Streaming Services

Jandki

We dutifully pay our licence fee and also subscribe to BT Sport (inc BT tv), Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and Amazon Prime. I know that there are many new services being planned that will all add to the rising cost of streaming our household entertainment. Has anyone worked out the most efficient and cost effective way for us to avoid the feeling of missing out?

Neil_Jones

Jandki said:

We dutifully pay our licence fee and also subscribe to BT Sport (inc BT tv), Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and Amazon Prime. I know that there are many new services being planned that will all add to the rising cost of streaming our household entertainment. Has anyone worked out the most efficient and cost effective way for us to avoid the feeling of missing out?

There is no obligation to use any streaming services.  That's the most cost effective way, just make do with Freeview, Freeview Play and the iPlayer/Hub/All4.

If your post is a coded message to say these services are expensive how can I save money, the answer is stop paying for them in the first place.

JJ_Egan

(inc BT tv), Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and Amazon Prime.)

Thats three that i dont use .

New services who knowes whats on them and wanted content or not .

What exactly are you missing out on ???

Swoosh84

Best idea is to cancel them all each month. I don't have a TV license or any live TV services such as Sky or BT and don't feel like I have missed out at all, these days would never consider signing up to their services as I am never without anything to watch.

Mainly my kids watch YouTube but we also have Netflix, Prime and Disney+ but as they are cancelled each month they are only reinstated when/if needed and its something the kids can do themselves on the app. I usually just get a welcome back email, login and cancel it so it expires at the end of the subsription period.

Prime - I actually pay for all year round as I use for Music on Alexa and Prime delivery pretty much weekly
Netflix - Cancel as soon as I sign up, paid for this 7 months out of the last 12.
Disney+ - Cancel as soon as I sign up, paid for this 3 months out of the last 12.

Other free ad supported services also availiable such as ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

pphillips

I actually find that once I got rid of the TV licence, I no longer felt like I was missing out. In fact, I found freedom in not being controlled by TV schedules and taking responsibility for the content I consume. Having no TV licence is a big saving on my entertainment spend. If I want to watch a sporting event then it's nice to be able to watch it at my local pub.

I got a free trial for Apple TV and binge watched everything on there, it didn't take long! I enjoy Star Wars, so I have Disney+ and I think Netflix has so much content that there's something for everyone. Masses of free content on YouTube and All4 (if you use it a lot it might be worth paying for the ad free version).

If there is something particular you like then I recommend the Justwatch app to find which streaming service it's showing on. It's also possible to get free movie rentals / Cinema tickets through Lloyds or Halifax bank accounts.

japitts

There's also quite a lot of overlap I suspect, between the back catalogues available from the streamers, and the box-set package that Sky & Virgin Media include in their top-tiers. I'm not suggesting everything is duplicated, but a fair bit is.

Bigphil1474

OP, most of the streaming services will offer deals to keep you as a customer or to return as a customer, with the exception of Amazon in my experience. If you can put up with the faff of it all, the best way is to switch from different services regularly, taking up the best deal on offer, watching what you want to, then move on. Another way is house sharing subscriptions - I share my sons Netflix and Disney +, and he shares my Now TV and Sky sports through Virgin, which basically means we get the whole lot for roughly half price. May not be entirely within the Ts & Cs on some platforms.
Only exception I'd say is Amazon, as I do regularly shop on Amazon so would probably have Prime even if it didn't have the TV stuff.

embers123

They all appear to be the main ones. The only other one that could be coming is HBO Max.

edwel1793

I gotta agree with some of the comments before me. Nowadays, subscribing to streaming services may be seen as "essential" but is actually still more of a luxury. I personally only use Netflix and Disney+ because that is where the shows and movies that I want to watch is. I also have Spotify and YouTube Premium for other entertainment forms. Aside from all those, I just try to find some free sources online, but that rarely happens.

jon81uk

japitts said:

There's also quite a lot of overlap I suspect, between the back catalogues available from the streamers, and the box-set package that Sky & Virgin Media include in their top-tiers. I'm not suggesting everything is duplicated, but a fair bit is.

This is changing, particularly with the launch of Disney+ and the removal of Fox TV and films from other platforms there is a lot less duplication.

but in answer to the OP the best way to save money is subscribe one month at a time to one service only, so this month have Netflix, next month Disney, next month Now TV etc.

matelodave

Personally, I cant find the time to watch most of the stuff thats available (nearly of which I wouldn;t even bother with).

Some people must sit all day, everyday just watching moving images on a screen. It's entirely up to them  of course but surely there's a bit more to life than that.