Audio Video News

Charter Tests Sports-Free Skinny TV Bundle

Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 8, 2017

How would you like to save money on a TV package from a major cable operator and dump the set-top box at the same time?

That’s what Charter is offering with Spectrum TV Stream, which has more than two-dozen channels for just $19.95/month. The catch is that this skinny bundle does not include sports programming because it adds too much to the cost.

You do get local channels plus CNN, AMC, and others. Pay $15/month more and you get premium channels like HBO and Showtime. The internet streaming service supports Android, iOS, Amazon, Roku, Xbox One, and Samsung smart TVs.

The downside? As overstuffed standard cable packages dwindle, so might marginal cable channels, as providers like Charter negotiate to get only the channels they — and, hopefully, you — really want. Viacom recently announced that it would focus on six core channels out of a stable of nearly two-dozen.

COMMENTS
Michaela's picture
Submitted by Michaela on November 9, 2017 - 7:49am

The trick is stripping out sports in a fat bundle. FiOS tried something similar a few years ago, but it turned out that if you wanted a lot of extra channels (Animal Planet, Syfy, Food, etc.) it was still cheaper to get ESPN etc. bundled back in. Very disappointing.

Traveler's picture
Submitted by Traveler on November 9, 2017 - 11:04pm

Don't want a "bundle" to start with. Just let us choose which channels we want whenever we want.

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