Twenty years ago, Sky Television helped start my love of the NBA and American sport in general. My dad was always a big sports fan—tennis and golf were his favourites—so having Sky in the house was a pretty big deal.
I still remember sitting there watching Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls chase their fifth NBA championship. I was completely glued to the television.
Growing up on a farm, even getting free-to-air television had its challenges. Our TV aerial was about 700 metres up a hill, so reception was never something we took for granted. When Sky arrived, it opened up a completely different world of sport and entertainment.
That NBA Finals series became such a big event that I recorded the games onto VHS tapes and shared them with my mates so they could watch them too. Long before streaming, on-demand television and shared passwords, that was how we passed great sport around.
Back then, if you wanted more than the standard TV channels, Sky was almost essential.
Fast forward to 2026 and the entertainment landscape has completely changed. Instead of one major subscription, many households now pay for Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Neon and several other services. Individually, they don't seem expensive, but together they can easily add up to well over $100 every month.
It got me wondering: if you cancelled every paid streaming service today, could you still find enough to watch?
I think the answer is yes.
Most modern smart TVs already come with access to TVNZ+, ThreeNow, Māori+, YouTube and Freeview Streaming. Together, they offer thousands of hours of news, documentaries, dramas, children's programmes, local productions, lifestyle shows and even a rotating selection of movies—all without another monthly bill.
Compared with free television twenty years ago, it's remarkable. Back then, Sky gave us access to programmes and sport we simply couldn't get anywhere else. Today, free television is richer than most people realise. If you've got a reasonably modern smart TV and the right apps installed, you may already have more entertainment available than you think.
That doesn't mean I'm giving up paid subscriptions altogether. I'll happily subscribe to Disney+ again when the NFL season starts. Every Monday morning here in New Zealand, you'll find me with a coffee in hand watching NFL RedZone. For me, that's money well spent.
Maybe that's the real lesson. Rather than paying for five or six streaming services all year round, perhaps it's smarter to treat them as seasonal. Subscribe when your favourite sport returns, when a new series is released or when there's something specific you want to watch. Then pause it until next time.
With the cost of living still front of mind for many Kiwi households, reviewing recurring subscriptions is one of the easiest ways to trim your monthly budget without really changing your lifestyle.
So here's my challenge to you: Could your household survive on free TV for a month?
I have a feeling many of us would be pleasantly surprised. And who knows—you might even find yourself rediscovering just how good free TV has become.