Trying to come up with the perfect holiday gift? Give the gift of cord cutting to friends and family.
Whether it’s a stand alone product like a Mohu HDTV antenna or a gift basket filled with a cozy throw, popcorn, soda and a Netflix gift card, your cord cutting gifts are sure to be happily received and appreciated the year round.
Gifts For Would-Be Cordcutters
If you know someone who has talked about cutting the cord, but has yet to do so, a quality over air digital HDTV antenna is a great gift idea.
A Mohu indoor HDTV antenna is the perfect gift for anyone who is new to cord cutting because they are simple to setup and use. Mohu’s antennas are Made In The USA and provide users with access to all the available FREE TV in their local broadcast area.
When picking out a Mohu antenna you can go to the Mohu website and use their antenna tool.
Enter the gift recipient’s zip code and Mohu will show you each of their antennas and the channels it can provide at that location. Prices start at only $19.95 and all the Mohu antennas are Made In The USA and come with a 1 year warranty. The antennas ship with coaxial cable and clear directions for easy setup and use.
If you want to add DVR functionality to the mix, look into adding an OTA DVR to your gift of a Mohu HDTV antenna. Most OTA DVRs will require an additional monthly fee, but nothing like the fees being charged by cable and satellite companies.
Gifts For Cord-Nevers and Millennials
Cord-nevers are cordcutters from way back. They used ‘rabbit ears’ and tinfoil to bring in over air TV prior to digital TV, and may be starting to supplement their free TV with streaming media services.
By contrast, millennials have probably grown up with their parents having cable or satellite TV. However, once they got out on their own and found out how expensive television service really is they probably decided that free OTA TV and internet based programming was the way to go.
These cordcutters are generally very tech savvy and want entertainment options both at home and on the go.
Gift ideas for cord-nevers and millennials tend to fall into two areas: streaming media devices and streaming media services.
These are some of my favorites.
Devices To Fit Any Budget
The Amazon Fire TV Stick at only $39.99 is a budget-friendly gift. It’s super portable with apps for Amazon Video, Netflix, Hulu and Sling TV services, in addition to apps for free content and games.
For families who want a powerful streaming media entertainment device that includes gaming, the new Amazon Fire TV Gaming Edition is a great gift choice. For $139.99 the Amazon Fire TV comes with a game controller (with voice control and headphone jack for private listening), two games, and a 32 GB microSD card for expanded storage. The Fire TV supports streaming in 4K Ultra HD, 1080p, or 720p. With Dolby Audio cinematic surround sound via HDMI (up to 7.1) in supported apps.
The Roku 2 is another family-friendly device which provides both wired and wireless internet connectivity. It has apps for Amazon Video, Netflix, Hulu and Sling TV, with hundreds of free apps available too. This $59.99 device also has a USB port for access to personal entertainment, and a micro SD slot for increasing the internal storage of the device.
The Roku 3 is 5x’s faster than the Roku 2 plus it comes with a motion sensing remote that has a headphone jack for private listening and gives the user access to games. The $99.99 device also works with both iOS and Android phones and tablets to add new channels and beam content to your TV.
The Roku 4 is the newest Roku device. It has all the features of the Roku 3 plus voice search, optical digital output and 4K UHD 1080P Full HD streaming capabilities all for $129.99 on the Roku website.
Streaming Service Must-Haves
Amazon Prime service is an incredible value with unlimited Prime video streaming for members across multiple devices. Amazon Prime Video options include TV shows, movies and documentaries, and award winning original programming like Transparent. The $99 gift of a 1 year Amazon Prime gift membership has tremendous perks. A free trial is available to new Prime members and can be used prior to gift membership activation.
Netflix also offers a free trial, and you can purchase Netflix gift cards for as little as $30 to give as gifts. New and current Netflix members can use Netflix gift cards to add credit to their accounts. Netflix provides great content including award winning original programming like Orange Is The New Black and House Of Cards.
Hulu is great for cordcutters who want to catch up on TV episodes they missed, or to watch shows on channels that they might not otherwise access over air. Hulu too has a free trial and Hulu gift subscriptions are available on the Hulu website. You choose the gift amount ($15 to $100), select a card design, and either email or print your gift subscription to give as a gift.
