Last year, Nicole Weatherford signed up to several streaming services, but it didn’t seem like much until she added it up.
“At one point last year, I was spending close to $100 a month,” she says. “It was more than I had budgeted for the TV.”
Weatherford is a blogger, influencer, and mother of two from Chattanooga, Tennessee who also runs a website. EverydayThrifty.com, we knew the streaming platform would be offering deals during the holiday shopping season. So she canceled all her streaming subscriptions and her family watched the DVDs that had been gathering dust on the shelf.
Weatherford has cut her streaming budget to $30 a month, having scored Black Friday promotions on Hulu, Max and Disney+, and is now bouncing in and out of deal-free services like Netflix and Apple TV+.
More subscribers love streaming services and leave.
Let’s call it the art of binge drinking and bailing.
Once subscribers love Paramount+ for a month or two, they leave it for Starz, strategically canceling the streaming service and only resubscribing when new seasons of their favorite shows or new movies are available.
Their goal is to mainline as much content as possible while minimizing monthly subscription costs.
“Oftentimes we binge watch a show and want to watch it for a while. When that happens, we rarely watch shows on other streaming platforms, but we still pay the monthly fee,” says Weatherford. he said.
She said rotating streaming services every one to two months has allowed her family to use each service more.
“I also like that there’s no penalty for canceling or resubscribing when you’re ready to come back,” she said.
Streaming platforms don’t release numbers on subscriber cancellations, but analysts say people are canceling services or switching from one service to another to save money as the streaming industry raises prices. He says the number of subscribers is increasing.
That was the motivation for Roshanda Pratt, a 46-year-old entrepreneur and mother of three from Columbia, South Carolina. She’s reviewing her family’s streaming budget.
“Peacock, Disney, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu…these are the only ones I remember,” Pratt said, naming all the streaming services. “Her husband will say I forgot one thing. That’s the problem. I set it and forget it.”
It doesn’t last that long. Fed up with monthly price hikes and crackdowns on account sharing, Pratt is cutting back on his streaming subscriptions. So far, Hulu has survived, but it hasn’t come close to Netflix, a perennial family favorite.
Eric Sorensen, senior analyst and director of streaming products at Parks Associates, said reduced household spending is now the number one reason consumers are canceling streaming subscriptions. It used to be his third-most common reason, he says.
“Consumers are definitely looking for ways to save money on their monthly household expenses,” said Sorensen, whose firm provides market research and consulting. “Entertainment is one of the first things people cut out. You can’t cut your electricity bill.”
In the average household, there is usually a lot of fat that needs to be removed.
According to Parks Associates, nearly nine in 10 (89%) broadband households subscribe to at least one streaming service, with more than half having four or more and nearly a third (29%) having eight. I subscribe to more than one streaming service.
“My husband and I are downsizing because it’s getting too expensive,” Pratt said. “Do we really need so many options?”
A silver lining for streaming platforms: What’s gone today doesn’t mean it’s gone tomorrow.
Jeff Jennings regularly leaves Netflix, Apple, Max, Disney+, and Hulu.
But he always comes back.
Jennings is a “serial canceler,” one of millions of subscribers (about a quarter of them) who have canceled at least three major streaming subscriptions in the past two years, according to analytics firm Antenna. The percentage has increased from 15% in 2021.
Jennings said streaming costs about $15 a month. His secret is that he sees only one service at a time.
For the 57-year-old from Birmingham, Michigan, that means watching every episode of “Ted Lasso” and “Severance” on Apple TV+, then moving to a Max subscription and now watching all four seasons of “Succession.” It means there is. ”
“There’s no reason to keep paying $10 a month waiting for (a new season of) a show that hasn’t come out yet. You’re better off canceling it until it comes back,” Jennings said. “Then just watch it all at once and cancel.”
Track all your streaming services: Create a list of all the services you subscribe to.
Plan what you see: Track the release dates of your favorite series and movies you want to watch. Resubscribe to the service when the season ends or when you want to binge on as many shows as you want.
Set calendar reminders. Weatherford stays on top of her streaming services by adding the next billing date to her phone’s calendar and setting reminders.
“Once you know you’re going to take a break from that streaming service, cancel your billing renewal right away. Almost every platform lets you complete the billing cycle you paid for. When it ends, you’ll just be asked to sign up again. ” she said.
Rotate niche services: Can’t give up Netflix, Hulu, or Disney? Give up on the small fry. Niche services (like Classic Movies on Criterion or British Dramas on BritBox) tend to have fewer offerings, so try to subscribe to one or two services at a time.
Look for bundle deals and sales: For Instacart+ members free peacock For example, there are subscriptions, and various carriers offer streaming deals. For example, T-Mobile customers on the Go5G Next plan will have access to Hulu’s ad-supported plan.To buy new tv or Laptop Free subscriptions may be included for a limited time.Also, streaming companies may lower prices during sale events like black friday.
Sign up for a free streaming service. Freevee, Pluto TV, and Tubi all offer free streaming with ads. With your library card, you may also be able to watch free movies through streaming services like Hoopla and Kanopy.