Streaming service costs ratcheting upward...

I posted about this a while back - its not new. Its sort of a game - get a teaser rate, then keep ratcheting it up.

I simply have started cancelling them in rotation. Sign up for a promo on one or two, run it for a while, cancel (when you go to cancel they will often offer to extend the teaser), rinse / repeat. Netflix / Hulu / Max / Disney/ Peacock. They all do it.

Also - watch on Thanksgiving - there will be lots of 6 month promo / teaser rates for varios streaming. I am still paying $2.99 a month for Hulu / Disney with adds. We don't watch either much - but for $2.99 its ok.
 
I pay right at $100 a month for mine. Might be like $105 now with the latest price increase. I have Netflix Premium no ads and 4K, Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ bundle, Apple TV+, Paramount Plus, Peacock, History Channel, MGM+, and A&E. And then each year I do the MLB TV package for $149.99 for access to every team for the whole season. And then the freebies like The Roku Channel, Pluto TV and Tubi. I mostly use streaming for tv shows and then all my movies are on DVD, Blu-Ray or VHS with the occasional things on Netflix or something. Could drop a couple but I’d miss them because I watch so many shows. And I also have the OTA antenna for local stations mainly for baseball.

My parents pay $300 a month for cable. If it wasn’t so expensive I’d have cable because of live sports but no way I’m paying that. That’s for the box, remote and premium package with sports add on for one room only. Every room has to have a separate box, remote and package.
 
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Yeah, the commercials are creeping in. Annoying, but eh... I'm getting older and a bio break isn't the worst thing in the world.

I like the idea of circulating. We don't do that but we only have 3 subscriptions I think. Wife says it's below $50/month? Every little bit counts but at this point it's tolerable as-is.

At least youtube is still free.
 
What did we do before streaming services? That is the question.
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netflix included with our t-mo plan and we do philo for $28 internet is around $64 so just shy of $100 per month. I take advantage of the free stuff Pluto, freevee and Tubi. I do the antenna thing also but with the launch of 5g and its growing network channels gotten worse
 
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I have a newer one in the attic currently hooked up to an AirTV Anywhere-good for -20 free channels. If I could get an old school rotator on the chimney with a new outdoor antenna I bet over 40 (Dayton, OH) would be possible, maybe even more if I could pick up Indy, Louisville, Columbus, or Lexington (80-100 miles away, Dayton is 45).
 
I have a newer one in the attic currently hooked up to an AirTV Anywhere-good for -20 free channels. If I could get an old school rotator on the chimney with a new outdoor antenna I bet over 40 (Dayton, OH) would be possible, maybe even more if I could pick up Indy, Louisville, Columbus, or Lexington (80-100 miles away, Dayton is 45).
I like OTA, or really just the novelty of it. Picking up a signal on a wave seems way more advanced then sending a digital signal down a wire. I like radio too.

Unfortunately my house is in sort of a hole and surrounded by trees. I have tried an antenna outside and can get a few channels.
 
The same thing happened years ago with FiOS TV until they finally reached my limit and I cut it all. I'll start cutting again if the streamers get crazy with the prices. Currently I'm on Prime, Netflix, and Paramount +. They should all tread carefully. I learned to live without 285 channels years ago, I'll learn to live without them too.
 
Hulu (whatever the basic plan is) runs $.99 or $1.99 promo on Black Friday, at least it has for the last 5-10 years.

We currently have that + Peacock ($19.99/year promo they run a couple of times a year, which can be stacked with credit card promos like Amex Rewards) and a Paramount subscription through a Walmart+ promo, think it was free or $20 for a year.

Honestly it's already too much to watch. $60 or so for the year isn't bad but we made do with just Hulu for years, I'll cut Peacock and Paramount if I can't get another promo to line up.
 
I posted about this a while back - its not new. Its sort of a game - get a teaser rate, then keep ratcheting it up.
It's not a game. It's the same business model everything uses. Operate at a loss for an indeterminate amount of time on VC money. Grow as much as possible. Return to profit later. Everyone is always upset when this happens because they have been dosed on something seemingly too good to be true.
 
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