streaming services

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Is it just me or are buying all the streaming services getting to be as expensive as having cable? We aren't big tv watchers so we don't really pay for anything. I think we pay for amazon prime and that only because my mom wants free shipping. We cancelled for years until covid and she was please can I have it back. so we paid for amazon prime which is increasing ugh to $139!

I admit to borrowing netflix and disney+. Hulu is free with spotify subscription, paramount+ free with tmobile, peacock free with amex platinum. I just think everything is crazy. I do pay $80 for internet because that's what it costs. But what do you spend on streaming? Is it a lot cheaper than cable? I also know people are paying a lot for appletv or like youtube tv

[james.hendrickson]

Wait...paramount plus is free with T mobile? Is that verified?

[disneysteve]

Is it just me or are buying all the streaming services getting to be as expensive as having cable?

You can certainly rack up a bill as large or larger than cable, but you don't have to.

One advantage of the streaming services is the a la carte nature. You can subscribe to a service for a couple of months just to watch a particular show, then cancel it. My wife just joined Starz the other day to watch Outlander. They were having a special to get 6 months for $20. I signed us up for Hulu with their black Friday deal for 99 cents/month for a year. As long as you're careful to cancel before the promo ends, you're fine.

We do pay for Netflix regular price and we use that a lot. We have Disney+ still on the D23 3-year discount they offered when they launched. We have Prime but for shipping, not really for the streaming, though we do love Mrs. Maisel which comes back this month.

Overall, we're still around $100/mo less than we were paying for cable, and we have a lot more content that we actually want to watch.

[GoodLiving]

We have amazon prime (just double checked, we renewed in Jan so we won't see the increase until next year - might consider dropping it), we pay for hulu (once we've finished watching all the This is Us episodes might drop it) and switch to netflix. A few months back a visiting friend logged into HBOmax and so we're still watching that...whenever we drop hulu if the black friday offer comes back around, we might pick it back up then.

[kork13]

We have Disney+ with the D23 deal for 3 years, and use it frequently (at least weekly). Paramount+ at an annual rate (don't recall the cost), also used at least weekly. We have access to Amazon streaming through DW's student Prime (½ price), but don't use it much. We bought a lifetime subscription for the Calm app on a Black Friday deal, which is used almost every night.

We used to have Netflix, but dropped it shortly after Disney+ came online. I've had Hulu before, but it's been a long time. We had Pandora Premium free with AMEX Platinum (6mo) & then with a military discount for a while, but we let it go last year.

As DS said, one of the biggest differentiators with streaming is the a la carte nature, so I only pay for the services that I actively want & use. The other big one is the on-demand nature. Basically, I watch (and pay for) only what I want, when I want.

[rennigade]

We have YouTube tv. Not sure if that counts as a streaming service.

[disneysteve]

We have YouTube tv. Not sure if that counts as a streaming service.

It does.

I didn’t mention it above but we also have Sling as our basic cable replacement. Because we have two Roku TVs we also have the Roku channel and all the free content that comes with that. Sling is $35. Roku is free.

[rennigade]

It does.

I didn’t mention it above but we also have Sling as our basic cable replacement. Because we have two Roku TVs we also have the Roku channel and all the free content that comes with that. Sling is $35. Roku is free.

I would be happy with Sling as it has all the channels I watch, but wife wanted the major networks...which you pay an arm and a leg for.

[ua_guy]

I agree the number of streaming services, apps, is getting insane. Netflix produces its own content. HBO. Disney. Digital channels over the air. It's almost like one day, they'll offer a service where you can pick and choose your own channels along with a basic channel package that can be watched by all TV's in the house

[disneysteve]

I agree the number of streaming services, apps, is getting insane.

In a way, it's really not that different than cable where you had 200+ channels. The difference is now to get to just pick the ones you actually want and only pay for those. You aren't forced to pay for all 200 even though you only watch 3 or 4.

[myrdale]

I have cable internet and Netflix only.

Last week when logging into Netflix it presented me with a notification that my monthly subscription was going to increase to $19 per month.

Rather than click OK, there was a message for other options which when clicked listed a $9 per month option.

Searching their website it list the differences, basically the basic plan does not cover HD and I am limited to one device. Well my TV is 720p so why do I care about HD, and I only have one TV!

Considering that I think I've been paying about $14 per month, I am now saving $6!

[QuarterMillionMan]

My Spectrum TV ($34.99 choose any 10 channels) and internet ($19.99) monthly bill with taxes & other fees, $73.80 total. I have no other streaming services.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The $12.95 "other charges" is for broadcast TV (ie, ABC, CBS, FOX, etc).

[disneysteve]

My Spectrum TV ($34.99 choose any 10 channels) and internet ($19.99) monthly bill with taxes & other fees, $73.80 total. I have no other streaming services.

That’s a great deal. We pay more than that just for Internet.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Question for sling TV users, if I get both the blue & orange package will I got broad cast TV (ie, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc)?