Television in 2025: How far will $100 stretch in streaming and cable services?

What does $100 buy in streaming?

A couple of years ago, the answer was "anything your little heart desires." But in early 2025, not quite — not even remotely. As streaming nears universal penetration in American TV homes, costs have climbed accordingly. Both of the major live TV streamers, or Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (vMVPD) — Youtube TV and Hulu + Live TV — recently raised their monthly rates by $10, with each now averaging about $83. And to paraphrase the song, there's no stopping them now. Price hikes are expected to be a part of this world going forward, much as they have been for cable all these years.

In a 2024 survey conducted by CNET across six cities, the average monthly expense for basic cable combined with internet was reported to be $144, while the cost for streaming live TV services (vMVPDs) along with internet stood at $135. This results in a mere $10 difference between the two options. However, the survey highlighted that additional fees associated with cable services often add an extra $30 to $50 to the overall monthly bill.

So the advantage goes to streaming. Nevertheless, the bottom line has shifted. Streaming may still be cheaper than cable because of all those add-ons and fees that crop up on your monthly bill, but that $100 still doesn't buy what it used to.

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What then, does it buy? Before we get to this, ask yourself the most basic of questions: What do you want? Live TV, or the local stations and live feeds of all the other networks out there? Do you want sports or news? Lots of movies? News 12? I've created some $100 packages that meet each of these criteria.

Based on these packages, I've drawn a few conclusions. Clearly, a broadband connection is necessary, typically ranging from $40 and above, but it tends to be around $100 on Long Island. (The price estimates mentioned below pertain solely to streaming expenses.)

Additionally, I’ve taken it for granted that you’re interested in including the "live TV" feature in your streaming plan, as it resembles Optimum's Extra TV package (priced around $80 monthly) that many of us recognize.

Finally, check the fine print. There are countless packages promising "great" savings," "free" bundles, and "low" sign-up fees. A good rule of thumb is to believe none of them. Remember, you are in the driver's seat. You are making the decisions. If you don't like the ones you've made, hit the cancel button.

News 12 + Local TV

Let's begin with News 12 and Long Island's major broadband provider, Optimum, which launched its own streaming service — Optimum Stream — a few years ago. You can't get Optimum Stream without first having an Optimum internet broadband connection, and the cheapest one is $40 per month for 300 BPS (bits per second). For that reason, this is the only package where I'll factor in the broadband cost, too. There are two other costs to consider here, however. The first is the $12 per-month rental fee for an Optimum streaming device. Second, you pay $30 per month for the so-called "Entertainment" package comprising some 200 channels. (And do note — this is the first year price; after that, it will likely go up.)

The vast majority of those you'll never watch, but a few — the local stations and News 12 — are what you're looking for anyway. And this is the only streaming service that does indeed offer News 12 Long Island. Optimum Stream is priced to be competitive with Optimum's mid-tier "Extra TV" cable package but the advantage is that you can easily add Netflix, Max or any other streaming service you like via Google Play. Let's go with Netflix's standard package, that's $15.49.

A diverse selection of items (excluding sports) at the most affordable prices.

Sling TV pioneered the so-called "skinny package," which means what it says. There are three skinny packages — Orange, Blue and Orange/Blue — which are priced according to what is offered. For our purposes, the cheapest way to go is Sling Blue — 46 channels, including channels 4, 5 and 7 — for $45.99. (If you want to add ESPN, you need to do Orange/Blue: $65.99). You'll also notice some key omissions with Blue, including movies and the strangest one of all — WCBS/2.

If you're looking to make adjustments, consider this option: The Sling Orange/Blue package, which comes with Max, is available for $73. To access Channel 2 and also enjoy a solid selection of movies, you'll need to include Paramount+ with Showtime for an additional $12.99. Lastly, if you want to add another movie streaming service, you can opt for Disney+ at $9.99 (with ads).

An abundance of options, featuring the widest variety of channels.

Clearly your best bet here is YouTube TV — $83 per month — ,but it's hardly the perfect bet. Foremost, it's sports-deficient (other than the NBA) and while it offers a million movies — I exaggerate, but only slightly — so does everyone else, including the freebies, Tubi and Pluto. What matters most here are current releases, and YouTube is simply not as strong as other services, notably archrival Hulu + Live TV and Prime Video which have far and away the most movies (many if not most of them for a la carte purchase). What YouTube does have is typically priced a little higher than its rival — an anecdotal observation, to be sure, but accurate.

Next up is sports: A few years back, YouTube TV removed SNY from its lineup, and to access a more comprehensive sports package that features "NFL Redzone," you'll have to shell out an additional $11.

Otherwise, YouTube TV's many attributes stack up — ease of use, interface and tons of channels. Indeed, per a recent CNET survey, YouTube TV has 78 of the top 100 most-viewed cable channels compared to 75 for Hulu. No other streamer is even close.

However, what should be included? Max, ad-free, for just $16.99.

An abundance of choices, featuring top-tier premium packages.