This week Kim Komando posted a story called “The real cost of cutting the cord: What streaming companies don’t want you to know.“ In this story, she poses the idea that cord cutting costs more than cable TV. A few days later USA Today picked up the story and ran with it on their website.
Komando makes a mistake similar to that found in many anti-cord cutting stories. She assumes that if you go back to cable TV you would give up all streaming services. For example, she includes the cost of Disney+, YouTube Premium, CBS All Access, NBA League Pass, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon in the cost of cord cutting.
The issue with including services like YouTube Premium and NBA League Pass is that this content is not available on cable TV. If you want YouTube Premium so you can watch YouTube videos ad free, you need to also pay for it as a cable TV subscriber. The main reason most people subscribe to CBS All Access is not the CBS programs that air for free over the air but for the original content not available with a cable subscription.
The only way Komando’s story works is if you are 100% happy with basic cable and have no desire for any premium add-ons or shows from services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. We know from recent studies that most cable subscribers also subscribe to at least one streaming service.
The argument that if you subscribe to everything it will cost more than cable just doesn’t hold up. Its, like saying cooking at home will cost more than Applebee’s if you buy the most expensive thing in the grocery store.
As always do your own math. Would you really give up all streaming services if you went back to cable TV? Can you even get everything you want from cable TV? Don’t take my word for it, and don’t take Kim Komando’s word for it. Do your own research and see what is right for you.
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