If you have a cable TV bill in 2026, it is almost certainly over $100 per month, and possibly over $200 if you have a premium package or multiple boxes. The average American cable bill is now $132 per month, which works out to over $1,500 per year — more than $15,000 per decade. For many older adults on fixed incomes, that is one of the largest controllable monthly expenses in the entire household budget, and it is a category where significant savings are genuinely available.
The reason cable costs so much is that you are paying for hundreds of channels, almost all of which you do not watch. The cable company bundles them together because the channel owners require the bundling as a condition of being carried, and the cable company passes the cost on to you. You might watch ten channels regularly, but you are paying for 200. The cost structure made sense in the 1990s when cable was the only way to get a wide variety of programming, but it has become wildly inefficient in the streaming era.
Streaming services let you pay for only what you watch. If you only want one general-purpose live TV service, you pay for one. If you want Netflix for original series, you add Netflix. If you want HBO for one show, you can add HBO Max for the duration of that show and cancel afterward. The unbundling means that the typical streaming household pays for about 15 percent of the channels they would have gotten with cable — but it includes essentially all the channels they actually wanted to watch.
The total cost of a typical streaming setup that replaces cable for most viewers is $30-80 per month, depending on how many services you add. That is a savings of $50-100 per month compared to cable, which adds up to $600-1,200 per year. For most households, this is real money.
There are three pieces to a complete streaming setup: a streaming device, an internet connection, and one or more streaming services.
The streaming device. This is a small box (or stick) that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and connects to the internet through your home's WiFi. It runs the apps for the streaming services you subscribe to. The four main options are Roku (most popular and easiest to use), Apple TV (most polished, costs more), Amazon Fire Stick (cheapest, slightly more cluttered with Amazon promotions), and Google Chromecast with Google TV (good if you use a lot of Google services). Any of them works fine for most people. A basic Roku Express costs about $25-30 and is more than adequate for most households.
Important note: many newer TVs already have streaming built in and do not need a separate device. If your TV is from 2018 or later and you can access apps directly from a remote control button labeled 'Smart TV' or 'Apps,' you may already have everything you need. If your TV is older or does not have streaming apps built in, the $30 streaming device adds the capability.
The internet connection. You need home internet to stream. Most American households already have it, but the speed matters. For comfortable streaming of one TV at a time, you need at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) of download speed. For two TVs streaming at the same time, 50 Mbps is more comfortable. For 4K ultra-high-definition streaming, 100 Mbps is recommended. Most cable and fiber internet plans easily meet these requirements. If your current internet is slower than 25 Mbps, you may need to upgrade — but the upgrade is usually still cheaper than keeping your cable TV bundle.
The streaming services. This is the part where you actually pick what to subscribe to, and the next sections of this article walk through the choices.
If you watch live TV — news, sports, your local channels, network shows when they air — you need a 'live TV' streaming service that includes the channels you watch. There are three main options.
YouTube TV ($82.99/month). The most popular live TV streaming service in America, with over 100 channels including all the major broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS in most markets), most cable news networks (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC), most sports networks (ESPN, regional sports networks), and a wide variety of entertainment channels. The interface is excellent, the cloud DVR is unlimited (you can record anything you want and watch it later), and it works on essentially every device. This is the closest direct replacement for traditional cable TV that exists.
Hulu + Live TV ($83/month). Similar to YouTube TV in price and channel lineup, but bundled with Hulu's entire on-demand library and Disney+ and ESPN+ included for the same price. This is a good choice if you also want Hulu's original shows and movies — it is essentially three services for the price of one live TV package.
Sling TV ($46-61/month). Less expensive than YouTube TV or Hulu Live, but with fewer channels. Sling Orange is built around ESPN and Disney channels; Sling Blue is built around news and entertainment. You can subscribe to one or both. This is the budget option for cord-cutters who want live TV but do not need every channel.
Pick one of these three based on price, channel lineup, and the specific channels you watch. All three offer free trials, so you can try them before committing.
On-demand streaming services let you watch movies and TV shows whenever you want, with no schedule. There are dozens of these now, but for most older adults, two or three is plenty.
Netflix ($7.99-24.99/month depending on tier: Standard with Ads $7.99, Standard $17.99, Premium $24.99). The original streaming service, still one of the largest, with thousands of movies and TV shows. Netflix is strong on original series ('The Crown,' 'Stranger Things,' many others), documentaries, international content, and a wide library of older movies and TV. If you only have one on-demand service, Netflix is usually the right choice.
