Alternative Live Streaming Services to Hulu+ Live
Hulu+ Live was a pretty sweet deal, until the recently shocked a lot of their subscribers by raising their prices from $44.95/month to $54.95/month.
A $10 jump on a monthly bill is a pretty big hit to the budget. And many current Hulu+ Live subscribers are seeing red by this rather large price increase.
Some cord cutters who cut the cord naively believed that the cheaper streaming packages for live TV programming like what they had on cable TV would last forever.
Sadly, many of these same live channels are now responsible for the big price increases we are seeing on cable TV and on their streaming TV counterparts. Everything gets more expensive with time.
And the actors, directors and staff that produce the content and their families are also having to deal with raising prices.
But as a cord cutter, you don't have to keep paying higher prices to watch TV. The good news is if you can wean yourself off the Live Cable channels there are some pretty nice budget friendly alternatives.
Check Out These Channels and Apps that Offer Great On Demand and Live TV for Free or Less than Hulu+ Live TV
These are some great alternatives to watching expensive live cable TV channels. Some are free and some may cost less than what you may be paying for now.
FREE Live TV Channels With Puffer Stream - This is a Stanford University research project that lets anyone sign up and watch these live channels from a web browser for free.
"The Puffer research project is studying how to make streaming better by studying video streaming algorithms. Stream local affiliates CBS (KPIX 5), NBC (KNTV 11), ABC (KGO 7), FOX (KTVU 2), PBS (KQED 9), and Univision (KDTV 14)."
Pluto TV Top Free TV Channel - When it comes to watching Free ad-supported TV, there is none better than Pluto. Their channels list is massive and besides on-demand they also have a few live TV channels. Available on most streaming TV devices, PC and Smart Phones it's a must have channel if saving money on your TV bill is a top priority.
Another channel to try that offers Free content is FilmON and also XUMO. They are both similar to Pluto.
Philo - This live TV app has a nice selection of channels and only costs $20/month. They offer a Free 7/day trial so be sure to check them out if you plan on dumping Hulu+ Live because it has gotten to be too expensive.
You won't find Sports or News channels on Philo, so if these are not channels you are not watching anyways Philo may be a perfect lower cost solution for you.
Here are Free Trials to Popular Streaming TV Channels
YouTube TV - This is another lower cost streaming service than Hulu+ Live. We like their unlimited Cloud DVR to record a massive amount of shows and even some local channels which are included in the price of $50/month. Plus if you love sports, ESPN is included as well.
Watch Free TV From an Antenna
A long range antenna installed in your attic or roof is another great option for watch local networks for free. Major channels that broadcast locally are CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, Fox, CW and several more.
With a good long range antenna, you may be able to pull in all of these and watch them completely Free.
If an antenna is not an option where you live, another streaming service that you can try signing up for Locast which is free. But they nag you like crazy until you donate.
Locast is also currently getting sued by the big TV Networks for rebroadcasting and streaming their content over the air. So depending on the outcome of the trial, this might be a short lived option.
Hopefully this gave you some good ideas to streaming expensive live cable TV channels.
Before you leave, here is one more for you to try. Frndly TV is a live niche streaming service that carries The Outdoor Channel, Hallmark and the Weather Channel. Plus a few other live TV channels as well. They also offer a free trial and it's not very expensive.
Also, be sure to check out this list of FREE TV channels and apps and enjoy the best part about being a cord cutter, watching some great TV without cable.
