this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
508 points (98.5% liked)

Asklemmy

48764 readers
656 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 

With the simultaneous rollout of restrictions on account sharing and price increases/addition of advertising, I’m cutting back severely on streaming services.

I allowed my streaming subscriptions to grow without thinking about it. Without trying to remember the constant merging and bundling, I was subscribed to probably a dozen services at one point. They ranged from Netflix and HBO and Hulu to Shudder and Showtime. I had Paramount, Criterion, Disney, Peacock, and others. I’d do the typical thing where I’d search for a movie, find it is exclusive to a platform, and grab the free trial and forget to cancel. I excused it if I found a movie even every couple of months on it. There were still nights where it’d take an hour to find something I wanted to watch. I was probably closing in on $200/month all told, and I don’t have sports subscriptions.

I’m interested in learning what other people are doing regarding the price hikes and service compromises. Are you cancelling? Are you taking advantage of bundles with your internet services? Are you rotating on some interval? Or are you not changing at all?

(page 4) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] SurpriZe@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago

It's pisseasy to download the highest quality movies imaginable at any point in time, anywhere, totally free of charge. Makes no sense to ever even think about paying for any of the "streaming services".

[–] rockandsock@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago

I'm deciding what to keep and what to cancel based on what kind of holiday deals I can get over the next few months.

[–] WilliamTheWicked@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I'm definitely cancelling Hulu and Disney+ this month to avoid their pending increases.

I'm probably making moves to cancel Amazon prime before the add thing. I've been feeding that beast for far too long. : /

[–] cricbuzz@hexbear.net 3 points 2 years ago

Great results streaming movies with any of these services https://rentry.co/megathread-movies-and-tv#streaming

[–] SecretPancake@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I’ve been cutting down and only keep the ones I actually watch. I had a constant Netflix subscription since 2014 but a month ago I cancelled it. Will resubscribe temporary once enough shows pile up that I’m interested in (which might take a while).

Since Futurama is done, I’ll probably cancel Disney now.

Youtube Premium is the one I will keep for longer because I watch it all the time and I’m splitting the costs with family.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] CoolBeance@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I'll probably keep two at most, though I'm pretty close to dropping one in favor of an eyepatch and a peg leg

[–] hawgietonight@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

We have a budget for streaming services. ATM Netflix, HBO max and Showtime. About 20€ a month. Me and my wife like a good classic flick every now and then, so the two latter stay. The kids eat up crap Netflix series like candy. Everytime they ask to get prime or Disney they have the choice to give up Netflix to change.. but they don't.

If ads come, or the price goes up too much will consider canceling. Until then, it suits our wants.

[–] VinesNFluff@pawb.social 3 points 2 years ago

No because I never subscribed to any. I mooched off my father's subscriptions :U

I did switch away and have been trying to convince him to use my Emby homeserver though.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 years ago

Yup, cleaned out some of my subscriptions, will buy physical copies of seasons, pirate, or worst case only sign up month at a time

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Built a small NAS for contingency since they remove shit but with a family and wanting to support the artists, it's hard to pull the plug. I know they only get fractions off a penny.. give me a better idea.

[–] retrieval4558@mander.xyz 2 points 2 years ago

For music, buy merch. For tv/movies.... Idk support the writers strike I guess. Patreon for writers you like?

[–] skybreaker@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I already canceled Netflix. They rarely have anything good anymore. If there's something that I want to watch, I'll get it for a month and then cancel it.

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Don't know how, but my shared Netflix account is still working without issues. That said, once it stops working, I probably won't subscribe again any time soon. I'm currently only using it to watch TNG a couple times a week anyway. I also have Spotify, found no reason to cancel that so far.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] peter@feddit.uk 3 points 2 years ago

Yes, the lionsgate+ and paramount+ existing was the tipping point for me. I paid for Netflix when it had good stuff. I still try to watch on official platforms where its available but sometimes it's literally impossible to get

[–] Cozy@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago

Cancelled netflix when they started the restrictions and switched to Disney+, have prime as well but don't use the movie stuff much, so I won't upgrade to the add free version. Otherwise Spotify and Xbox gamepass. Spotify is a family shared account that makes it much cheaper and gamepass is such a money saver for me, cause I stopped buying games I couldn't play (motion sickness) or didn't like in the end.

I cancelled Netflix about 8 months ago after realising that my wife and I weren’t enjoying it and my kids were just watching the same 2-3 shows on repeat. Cancelled Netflix and bought the shows my kids like via AppleTV.

[–] aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net 3 points 2 years ago

Never had them

[–] HexbearGPT@hexbear.net 3 points 2 years ago

I’ve never paid for a streaming service in my life. You’re a sucker if you do.

[–] bedo6776@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

Yes, I cancelled Netflix and Max this month. I'll probably cancel Paramount+ once I'm done rewatching Star Trek. That will leave me with Hulu with ads and I only have it because it's part of my Spotify subscription.

[–] gilbert31@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

The only subscription that I have left is Spotify. I used to have Netflix as well before the explosion of streaming services started, when it made sense because it was convenient to have immediate access to almost all content. Now that every show is in a different service, I decided to go back to torrents with Stremio.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 points 2 years ago

I wish we had HBO+ or Max or whatever the fuck it is now in the UK.

The only legal way to get their stuff is via NowTV, which is fucking dreadful and think 1080p should be behind an extra paywall. Also, they carried on charging me after I cancelled, because apparently fuck me for thinking that a cancel option in an app they made would work.

[–] quams69@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Canceled everything and now I use smarttube to watch youtube on my tv, soon will pay for vpn to start torrenting again. πŸ‘

[–] krush_groove@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I get a lot of value out of Netflix, I watch tons of their shows every month.

I use Prime quite a bit also obviously for Amazon shopping and try to watch Prime Video a few times each month, and now they've expanded the music I'll try that too.

I will be canceling Disney and just pirate what I want to see, which isn't much, literally just one show.

E: I canceled Spotify ages ago and use their free version but for my favorite bands I downloaded their MP3 discographies. I buy their music on CD because it pays them better than streaming their songs thousands of times, plus I buy merch and go to the concerts so I'm OK with that.

E2: someone mentioned Patreon, I cancelled most of those as well because my gaming group broke up and all my patreons are for gaming 3D files. I have years worth of stuff to print and will never reach the end.

[–] JohnWorks@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

Pretty much just have Spotify+Hulu, YouTube premium (should cancel Spotify maybe but I like seeing what songs get removed from my playlists rather than them just disappearing), Amazon prime, and Disney+. Thinking about cancelling Disney+ soon but I want to see Loki s2 still.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago

I'm trying to get better about canceling services we don't actively watch and only having two at a time. We already have Prime so I don't count it but we have Max and Hulu right now. We swapped Disney+ for Hulu when What We Do In The Shadows released and my wife is an Our Flag Means Death stan so we will probably permanently have Max (but the new season comes out soon anyways).

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 2 points 2 years ago

Eventually Netflix will kick me off the family account but there's no way I'm paying for that garbage. I might pay for Hulu as they have a much better selection for my tastes.

load more comments
view more: β€Ή prev next β€Ί