Americans’ New TV Habit: Subscribe. Watch. Cancel. Repeat.

[FilmBuff]

Americans’ New TV Habit: Subscribe. Watch. Cancel. Repeat. (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/20/business/media/streaming-subscription-jumping.html)

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/04/18/multimedia/00nomadic-subscribers-pmzw/00nomadic-subscribers-pmzw-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp

Early last year, Josh Meisel and his wife wanted to watch a new buzzy Peacock drama, “Poker Face,” starring Natasha Lyonne.

But Mr. Meisel, a scientist who lives outside Boston, did not subscribe to Peacock. He paid for half a dozen other streaming services and was reluctant to sign up for another. So he and his wife made a pact. If they weren’t watching “Poker Face” anymore after two weeks, they would cancel Peacock.

Sure enough, they lost interest and canceled. And then he realized: Why stop there?

In the weeks that followed, Mr. Meisel, who is 39, cut loose Max, Apple TV+ and Hulu. He eventually resubscribed to Hulu and Apple TV+ when there were shows the couple wanted to watch — Hulu for “The Bear,” Apple TV+ for “Slow Horses” — but canceled both again after they finished watching a new season.

And he is hardly alone.

Americans are getting increasingly impulsive about hitting the cancellation button on their streaming services. More than 29 million — about a quarter of domestic paying streaming subscribers — have canceled three or more services over the last two years, according to Antenna, a subscription research firm. And the numbers are rising fast.

The data suggests a sharp shift in consumer behavior — far from the cable era, when viewers largely stuck with a single provider, as well as the early days of the so-called streaming wars, when people kept adding services without culling or jumping around.

Among these nomadic subscribers, some are taking advantage of how easy it is, with a monthly contract and simple click of a button, to hopscotch from one service to the next. Indeed, these users can be fickle — a third of them resubscribe to the canceled service within six months, according to Antenna’s research.

“In three years, this went from a very niche behavior to an absolute mainstream part of the market,” said Jonathan Carson, the chief executive of Antenna.

The change gives consumers far more flexibility, but the implications could be significant for the major media companies, especially if this behavior becomes even more common.
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Traditional media companies like Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and Disney are trying to navigate the extremely bumpy road from the cable bundle (which was enormously profitable) to streaming (which is not). NBCUniversal’s Peacock, for one, lost $2.8 billion last year.

As a result, the companies slashed investments in shows — the number of scripted shows in the United States in 2023 suffered its steepest decline in at least 15 years — and are raising prices to their streaming services. (Disney+ and Hulu both raised the price of their commercial-free tiers by $3 a month last year, for instance.)

Less loyal subscribers could introduce a whole new level of complexity to their business. Last year, these “serial churners,” as Antenna calls them, accounted for roughly 40 percent of all new subscriptions and cancellations, Mr. Carson said.

The companies “clearly can’t ignore them because it’s such a big, active part of the market,” he said.

One option for slowing the churn, executives think, is to bring back some element of the cable bundle by selling streaming services together. Executives believe consumers would be less inclined to cancel a package that offered services from multiple companies.
Disney has found success by bundling Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ into one package. It also joined several other companies, including Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, in announcing a sports streaming service scheduled to start this fall.

The services are also trying to keep subscribers hooked with “coming soon” features prominently displayed in their apps. Disney+ recently advertised a coming documentary series from National Geographic (“Secrets of the Octopus”), and Apple TV+ is teasing “Dark Matter,” a science-fiction series that comes out in May in its app.

This year, when Peacock was days away from showing the first streaming-only National Football League playoff game, it promoted a special offer to deter new subscribers from canceling: Sign up for a full year at $30, half the normal price. (And according to Antenna’s research, people who signed up for Peacock on the weekend of the game did not cancel en masse the next month; the cancellation rates were close to average.)

Though the nomadic subscribers tend to skew slightly younger, and have a slightly lower income, “this is an activity that all types of Americans are engaging in,” Mr. Carson said.
Kailyn Castro, a 32-year-old who works at a tech company and lives in Brooklyn, started piling up streaming subscriptions during the pandemic. She had lots of downtime, she said, and kept “hearing about what everybody else was watching, and I wanted to be able to watch those things as well.”

But over the last year or so, as the pandemic faded, Ms. Castro found herself back to a busy social and professional life, and began cutting most of them.

“I feel like the world was really back last year,” she said. “People were just outside more, interacting with humans more.”

