To Subscribe Or Not To Subscribe, That Is The Question: Paid Streaming Services

[janie jones]

7 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I am considering it, too.  Just not worth it.  And [Netflix] didn't even have the courtesy to notify their customers of the price increase.  I'm thinking of going a month on, a month or two off.

I got an email about the price increase.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I am considering it, too.  Just not worth it.  And they didn't even have the courtesy to notify their customers of the price increase.  I'm thinking of going a month on, a month or two off.

They do send an email but when it goes out depends on when your billing date is. They give 30 day notice so if it bills in less than 30 days they wait until the next billing period. For example my billing date is in 2 days so I will be billed the old rate and I should get the increase notice after that. 
Netflix is raising prices again by $1 to $2 for every plan

Quote

New customers will see these price increases immediately, and they'll make their way to existing customers "over the coming weeks," Netflix said. Current customers will get an email notification 30 days before their prices change, according to Netflix's Plans and Pricing page.

[stewedsquash]

Wrong thread

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by stewedsquash

[SuprSuprElevated]

On 11/25/2021 at 3:30 AM, RealHousewife said:

I normally only watch paid streaming service content at family or friends' houses. I watch enough Bravo and other shows that I figured it wasn't worth paying for anything else. I was planning to get Netflix, but I saw that Mad Men is no longer available. Annoying! 

We streamed Mad Men on IMDB, which is a free service affiliated with Amazon Prime I think.

[Zella]

Yeah I own it so haven't had to stream it in a while, but I've been seeing ads for it lately when I watch other stuff on IMDB TV. You do have to sit through ads, but it seems like they're adding quite a few newer and classic shows. 

[RealHousewife]

1 hour ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

We streamed Mad Men on IMDB, which is a free service affiliated with Amazon Prime I think.

Yes. I've watched a couple of episodes so far. Since I made the post though, I now have Netflix, HBO Max & Peacock. lol 

[meowmommy]

Amazon Prime is now going up to $139/yr.  Guess Jeff needs the money to pay Rotterdam to tear down their bridge for his damn yacht.

We cancelled Netflix today, at least for a month or two.  There's just nothing on there, at least until Bridgerton and The Crown come back, to require monthly devotion.

[RealHousewife]

8 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

Amazon Prime is now going up to $139/yr.  Guess Jeff needs the money to pay Rotterdam to tear down their bridge for his damn yacht.

We cancelled Netflix today, at least for a month or two.  There's just nothing on there, at least until Bridgerton and The Crown come back, to require monthly devotion.

I didn't think I'd be into Netflix since they got rid of everything I was initially interested in (Mad Men, Friends, The Office), but I like Bridgerton so far. I tend to prefer reality, talk shows, and sitcoms, but it is just oh so pretty-the set, costumes, music, etc. I need to watch more episodes. I should probably check out The Crown. 

Hulu seems to have tons of shows I'd also like, but I feel like I already have so many shows to watch. 

Edited February 4, 2022 by RealHousewife

[Zella]

1 hour ago, RealHousewife said:

Hulu seems to have tons of shows I'd also like, but I feel like I already have so many shows to watch. 

To me, Hulu has really stepped up its game recently. I used to never have any desire to subscribe to it because it never had anything I wanted, but for the past few months, there have been several shows I was interested in and they all ended up being on Hulu. After poking around, I realized they'd really added quite a bit compared to the last time I checked, which was a few years ago, and forced me to reevaluate my automatic dismissal of them.

[RealHousewife]

14 minutes ago, Zella said:

To me, Hulu has really stepped up its game recently. I used to never have any desire to subscribe to it because it never had anything I wanted, but for the past few months, there have been several shows I was interested in and they all ended up being on Hulu. After poking around, I realized they'd really added quite a bit compared to the last time I checked, which was a few years ago, and forced me to reevaluate my automatic dismissal of them.

I get what you mean. Everyone was into Netlix or HBO, and Hulu was just one of those other services. But they really have lots of fun stuff on there now, at least for me. It would be nice to watch Golden Girls and start Will & Grace. They also have The Office on there, but I watch that on Peacock. I really only have Peacock for the RHOM. I'm a sucker. 

