How-To Guides about Cord Cutters

Turning off Roku's automatic content recognition system took investigators at The Markup 11 to 24 clicks. That click count applies specifically to Roku's ACR setting on Roku TVs, the feature built into Roku's television hardware rather than its streaming sticks (The Markup, 2023). Even after finding it, disabling ACR doesn't answer the bigger question most people actually have: how to stop Roku from tracking what you watch across every app you open. This guide walks through the Roku privacy...

A Plex stream that stutters doesn't always mean the server needs more muscle. These Plex tips and tricks are built around one diagnostic habit: checking whether buffering comes from your network, a forced transcode, or an undersized server before you spend a dollar fixing a problem that isn't there.

Most people assume a TV without Bluetooth means a trip to the electronics store. It doesn't. Bluetooth has become mainstream in most televisions now, but that's only half the picture: plenty of older or specialty sets, like a favorite pair of wired headphones or a plasma TV still hanging on in the den, never got the feature and won't get it through a software update either, according to Wirecutter/NYT reporting from last month. Figuring out how to add Bluetooth to a TV without Bluetooth usually...

Audible's Timer sits right on the playback screen, but some of the app's more useful controls are easier to overlook. Shake to Extend lives in Player settings, while End of Chapter and finer 0.05x speed adjustments give listeners more control over when and how they listen.

The 78th Emmy Awards aired live on September 14, 2026, but anyone who missed the ceremony can still watch the 2026 Emmy Awards without cable.

There's no single subscription that gets you every NFL game in 2026. Before picking a setup, answer three questions: do you need your local team's games, an out-of-market team, or the national exclusives that land on Thursdays, holidays, and international windows? The answer decides whether this season costs $55 or several hundred dollars (Marketplace, about a month ago).

Reviewed by: Y. Garcia

A quick reality check before you start: This guide works best for households in urban and suburban areas within range of broadcast transmitters. Rural readers, apartment dwellers with no exterior placement options, and anyone whose primary goal is free live sports coverage will hit real limits, spelled out at each relevant step. Go in with accurate expectations.

The culprit behind soft, degraded Hulu streams is usually not your router. Both the iOS and Android Hulu apps ship with a mode called "Data Saver" enabled by default, which reportedly actively caps stream quality to reduce data consumption. Most users never touch it. Turning it off takes about 20 seconds and is the right first move before running speed tests or resetting hardware.

The Champions League is back with one of the most anticipated matchups of the season, and if you're looking to catch Newcastle vs. Barcelona without being tied to traditional cable, you've got more streaming options than ever before. The challenge isn't finding a way to watch—it's navigating the maze of streaming platforms, geographic restrictions, and device compatibility to get the best viewing experience possible.

International baseball fans are in for a treat this March, as the 2026 World Baseball Classic brings 20 national teams together for what's shaping up to be an epic showdown. Now here's the thing about watching this tournament without cable – with Fox Sports controlling comprehensive broadcast rights, cord-cutters need a strategic approach to catch every pitch without traditional subscriptions.

The 98th Academy Awards are just around the corner, and for cord-cutters and streaming enthusiasts, there's never been a better time to ditch traditional cable and catch Hollywood's biggest night online. With Conan O'Brien returning as host for the second consecutive year and the ceremony taking place March 15 at the iconic Dolby Theatre, this year's show promises to be unmissable. Here's your complete guide to streaming the Oscars for free, no cable subscription required.

Getting the most out of your Amazon Fire TV isn't just about knowing where the power button is—though that's admittedly a good start. Whether you're a streaming veteran or someone who just upgraded from basic cable, there's a whole world of hidden features, shortcuts, and tweaks that can transform your viewing experience from "pretty good" to "why didn't I know about this sooner?"

You've probably felt the sting of those YouTube TV drama headlines by now. The ongoing feud between YouTube TV and Disney has left millions of subscribers in the dark, missing everything from Monday Night Football to election coverage, since Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC, have been unavailable on YouTube TV since October 30. Black screens, blank slots in the guide, grumbling group chats. What began as contract talks turned into a corporate standoff, the kind that says a lot about...

Netflix's move into live programming just got a rocket boost. NASA announced this summer that its NASA+ live feeds—including rocket launches, spacewalks, and those mesmerizing Earth views from the International Space Station—are heading to Netflix. This marks the first time Netflix has embedded live programming from an outside source directly into its U.S. platform.

The biggest problem with Netflix (which is hardly a real problem) is the overwhelming amount of content available for streaming. Browsing through profile-specific categories might help narrow down your search on something to watch, but some of those categories come and go without warning, and it's impossible to find them again—but not anymore.

Your Apple TV is just that — your Apple TV, which means you probably want to personalize it a bit, to make yours stand out from everybody else's. And the easiest way to do this is by renaming it. If you live in an apartment building, this will help differentiate your Apple TV from your neighbors' when trying to use AirPlay.

Android TV devices have had those beautiful Chromecast background images as their screensaver for quite a while now. Envious of this feature, Apple copied the idea for a similarly-styled screensaver in their newest Apple TV, but with one big twist—they used videos instead of still photos.