Cutting the cord was supposed to be the great money-saving hack of the 2010s: Ditch cable, and somehow pay less to watch more. For a while, it worked. Back in 2021, you could cobble together a respectable streaming lineup for the price of a couple of takeout dinners, with minimal (or no) ads and only mild decision fatigue.
Fast-forward to 2026, and the landscape has shifted. Prices are up, tiers are multiplying, ads are back (with a vengeance), and streaming is starting to look suspiciously like … cable.
