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hey everyone Michael here and I'm back
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with your streaming TV news and updates
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for April 2025 And if any of these
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brands are part of your streaming TV
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setup there's something in this month's
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video for you Let's get started Some
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Roku users are threatening to throw away
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their devices and switch to another
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streaming platform Here's why Roku has
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been testing video ads that
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automatically play at startup and that
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is before you can access your home
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screen but there is an option to close
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the ad Now I've seen this type of ad two
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times so far including just recently How
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about you for years now I've recommended
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Roku players because they're affordable
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and the interface is easy to use But
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these type of ads really ruin that user
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experience I was doing some research and
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found this one tip from a Roku community
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thread Navigate to the settings then
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accessibility and then autoplay video
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Turn this setting off I just changed
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this setting so I'm really not sure if
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it's going to stop these new ads but it
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may be worth trying out YouTube Premium
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launched a cheaper plan Nearly a month
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later though some people can't sign up
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for it I do see the plan available on
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some but not all of my devices YouTube
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Premium Light $7.99 a month a $6 a month
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savings compared to the full version of
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Premium So what's the difference well
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Premium Light still shows some
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advertising on music content YouTube
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shorts and when you search or browse It
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also has fewer features no downloads and
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no background play Check this out I ran
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polls about YouTube Premium Light before
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and after the official announcement and
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you can see the difference in the
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results here And in a recent video on
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this topic I noticed a pattern in the
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comment section There is an interest in
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a cheaper version of YouTube Premium one
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that doesn't include ad- free music but
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does include some of those other
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features like background play To some
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people the new Premium Light is just too
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light on features I reached out to
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YouTube's liaison to get an update on
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the roll out of Premium Light and when
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it would be complete He responded to me
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but had no more details to share I am
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already hearing from people who are
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saying YouTube Premium Light costs
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$10.99 a month not $7.99 a month So
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here's your reminder about the Apple tax
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Right now I'm on an iPhone and when I
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click get YouTube Premium from the
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YouTube app you see the $1099 a month
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price for YouTube Premium Light But then
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youtube.com/premium from a web browser
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it is only $7.99 a month This is the
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exact same plan and you can use it
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across all of your devices including
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your iPhone and your iPad The only
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difference is where you sign up So sign
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up directly from YouTube's website from
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a web browser and get the lowest price
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Let's keep it moving And the Mac
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streaming service it's got a new look
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It's moving away from the color blue
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that well a lot of other streaming
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services use and now has a black and
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white look The new color scheme is
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updated throughout the app And as I
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shared last month live sports is no
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longer included in the Max plan with ads
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Users are now prompted to switch plans
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if they want to get that content Live
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Sports is still included with both the
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standard and premium plans And if you've
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got Discovery Plus I'm sure you've
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noticed this updates like the improved
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homepage and navigation This is all
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because the app has migrated to the same
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in-house tech platform as Max Finally
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you can now remove shows and movies from
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your continue watching section with
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Disney Plus And honestly this is a
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feature that every service should offer
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by now Here's how it works from a TV set
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Start from the continue watching row
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Navigate to the title you want to remove
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and then press and hold on your remote
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You will also see this option from a
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title's details page Not seen these
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options yet just give it some time
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Disney said at the end of March that
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this roll out is going to take place
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over the next few weeks I've got an
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update on one of the biggest streaming
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stories of the year so far the launch of
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Direct TV Streams genre packs I'm
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currently testing the My Entertainment
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plan going on my second month And this
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is the plan that I've heard the most
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positive feedback about And a lot of
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that feedback it's got nothing to do
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with the channel lineup Instead it's
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about this or these the other streaming
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perks that are included with the plan at
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no extra charge ad supported Hulu Disney
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Plus and most recently Max with ads It's
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been a long time since I've been able to
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put Direct TV and Great Value in the
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same sentence maybe seven or eight years
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but I do believe this plan is a great
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value If purchased separately the
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streaming perks included with the My
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Entertainment plan they would cost more
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than $20 a month Direct TV Stream gives
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you all that and more than 40 live TV
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channels $35 a month If it's successful
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I look forward to seeing how other
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providers respond Direct TV Stream has
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also made a regional sports add-on
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available for people who subscribe to
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its My Sports genre pack Now this plan I
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don't like it quite as much as My
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Entertainment It's not as good of a
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value compared to a full bundle If RSNs
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are important to you maybe for the start
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of baseball season they're included in
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the advertised price with this signature
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package called Choice I'll leave a link
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below There's a deal that gets you $75
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off over 3 months Fubo is another choice
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for RSN's but unlike Direct TV Stream
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they are not included in the base plan
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And with Fubo the RSN fee just went up
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It's based on your area but it's now up
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to $16.99 per month Millions of internet
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customers just got a free speed boost
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Comcast says it's updating internet
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speeds for more than 20 million Xfinity
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customers no extra cost Now depending on
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the tier that you have this could
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include both download and upload speeds
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Connect more is a plan that I recommend
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to a lot of households Download speeds
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have increased from 300 to 400 megabits
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per second And the fast plans download
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speeds they also went up 500 to 600
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megabits per second Now internet that's
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Exfinity's prepaid brand It did not see
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an increase in download speeds still 100
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or 200 megabits per second but upload
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speeds they were increased from 10 to 20
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megabits per second for both tiers While
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we're talking about internet service
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Verizon Home Internet has tweaked one of
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its plans for new customers the 5G Home
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Plus plan It's now $55 a month for
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customers who have a mobile line autopay
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and paperless billing That's an increase
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from $45 a month There's more though
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That increase is now offset because
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customers can get one streaming perk
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included a $10 a month value There are
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no changes to the pricing if you get
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either plan as a standalone service If
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you've watched this channel before you
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may already know that I have Verizon's
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5G home internet the base plan and I've
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had it for more than 2 years now
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Recently there's been a change with my
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account It's doubled my download speeds
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but my bill has actually gone down It's
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now only $35 a month It's not what
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you're thinking and I'll have an updated
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review video soon In the meantime you
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can always use the internet plan
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comparison tool on my website See what's
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available in your zip code Find that and
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the latest deals on michaels.com
