I don't know how many streaming service subscriptions I have

This may seem odd, but I really don't know to how many streaming services I subscribe.

I subscribe to Frndly TV, and have for some time. It's long been a favorite service. So there's one.

I subscribe to Prime Video, only I don't. I subscribe to Amazon Prime. Same thing, right? Well ... here's the thing. I was an Amazon Prime subscriber when there was no Prime Video. I subscribed to Amazon Prime for the other benefits. It's kinda morphed into Prime Video in many people's minds, but not mine. I subscribe to Prime Video for the benefits apart from Prime Video. I had it when there wasn't a Prime Video, so it's an additional benefit, not involved in my reasons for subscribing to Prime Video. So, the count is still at one. Unless this counts, then it's at two.

I subscribe to Paramount Plus, only I don't. It is included with Walmart Plus, and I had Walmart Plus before they included Paramount Plus. Kinda like the whole Amazon Prime and Prime Video thing. So the count is still at one. Or it's up to three, depending on how you count it.

I subscribe to Peacock, only I don't. I'm an Xfinity Internet customer, and had Peacock Premium since it was a perk. Now that the perk has gone away, I dropped Peacock. Only now it's available as an Xfinity Rewards thing because of how long I've been an Xfinity Internet customer. Like the last couple of services, I get it with another service for which I pay. So, the county is still at one. Or it went up to four.

I subscribe to Curiosity Stream. Or I did. Well, I still do, but it's not renewing. I don't watch it enough to justify keeping it, and a lot of the content is included with other services. So, the count is still at one. Or two, if the fact it's expiring but hasn't yet means it counts. Or five, if the others count as well.

I subscribe to PBS Passport. Except, I don't really. I started supporting PBS back in the 1980s. Maybe the 1970s. I forget which. Either late '70s or early '80s. I send them a little bit each month. They keep asking for more, like PBS does. And I really don't watch it that much. I support PBS. As a way of thanks, I get PBS Passport, which unlocks everything. However, since I would support PBS anyway, it doesn't count, leaving the count at one. Or two. Unless it does count, which makes it six.

I subscribe to Pub-D-Hub. Straight up, this is a subscription to Pub-D-Hub. It's not much, it unlocks some content, and I watch it from time to time. Yes, I know, it's all public domain content, but rather than go ad-supported, this little labor of love that the folks do is supported by subscriptions of less than $10/year. I like the content, I like what they do, and I don't mind throwing a few bucks there way. But this definitely counts. So, I'm at two. Or three. Or seven. It depends on what counts.

I subscribe to Starz. Or I did. As with Curiosity Stream, this is expiring and won't renew. I got it for a family member, and it's no longer needed. It will end when the current subscription is up. So, not counting it leaves the count at two. Or three. Or eight, if it counts.

I subscribe to AMC Plus. Or I did. As with Curiosity Stream and Starz, this is expiring and won't renew. I got it for a family member, and it's no longer needed. It will end when the current subscription is up. So, not counting it leave the total at two. Or three. Or nine, if it does count.

I subscribe to Hulu. Only it is paused now. I still have a subscription, and it will start back in September, but I will subscribe, catch up on everything, then pause it for several months while stuff builds back up. I suppose I should count it. Unlike Starz, Curiosity Stream, and AMC Plus, I do plan to return. I didn't cancel, simply paused it. So, the count is three. Or four. Or ten.

I don't subscribe to Sling TV. Except when I do. When football season starts, I'll subscribe to Sling TV in order to get ESPN to watch college football. I don't pause my subscription. I don't know if that's even possible. I cancel when football season is over. In fact, I cancel it during the season, only to resubscribe days later. It's a 30-day subscription, so subscribing on a Saturday means I cover five weekends. Then I cancel, don't pay for Monday through Friday, then resubscribe the next Saturday. Three subscriptions cover 15 weeks of football, the entire season and championship games. Then, when the bowl games start, a fourth subscription, and I have the entire season of games I want to watch covered. All that means I subscribe to Sling TV for about 1/3 of the year. Yes, that's similar to Hulu, but if Disney ever spins ESPN off into its own standalone service, as is rumored, I won't be using Sling TV at all. So I don't really count Sling TV. The count is at three. Unless it's four. Or five. Or eleven.

Of course, if during football season, some other live streaming service offers a deal that brings the net cost down to less than that of Sling TV, I'll use that service. I've seen YouTube TV offers that make sense to use it for a month rather than Sling TV, but that's a rare thing. And, I am only counting Sling TV, YouTube TV, or any other service that carries ESPN as a single service. I subscribe to whichever is cheapest that month. The totals remain the same: Three, or four, or five, or eleven.

This all came about because of an article I read on Cord Cutters News that listed information from a report about streaming habits:

Its latest report titled State of Media, Entertainment, & Tech: Viewing Behaviors 2023 shows U.S. households pay for an average of 3.8 streaming services each month and subscribe to 2.6 free ad-supported options, such as Amazon Freevee or Pluto TV.

SVOD services total around six in ten streamed hours, compared to one in four hours spent streaming via free ad-supported platforms. The Horowitz Research report shows while Netflix may have seen a decline in subscribers in recent months, the streaming platform still makes up the biggest share of self-reported viewing time. The platform fell from 32 percent in 2019 to 18 percent this year, surpassing Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube TV.

The report also shows consumers are more likely to subscribe to bundle packages. Six out of ten respondents said they would consider upgrading to a bundle subscription streaming service if their preferred platforms offered one. Bundle deals are growing in popularity. Disney+ is another streaming service that offers a package deal including Hulu and ESPN+. Hulu also offers a bundle deal alongside Max.

I subscribe to three. Or four. Or five. Or eleven. I say three. My Streaming Life is more complicated than I realized.