What streaming services/premium channels do you subscribe to?

Cafe Society
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1

Prompted by this thread, I was wondering what sources of streaming people subscribe to. Unlike that thread, I think, I would include audio like Spotify/Sirius. So, for us…

Amazon Prime – streaming comes with membership, but we do use it; we would probably pay for it separately if we didn’t already get it.
Amazon Music — we pay the $4.99 a month to get it streamed through one echo device
Netflix - we subscribed to this only a few years after it kicked off, and have used it since
HBO - we’ve had it since Game of Thrones
Spotify - three of the kids have it
ESPN+ - I just got this so I can watch more soccer matches. We don’t actually get cable TV other than antenna reception, so this is how I get more Bundesliga and euro cup games
Disney+ - unfortunately we subscribed to this at the beginning using the cheaper annual rate, and now I’m missing out on the one that combines Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu. Pffft.

I think that’s it? We’ve had BEIN and the German channel cable package in the past.

2

Here it’s about 2.5

Amazon Prime - although I almost never use the video streaming, I sometime do watch horrible, no good, very bad old scifi/horror movies for the laughs. For an example Deathsport, or for a more modern option, Manborg. Pretty much if it’s MST3k worthy, I’ll put in on to snicker at.

Amazon Prime Music - the free version, I’ve had the Unlimited as promos, but just couldn’t manage to justify the extra 7.99 a month when there’s honestly plenty I like to listen too in the basic version.

So that’s my 1.5 (since I don’t pay for the extra music)

I also have Netflix, which I figure I actively watch about 2-3 hours a week, and have on for background noise about twice as much. I probably wouldn’t justify the cost to myself if it weren’t bundled in a T-Mobile promo where they pay all but $1 of it a month.

Honestly, I’m just as likely to listen to my digital copies of movies and music I’ve purchased over the years, I’m much more likely to be reading or playing games for entertainment, so the biggest use to is have fun background noise.

One thing I have done for fun with both Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, is to plug in my kindle fire and play a movie while simultaneously playing a full screen game on the computer, which is easier and cheaper than a second monitor, and less disruptive than using a Picture-in-picture computer option like deskpins.

3

We were early cord-cutters in our house. I think we ditched Comcast in 2014, relying on a digital antenna for networks and Hulu/Netflix for keeping up on shows on cable networks, with the occasional ‘borrowed’ login for HBO or for the regional sports network for sporting events.

By 2016, this setup eventually evolved into replacing the antenna with a streaming TV service. The service I subscribed to changed over the years as channels I watched got dropped or as services were discontinued altogether.

Within the past year, I had to switch streaming TV providers three times - twice because primary channels I watched were dropped, and once because the service was discontinued (Playstation Vue). Two weeks ago, our last provider Youtube TV said they were dropping Fox Sports, which in our area means no more Tigers, Pistons, or Red Wings, a dealbreaker for a sports junkie like myself.

Rather than playing streaming TV roulette again, I bit the bullet and dropped Youtube TV for DirecTV (against my better judgement). But I have Fox Sports Detroit back, and Sunday Ticket to boot.

As for the remaining streaming services in our house, there are currently four that we subscribe to:

Spotify - we pay 14.99 for the family plan, which allows mrs. opiewan to listen to her own thing and for me to listen to my own thing without messing up each other’s auto-generated playlists. I’ve also dabbled with Beats before it was Apple Music, as well as after it became Apple Music. I’ve also tried Google Play and Deezer, but in the end I’m most comfortable with Spotify’s UI.

Netflix - she uses it more than I do, but I occasionally go down the binge-watching rabbit hole on a show, most recently The (US) Office. I also watch the occasional movie on Netflix.

Hulu - she subscribes to a package that bundles Hulu (the version with commercials, ugh), Disney+, and ESPN+. I rarely use the first two but occasionally have used ESPN+ to watch live events.

WWE Network - Vince McMahon hooked me young, at 11 years old back in 1985, with the Piper vs Hogan feud and I’ve been watching ever since.

We recently both had Amazon Prime accounts, but after realizing we weren’t getting the perceived value out of them cancelled both. I’m now using DirecTV’s rental feature to watch movies, which from a streaming perspective was the main thing I was using Prime for before.

I’m probably forgetting one or two, but that’s about it here.

4

Amazon Prime: the first streaming service I had, and I had it for years (probably) before know I even had it. I started actually watching stuff on it ca. 2015. I though it only showed ridiculous campy stuff (“Santa vs the Centerfold From Hell!” type crap) until I discovered Downton Abbey.

Netflix: we used to have the DVD service but ditched that 3 or 4 years ago when it started taking a week or more turn around time to get new DVD’s sent. Screw that. We switched to streaming when Stranger Things became popular, and have never given it up. I’m currently working through Supernatural. Still have yet to watch Tiger King.

Amazon Music: I’m the only one in the family that uses that. I download music for my long commute. I love that I can get entire ballets and operas right on my phone.

Disney +. Our family had never been big Disney fans, but we subscribed a couple of months after the roll-out for… actually, I dont remember why. Maybe the live action Lady and the Tramp? I don’t remember. I kept it to bingewatch The Simpsons, which I promptly abandoned after I remembered that they started to suck ass around season 10. I’m not sure why we keep it at this point.

