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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2025 21 By Steve Beno Have you heard the term "cord cutting"? I am not into conspiracy theories. Frankly, I have no use for them. However, if I were to believe in a conspiracy theory, even one I invented, it would center around cord cutting. Cord cutting refers to canceling traditional cable or satellite TV subscriptions in favor of streaming. As you will see if you read on, I'm not against cord cutting. But what I am against is the idea streaming services put forth to encourage us to cut the cord. The sales pitch is why pay for all those channels included in your cable service when you watch only a small fraction of them. Save money the pitch goes, by canceling cable and signing up for just what you watch. Originally you could, in fact, save money this way. That's where the conspiracy theory comes in. It was the old "loss leader" approach. They get us to cut the cord and sign up. Then comes the price increases. And what do you know?! We end up paying more now than we did for cable. That's because, unlike cable, there isn't one place that offers streaming alternatives for one price. But, as I mentioned above, I am not against cord cutting. In fact, I myself have cut the cord. The tie in to my column is that once you cut the cord, you have entered the world of apps — streaming apps. You can't watch Netf lix without using an app. Streaming apps are built into most modern TVs. There are also streaming devices like Roku whose sole job is to be a platform for streaming apps. And just about any app on your streamer or TV also has a smartphone app. Have you ever searched for a show on your TV using a cursor to enter letters individually, it's a pain. (Thankfully many remote controls now allow you to speak your preference.) Using the app on your phone for a search is much quicker. It's much faster to f lick through a guide on your phone than on a big screen. Which brings me to my recent cutting of the cord with Spectrum. Frankly, I've never had much of a problem with cable until recently. Years ago, I used a TiVo DVR with both Spectrum and Frontier. But both have dropped support for TiVo and you can't even get TV service from Frontier. So, I had to use Spectrum's DVR which I had to regularly disconnect and reconnect from/to power to get it to work properly. It turns out there are several TV services available that function like cable TV, but they are internet apps. The most popular seems to be YouTube TV. I tried it. For one, it's expensive. But the deal breaker for me was its DVR function. By now, I assume you know what people mean when they refer to "the cloud." It just means, instead of storing stuff (TV shows, movies, financial data, etc.) on your DVR or computer, it's stored on an internet server. All those shows on Netf lix are stored "in the cloud." You can program YouTube to record a show and have it instantly available even though YouTube stores it on its own servers. It functions like a DVR connected to your TV. But as much as I dislike my Spectrum DVR, I found YouTube's DVR even worse. Spectrum itself has a cloud TV service. But I've given up on Spectrum. For one, I don't like their phone app. The service I settled on is DirecTV Stream. And the reason I chose it is how its app functions whether I'm using it on my streamer or my phone. I like how smoothly it is when I'm scrolling through its guide. I like how easy it is to program a recording. I like being able to choose a channel and f lick through its programming. And since my shows are stored in the cloud, I can access them anywhere I have an internet connection. I can watch them on my phone or connect my phone to a TV. If you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! THE CABLE CABAL

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