Price sensitivity is also a factor. Americans with a streaming subscription are spending an average of $61 a month for four services, an increase from $48 a year ago, according to a new study by Deloitte. The increase was due to higher prices, not additional services. Nearly half the people surveyed said they would cancel their favorite streaming service if monthly prices went up another $5, the study said.

Alicia Bianchi, a 38-year old lawyer in Michigan, said she had been culling streamers over the last year, including Hulu, Paramount and Peacock, and would probably let go of Max once she was finished watching “The Regime,” the Kate Winslet HBO limited series that premiered last month. She said she was being “very mindful of spending,” more so than she was a few years ago, before inflation rose sharply.

“I’m able to turn them off so easily now, it’s like why spend the money on something that I’m not using?” she said.

Ms. Bianchi, who has two young children, will not cancel Netflix, however. “I don’t ever mess with my Netflix subscription,” she said. Netflix’s cancellation rate is much lower than those of its peers, according to Antenna.

Likewise, Mr. Meisel, the scientist who canceled several streaming services after giving up on “Poker Face,” said the Netflix subscription — as well as Amazon Prime and Disney+ — was off limits. (He also has two young children.)

He’s otherwise enjoying his newfound flexibility around the other services. After canceling Peacock, he brought it back for a short period.
Now, with a pared-down streaming subscription list, there’s a weight off his shoulders, Mr. Meisel said.

“I don’t like this new system where you have to have a million different subscriptions to watch what you want to watch,” he said. “I’m happy to cancel to punish the companies who are making me do this.”

[Stirchley]

You beat me to this. This article wonderfully describes me. Also they didn’t mention those of us who sign up for a free week & then cancel the subscription even before the week ends. As soon as I’ve finished whatever I was watching I’m out of there. :)

[Yoda]

Yeah, I've started to do this. Only a bit, but more over time. There's a sweet spot where, if a streaming service is good enough and cheap enough, it's worthwhile to just keep it all the time. But once it creeps up around $15-20 a month it's worth the effort to swap in and out and binge when you can.

The only tricky thing are the annual discounts, like with MAX or something.

[Allaby]

At one point, I used to be subscribed to six streaming services at the same time. It wasn't worth it though and I wasn't watching them all regularly. I cancelled most of them, except for the Criterion Channel. I eventually resubscribed to Netflix and Shudder because there was one movie on each that I wanted to watch, but I will likely cancel them again soon. I find most streamers only have 1-2 movies a month (sometimes less) that I want to watch.

[Yoda]

I have to imagine long-term they offer slight discounts for staying subscribed. Seems like the logical move to combat this.

I'm subscribed to a couple of micro-streaming services (Dropout and Nebula) that are a combined $7-8/month so it's literally not even worth the thought to turn them off or on (and I watch Dropout enough to not wanna cancel for a single month anyway).

[Stirchley]

Yeah, I've started to do this. Only a bit, but more over time. There's a sweet spot where, if a streaming service is good enough and cheap enough, it's worthwhile to just keep it all the time. But once it creeps up around $15-20 a month it's worth the effort to swap in and out and binge when you can.

The only tricky thing are the annual discounts, like with MAX or something.

This is my current list. Talk about a dearth of stuff to watch.

Hulu renewed 11/25/23. $17.99 monthly. Cancelled 1/15/24.

Max renewed 4/03/24 $15.99 monthly. Cancelled 4/10/2024.

Netflix renewed 3/1/24. $15.49 monthly. Cancelled 4/15/24.

AMC weekly free trial 3/12/24. Cancelled 3/25/24.

Appletv+ 3 free months starting 3/13/24. Need to cancel 6/12/24.

BritBox weekly free trial 3/25/24. Cancelled same day.


Pivoting, Elisabeth Moss has a new series on Hulu even though we fans have waited forever for the Handmaid’s Tale final season. Zendaya was recently asked where season 3 of Euphoria is now that we’re all committed to the show. She said she had no idea. Makes me mad when they do this to the fans.

[Stirchley]

The weird thing about how this system works IMO is that one is only locked into a month. I wonder how many executive meetings across all the streaming channels ask do we dare lock viewers into six months? Or would the viewers be ok if we locked them into two months? Probably they should have done this from the start & viewers would have accepted it.

