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bundle that includes several popular
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ondemand services if you are already
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bundling internet and maybe phone
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service these plans might be worth a
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look but no matter what make sure the TV
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part works like a streaming service no
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contract no hidden fees cancel any time
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when I last pulled my YouTube community
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about a third of viewers said they pause
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or cancel their live TV streaming
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service throughout the year so if that's
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you and you've got a tip to add I want
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to hear about it in the comments below
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give this video a like if it helped you
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out and subscribe to the channel to stay
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ahead on all things streaming thanks for