[Zella]

47 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I get what you mean. Everyone was into Netlix or HBO, and Hulu was just one of those other services. But they really have lots of fun stuff on there now, at least for me. It would be nice to watch Golden Girls and start Will & Grace. They also have The Office on there, but I watch that on Peacock. I really only have Peacock for the RHOM. I'm a sucker. 

Yeah for me it was "Oh you have Justified, imagine that." "Oh you have What We Do In The Shadows, imagine that." "Oh you have Brotherhood--maybe I should stop being an asshole to Hulu." LOL 

[SmithW6079]

I'm thinking of adding Paramount+. They pulled all the Star Treks (except the movies) from Hulu, so the only way to see all the series is via Paramount+. I mostly like TOS and TNG, but I wouldn't mind watching the new one, "Strange New Worlds" with Christopher Pike at the helm of the Enterprise.  And I know there are other CBS shows available, but most of those don't interest me.

Does anyone do documentary services like Curiosity Stream & Nebula or Magellan? My cable company provides Curiosity Stream, so I can't get a discount on Nebula, and Nebula by itself is about $50 a year. Many of the educational YouTube channels I watch post extended videos on Nebula, and the content creators are quite open that YouTube censors them and demonetizes videos if they touch on certain topics.

[CarolinaPam]

FilmRise has a free documentary app you can check out.  In fact, they have quite a few free apps.

[SunnyBeBe]

Does anyone have any suggestion for adding an upgrade to my second Firestick?  On my original Firestick I have Prime Music Unlimited.  When I sat up my second Firestick, everything duplicated from my original to the second one with the exception of Prime Music Unlimited.  Whenever, I make certain requests on stick 2, it’ll tell me that I don’t have access since I don’t have the upgrade.  It will only allow me to purchase the upgrade.  I’ve tried to go through settings, but there’s no option to set it.  It’s so frustrating.  I only pay one Amazon prime fee each month and then a separate one for Prime Music Unlimited.  I want to figure this out,because I’m getting ready to set up my third firestick.  

Edited February 26, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[Guest]

7 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Does anyone have any suggestion for adding an upgrade to my second Firestick?  On my original Firestick I have Prime Music Unlimited.  When I sat up my second Firestick, everything duplicated from my original to the second one with the exception of Prime Music Unlimited.  Whenever, I make certain requests on stick 2, it’ll tell me that I don’t have access since I don’t have the upgrade.  It will only allow me to purchase the upgrade.  I’ve tried to go through settings, but there’s no option to set it.  It’s so frustrating.  I only pay one Amazon prime fee each month and then a separate one for Prime Music Unlimited.  I want to figure this out,because I’m getting ready to set up my third firestick.  

It sounds like you have the $3.99 plan which is limited to one device. To use it on multiple devices you would need to upgrade to the $7.99 individual plan. 

[SunnyBeBe]

9 hours ago, Dani said:

It sounds like you have the $3.99 plan which is limited to one device. To use it on multiple devices you would need to upgrade to the $7.99 individual plan. 

You are absolutely right!  Thank you.

[Just Here]

Paramount Plus currently has a special for new customers:  80% off the normal monthly rates for three months.   The normal rates are $4.99 for the Essential plan and $9.99 for the Premium plan.

The main reason I'm a regular subscriber is for their women's soccer offerings:  Namely the NWSL (American women's pro soccer league).  The service also has regional Women's World Cup qualifying matches for Europe (UEFA) and North America (CONCACAF).

[BetterButter]

It’s Official: New NBC Episodes Will Stream on Peacock Instead of Hulu

[Guest]

On 3/3/2022 at 9:17 PM, Just Here said:

Paramount Plus currently has a special for new customers:  80% off the normal monthly rates for three months.   The normal rates are $4.99 for the Essential plan and $9.99 for the Premium plan.

It’s also for returning customers. I had to cancel my plan to switch from yearly to monthly and was able to resubscribe with the birthday deal. 

[Anela]

On 2/4/2022 at 5:57 PM, Zella said:

Yeah for me it was "Oh you have Justified, imagine that." "Oh you have What We Do In The Shadows, imagine that." "Oh you have Brotherhood--maybe I should stop being an asshole to Hulu." LOL 

We finally got hulu, september 2020, when we cancelled cable, and I wished we'd done it sooner. The only thing that I really miss about cable, is the news channels. 

I still have netflix, because I have things that I still want to watch, and I like to put the Gilmore Girls on again, when I need to (it's a comfort thing). I'm going to have to get rid of something, if prices keep going up. 

