Spectrum’s ‘free’ streaming services aren’t worth the cost of cable

Spectrum would like you to believe that it’s actually competing with cord-cutting now.

While the largest cable provider in the U.S. hasn’t lowered prices, it has been over the past year bundling popular streaming services with its TV packages at no extra charge. Those services include Disney+, Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and more. The cable provider loves to say these freebies add up to “$80 in retail app value,” a claim that’s been widely parroted by industry press.

But can you really believe the cable company here? And is Spectrum’s big bundle of cable channels and streaming services really worth the cost of a full-size pay TV package? Let’s do the math and find out.

Streaming services included with Spectrum

To get Spectrum’s “free” streaming services, you’ll need a TV Select Signature or TV Select Plus plan. The freebies aren’t available with skinnier packages, such as Spectrum TV Stream.

TV Select Signature is Spectrum’s main pay TV package, and it costs $95 per month for the the first year and $115 per month thereafter. (Those are the actual prices, as Spectrum nixed its sneaky fees last year.) The included streaming services are:

• Disney+ with ads (a $10-per-month value)
• Paramount+ with ads (an $8-per-month value)
• Max with ads (a $10-per-month value)
• Peacock Premium with ads (an $8-per-month value)
• AMC+ with ads (a $7-per-month value)
• Vix Premium with ads (a $5-per-month value)

Spectrum TV Select Plus, which includes regional sports networks, costs $105 per month for one year and $125 per month thereafter. It includes:

• All the services listed above
• ESPN+ (a $12-per-month value)
• Tennis Channel (formerly Tennis Channel+, a $10-per-month value)

Add it all up, and you’re getting a total streaming service value of $48 per month with Spectrum TV Select Signature, and $70 per month with Spectrum TV Select Plus. (As for that claim of $80 per month in value, Spectrum says that reflects its plans to add Discovery+ and BET+, which both cost $6 per month on their own.)

Running the numbers

The inherent nature of bundling is that you might pay for things you don’t actually need. With that in mind, let’s go through a few potential scenarios with Spectrum’s TV bundles:

Scenario A: You really do use all of these streaming services.

Subtract the retail cost of all these streaming services—which you’d be paying for separately—and you’re effectively paying $55 per month for Spectrum’s main TV Select Signature bundle of cable channels. If you require ESPN+ and Tennis Channel as well, the effective cost of TV Select Plus becomes just $43 per month. No live TV streaming service can match that.

Conclusion: Spectrum’s bundles would be worth it.

Scenario B: You only watch the most popular streaming services

Now, let’s assume the only bundled streaming services you care about are Disney+, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+. With Spectrum TV Select Signature, you’re still paying $115 per month regardless.

By contrast, you could get YouTube TV for $83 month, add the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle for $17 per month, and throw in Peacock and Paramount+ at $8 per month each. That brings you to $116 per month—only $1 more than Spectrum—and you get Hulu, which Spectrum lacks.

Alternatively, Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month and includes Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ at no extra charge. Subscribe separately to Max, Peacock, and Paramount+, and your total is $109 per month. That’s $6 per month less than Spectrum TV Select Signature and $16 per month less than Spectrum TV Select Plus, neither of which include Hulu.

In fairness, I’m only using Spectrum’s non-promotional pricing in these calculations. If you’re a new customer, or are bundling other things such as mobile phone service, the math will look different and you might come out ahead.

Conclusion: Spectrum’s bundles may or may not save you money.

Scenario C: You prefer flexibility

Savvy cord-cutters know you needn’t subscribe to everything all at once. Besides, deals on Peacock and Paramount+ are easily obtainable at various times of the year, so maybe you don’t need them as part of a bundle. Deals on Disney services and Max also tend to emerge around Black Friday, further defraying the potential cost.

You might also not need a full pay TV package year-round–or at all, especially if you’re able to use an antenna for local channels. And with new sports-centric services on the way from ESPN and Fox—and the potential for those services to form new kinds of TV bundles—the opportunities to get most of what you need without a big pay TV package are only increasing.

If you prefer to stay nimble for such scenarios, Spectrum’s bundle is best avoided, especially because you can’t cancel online in most cases (at least not yet).

Conclusion: Spectrum’s bundles aren’t worth it.

What about simplicity?

Spectrum says its bundles do more than just save money. They’re also a way to aggregate multiple services under one bill and get a unified interface—via its Xumo streaming box—for everything.

The billing argument has some merit. Where there are ways to aggregate some streaming services under one bill—for instance, using Roku’s or Apple’s in-app billing mechanisms—they don’t cover every service and can lead to even more confusion.

But as for watching everything in one place, plenty of other streaming platforms do that already. The Apple TV 4K is especially adept at bringing content from various streaming services into a single menu system, and it does a better job of integrating with the Spectrum app than Spectrum’s own Xumo boxes. (It doesn’t require a rental fee, either.)

What Spectrum is selling is more about perceived value than actual value. With the company promising $80 worth of streaming services, you might think you’re saving a lot of money by bundling. But if you’re aware of what else is available, you could very well come out ahead by putting things together on your own.

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