The next big thing is live streaming TV services

David Becker, Staff Writer

One of the things that has really started to come alive in this country is the ability to stream our favorite movies and TV shows whenever we want, whether that be on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime Video.

However, another item that has also started to rise is live TV streaming services. These platforms allow you to watch live TV legally and for a much cheaper price than your average cable or satellite plan.

The average cable plan is over $100 a month and the average satellite package from a company like DIRECTV is still over $100 a month. When you think about it, that’s a lot of money.

Now, if you’re someone who watches a lot of TV and watches a variety of channels, you may think that you’re still getting your money’s worth. However, bring in live TV streaming services like Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, PlayStation Vue or YouTube TV, think of it like Netflix but for live TV.

Say you’re a sports fan and you’re watching events like the Super Bowl, March Madness, college football, and NASCAR. A platform such as Hulu with Live TV is perfect since it only costs $39.99 a month, you don’t have to pay a fee for canceling, get free access to network on-demand content and you still get access to the entire Hulu catalog of TV shows and movies.

Hulu with Live TV also looks into your location to see which local channels it can get you. For the Wayne area, users would get access to KPTH FOX 44 and FOX Sports Kansas City.

However, let’s say you’re just the average person who wants some sports channels, some kids channels and some basic channels. Sling TV is the best option for this with the Sling Orange plan that costs $20 a month. It comes with sports networks like ESPN and ESPN 2, children’s channels like Disney Channel and regular channels such as TBS, TNT and Comedy Central.

The service also has a Sling Blue plan that has a similar channel lineup, but instead of ESPN networks, you will get FOX Sports networks (including local FSN networks). On top of all that, for both plans, you get access to all of those network’s on-demand TV shows and movies.

Both of these services, in particular, allow for users to DVR TV shows and movies when they are on and they can be accessed on a plethora of devices such as your average laptop or smartphone, or a streaming product like a Roku, Amazon Fire Stick or Apple TV. The same can be said for the other streaming services like PlayStation Vue and YouTube TV.

When compared to traditional cable and satellite, live TV streaming services are going to be the way to go. They are right now the best way to save money on television, and for millennials, saving money is always a good thing.