Cable TV wants cord-cutters back. Should you listen?

Comcast and Spectrum are trying new tactics to win back cord-cutters and keep their existing TV customers from jumping ship.

Last week, Comcast retooled its TV plans and made them easier to understand. Instead of needing to provide a service address and scrutinize the fine print for hidden fees, you can now just go to an Xfinity web page to compare the actual prices up front. Spectrum, meanwhile, has focused on bundling streaming services with its main cable TV packages. (It also stopped doing sneaky fees last year.)

The upshot is that it’s now a lot easier to decide whether cable TV is still worth it, or to determine whether your current cable TV plan is overpriced. Let’s walk through Comcast’s and Spectrum’s offerings to help you figure it out.

Spectrum’s $100 cable TV deal vs. streaming

Spectrum is currently offering a promo for its “TV Select Signature” plan, bringing the price to $100 per month for 12 months instead of the usual $120 per month. Spectrum’s “TV Select Plus” plan, which includes regional sports, costs an additional $10 per month. Both plans include cloud DVR for up to 50 shows, and you can use Spectrum’s streaming TV apps instead of a cable box.

On the surface, neither plan compares favorably to the likes of YouTube TV ($83 per month) or Hulu + Live TV ($90 per month). Spectrum’s big pitch, though, is that you get a bunch of streaming services at no extra cost, including Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, ESPN Unlimited, Paramount+, Peacock, AMC+, and Vix. (Tennis Channel is also included in Spectrum’s TV Select Plus and TV Platinum plans.)

Spectrum says these the value of these services equals more than $100 per month, but that claim relies on some double-dipping. ESPN Unlimited and Fox One consist mainly of the same content that’s already on their respective cable channels, and Spectrum’s adding up the individual costs of Disney+ and Hulu instead of their bundled price with ESPN.

When we look at the real value of these streaming freebies, it adds up to $63 or $73 per month:

• Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Select (all with ads): a $20-per-month value
• HBO Max (with ads): an $11-per-month value
• Paramount+ (with ads): an $8-per-month value
• Peacock (with ads): an $11-per-month value
• AMC+ (with ads): a $7-per-month value
• Vix (with ads): a $6-per-month value
• Tennis Channel (TV Select Plus and TV Platinum only): a $10-per-month value

So, is Spectrum’s TV plan a good deal? It depends on which services and channels you’d normally pay for year round.

YouTube TV combined with just the first four streaming services listed above, for instance, would cost you a total $133 per month, versus $120 per month with Spectrum ($100 per month in year one). Hulu with Live TV combined with Peacock, Paramount+, and AMC+ would cost you $120 per month, same as Spectrum’s non-promotional rate. (Hulu’s service includes Disney+, Hulu on demand, and ESPN Select at no extra charge.)

In those scenarios, Spectrum comes out ahead. But if you don’t need a full-sized pay TV package, or your streaming needs are more narrow, Spectrum’s TV plans could be a waste of money.

As I’ve previously documented, cheaper bundles with fewer channels are starting to become available, some of which include free streaming services themselves. I encourage you to look at all those options before committing to a TV bill of $100 per month or more, because even when you factor in Spectrum’s freebies, the cost might not be worth it.

(While Spectrum also offers a $40-per-month option called TV Stream, with dozens of entertainment channels along with CNN and Fox News, you won’t get local channels, live sports, or any streaming freebies.)

Comcast’s updated packages vs. streaming

Unlike Spectrum, Comcast isn’t bundling any free streaming services with its standard cable TV packages. That makes the comparison a lot simpler.

Comcast’s main TV package is now called “Xfinity TV Plus,” and it costs $95 per month if you also have Xfinity home internet service. “Xfinity TV Premium” costs $125 per month for internet customers, and it includes regional sports networks and sports league channels. (Each is $10-per-month pricier without an Xfinity home internet service.) Comcast includes an X1 cable box and 300 hours of DVR with all plans, and you can use the Xfinity Stream app on connected smart TVs, PCs, and mobile devices as well.

Compared to YouTube TV at $83 per month or Hulu + Live TV at $90 per month, Comcast’s full-sized TV packages are still more expensive, though not by lot. You’d be paying a premium for the creature comforts of a cable box (and tying yourself to Comcast’s internet service if you want the $10-per-month discount).

But Comcast is also wading into the skinny bundle business. Its Sports & News TV package includes local channels, major national sports networks, cable news channels, and Peacock for $80 per month. An $85-per-month World Soccer Ticket plan adds Spanish-language channels such as TUDN, Fox Deportes, and ESPN Deportes. (While these plans include Peacock, Comcast’s larger packages strangely do not.)

Other sports bundles are still cheaper, including DirecTV MySports ($70 per month) and Fubo Sports ($56 per month), but as with Comcast’s full-sized packages, DirecTV’s sports offerings might be worthwhile if you want the cable-box experience.

More to come

Last week, YouTube announced that it will launch more than 10 of its own genre-specific packages early next year. It hasn’t revealed pricing or many details, except that one of the packages will focus on sports.

All of which means that the cable companies will soon need to adapt once more. It’s great that they’ve finally embraced price transparency and are finding ways to deliver value, but without more flexible options for cord cutters, they’ll again find themselves behind the times.

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