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Like most streaming services, Netflix has recently raised its prices.

Like most streaming services, Netflix has recently raised its prices. Credit: Netflix

What does $100 buy in streaming?

A couple of years ago, the answer was "anything your little heart desires." But in early 2025, not quite — not even remotely. As streaming nears universal penetration in American TV homes, costs have climbed accordingly. Both of the major live TV streamers, or Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (vMVPD) — Youtube TV and Hulu + Live TV — recently raised their monthly rates by $10, with each now averaging about $83. And to paraphrase the song, there's no stopping them now. Price hikes are expected to be a part of this world going forward, much as they have been for cable all these years.

A 2024 CNET survey of six cities found the average monthly cost of basic cable plus internet at $144, with streaming live TV (vMVPDs) plus internet $135. That's only a $10 spread, although the CNET survey noted that cable add-on fees typically lard an additional $30 to $50 per month to the figure.

So the advantage goes to streaming. Nevertheless, the bottom line has shifted. Streaming may still be cheaper than cable because of all those add-ons and fees that crop up on your monthly bill, but that $100 still doesn't buy what it used to.

Streaming may still be cheaper than cable because of add-ons and...

Streaming may still be cheaper than cable because of add-ons and fees that crop up on your monthly bill, but $100 still doesn't buy what it used to. Credit: Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

What then, does it buy? Before we get to this, ask yourself the most basic of questions: What do you want? Live TV, or the local stations and live feeds of all the other networks out there? Do you want sports or news? Lots of movies? News 12? I've created some $100 packages that meet each of these criteria.

With these packages, I've made some assumptions. Obviously, you'll need broadband, which costs anywhere from $40 on up, but closer to $100 on Long Island. (The dollar figures below relate only to streaming costs.)

Moreover, I've assumed you want that "live TV" component in your streaming package because it most closely mirrors Optimum's Extra TV package ($80-or-so per month) that most of us are familiar with.

Finally, check the fine print. There are countless packages promising "great" savings," "free" bundles, and "low" sign-up fees. A good rule of thumb is to believe none of them. Remember, you are in the driver's seat. You are making the decisions. If you don't like the ones you've made, hit the cancel button.

News 12 + Local TV

Let's begin with News 12 and Long Island's major broadband provider, Optimum, which launched its own streaming service — Optimum Stream — a few years ago. You can't get Optimum Stream without first having an Optimum internet broadband connection, and the cheapest one is $40 per month for 300 BPS (bits per second). For that reason, this is the only package where I'll factor in the broadband cost, too. There are two other costs to consider here, however. The first is the $12 per-month rental fee for an Optimum streaming device. Second, you pay $30 per month for the so-called "Entertainment" package comprising some 200 channels. (And do note — this is the first year price; after that, it will likely go up.)

The majority of those you'll never watch, but a few — the local stations and News 12 — are what you're looking for anyway. And this is the only streaming service that does indeed offer News 12 Long Island. Optimum Stream -- which has several TV packages -- lets you easily add Netflix, Max or any other streaming service you like via Google Play. Let's go with Netflix's standard package, that's $15.49.

A little bit of everything (except sports) for the lowest price

Sling TV pioneered the so-called "skinny package," which means what it says. There are three skinny packages — Orange, Blue and Orange/Blue — which are priced according to what is offered. For our purposes, the cheapest way to go is Sling Blue — 46 channels, including channels 4, 5 and 7 — for $45.99. (If you want to add ESPN, you need to do Orange/Blue: $65.99). You'll also notice some key omissions with Blue, including movies and the strangest one of all — WCBS/2.

How to redress this if you want to? There's a Sling Orange/Blue package that includes Max for $73. To get Ch. 2 — and a decent movie package to boot — you must also add Paramount+ with Showtime, for $12.99. There's room for one more movie streamer — Disney+ ($9.99, with ads.)

A lot of everything, with the most channels

Clearly your best bet here is YouTube TV — $83 per month — ,but it's hardly the perfect bet. Foremost, it's sports-deficient (other than the NBA) and while it offers a million movies — I exaggerate, but only slightly — so does everyone else, including the freebies, Tubi and Pluto. What matters most here are current releases, and YouTube is simply not as strong as other services, notably archrival Hulu + Live TV and Prime Video which have far and away the most movies (many if not most of them for a la carte purchase). What YouTube does have is typically priced a little higher than its rival — an anecdotal observation, to be sure, but accurate.

Then there's sports: YouTube TV dropped SNY a few years ago, and you'll need to pay an extra $11 for a beefed-up sports package, which includes the "NFL Redzone."

Otherwise, YouTube TV's many attributes stack up — ease of use, interface and tons of channels. Indeed, per a recent CNET survey, YouTube TV has 78 of the top 100 most-viewed cable channels compared to 75 for Hulu. No other streamer is even close.

But what to add? Max, without the commercials, for $16.99.

A lot of everything, with the best premium bundles

The winner here is Hulu TV+ Live TV, because of Disney+ and ESPN+. In addition, Hulu's numerous production ties, most notably FX on Hulu, have yielded plenty of must-watch series ("The Bear" and "Shogun," to name two.)