[Citizen Rules]

The weird thing about how this system works IMO is that one is only locked into a month. I wonder how many executive meetings across all the streaming channels ask do we dare lock viewers into six months? Or would the viewers be ok if we locked them into two months? Probably they should have done this from the start & viewers would have accepted it.Gawd, don't give them any ideas. They're weasely enough already.

[FilmBuff]

The weird thing about how this system works IMO is that one is only locked into a month. I wonder how many executive meetings across all the streaming channels ask do we dare lock viewers into six months? Or would the viewers be ok if we locked them into two months? Probably they should have done this from the start & viewers would have accepted it.

It's easier (probably) to get folks hooked by offering a hefty discount when you pay a year in advance - it's usually a pretty good deal

[Stirchley]

It's easier (probably) to get folks hooked by offering a hefty discount when you pay a year in advance - it's usually a pretty good deal

Pay a year in advance? :eek:

[Stirchley]

Max renewed 4/03/24 $15.99 monthly. Cancelled 4/10/2024.

Astonishing to see I cancelled Max this month after only 7 days. HBO used to be epic: Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, etc., etc. Those times are gone, I think, & it’s a damn shame.

[FilmBuff]

Pay a year in advance? :eek:

Yes! I've gotten deals where the per-month cost was brought down SIGNIFICANTLY by paying a year in advance - down to like $5 a month from the normal $15 or whatever, IIRC.

So yeah, sometimes you do get really sweet deals by going with a yearly subscription. :D

[Stirchley]

Yes! I've gotten deals where the per-month cost was brought down SIGNIFICANTLY by paying a year in advance - down to like $5 a month from the normal $15 or whatever, IIRC.

So yeah, sometimes you do get really sweet deals by going with a yearly subscription. :D

But if there’s nothing to watch what’s the sense in paying even $5 a month?

[FilmBuff]

But if there’s nothing to watch what’s the sense in paying even $5 a month?

Well, it goes without saying nobody in their right mind would consider a yearly subscription to a magazine they don't read, or a streamer they don't watch.

I mean, that's pretty obvious, right? ;)

[Mr Minio]

Not sure if 'muricans are so stupid or so rich to pay for streaming services.

[FilmBuff]

Not sure if 'muricans are so stupid or so rich to pay for streaming services.

Movies are one of the few things in this world that you can sell - and still own. So, the business is inherently going to have a great profit potential.

[Stirchley]

Well, it goes without saying nobody in their right mind would consider a yearly subscription to a magazine they don't read, or a streamer they don't watch.

I mean, that's pretty obvious, right? ;)

You’re the one suggesting a person buy a year’s subscription to unknown content.

[Allaby]

Most streaming services don't have enough good stuff to justify a year's subscription. The Criterion Channel is the only one that I think is worth getting a yearly subscription for.

[Stirchley]

Most streaming services don't have enough good stuff to justify a year's subscription. The Criterion Channel is the only one that I think is worth getting a yearly subscription for.

You’re probably right.

[FilmBuff]

Most streaming services don't have enough good stuff to justify a year's subscription. The Criterion Channel is the only one that I think is worth getting a yearly subscription for.

I'm a charter subscriber to CC and I love the channel dearly, but for me there are other services which have a deep enough library of catalog content that they justify a yearly subscription - if the discount is significant enough.

Paramount+ has a humongous amount of catalog titles, and Max still had quite a few, maybe not as many as they did when they were still HBOMax. For me, they are more than good enough at a reduced rate - and I can understand if other folks don't feel that way, of course (sorry if I am starting to over-explain, but in light of a certain person completely taking stuff I said out of context, it is a reasonable precaution!)

[Mr Minio]

Movies are one of the few things in this world that you can sell - and still own. So, the business is inherently going to have a great profit potential. Now replace "movies" with "bodies". :eek:

[FilmBuff]

You’re the one suggesting a person buy a year’s subscription to unknown content.

I literally did not say any such thing.

I have to ask you to please stop misrepresenting what I've said. :)

Yes, I did get good deals with yearly subscriptions to streaming services that have enough content for me to justify at $5 a month - it would be tremendously stupid to subscribe to something that doesn't have enough content to justify even that amount, and obviously I did not recommend people pay for something that they aren't going to watch.

I don't see what is hard to understand here.

[FilmBuff]

Now replace "movies" with "bodies". :eek:

You're in the MoFo, not the BoFo ;)

[Jabs]

I subscribe to the Criterion Channel and have no intention of canceling any time soon. It is not that they have films I want to watch because I can find those anyway. I keep the subscription because CC helps me discover films that wouldn't ordinarily be on my radar. In essence I pay for the curation and their expertise more than the film availability.

