Streaming more content with fewer services

According to research that Tubi commissioned, a majority of U.S. streamers are looking to stream more content in the next year. The same poll shows that streamers are also looking to cut the number of streaming services.

How can that be reconciled. Fairly easily. I've been doing it, and suggesting that others do it for a while now. And it seems more and more people are coming to that conclusion. They may not be doing it the same way I'm doing it, but still, taking charge of your streaming budget while enjoying what you stream is a very good thing.

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Tubi, the survey found that seven in 10 cited changes to their financial situation as a reason to reevaluate their streaming service spending.

Aside from budget respondents cited other factors that would make them pull the plug on a streaming service, including a limited selection of titles (49%), lack of a user-friendly interface (34%) and poor customer service (33%).

Forty-four percent said they’d stick with an unsatisfying streaming service for only a week before canceling it.

What would keep people loyal to a service? Affordability (45%), a wide selection of content (44%) and a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to discover movies and shows (43%).

So what many are looking to do is to cancel certain services and stay with just a few. And if that works for them, great. It works. They are paying less, and watching more. That's good however you do it.

But I do it a different way. I subscribe to several of the services that people are considering dropping. Why? They have good content, that's why. But, I'm not sticking to the services year round. I'm subscribing for one month only.

Here's how it works. I'll list several popular services, and explain a way of using my method to watch all the services, and save money. First, here are the services and the prices.

• Netflix ($15/month; $10, $15, or $20 depending on tier)
• HBO Max ($15/month; there is a $10/month package)
• Disney+ ($8/month)
• Paramount+ ($10/month)
• Discovery+ ($5/month)
• Apple TV+ ($5/month)
• Hulu ($7/month)
• Prime Video ($9/month; $12/month package includes shipping benefits)
• Peacock TV ($5/month; there is a free tier that has about half content, and a $10 ad-free tier)
• AMC+ ($7/month)
• Starz ($9/month)

These are 11 top services. Here's how you do it.

January, pick one or two of the services. If you want two, stay away from two higher priced services. At the start of the month, pick the one or two services for that month, and subscribe. Then, during the month, watch all you can from those services. Cancel before the 30-day renewal.

Then, when those subscriptions end, subscribe to one or two more. Watch for 30 days, and cancel before renewal.

Then, when those subscriptions end, subscribe to one or two more. Watch for 30 days, and cancel before renewal.

You see how this goes? If  you picked two services each month, you would go all the way through the list in six months, and never pay more than $20/month for streaming services. Yet, during the year, you watched all of the services, and had access to all of the content.

And you don't have to stick to a rigorous schedule. If a service is one that you don't watch a lot, repeat one of the services that you like better. Just keep it to one or two a month. You'll watch a lot of content, and save a lot of money.

If you subscribed to each of them each month, that's around $95/month. But you can knock that down to an average of around $20/month if you cancel and skip around.

If this is too much work for you, that's okay too. You know how much time and effort you can put into your streaming infrastructure. Do whatever works best for you. If that means cutting down to three or four services, then you've cut your bill in half, or more. If you have the time and effort to put into managing it more closely, you can save even more. But however you save, just by saving, you've made your Streaming Life a better deal.