The Latest on Cord Cutters

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

The streaming wars just got a whole lot more interesting for sports fans. If you've been waiting for a sign to ditch that bloated cable package, this might be it. ESPN and Fox just announced they're bundling their new streaming services for $39.99 per month—a $10 discount compared to buying them separately. That's roughly half what you'd pay for YouTube TV's $82.99 monthly fee, and we're talking about accessing the heart of American sports programming.

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.

Much like the Chromecast, Android TV devices such as the Nexus Player and Nvidia Shield TV have always had those beautiful background images as their default screensaver. However, unlike the Chromecast, these "Backdrop" images, as they're called, weren't always customizable on Android TV.

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.

Previously, you'd need to install the Google Cast extension to cast webpages from your Chrome web browser to your Chromecast-connected TV, but as of March 24th, you don't need it anymore. Casting now works natively in Google Chrome (which had been available in the Beta version for a few months), and you can activate the hidden feature right now.

Watching the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament without cable used to be easy. As long as you had an internet connection, CBS and Turner (TBS, TNT, and TruTV), which co-broadcast March Madness, let you watch all 67 games online free of charge.

Cable TV providers were dealt a pretty significant blow on Thursday, February 18th, 2016, when the Federal Communications Commission decided that customers should have a choice in what type of device they use to watch cable, instead of being forced to rent a set-top box.

Up until the last 15 years or so, watching the commercials during the Super Bowl was arguably more exciting than the game itself. Super Bowl XXIV featured the San Francisco 49ers blowing out the Broncos, 55-10, in the worst Super Bowl beatdown of all time. The game might not have been that exciting, but the commercials sure were.

I have used youtube before. Is youtube no longer available?

Google's Chromecast is quite literally one of my favorite inventions of the past five years, allowing me to kick back, relax, and enjoy the various forms of streaming entertainment it has up for grabs.

Bought a pre loaded firestick a few months ago but now the 'best add-ons' are no longer working. What can I do to fix this? Any advice? All advice simplified please as im not very tech savvy. Thanks

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2015:

Google just announced a new and improved Chromecast at an event in San Francisco this morning, and debuted a new "Chromecast Audio" for streaming music directly to any speaker. I'm sure you rushed off to the Google Store to buy one of these promising and powerful devices, but while you wait on the new one to come in the mail, your old Chromecast just got a lot more functional by way of a simple app update.

Hi, I Have Chromecast. I Have the Side Loaded Beta Version of Stevie Downloaded. I Can See My Profile Pic in a Grid on the "My Friends TV" Button, but When I Click It, It Says "Answering the Door" or Whatever, and Gives Me Stevie Favorites on YouTube. I Cannot See My Facebook Feed. Can You Help? Thank You.

If you have a DLNA player at home that supports media rendering (most of them do) then you can easily upgrade it to stream almost any online video, movie or live tv show.