I also recently subscribed to a local streaming service called Cinobo for the same reason. Very big collection with a larger focus on more recent European films.

[TONGO]

Yep, guilty as charged. All the services are like girls wanting to go out with me, and I choose a different one each month. TONGO a Baller :cool:

[FilmBuff]

I subscribe to the Criterion Channel and have no intention of canceling any time soon. It is not that they have films I want to watch because I can find those anyway. I keep the subscription because CC helps me discover films that wouldn't ordinarily be on my radar. In essence I pay for the curation and their expertise more than the film availability.


I also love the CC for all of that - but one reason that I don't see many people mentioning is that it seems to be the last streaming service left that doesn't start pestering viewers as soon as the end credits begin to roll, desperately trying to convince you to click RIGHT THIS MINUTE and start watching something else RIGHT AWAY.

Yes, as far as I know, the CC is the only place left where you can watch the end credits at your leisure, if you want, and no unwanted things pop up immediately on the screen trying to make sure you stay glued to the streamer.

There is absolutely nothing more annoying than this, when it comes to watching stuff on the streamers. :rolleyes:

[Allaby]

I have now cancelled Shudder after resubscribing on April 18 to watch Late Night with the Devil. I have resubscribed to Prime, mainly because they have three Sydney Sweeney movies that I want to watch.

[FilmBuff]

I have now cancelled Shudder after resubscribing on April 18 to watch Late Night with the Devil.

Do you subscribe to Shudder directly or through the AMC+ package?

[Allaby]

Do you subscribe to Shudder directly or through the AMC+ package?

I subscribed directly to Shudder.

[ActionRocks]

Not sure if 'muricans are so stupid or so rich to pay for streaming services.
stupid, there's something called 'DVDs' and 'THE INTERNET ARCHIVE'

[Mr Minio]

stupid, there's something called 'DVDs' and 'THE INTERNET ARCHIVE' That's what you said. I'm only asking questions.

https://i.imgur.com/6m0i8oN.png

[crumbsroom]

I did this for Disney for Get Back and Apple for The Velvet Underground.


I generally am too lazy to cancel subscriptions, but those streaming services were so unbelievably terrible I had no choice.


Do wish I had watched The Black Hole on Disney before I did the deed though. Oh well. Maybe in another lifetime

[Allaby]

I'm thinking of resubscribing to Crave (Canada's equivalent to HBO Max) because I want to watch Anyone But You. It's 9.99/month for the basic ad supported level, but there isn't much else on there that I want to watch, so I'm not sure if it is really subscribing.

[Little Ash]

I did this for Disney for Get Back and Apple for The Velvet Underground.


I generally am too lazy to cancel subscriptions, but those streaming services were so unbelievably terrible I had no choice.


Do wish I had watched The Black Hole on Disney before I did the deed though. Oh well. Maybe in another lifetime


I've started to keep a letterboxd list of movies on Netflix service (not a core service for me) that I would actually want to watch or rewatch should I subscribe to them. If the watched list get long enough and I'm in the mood, it's time to subscribe. The rewatch movies determine how long I keep it for.


I should probably do the same for AppleTV+, because they also get the odd movie here and there that isn't streamable without a subscription.


(Off the top of my head for ATV+, it's MacBeth, Wolfwalkers, and Boys State. I guess the new one to add is Girls State).


Criterion, Mubi, and Shudder are the only ones I keep year round and their annual discount is a factor for it (especially for Shudder. Criterion, less so. I think Mubi without the discount would have just been a bit too pricey to keep in addition to everything else). Kino started a streaming channel on Amazon. If I wasn't already over-saturated, I believe I'd probably sign up for that.

[Little Ash]

One thing I didn't notice in the article was, cable can be notoriously difficult to cancel in the US (or at least, used to be). I think there was a news story that went viral about a decade ago about someone calling customer service at Comcast to cancel their service where they were on the phone for about an hour, and this was by design (lots of holding, transferring, and "what if we give you this deal").


IIRC, the call center employees were heavily incentivized to keep that subscription (or penalized if they didn't), so that's where the whole, "threaten to cancel a service to get a cheap deal on it," strategy some people boasted about came from.


