A Disney+ bundle, Paramount+, and Peacock offer a wide range of broadcast channels, cable networks, movies, and original shows
By James K. Willcox
For those of us looking for ways to trim our monthly expenses, ditching costly cable or satellite TV services is a great place to start. Those services can easily cost more than $100 a month.
Unfortunately, streaming video services can be a significant expense, too, especially as more of us now subscribe to several of them.
Many of the best-known services, including Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix, have been raising their prices. And the same goes for services designed to replicate traditional TV packages—DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV. Most of them now cost $65 per month or more.
What if you’re prepared to pay only half that? Can you still find a compelling assortment of content complete with local broadcasts?
Believe it or not, the answer is yes. We managed to assemble a decent TV plan on an ultra-tight budget of just $25 per month.
The package includes Disney+, NBCUniversal’s Peacock, and Paramount+. It won’t fit every need, and it doesn’t allow you to watch every popular show out there. Notably, we didn’t include Netflix or Amazon Prime, which many people already pay for alongside a cable or satellite package. You might add one of those services, or Apple TV+ or HBO Max, and make some swaps and still end up with a satisfying monthly budget.
Here’s another money-saving tip: If you live in a metropolitan area, you might be able to get even more programming, for free, with an inexpensive indoor TV antenna.
Setting those considerations aside, here’s what you get with our three streaming picks, for a total bill of $25 per month or less.
Paramount+
Let’s start with Paramount+, which has replaced CBS All Access as the company’s streaming platform, because it seems like a no-brainer for sports fans. It has a deal to show all the local-market NFL games on CBS’ schedule through 2033, plus NCAA basketball and PGA golf, including the Masters and the PGA Championship.
It also provides full-length episodes of CBS shows and new original programming, plus livestreams of local CBS affiliates in many markets.
Paramount+, the replacement for CBS All Access, is the streaming home to Paramount's programs, including CBS and Viacom shows, plus original content and movies.
Source: CBS
The big news for the company is that it will be merging both the Showtime cable channel and the Showtime Now streaming service into Paramount+. The new cable network will be called Paramount+ With Showtime, while the streaming service becomes Paramount+ Premium With Showtime.
Currently, Paramount+ has two subscription options. If you can live with a few advertisements, the Essential plan costs only $5 per month ($50 for a year if you pay up front). Or you can watch (mostly) ad-free on the Premium plan for $10 a month ($100 if you pay annually). In addition to the advertisements, the other big difference is that you don’t get your live local CBS station (except for NFL games) with the Essential plan. The pricier tier also lets you watch shows in 4K HDR (including Dolby Vision), and get mobile downloads.
You can get both plans as part of a bundle with Showtime, Paramount’s premium channel, for either $12 (Essential) or $15 (Premium) a month.
When the rebranded Paramount+ Premium with Showtime launches, it will include all the original Showtime series, which you don’t get with the Essential plan. But the company just announced that it will be raising the the price of Essential from $5 to $6 a month, while the Premier plan goes from $10 to $12 a month. It didn’t say when the price increases will take effect.
Both services give you access to all shows from CBS, more than 3,500 episodes from BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount, the Smithsonian Channel, and other jointly owned properties. Paramount+ also has a growing number of original shows, such as “The Offer,” based on the making of “The Godfather”; “1923,” a series starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren that’s derived from the popular “Yellowstone” series; “Tulsa King,” starring Sylvester Stallone; several series based on “Star Trek”; and “The Mayor of Kingstown.”
Current big movies include "Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Lost City,” and the horror film “Smile.” This summer, “Mission: Impossible 7” will hit the service after it appears in theaters. For kids, there are two “SpongeBob SquarePants” properties: “Kamp Koral,” an original children’s series, and “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.”
Paramount+ is available on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku streaming players; Android and Apple iOS smartphones and tablets; LG, Samsung, and Vizio smart TVs; and PlayStation and Xbox game consoles.
Total cost: With the Essential tier of Paramount+ onboard, we’ve now spent $5 of our $25 budget, leaving $20.
Disney+ Bundle
Given the assortment of high-powered entertainment brands under the Disney umbrella, it should be no surprise that we’re adding Disney+ next. The big news is that Disney recently started offering a less expensive, ad-supported plan. Unfortunately, it costs $8 per month—which had been the price of its ad-free plan. For ad-free Disney+, you now have to pay $11 a month, or $110 if paid annually. That has made us rethink our approach to Disney+ just a bit.
With content from Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel, NatGeo, and Pixar, Disney+ is a compelling option. We like the Disney+ bundle, which includes Hulu and ESPN+.
Source: Disney
Here’s why Disney+ is so compelling: The company owns Lucasfilm (the “Star Wars” franchise), Marvel Studios (“The Avengers,” “Black Panther”), and Pixar (“Toy Story,” “Up”). The recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox gives it 20th Century Studios (“The Simpsons”) and the lion’s share of National Geographic content, too.
Disney+’s updated library of content includes “The Beatles: Get Back” from Peter Jackson; Disney’s “Encanto”; a new series, “Willow,” that takes place 20 years after the events of the eponymous movie; and a new Star Wars series, “Star Wars: Andor.” New original series include “National Treasure: Edge of History,” plus a third season of the popular series “The Mandalorian,” also set in the “Star Wars” universe. Coming shows include “Agatha: Coven of Chaos,” a Marvel series starring Kathryn Hahn.
While Disney+ is pretty compelling on its own, we decided to splurge on one of the bundles Disney offers with Hulu and ESPN+.
