Sunday, June 4, 2023

Rethinking subscription rotations

For some time, I've been subscribing to one streaming service a month. A the end of the month, I'd cancel that service, and the next month, subscribe to a different service.

At different times I've had different services in my rotation. Generally, they are:

  • Apple TV+
  • Paramount+
  • Peacock TV
  • Max (formerly HBO Max)
  • Disney+
  • Netflix
  • Hulu
  • AMC+
  • Starz
  • Prime Video
  • Discovery+

That's a general listing, and they really don't all apply to me. Those were, at the time, the largest services in terms of subscribers. Not in that order, but those were the most popular. I'd probably a few more to the list:

  • Brit Box
  • Frndly TV
  • Showtime

I'm sure I'm missing a couple that should be on the list, but you get the general idea of the apps about which I'm speaking.

With a list such as this, if you subscribed to one a month, it would take over a year. So, my thinking would be to take a couple of the $5/month services, and do two on some months. For the more expensive services, say $10-$15/month, subscribe to just one. For services less than $10, perhaps adding a $5/month service and do two that month.

I've done this for some time, except that I have a couple of variation.

First, I've been an Amazon Prime subscriber since before they offered video services. I'm going to have that anyway, so Prime Video has not been in my rotation.

Next, as an Xfinity Internet subscriber, I got Peacock TV Premium free. That bonus ends later this month, and Peacock will go into rotation.

Then, I've been a regular subscriber to Frndly TV since the service launched. When I decided to rotate services, I couldn't include Frndly TV, since I have an annual subscription. And, when renewal time came, I decided to keep it.

Also, I ended up with AMC+ for an extended subscription. There was an issue subscribing one time a while back, and when everything was finally resolved, I ended up with a multi-year subscription. It expires in November, and AMC+ goes into rotation.

There are two new wrinkles to this as well. I recently ended up with a three-month trial of Apple TV+, and that expires soon. It will go back into rotation then. Paramount+ came out of rotation when it became a perk of Walmart+. So I have that service included in another.

Those six variations keep my process from being pure and simple, but I have been rotating among the others. Except for right now.

Right now, I'm not subscribing to any in my rotation. I'll restart the rotation soon, I expect. But I might not.

Right now, I'm going to simply watch what I have on the free trials and perk/included services. Unless there's something I really really really want to watch, I'll focus on those. My Streaming Life should get along just fine.

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