One way for streaming services to get better retention, especially amongst young viewers, bury the instructions for how to cancel a service deep within you page, have the instructions be, "call this number." That alone would become a major barrier for some (me included).

[FilmBuff]

I'm thinking of resubscribing to Crave (Canada's equivalent to HBO Max) because I want to watch Anyone But You. It's 9.99/month for the basic ad supported level, but there isn't much else on there that I want to watch, so I'm not sure if it is really subscribing.

Why not just rent it digitally?

[Allaby]

Why not just rent it digitally?

I could, but it's 6.99 to rent digitally, so it is only $3 more to subscribe to Crave for a month.

[crumbsroom]

I've started to keep a letterboxd list of movies on Netflix service (not a core service for me) that I would actually want to watch or rewatch should I subscribe to them. If the watched list get long enough and I'm in the mood, it's time to subscribe. The rewatch movies determine how long I keep it for.


I should probably do the same for AppleTV+, because they also get the odd movie here and there that isn't streamable without a subscription.


(Off the top of my head for ATV+, it's MacBeth, Wolfwalkers, and Boys State. I guess the new one to add is Girls State).


Criterion, Mubi, and Shudder are the only ones I keep year round and their annual discount is a factor for it (especially for Shudder. Criterion, less so. I think Mubi without the discount would have just been a bit too pricey to keep in addition to everything else). Kino started a streaming channel on Amazon. If I wasn't already over-saturated, I believe I'd probably sign up for that.


Shudder isn't very good, but every month, I'd say maybe two or three things might pop up which just about justify it. Plus, there are some standard classics on there I've seen a million times, and probably have a copy of somewhere, that I like to have the easy access too.


Criterion is rock solid. Every month lots of movies, and lots that I want to see or haven't heard of.


Mubi has really pared back their offerings over the last six months to the point that I think anyone who is paying there hefty fee should have a right to complain. There whole thing was a new movie a day and now it's.....sometimes a new movies shows up...sometimes they pretend a movie that was already on their service or that they literally just lost the rights to, is a new offering. It still has loads of things I like, and it's been invaluable for finding modern films I find really interesting, but if it wasn't for the fact that my ex renews my subscription ever year, I would be getting annoyed over how much less they are now giving for the same price.

[FilmBuff]

A couple of services that nobody's mentioning are Hoopla and Kanopy. In many US cities, your local library card gets your free access to everything they have to offer.

[Yoda]

I've started to keep a letterboxd list of movies on Netflix service (not a core service for me) that I would actually want to watch or rewatch should I subscribe to them. If the watched list get long enough and I'm in the mood, it's time to subscribe. The rewatch movies determine how long I keep it for.
This, basically. I don't use a site or anything (and if I was going to, I'd probably just build the functionality into this one), just a text file. It works pretty well, I can tell at a glance if there's a critical mass of stuff where it makes sense to subscribe and binge for a month or two.

[Allaby]

Well, I talked myself into resubscribing to Crave. I will likely only keep it for a month. I did it mostly so I can watch Anyone But You. The things I do for Sydney Sweeney.

[FilmBuff]

Well, I talked myself into resubscribing to Crave. I will likely only keep it for a month. I did it mostly so I can watch Anyone But You. The things I do for Sydney Sweeney.

She's worth every penny! ;)

[Allaby]

She's worth every penny! ;)

I've seen 15 of her films now. I want to watch her entire filmography.

[FilmBuff]

I've seen 15 of her films now. I want to watch her entire filmography.

Sydneymania!!

[Mr Minio]

Yep, guilty as charged. All the services are like girls wanting to go out with me, and I choose a different one each month. TONGO a Baller :cool:

The joke's on you because you have to pay these girls.

[Yoda]

"The money's on the dresser."
- Me, to Hulu, every month.

[FilmBuff]

"The money's on the dresser."
- Me, to Hulu, every month.

This is where yearly subscriptions sometimes help! ;)

[Yoda]

This is where yearly subscriptions sometimes help! ;)
If Hulu had a discount for annual for the no ads plan, I'd definitely do it, but their only annual discounts are for the ad-supported plans.

[FilmBuff]

If Hulu had a discount for annual for the no ads plan, I'd definitely do it, but their only annual discounts are for the ad-supported plans.

