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?
I cancelled my Planetside 2 subscription earlier this year after like 7yrs of being a member. But that's the only one so far. I still pay for Eve Online and FFXIV, along with all my other media subscriptions. I have Spotify (+ Hulu for free as some kinda bundle), Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, and Netflix.
The only other one I've considered cancelling is Netflix. But I share my account for free with a co-worker. I know Netflix is supposed to be cracking down on password sharing, but so far, I haven't heard anything from Netflix chiding me. Interestingly, she used Netflix way more than me; I rarely use it, So it almost makes sense for me to cancel it and have her get her own account. But I like having Netflix available for when I do want to watch something. And WTH is $15/mo? If neither of us were using it, I'd be more likely to cancel. When Netflix comes knocking, then maybe I'll cancel it. But for now, it's NBD.
The rollout so far is only affecting TVs from my understanding