Hulu—now wholly owned by Disney—fills a pretty big hole with content from popular broadcast and cable channels. Some shows can be watched in real time, but most are available either one day or one week later. That’s a good way to get programming from ABC, AMC, Bravo, Big Ten Network, CBS, E, ESPN, Fox, Fox Sports, FX, NBC, NFL Network, Oxygen, PBS, Syfy, and USA Network. Note, however, that many NBC shows are now available only on Peacock.
The Disney+ bundle also gives you a nice assortment of classic TV shows (“30 Rock” and “Modern Family”), Hulu originals (“Fleishman Is in Trouble,” based on the novel; “The Handmaid’s Tale”; and “The Patient,” with Domhnall Gleeson and Steve Carell). Other Hulu originals include “Nine Perfect Strangers,” starring Nicole Kidman, and “Only Murders in the Building,” starring Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short. You also get exclusive access to films such as “Prey” and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”
ESPN+ adds sports to the mix, including everything from Major League Baseball to college football and basketball, hockey, soccer, and UFC fights. You also get access to documentaries such as the “30 for 30” series.
There are now three plan options. Duo Basic, which costs $10 a month, gives you the ad-supported versions of both Disney+ and Hulu. Trio Basic adds ESPN+ with ads, for $13 month. A premium version of the bundle, called Trio Premium, has ad-free Disney+, ad-free Hulu, and ESPN+ for $20 a month.
To keep the price down, we’d suggest getting one of the ad-supported versions of the bundles. We’ve picked Trio Basic, but if you don’t care about sports, you can go with the Duo Basic plan, which will save you $3 a month.
Disney+ is available on LG and Samsung smart TVs, plus Android TVs and Roku TVs. You can also access the service from most streaming players, game consoles, Android and iOS smartphones, and web browsers.
Total cost: With Paramount+ and the $13 price for the Trio Basic Disney+ bundle, we’ve now spent $18 of our $25 monthly budget. That doesn’t leave much money for a third service, but read on.
Ad-Supported Peacock Premium
Peacock, which launched nationally in 2020, is a great way to round out a $25-per-month package with NBC and Bravo shows, plus Universal movies.
Unlike the services above, Peacock had offered a free ad-supported tier in addition to two paid tiers ($5 per month with ads, $10 without) that feature more robust content options. The company recently did away with the free tier for new subscribers, but people currently on the free plan can keep it.
The Peacock streaming service provides NBC and Bravo shows, Universal movies, sports, and original programming.
Source: NBCUniversal
That’s okay—we think it’s worth spending $5 per month more for the ad-supported Peacock Premium paid tier. (An annual plan costs $50.) To start, you get exclusive next-day access to current NBC and Bravo shows, now that a deal with Hulu is expiring. Better yet, you get the full complement of programming from NBCUniversal’s properties: Bravo, Syfy, Telemundo, USA Network, and Universal Studios. Peacock now has a deal with Universal that sees that company’s new movies stream exclusively on Peacock after leaving theaters. The deal includes movies such as “Jurassic World: Dominion” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”
Peacock is also licensing shows from ABC, A&E, and Fox. And it has a deal with Paramount to add content from CBS, Paramount, Showtime, and Viacom, plus movies from Blumhouse, DreamWorks, Focus Features, Illumination, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros.
Peacock’s original programming is a third great reason to subscribe to a Premium plan. Original series include “Poker Face,” “Vampire Academy,” “Yellowstone,” and "Bel-Air." New movies include the Oscar-nominated "Tár"; “Nope,” a horror thriller from Jordan Peele; and “Ticket to Paradise,” starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
For sports fans, Peacock streams Premier League soccer games, golf tournaments, and WWE Network matches. It also recently signed an extension with the NFL to show Sunday night NFL games that air on NBC through 2033.
You can access Peacock through Comcast’s own Xfinity X1 cable and Flex streaming platforms, as well as on Amazon Fire TV boxes and TVs; Apple devices (Apple TV and Apple TV 4K, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch); Google Android TVs; Roku players and TVs; phones, tablets, and Chromecast; and through LG and Vizio smart TVs. The service is also available on Xbox One and Sony PS4 game consoles.
Total cost: By adding Peacock to the plan at $5 per month, we’ve raised the total to $23, leaving you with a few dollars for popcorn.
So How Did We Do?
In the end, we proved that it’s possible to get a fully featured TV plan for less than $25 per month. In fact, if you were able to get the free version of Peacock before it ended and it’s meeting your needs, you can dip below $20 per month. On the other hand, if you need to get CBS broadcasts, we recommend stepping up to the $10-a-month Paramount+ plan, which would bring the total to just under $30 a month.
You may end up paying a bit more if you opt for one of the ad-free Disney+ bundles we mentioned above, choose the Paramount+ plan with Showtime when it launches, or add HBO Max. For a lot of us, though, that’s still quite a bargain compared to a typical pay TV package.
However you decide to put together your own package, you get a pretty compelling assortment of broadcast TV, cable content, movies, sports, and live events.
And don’t forget that you can supplement everything here with the classic TV shows and movies offered by free ad-supported streaming services such as Pluto TV, Tubi, and Xumo.
Of course, we know that some people do need to get live local broadcasts. Depending on where you live, you might be able to do that for free by using an antenna.
And if you need a streaming player, you can check out the three models below; more are available in our full streaming player ratings, available to CR members.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
Apple TV 4K (128GB, 2022)
Roku Streaming Stick 4K+
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