Amazon Prime Video (included with Amazon Prime, $15/month or $139/year). If you already have Amazon Prime for free shipping, Prime Video is included at no extra cost. The library is large and growing, with strong original series, NFL Thursday Night Football, and a wide selection of movies you can rent or buy individually if they are not included in the streaming library.
Disney+ ($10-18/month). Disney+ is essential if you have grandchildren you want to entertain or if you are a fan of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, or Star Wars content. It also includes National Geographic documentaries and a growing library of family-friendly content. Many older adults skip Disney+ because they assume it is just for children, but it is more useful than people expect.
Max (formerly HBO Max, $10-21/month). HBO's streaming service, with HBO original series ('Succession,' 'White Lotus,' 'The Sopranos' library, etc.), Warner Bros. movies, and a growing library of classic film and TV. Worth subscribing to for a few months at a time when there is a specific show you want to watch, then canceling.
For most viewers, Netflix and Prime Video together cover the vast majority of what they want to watch. Adding Disney+ if you have grandchildren and Max if you are an HBO fan brings the total to four services and approximately $50-65 per month.
Here is a thing many cord-cutters do not realize: your local broadcast channels — ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, and several smaller networks — are still broadcast over the air for free. All you need to receive them is an HDTV antenna, which costs $20-50, plugs into the back of your TV, and gives you access to local stations in crisp digital quality.
The setup is simple. Buy an HDTV antenna online or at any electronics store (RCA, Mohu, and Antop all make good ones). Plug it into the antenna input on the back of your TV. Run a channel scan from the TV's menu. Within a few minutes, you should have access to the local broadcast channels in your area. The quality is often better than cable, because broadcast TV is uncompressed.
How many channels you get depends on where you live. In a major city, an indoor antenna might receive 30-50 channels. In a small town, you might get 5-15. In a rural area, you may need an outdoor antenna and still only get a handful. Use a free site like AntennaWeb.org to check what channels are available at your address before buying.
The antenna pays for itself in a single month compared to the cost of getting the same channels through cable. And it is one of the most reliable parts of any streaming setup — it does not depend on your internet connection, does not have a monthly fee, and does not break down when streaming services have outages.
Here is a typical streaming setup for a household that wants to replace cable without losing access to most of what they actually watch.
One streaming device (Roku Express): $30 (one-time cost). Plus existing TV.
One HDTV antenna for local channels: $30 (one-time cost).
YouTube TV for live TV: approximately $83/month. (Or Hulu Live for $83/month if you want Disney+ and Hulu included; or Sling Blue + Orange for $61/month if you want to save money.)
Netflix for on-demand: $7.99-24.99/month depending on tier.
Amazon Prime Video for additional on-demand: $15/month, included with Prime if you already have it.
Total monthly cost: $99/month with Prime, or $114/month without. Compared to a typical cable bill of $132/month, that is a savings of $18-33 per month, plus you have a much more flexible setup that you can change at any time.
If you want to save more money, drop YouTube TV and rely on the antenna for local channels plus Netflix and Prime Video for everything else. That setup costs about $31/month and saves you over $100 per month compared to cable. The trade-off is that you lose access to live cable channels (CNN, ESPN, etc.), but if you do not watch those much, the savings are dramatic.
If you decide to cut the cord, here is the practical sequence.
Step one: list the channels and shows you actually watch. For two weeks before you make the switch, keep a small notebook by the TV and write down everything you watch. At the end of the two weeks, you will have a clear picture of what you actually need. Most people are surprised by how short the list is.
Step two: match your list to streaming services. Look up each show or channel and find which streaming service carries it. The JustWatch website (justwatch.com) is a free tool that lets you search for any show or movie and tells you which streaming services carry it. Build your shopping list of the streaming services you actually need.
Step three: sign up for your chosen streaming services and try them for a month while still keeping your cable. This parallel period (about a month) lets you confirm that everything works and that you can find all the shows you wanted before you cut the cable.
Step four: buy and set up the streaming device and the antenna if you are going to use one. The setup is straightforward and takes about an hour total.
Step five: cancel your cable. Call your cable company and tell them you are canceling. They will offer you discounts and retention deals. Some are good and some are not. If you are determined to switch, do not let yourself be talked out of it. Cancel cleanly, return any equipment they require, and enjoy the savings.
By the end of the process, your TV will work essentially the same as it did before, you will have all (or almost all) the same shows and channels, and you will be saving $50-100 per month. The transition is intimidating before you do it and surprisingly easy after. If you have been thinking about cutting the cord but feeling overwhelmed by the choices, this is the year to do it.