It's really bugging me that more shows are being moved to new streaming services, like these NBC shows. I liked hulu, because I could still watch certain shows the day after they aired, even without cable. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Anela

[Zella]

13 minutes ago, Anela said:

I liked hulu, because I could still watch certain shows the day after they aired, even without cable. 

Yeah I took advantage of their free HBO trial this week to finally watch The Righteous Gemstones and they had the last episode up the day after it aired. They also didn't make me jump through hoops to cancel said free trial once I got what I wanted, which I also appreciated. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Zella

[Mittengirl]

I like the British “cozy mystery” shows like Agatha Raisin.  Which of the streaming channels would suit me best?  Looking at Acorn, Britbox, etc. 

[ABay]

Probably more Acorn than Britbox if you have to choose just one.

[JustHereForFood]

Does anyone know if there is some website where one could find every TV series with information about what streaming service they are currently on? Some kind of comprehensive database?

[Dani-Ellie]

IMDb will give you where to watch options when you look something up. 

[Silje]

I use https://www.justwatch.com/. It shows where tv shows/movies are available to stream/buy/rent, and you can also easily look up where they are streaming in other countries. 

[ABay]

Seconding JustWatch.

[Ceindreadh]

Thirding JustWatch!

It has an app for smartphones as well.  Really handy!

[shantown]

7 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Does anyone know if there is some website where one could find every TV series with information about what streaming service they are currently on? Some kind of comprehensive database?

Google is also pretty accurate for this - not sure where they pull their info from but it shows what services a show/movie is streaming on or what sites you can rent it from!

[Irlandesa]

8 hours ago, shantown said:

Google is also pretty accurate for this - not sure where they pull their info from but it shows what services a show/movie is streaming on or what sites you can rent it from!

The only trouble with Google is that it'll sometimes list Amazon Prime or Hulu as an option when it's really one of the channels you can get through Amazon Prime like Britbox or Paramount+...etc.

[JustHereForFood]

Thanks, everyone!

[Zella]

I am wanting to watch Pachinko when it comes out later this month. From what I can see, it is going to be streaming on Apple TV+. I don't have an Apple account and really don't want one. Do any of you know offhand if you can access their content through other streaming sites as an addon, like how you can watch HBO stuff on Hulu, or are you pretty much screwed with watching it on their platform if you want to see it? 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Zella

[RealHousewife]

Anyone here a big fan of Peacock? Any particular shows you recommend?

I'm debating canceling it and getting Hulu or something else instead, at least for now. The Real Housewives of Miami is now over. I do like The Office, but I think I could live without it. I didn't get into the first season of Ultimate Girls Trip. The second season sounds fun, but there's no release date yet.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

I am wanting to watch Pachinko when it comes out later this month. From what I can see, it is going to be streaming on Apple TV+. I don't have an Apple account and really don't want one. Do any of you know offhand if you can access their content through other streaming sites as an addon, like how you can watch HBO stuff on Hulu, or are you pretty much screwed with watching it on their platform if you want to see it? 

No. You have to signup directly through apple with an Apple ID. 

[Zella]

7 minutes ago, Dani said:

No. You have to signup directly through apple with an Apple ID. 

Thanks! That's unfortunately what I was expecting but not what I was hoping for. LOL

[krankydoodle]

9 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

Anyone here a big fan of Peacock? Any particular shows you recommend?

I only subscribe to Peacock when they have an exclusive I want to watch, but my favorite show is one I discovered by accident: We are Lady Parts, a British comedy about young Muslim women in a punk rock band. I also really enjoyed AP Bio and Dr. Death. I've heard good things about Girls5Eva, the Saved by the Bell reboot, and Wolf Like Me, but haven't gotten around to those yet.

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

Anyone here a big fan of Peacock? Any particular shows you recommend?

We Are Lady Parts for sure. Such a great show. I also love the Saved By the Bell reboot, Girls5eva, Rutherford Falls, and AP Bio. One Of Us Is Lying was fun and Wolf Like Me was different and interesting, plus it's really short so it's a quick, easy binge. The Girl In the Woods was really bad but in a BTVS season 1 kinda way so it was like comfortingly nostalgic lol. I also liked their Days of Our Lives specials and Golden, the gymnastics docuseries they did.

