Pluto TV: The Rise of Free TV in the Streaming Age

[Smokin Okie]

List of streaming services who've raised their price this year

• Fubo TV: Increased prices across all plans by an average of $5.
• Sling TV: Hiked the price of Sling Blue from $40 to $45 and Sling Orange + Blue from $55 to $60.
• YouTube TV: Announced a $ 10-a-month price hike.
• Max: Increased the price of its ad-free plan by $1.
• Philo: Raised its subscription price from $25 to $28.
• Peacock: Increased the price of every plan by $2.
• Paramount+: Increased the price of every plan by $1 to $2.
• Disney+: Raised the price of every plan by $2.
• Hulu: Increased the price of every plan by $1 to $2.
• AMC+: Announced a $ 1-a-month price hike.

 

[Smokin Okie]

And yeah, what I found was the only place to watch Yellowstone was on YouTube TV. IDK how Google pulled that off.

Which is another reason to ditch YouTube TV.

Google is very good at everything they do. They have the best search engine. YouTube is great. People love GMail. They either beat their competitors or become so dominant that no one else can get a foothold in the markets they serve.

Its hard for me to punish a company for being too good. But I also don't think its in the best long term interests of consumers for one company to be so dominant.

I see Amazon the same way. I see their delivery trucks in my neighborhood at all hours of the day and even the night. And realize this is happening nationally if not globally. The scale of their business is awesome.

But again, I don't think its in the consumers long term interest for Amazon to have so few competitors. Its why I search for other sources for everything I buy on-line, before I give the business to Amazon. In the past year, I've cut my Amazon purchases in half by finding the same item at a better price with similar shipping speed and cost.

 

[normanaj]

And yeah, what I found was the only place to watch Yellowstone was on YouTube TV. IDK how Google pulled that off.

YT TV carries the Paramount Network much like cable/satellite and other pay services.

I'm only now watching the first 8 episodes of season 5 for the first time as I was able to get the DVD cheap.And when the other half comes out on DVD next year I'll watch it then.

 

[ghostguy6]

have a Paramount + subscription through Amazon and I have access to the Full Yellowstone series. Maybe because I am Canadian? Although I must admit I cant stand those Taylor Sheridan series. Too much social posturing, and lately he has a guest role in the series that makes him look like a either a total baller or a total badass.

I have Pluto TV as well and I must say the content got rather old quickly. They recycle the same movies over and over again. Some of the movies are also the made for TV version so they are edited. Some channels just repeat a TV series over and over again. Its fine if you haven't seen it before but one you watch it, it just becomes another useless channel.

You can watch the "with adds" streaming services add free if you have the correct add blocker installed. I currently can watch Youtube, Netflix, Prime and Tubi without seeing any adds even though I am not paying for them to be add free. So far I haven't figure out how to get Pluto add free.

 

[KBFlyer]

Not that I'm a fan of yellowstone but one of my IPTV servers has right to season 5. Guessing thats up to date?

 

[normanaj]

has right to season 5. Guessing thats up to date?

The first half of season came out before the writers strike so it's been available for quite some time.

 

[jcam222]

Paramount+ is included in a Walmart+ membership if you happen to have it or have interest in the Walmart membership. If you keep and eye on Peacock, Hulu and Disney they offer ridiculously cheap annual memberships every year around Black Friday. This is the 4th year I got Peacock Premium for $20 for the year, Hulu for $1.99 per month for a year and passed on the Disney but it was also only $2 / month for a year.

 

[Smokin Okie]

We have Paramount + through Walmart + , and we had to go to YouTube TV to watch Yellowstone.

 

[sandyut]

I like free! but please correct me if I am wrong, Pluto doesnt seem to have OTA TV??

We live the the mtns and without YouTube TV/Cable/Sling etc. we get zero OTA TV (local TV to Denver). Hell when the internet goes out I can barely get short text off.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I like free! but please correct me if I am wrong, Pluto doesnt seem to have OTA TV??

We live the the mtns and without YouTube TV/Cable/Sling etc. we get zero OTA TV (local TV to Denver). Hell when the internet goes out I can barely get short text off.

Well, this streaming stuff is cost efficient ............. but its everyman for themselves

 

[jcam222]

I like free! but please correct me if I am wrong, Pluto doesnt seem to have OTA TV??

We live the the mtns and without YouTube TV/Cable/Sling etc. we get zero OTA TV (local TV to Denver). Hell when the internet goes out I can barely get short text off.

Cost aside YouTube TV still seems to be the king of offering local network content. That's true unless you are in an area where you can get it via antenna. I'm not close enough to the towers for that.