Yeah, a yearly subscription to the Hulu/D+ ad-free package would hit the sweet spot for me, but since that's not an option right now, I'm more likely to go with the "subscribe every other month or so" plan. :D

[Stirchley]

I'm thinking of resubscribing to Crave (Canada's equivalent to HBO Max) because I want to watch Anyone But You. It's 9.99/month for the basic ad supported level, but there isn't much else on there that I want to watch, so I'm not sure if it is really subscribing.

Watched it yesterday. Never watch rom-coms, but this was ok. Sydney very watchable.

A couple of services that nobody's mentioning are Hoopla and Kanopy. In many US cities, your local library card gets your free access to everything they have to offer.

Tried yesterday here in Connecticut. I think they’re both cancelled. I wanted to stream Memoria.

Well, I talked myself into resubscribing to Crave. I will likely only keep it for a month. I did it mostly so I can watch Anyone But You. The things I do for Sydney Sweeney.

You’re in love.

She's worth every penny! ;)

You’re in love too.

I've seen 15 of her films now. I want to watch her entire filmography.

Has she made so many movies? First time I saw her was in the Handmaid’s Tale as Eden. She had one of the most gruesome deaths in the entire series.

[Allaby]

Has she made so many movies? First time I saw her was in the Handmaid’s Tale as Eden. She had one of the most gruesome deaths in the entire series.

She has been in 28 films,plus several tv shows and short films.

[Stirchley]

She has been in 28 films,plus several tv shows and short films.

Wow. I also saw her in Euphoria. Very good.

[Little Ash]

Shudder isn't very good, but every month, I'd say maybe two or three things might pop up which just about justify it. Plus, there are some standard classics on there I've seen a million times, and probably have a copy of somewhere, that I like to have the easy access too.


Criterion is rock solid. Every month lots of movies, and lots that I want to see or haven't heard of.


Mubi has really pared back their offerings over the last six months to the point that I think anyone who is paying there hefty fee should have a right to complain. There whole thing was a new movie a day and now it's.....sometimes a new movies shows up...sometimes they pretend a movie that was already on their service or that they literally just lost the rights to, is a new offering. It still has loads of things I like, and it's been invaluable for finding modern films I find really interesting, but if it wasn't for the fact that my ex renews my subscription ever year, I would be getting annoyed over how much less they are now giving for the same price.


Yeah, I can't help but feel like Shudder concentrated only around October *feels* better, but once you do enough of the surrounding months "to get into the spirit," it didn't cost that much more to do a year with the discount (at least, the last time I did that calculation, years ago. Before the streaming services started tightening and hiking up rates a lot. Maybe it's time to reconsider. Still, having live channels is nice).


Criterion feels like it's just exploding with content recently. Maybe it's just a perception thing. Hard to tell.


Mubi used to be originally, literally only 30-31 movies in the entire library. The whole, one movie goes in, one movie goes out. One might say you were paying for the curation, another might be just solving the analysis paralysis of abundance of choice. Then they just kind of accepted people want a library and things stuck around. I didn't subscribe in those early days, but I remember the ad reads, including to when they changed. Somewhere in the time I've subscribed, it feels like the "movie of the day" curation feature disappeared (which was a bummer), and the existence of the back library combined with keeping movie of the day is probably what you're noticing (and I guess introducing movies into the service like other services do and not doing it one movie a day is going to do that). But the other thing I've been noticing more this year is, it seems like they're distributing movies now that I don't recall them ever doing before (the first one I was aware of was Decision to Leave and played a part in me signing up for the service in the first place). But maybe that's anecdotal and I just didn't grok they were doing it before.

[Allaby]

I cancelled Disney+ again after two months and have now resubscribed to Netflix.

[FilmBuff]

I cancelled Disney+ again after two months and have now resubscribed to Netflix.

Did you have just D+ or the D+/Hulu combo package?

[Stirchley]

Criterion feels like it's just exploding with content recently. Maybe it's just a perception thing. Hard to tell.



I stayed with Criterion for a hot minute & couldn’t find barely anything to watch I hadn’t seen before.

[Allaby]

Did you have just D+ or the D+/Hulu combo package?

I'm in Canada and we don't have Hulu here. Most Hulu shows and movies are part of Disney+ in Canada.

[FilmBuff]

I stayed with Criterion for a hot minute & couldn’t find barely anything to watch I hadn’t seen before.

I thought you said you didn't go to the movie theaters?

[Stirchley]

I'm in Canada and we don't have Hulu here. Most Hulu shows and movies are part of Disney+ in Canada.

