WHAT DO I NOW DO WITH ALL THOSE NEW STREAMING CHANNELS I'M GETTING FREE FROM SPECTRUM?

Let's go back just a few months ago, and I did not have enough time to watch/and or/listen to the regular cable 1000 channels.  Some, of course, were not free, but Music Choice alone was, and covered almost 100 channels, including the local radio stations.  I also paid for Netflix and Amazon Prime, around $25/month.  Including two cable boxes, one for the bedroom and the other for the living room, Spectrum is free in 15 Craigside, a seniors community where I live.

Then out of nowhere, Spectrum last month announced that permanently, for FREE, they would also add:

• Hulu (With Ads)
• Disney+ (Basic)
• ESPN+ (Direct-to-Consumer)
• Max (formerly HBO Max, with ads)
• Peacock Premium (with ads)
• Paramount+ Essential
• AMC+ (with ads)
• FOX One
• ViX Premium (with ads)
• Tennis Channel (included with TV Select Plus

These would have cost $120/month if you paid for them.  They are now all free, although I continue to have a $25/month or so charge for Netflix and Prime.  I might add that Apple TV has now been added to the free Spectrum list.

I watch a lot of sports, and they are covered for free on the regular cable channels.

• However, I particularly follow University of Hawaii sport teams, and almost all away games were in the past just not available.  They might have been on ESPN+, but I did not know how to access them and probably would not have because of the extra cost.

• 
  No more, for now, they just pop up on ESPN+...FREE.  A huge plus, or maybe a big negative, gluing me further to my recliner and TV set.
• I might add that were I a Winter Olympics fanatic, Peacock would have been wonderful.

So for the future.

• 
  Should I continue to spend $25/month for Netflix and Prime?  Sure.  I can afford those, plus I order all kinds of things regularly on Amazon.
• Should I pay an additional cost for ad free service?  Probably not.  Not now, anyway.

How has my life been enhanced/ruined from these new streaming channels:

• HBO Max
• Access to HBO originals, like Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, Warner Brothers films, A24 studio movies, BBC content, and The Criterion Collection of world cinema classics.

• 
  4K Ultra HD video with Dolby Amos immersive audio.
• Turner Classic Movies; DC films; Studio Ghibli; Cartoon Network; Discovery Channel stations; crown jewels of TV history, like Friends, The Big Bang Theory and South Park; and Harry Potter.
• CNN Max.
• New films 45 days after premiering in theaters.
• 
  Disney +:  Perpetual rights to the Walt Disney Studios library, including Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.
• ESPN+:  Exclusive, direct to consumer streaming rights to over 30,000 unique live sport evens annually, including UFC, top-tier soccer, PGA, NHL Powerplay, WWE network and college sports.

• Hulu:  Streams next-day episodes from ABC, FX, Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC and CW.

• 
  Peacock:  exclusive streaming rights to entire NBC Universal library, plus Bravo, Premier League soccer, WWE Network , CBS feed and exclusive NFL games.

• 
  Paramount +:  exclusive rights to Paramount Global library, including new Paramount films, the entire Star Trek franchise, Yellowstone, Nickelodeon classics Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central and expanding portfolio of live sports.  Paramount, which merged with David Ellison's Skydance Media, just beat out Netflix for Warner Brothers.  This channel, thus, will be enhanced, while some others above will likely lose access to Warner productions.  On the other hand, looks like Paramount/Skydance might now merge with HBO Max to challenge Netflix for top status.

• 
  Fox One:  exclusive sports package from FOX, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, NFL Sunday games, MLB games and NASCAR Cup Series.

• 
  ViX Premium:  target rights for Spanish-language content, especially for soccer.

• 
  Tennis Channel:  exclusive rights to majority of ATP and WTA tour competitions.
• Apple TV:  Ted Lasso, Severance, Friday Night MLB, all MLS matches and all Formula 1 races.

Are there too many streaming channels?

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