 

[DougE]

List of streaming services who've raised their price this year

• Fubo TV: Increased prices across all plans by an average of $5.
• Sling TV: Hiked the price of Sling Blue from $40 to $45 and Sling Orange + Blue from $55 to $60.
• YouTube TV: Announced a $ 10-a-month price hike.
• Max: Increased the price of its ad-free plan by $1.
• Philo: Raised its subscription price from $25 to $28.
• Peacock: Increased the price of every plan by $2.
• Paramount+: Increased the price of every plan by $1 to $2.
• Disney+: Raised the price of every plan by $2.
• Hulu: Increased the price of every plan by $1 to $2.
• AMC+: Announced a $ 1-a-month price hike.

I get Paramount+ and Disney+ free from Spectrum but granted, I pay them about $200/month for internet and their basic streaming TV package.

 

[Fueling Around]

I'll have to look into Pluto.

Spectrum internet and cable TV is part of our Florida apartment lease. No opt out.
Not impressed with Paramount+ and we occasionally watch Disney+

We use Roku sticks.
Discovered I can stream our Spectrum TV service thru Roku back in Minnesota.
We have MIDCO service back in Minnesota and dumping the TV side saves $110 per month. I suspend the internet while we are south to save another $75 per month.
Sad thing on prices, MIDCO internet & TV was $50 per month 20 years ago. Today it is almost $190 per month.
Wife subscribes to Friendly TV which she added to the Roku service. I'm stopping my Discovery+ as we can get the stuff my wife wants to watch from other sources.

I get Paramount+ and Disney+ free from Spectrum but granted, I pay them about $200/month for internet and their basic streaming TV package.

I pay $65 per month for our Spectrum service as part of our apartment lease. The plus is our cell service thru Spectrum is $60 for 2 lines. They go through Verizon which is the best service back in MN. Wife hasn't burned through her data in a month

 

[DougE]

The plus is our cell service thru Spectrum is $60 for 2 lines.

I have my phone through Spectrum also. The wife will not leave ATT, so she pays hers (and the kids who are on her plan) and I pay mine. I pay $60 a month for service on my phone and tablet aside from the internet and tv.

 

[DougE]

I really don't need cellular on the tablet, but since it isn't paid off yet, they require me to have cellular on it. I carry the bare minimum by the gig plan on it.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I have changed my viewing habits. I dropped DirecTv a while ago now.

We have Spectrum Internet only 150MB. Two Ruku Ultras. I get local ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX plus hundreds of random channels for free. I have noticed a lot of the channels are Pluto. During the commercial breaks it usually shows the Pluto logo. The only thing I pay for is Bally's West for Kings Hockey.
Amazon Prime since I buy too much stuff from them. My niece just got a new smart tv and has Netflix that she added to our Ruku boxes.

I usually just watch YouTube from my tablet and desktop at night.

So far I am doing just fine without the extra $209/month for DirecTv.

 

[jcam222]

I have changed my viewing habits. I dropped DirecTv a while ago now.

We have Spectrum Internet only 150MB. Two Ruku Ultras. I get local ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX plus hundreds of random channels for free. I have noticed a lot of the channels are Pluto. During the commercial breaks it usually shows the Pluto logo. The only thing I pay for is Bally's West for Kings Hockey.
Amazon Prime since I buy too much stuff from them. My niece just got a new smart tv and has Netflix that she added to our Ruku boxes.

I usually just watch YouTube from my tablet and desktop at night.

So far I am doing just fine without the extra $209/month for DirecTv.

How are you getting the local ABC,NBC, CBS and FOX?

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

How are you getting the local ABC,NBC, CBS and FOX?

Most local news channels are free on Ruku. Los Angeles stations are my locals.

 

[sandyut]

Cost aside YouTube TV still seems to be the king of offering local network content. That's true unless you are in an area where you can get it via antenna. I'm not close enough to the towers for that.

Agreed, I like YouTube TV and the unlimited DVR is handy. Before we moved to the mtns we use antenna for OTA with a Tablo box to wifi the channels through the house via Roku. worked good as only one antenna location could grab the OTA signal well. Not sure if Tablo is still around...

 

[Smokin Okie]

Agreed, I like YouTube TV and the unlimited DVR is handy. Before we moved to the mtns we use antenna for OTA with a Tablo box to wifi the channels through the house via Roku. worked good as only one antenna location could grab the OTA signal well. Not sure if Tablo is still around...

I disconnected my Tablo three months ago. Had it for a few years and subscribed to their TV guide which was useful. But it started getting a bit buggy and Tablo kept bringing out newer versions and new software. Then my hard drive dedicated to Tablo crashed. It became obsolete.

Also, I bought a new Samsung TV that offers a TV guide for OTA. Everything I was recording with the Tablo is now either on YouTube or other streaming services.