CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Earlier this month, I asked News 3 viewers if they were considering cutting back on paying for television streaming services in 2024. Wendy McDougal's response immediately caught my attention. She doesn't pay for anything.
McDougal, like 25 million others over the past 10 years, had already cut the cord and dropped cable TV. When the cost of streaming services started to soar, she dropped those too.
"Paring it down like this, and then having an over-the-air antenna, I'm great," McDougal tells me.
America Votes
Important question before voting: Are you a critical news consumer?
McDougal is not alone. I reached out to James Willcox of Consumer Reports to find out why a simple thing like watching TV has become so complicated.
"One is just that there are so many more options that you have to wade through," Willcox suggests. "The other is that the cost of streaming has gone up."
He offers some ideas to save. First: App hopping.
"You binge watch Apple TV for a month, you might watch Paramount Plus for a month and see as many things as you want there, and then cut that service and jump to another one," he explains.
Next: Look for Bundles. For example, Walmart + subscribers can watch CBS shows with free Paramount Plus. Verizon offers discounts to its customers for Disney, ESPN and Hulu.
"The bundle was one of the things that kept people tied to cable," Willcox tells me. "Now we're starting to see streaming services do the same thing."
Scripps News
Here are ways to save on streaming TV services
Finally: Take advantage of free TV apps, like Tubi, Pluto and Freevee, that offer hundreds of channels at no charge. You will have to watch commercials, though.
"You get all these, why do I need to pay for something else?" Wendy McDougal told me when I visited her home in Chesapeake.
She's happy with those free services. And with an antenna to get her favorite local stations, she tells me she'll never go back to paying for TV again.
To download the free WTKR app for your smart TV, click here.