Hulu appears to be FX now. So confusing all these companies.

[doubledenim]

I find myself subscribing to a service to watch a movie and then hopefully finding other things to watch in that month.

[McConnaughay]

It is a symptom of a greater disease. Some make jokes about how "streaming is the same as cable now," but it isn't a joke, really. When Netflix's streaming service was created, it purposely imposed a "squeeze" on the television market, offering a deal that was too good to be true and was clearly unsustainable (look no further than the mountain of debt they accrued over the years). Eventually, that "too good to be true" offer had to be leveled out, raising the prices, imposing an ad-supported version, and, inevitably, seeing a decrease in content. By disrupting the status quo, other companies made streaming services as well, spreading the entertainment industry across a dozen different streaming services. As the prices continue to increase, the price difference between having cable and enough streaming services to satisfy all your different interests has become either a thin line or non-existent.

Currently, I have a subscription to Peacock, Hulu, Disney Plus, Max, Netflix, Shudder, Amazon Prime, Paramount Plus (I technically receive a free membership to this), and this doesn't even factor in my subscriptions to Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now.

It's a lot, but I like to think I am savvy with it. I received a year's worth of Hulu for less than $10 (ad supported) and I usually don't have my subscription to Shudder or Xbox Game Pass unless I have a specific title I want to play / watch.

In the end, it probably about evens out to what I would spend if I bought every movie I watched and if I bought every videogame I played. It is just a lot more complicated and, in spite the original promoted intent, it is a lot less convenient.

[Stirchley]

I find myself subscribing to a service to watch a movie and then hopefully finding other things to watch in that month.

Yes, that’s what I do more or less.

[FilmBuff]

Currently, I have a subscription to Peacock, Hulu, Disney Plus, Max, Netflix, Shudder, Amazon Prime, Paramount Plus (I technically receive a free membership to this), and this doesn't even factor in my subscriptions to Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now.

It's a lot, but I like to think I am savvy with it. I received a year's worth of Hulu for less than $10 (ad supported) and I usually don't have my subscription to Shudder or Xbox Game Pass unless I have a specific title I want to play / watch.


How much do you pay for Shudder alone?

[McConnaughay]

How much do you pay for Shudder alone?
I technically pay for AMC+, not Shudder, but it includes Shudder, which is what I am most interested in. Shudder is $5.99 and AMC+ is $8.99.

Sometimes, I've found that if you cancel Shudder (if you have specifically a Shudder subscription) they will offer you freebies.

The upside to having AMC+ is you receive a wider selection, including IFC, etc. The downside is that the Shudder interface is fun and AMC+ is basic.

[Corax]

We're heading for a future worse than cable.

[FilmBuff]

Many U.S. Streaming Users Regularly Cancel and Resubscribe, But Bundles Reduce Churn (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/streaming-bundles-churn-cancel-resubscribe-ampere-analysis-1235941007/)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/unnamed.jpg

With the competitive streaming video business having matured in the U.S. and companies focusing more on profitability, subscriber retention has become at least as important as subscriber growth. Now, the latest data from research firm Ampere Analysis shows that a recent trend to pool together streaming services into bundles reduces customer churn rates.

Overall, 42 percent of U.S. streaming subscribers “regularly subscribe, cancel and resubscribe,” according to Ampere Consumer findings. However, its research also found “that Disney subscribers who had previously churned and then returned (aka ‘resubscribers’) to take the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle are 59 percent less likely to churn within 12 months than those who take Disney+ alone.”

[Allaby]

So Prime had some deals on for subscriptions, so I subscribed to Stacktv (67% off for 3 months), AMC+, Starz, and Hollywood Suite (each at 99 cents/month for first two months).

[Stirchley]

So Prime had some deals on for subscriptions, so I subscribed to Stacktv (67% off for 3 months), AMC+, Starz, and Hollywood Suite (each at 99 cents/month for first two months).

Wouldn’t work for me, but if you actually find stuff you’re gonna watch it sounds good.

[FilmBuff]

So Prime had some deals on for subscriptions, so I subscribed to Stacktv (67% off for 3 months), AMC+, Starz, and Hollywood Suite (each at 99 cents/month for first two months).

This deal also includes BritBox

[Allaby]

This deal also includes BritBox

Britbox was one of the options, but I didn't subscribe to that. There was also the same deal available on Shudder, Super Channel, and Hayu, but I wasn't interested in those.