How many pay services?

A recent poll indicates that most streamers use four or fewer paid streaming services.

That's surprising to me because I was under the impression that most streamers subscribed to a lot of services. That was true at one time, but it has dropped to a smaller number faster than I thought it would.

The poll, conducted by Cord Cutters News, says that nearly 2/3 of streamers use four or fewer services:

According to our readers, 63.3% pay for four or fewer streaming services, 47.3% pay for three or fewer streaming services, and 27.3% pay for two or fewer streaming services.

While most cord cutters still pay for four or fewer streaming services, the number of cord cutters paying for five or more is up slightly since October 2023. Last October 66.2% of cord cutters paid for four or fewer services. Now that number is down to 63.3%. Part of that number may be the growth of sports across multiple streaming services like the NFL airing a playoff game exclusively on Peacock back in January.

So, what would four streaming services cost every month for the average cord cutter? (Why with ads? Because cable TV has ads.)

• Disney+ $7.99 with ads.
• Paramount+ $5.99 with ads.
• Discovery+ $4.99 with ads.
• Netflix $6.99 with ads.

Total Cost: $25.96 a month.

I use two services  myself. The only one of those four I use is Paramount Plus, and I don't really pay for it, as it comes with Walmart Plus. I'm not counting that.

I have Prime Video, but that's only because I pay for Amazon Prime for shipping benefits. I rarely watch anything from Prime Video.

I don't pay for Peacock, as it's included with my Xfinity Rewards.

I do pay for Frndly TV ($9/month). I also pay for Pub-D-Hub ($6/year, works out to 50¢/month).

And, right now, that's it. For under $10/month, I have all the pay services I want. The other pay services I have are free. If you counted Prime Video, I would still pay less than the poll indicates, so I would still feel I'm doing well.

My Streaming Life doesn't include a lot of pay services. I'm able to watch what I want with little expense. I like it that way.