How to Replace Cable TV for Only $25 a Month

Paramount+ has two subscription options. If you can live with a few advertisements, the Essentials plan costs only $5 per month ($50 for a year if you pay up front). Or you can watch ad-free on the Premium plan for $10 a month ($100 if you pay by the year). 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 or $15 a month.

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 movies include “The Lost City” and the horror film “Smile.” Next summer, “Mission: Impossible 7” will hit the service after it appears in theaters; “Top Gun: Maverick” is available as of Dec. 22, 2022. 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 Essentials tier of Paramount+ onboard, we’ve now spent $5 of our $25 budget, leaving $20.

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 Katheryn 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.

The free tier gives you access to about two-thirds of Peacock’s 20,000-title library of movies, classic shows, news, sports, kids programming, and Spanish-language offerings. NBC’s current-season broadcasts are also available one week after they air.

But it’s probably 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; free-tier subscribers get only a sample program or two. Original series include “A Friend of the Family,” “Vampire Academy,” and “Yellowstone.” New movies include “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 an extra two bucks for popcorn.