But Hulu, like YouTube TV, is expensive ($83), which doesn't leave much wiggle room for add-ons. If you're a Mets fan, SNY is included.  If you want a decent movie streamer with a vast library of "Saturday Night Live" repeats, there's always Peacock ($8, with ads).

Lots of sports (and only sports)

Fubo and DirecTV Stream have made this choice easy because these streamers are pretty much synonymous with sports: Fubo in particular which has the NFL, NBA, MLB, golf, tennis, college, NASCAR, MMA and so on, while DTV Stream has lots of regional sports channels, too. Fubo also has a fair number of regional sports networks (including YES), but what's glaringly missing is the Mets' home, SNY, which was dropped last spring following a standoff over carriage fees. So the choice here would appear to be DirecTV's Stream's "Choice" package, which has both YES and SNY. But there's a catch (isn't there always?). It's $94.99 a month for the first three months, then $114.99 thereafter. If you don't need SNY, Fubo's Pro plan ($79) seems more than adequate.

Meanwhile, MSG Networks? This is a big question because of the ongoing standoff with Altice. DirecTV's Choice has MSG and so does Fubo's Pro plan. 

By the way, for those who do want movies and TV repeats, let's throw in Netflix ($15.49), which is also growing its sports offerings (NFL, WWE).

(Incidentally, DirecTV Stream just announced its own "skinny" sports bundle — MySports, which launched Jan. 14 — with access to some 40 sports and local broadcast channels, but MSG does not appear to be among them; cost will be $69.99 after an introductory offer.)

No live TV but lots of channels 

Among the vMVPDs, Philo has one singular benefit — cost! It's just $28 per month, which gets you 70 channels. Sounds good except there are no local channels, no news or sports to speak of, and no movies. (It's the bare minimum, but does include AMC+ and the AMC library, so there's that.) Nevertheless, at $28, this gives you flexibility, and you can add other streamers before hitting the $100 mark. For movies, let's go with Max ($9.99) and for live TV, Sling Blue ($45.99) and Paramount + with Showtime ($12.99).

And by the way, there's always a free option for movies and TV shows. Tubi may well be the biggest (40,000 movies, about 200,000 TV episodes) and best. Cost: $0.

Free, free, free 

So, you want to go free? Not a bad choice at all, but (do keep in mind) you sometimes get what you pay for, and this is no exception. The two major freebie channels, or FAST (free ad-supported TV), are Pluto and Tubi. Both are in a cage match for viewers and dominance. They are waging the battle with content, and it is almost inconceivable how much — episodes and movies measured in the hundreds of thousands. Tubi claims 275, 000 movies and TV episodes; Pluto, which appears to have lost count, simply claims "100,000+."

Tubi offers free ad-supported TV and movie streaming services.

Tubi offers free ad-supported TV and movie streaming services. Credit: Tubi

It's worth pointing out that while much of this isn't junk, it is indeed dated ("classic" is the word they both prefer). Paramount-owned Pluto has vast swaths of classic CBS shows, while Fox-owned Tubi seems to have everything else. Tubi is slightly easier to navigate (important with this much content) while Pluto is big on specificity — sometimes devoting entire channels to one series. Pluto has a deep "Star Trek" pool to swim in, for example, but there's a "Stargate" one, too. 

Live TV? There's that here as well. WNYW/5 streams live on Tubi, while WCBS/2's local news streams on Pluto; Pluto also streams the news content of plenty of other CBS stations (and even Ch. 5), as well as "News 12/New York" (but not Long Island.)

Meanwhile, there are lots of other free options out there — the Roku Channel, Crackle, Plex Free Watch, while some, like Amazon's Freevee, are deep into the original content game.

What does cable get you for $100? 

What does $100 get you with cable — specifically Optimum and Verizon Fios, Long Island's major suppliers?

As longtime subscribers know, the answer is complicated — or to put this less charitably, like trying to nail down Jell-O.

One reason is that prices vary based on the bundle (phone/TV/internet) service you get. The other are those many fees. In addition, costs are rarely stable because so-called lock periods ("introductory rates") lapse after a year or so, when what you initially agreed to pay starts to climb.

Optimum also requires most plans to hitch broadband to their package ($40 is the lowest). The basic entertainment TV package — 89 channels, but not the local stations — is $30.

Next up, those fees — $9.99 for broadcast stations (if you want those), and $10.47, for regional sports networks. The so-called network enhancement fee (which just went up in January) runs about $6. The first cable box is free. (We haven't even added the regulatory recovery fee; the universal service fund fee; state and local communications services tax, or state and local taxes — all of which vary by community or customer.)

 The cheapest TV plan is Your Fios TV at $85 per month for around 125 channels. Credit: Verizon


Meanwhile, Fios: The cheapest TV plan is Your Fios TV ($85) for around 125 channels, while "More Fios TV" runs $109 per month, for around 325 channels. Those do include local TV, by the way. Meanwhile, there are the fees — an $18 per-month router fee if you're not a Fios internet subscriber, for example. and $100 in setup fees and additional taxes. There are a range of other fees, too, depending on the service — regulatory and administrative charges, as well as taxes.

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