stretch your dollar

Watch TV and movies your way with new cable options

Monday, July 31, 2017

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Think you're spending too much for cable TV?

Close to 800,000 Americans dropped their traditional pay TV package in the first three months of 2017! So maybe it's time to shop around for online ways to get the shows and movies you want.

Consumer Reports reveals some cord-cutting options that deliver the biggest savings.

There are cable replacement services designed to replicate what a cable TV package provides but at a lower cost. The most recent ones are YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV.

They're very similar. You're typically going to spend anywhere from $35 to $40 a month, and you'll get anywhere from 40 to 50 channels. A package with internet, phone, Hulu with Live TV, Netflix Standard and Amazon Prime would cost you about $128 a month.

Someone who doesn't need that many options could survive with an antenna for local stations, Netflix Basic and HBO Now. That would cost about $86 a month including internet.

And if you're really interested in watching online-only content, you can just add some pay-per-view options from iTunes and Amazon Video for about $78 a month.

But Consumer Reports says some people are finding when they add up all the services they'd need to get the shows they want, they're not saving as much money as they thought and may be better sticking with a typical cable bundle.