[SunnyBeBe]

I subscribed to Appletv specifically to see The Morning Show.  Season 1 was pretty good, but after season 2, I doubt I’ll do it again.  That was a huge let down and they don’t offer a lot, imo.  
 

I usually get Hulu, but lately….omg, I’m starting to wonder. I was looking forward to the movie Deep Water , featuring Ben Affleck and his ex-girlfriend, only to be VERY disappointed.  It may be the worst movie that I’ve ever seen!  If you want to hate watch it, go for it. Lol   The only good thing about it was the young actress who plays their daughter.   She is a huge standout.  The rest of the movie is horrible.  

Edited March 19, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[DearEvette]

Right now the only streaming services I have are Prime (not something I would have gotten as a standalone, but I've been a prime member forever so it is part of the package), Netflix and Hulu.  I like Hulu because I don't have regular tv and most of the shows I do like come on there next day.

Also the CW app is totally free content so I can watch all the CW shows the nest day.

For other things I look for deals and will get them short term if a deal comes along and binge while I have it.

For now I am on a two month 1.99 a month deal with Paramount+.  I don't really like CBS shows, but some I will will binge.  I will say, the 1.99 deal is well worth it just for Ghosts!  What a friggin' delightful show.

I had  Disney+ for Hamilton and Wandavision but got rid of it because I didn't want want to pay an extra 8.00 for it.  And so much of the content is Marvels/Star Wars overload.  But now it is a 2.99 add on to Hulu.  I can work with that.

I got Apple TV+ free for three months when I upgraded my phone and the only thing I really liked there was Ted Lasso.  I am thinking by the time the next season of Ted comes out it will be time for my youngest to get his phone upgraded and I can score another three months free.

[Bastet]

I have a friend's account info for Paramount+ so I recently downloaded that to my Fire stick so I can watch the reunion of the original Real World cast and the latest Scream.  To set up my profile, I had to pick three shows from the ones displayed, so it could tailor recommendations to me.  There was no way to skip it, and what was really annoying was there were only maybe 15 shows to choose from, and they were all things I had no idea what they're about or things I wouldn't watch if you paid me.  But, again, no way to skip, so I had to randomly pick three shows I'll never watch so it can recommend to me more shows I'll never watch. 

Anyway, I haven't poked around yet, so I don't know what I think of its programming options, but if that list I was given to choose from is any indication, it's not going to have much I want.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Bastet

[SunnyBeBe]

I’m still having intermittent issues with my older Firestick that’s 2 years old. It appears  to be about 85% full when I look at its storage.   Would that make it malfunction?  I’ve deleted as many apps as I can.  And, I only use a few paid streaming services.  What do people do who have a lot, like HBOmax, Prime, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount, AppleTV, etc.  wouldn’t that overload it?  Twice, I’ve seen it processing to conserve space.  

Edited March 19, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I had  Disney+ for Hamilton and Wandavision but got rid of it because I didn't want want to pay an extra 8.00 for it.  And so much of the content is Marvels/Star Wars overload.  But now it is a 2.99 add on to Hulu.  I can work with that.

Interesting. Is that a normal thing or is it a special? I only get Disney+ when something I wanna watch will be airing, like WandaVision and Hawkeye. I'll get it again for She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel. If I can get it for 2.99 with my .99 hulu subscription then awesome!

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Anyway, I haven't poked around yet, so I don't know what I think of its programming options, but if that list I was given to choose from is any indication, it's not going to have much I want.

As @DearEvette said, Ghosts is really great. It's currently airing though so not all episodes are available right now.

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Also the CW app is totally free content so I can watch all the CW shows the nest day.

What are the ads like? I assume since it's free there must be a million of them. The only thing that's really keeping me from getting rid of cable and trying something like YouTube TV is that all the streaming apps don't have The CW.

Speaking of YouTube TV, does anyone have that? I have some questions lol.

[meowmommy]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I’m still having intermittent issues with my older Firestick that’s 2 years old. It appears  to be about 85% full when I look at its storage.   Would that make it malfunction?  I’ve deleted as many apps as I can.  And, I only use a few paid streaming services.  What do people do who have a lot, like HBOmax, Prime, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount, AppleTV, etc.  wouldn’t that overload it?  Twice, I’ve seen it processing to conserve space.  

I've never used a Firestick so I am probably way off base, but you can get a cheapie Roku stick to plug into your TV, and there are no storage issues.  I have dozens of apps.

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

But now it is a 2.99 add on to Hulu. 

Oh, sure, now, because I let my Hulu subscription go...

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I got Apple TV+ free for three months when I upgraded my phone and the only thing I really liked there was Ted Lasso. 

I got a year when I bought my iPad, but when I upgraded this year, all they offered was some shitty Apple Arcade for three month nonsense.  I never even got through the first season of Ted Lasso.  There was so little original programming to make it worthwhile, and I found it hard to sort out what came with the subscription and what is a paid add-on.  At least with Netflix it's all inclusive, and Amazon Prime makes it fairly easy to tell what is Prime and what is not.

Still not using my free Peacock or Paramount+ subscriptions.  Most of the time I forget I even have them.

[DearEvette]

15 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

What are the ads like? I assume since it's free there must be a million of them. The only thing that's really keeping me from getting rid of cable and trying something like YouTube TV is that all the streaming apps don't have The CW.

The ads aren't too bad.  They don't seem as bad a regular network tv.  Also once they air if you need rewind and FF you can  FF past the point one has already run.

Also the 2.99 Disney+ add on is a permanent thing now.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Don't forget that IMDB is also a free streaming svs.  Ads weren't too bd iirc.

[Zella]

34 minutes ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

Don't forget that IMDB is also a free streaming svs.  Ads weren't too bd iirc.

I watched Little House on the Prairie on it through Amazon Prime last year, and the ads would come in during the middle of a scene, which was really bizarre to me. But I'm watching The Waltons on it right now, and it's never once done that, so I think it must just be some weirdness specifically with LHOTP because other people have complained about the ads on that show specifically. Other than that issue, I've not had any issues with it or the ads and have liked using it. 

[Bastet]

10 minutes ago, Zella said:

I watched Little House on the Prairie on it through Amazon Prime last year, and the ads would come in during the middle of a scene, which was really bizarre to me. But I'm watching The Waltons on it right now, and it's never once done that, so I think it must just be some weirdness specifically with LHOTP because other people have complained about the ads on that show specifically. Other than that issue, I've not had any issues with it or the ads and have liked using it. 

I just watched Rebel on it over the past couple of days, and the mid-scene ad placement happened sometimes.  At least it would just be one quick ad, but I wish they wouldn't mess with the flow like that.

[Zella]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I just watched Rebel on it over the past couple of days, and the mid-scene ad placement happened sometimes.  At least it would just be one quick ad, but I wish they wouldn't mess with the flow like that.

Yes it is irritating! What really baffled me with LHOTP is it would be seconds before the scene ends that the ad would cut in. How hard was it to wait 5-10 seconds?!

[SunnyBeBe]

3 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I've never used a Firestick so I am probably way off base, but you can get a cheapie Roku stick to plug into your TV, and there are no storage issues.  I have dozens of apps.

Oh, sure, now, because I let my Hulu subscription go...

I got a year when I bought my iPad, but when I upgraded this year, all they offered was some shitty Apple Arcade for three month nonsense.  I never even got through the first season of Ted Lasso.  There was so little original programming to make it worthwhile, and I found it hard to sort out what came with the subscription and what is a paid add-on.  At least with Netflix it's all inclusive, and Amazon Prime makes it fairly easy to tell what is Prime and what is not.

Still not using my free Peacock or Paramount+ subscriptions.  Most of the time I forget I even have them.

One of my TVs is a Roku and I use it when the Firestick is acting out. I may just switch to it completely and get a Roku device for  the others.  It’s getting too annoying. 

[Mabinogia]

46 minutes ago, Zella said:

Yes it is irritating! What really baffled me with LHOTP is it would be seconds before the scene ends that the ad would cut in. How hard was it to wait 5-10 seconds?!

youtube does that to me with Taskmaster. Taskmaster has these exit/intros to their commercials. On youtube you'll see Greg tell you it's time for a break, Alex's little wave goodbye, then Alex back to tell you we are now in part 2,3, whatever, and then he starts to say the next task and COMMERCIAL! Like, was it so hard to time it 3 seconds earlier to fit with the natural break in the show? 

I tend to notice it a lot with streamers running network shows that were designed around the traditional ad breaks. Streamers clearly don't follow the same break pattern as the networks do. It's very annoying.