Right now I’m more than a little pissed off that so many different shows and movies are on competing streaming services, and that changes all the time. A few weeks ago I wanted to watch The Abyss, but it was only available with one of the “premium” subscription on Amazon. Starz maybe? Not even available as a PPV. But I just went and checked and its now available to us proles as part of the regular Prime video library. But South Park reruns require a subscription to HBO Max, whatever that is. Forget it. I don’t like TV that much.

5

We had previously cut the cord, but about 18 months ago I was given a deal to switch to fibre and get tv service back at a very aggressive rate.

As of today, I have a number of services:

  • Amazon Prime
  • Netflix
  • Disney TV
  • Apple Music
  • SiriusXM

I may drop Disney, the kids don’t use it often but at $6 it’s cheap. Prime is a freebie since I buy so much from Amazon for home and office. Apple Music is used by everyone, as is Netflix. SiriusXM I could do without but my wife enjoys it.

6

I bought a new car in January, and it came with a free trial of SiriusXM radio. I listen in the car and in my kitchen using my laptop. Steve Earle hosts a show on Outlaw Country. Chris Smither has his own channel, and on and on. I think it’s great.

7
  • Amazon Prime: As others mentioned, a gimme since we signed up to get the free shipping. But they occasionally have some original programming we’ve enjoyed, and I like their offbeat catalog of older movies-- I’ve been on a vintage horror movie kick for the past year or so thanks to Amazon.
  • Amazon Prime Music: I originally subscribed to this because Spotify was blocked at work, and the free version of Amazon Music didn’t have a good enough selection for me. But the paid version hasn’t let me down yet.
  • Netlfix: As they lose more and more of their ‘franchise’ programming to other streaming channels, they’ve managed to do a good job filling the gaps with original programming. Probably still the streaming service we watch the most.
  • HBO: We occasionally sign up for a month or two at a time to watch something specific, like ‘Chernobyl’, then cancel. We are not subscribed at this time.
  • Disney: Our teenage son pays for this himself; he’s working his way through ‘The Simpsons’ catalog and may cancel after. There’s nothing really on it my wife and I want to watch.
  • Hulu: Since we cut our cable, this is our primary method of watching any network shows we may otherwise miss. But since there’s not much new being made now on the networks, Hulu doesn’t really do anything original that’s interesting to us, and with the continuing Balkanization of content with all the new streaming channels, I don’t know how much longer we may hang onto this one.
8

I am looking at streaming services to subscribe to and need to learn from you guys.

9

Netflix: This has been our one constant. We get the 4k UHD version

Amazon: We get Prime Video mainly as a side benefit to Free 2-day shipping, but they have come out with some great shows as of late.

HBO Max: We get it as an added benefit of our ATT Fiber service. We would subscribe it for a month or two a year in the past.

Hulu: Comes for no added cost with my wife’s Sprint phone plan (the ad version).

Disney+: We have one free year of it through my Verizon phone plan - we won’t be reupping. Maybe when all the episodes of The Mandalorian are released and then just for a month.

Apple TV+: We have one free year of it through my iPad Pro purchase - we likely won’t be reupping, but may resub for a month per year to watch Dickenson, Ted Lasso, and The Morning Show.

Sling TV: This is how we get our cable channels (Food Network, ESPN 1 & 2, FS1, NBCSN, etc).

Apple Music: Get this for no added cost through my Verizon phone plan.

We also subscribe, a few months a year to CBS All Access (for Star Trek & The Good Fight), Starz (for Outlander), and ESPN+ (for MLS out of network games)

10

Paid subscriptions-

Netflix
Hulu
Amazon Prime Video (which is more a consequence of having Amazon Prime accounts for other reasons than anything else).

We do use Pandora and Spotify on occasion, but not the paid versions.

I can’t think of any other audio or video streaming services that we’ve paid for. We did sign up for the SiriusXM free promotional month last year before our big road trip vacation, and that was pretty handy as far as not having to listen to CDs the entire time, or navigate the radio landscape of Western Nebraska, Eastern Wyoming or the Texas Panhandle. But it repeats too often for everyday listening we found, once we got back. Sirius would be well served I think, to add a pay-as-you-go system rather than a subscription service. People might be more willing to pay $1/hr or $5/day for a long road trip or something, versus $30/month, because they might only spend $5-6 every couple of months. But that’s $5-6/month that they wouldn’t otherwise get.

11

Netflix
Amazon
Apple TV
Disney+
Pandora (?)

The first two we’ll keep. Apple TV we have because we bought an iPad last year. I watched For All Mankind, but we probably won’t keep it. Disney+ we got to watch Hamilton and the Mandalorian and we probably won’t keep much longer. We subscribe to one of the music things, I think Pandora?

12

Netflix and SiriusXM.

Netflix has more than I can ever get to, so there’s no need for anything else

13

Netflix, Hulu, prime and Spotify.

I tried shudder (paid horror streaming site) but wasn’t impressed by it.

14

No streaming services per se but I have YouTube Premium for $12/mo.

15

Amazon Prime. We’ve had a Prime membership for years, mostly for the free shipping. We don’t use the streaming service a lot, though I’m currently working my way through The Expanse on it.

Netflix. We don’t use this one a lot, either, though my wife has binged certain series, like Grace and Frankie. But, my parents share our account with us, and they use it a lot.

Disney+. We signed up specifically to watch The Mandalorian, and have kept it since, and use it a fair amount.

Passport. It’s a PBS streaming service, to which I recently got a subscription as part of a donation to our local PBS affiliate. Haven’t used it much so far, but I plan to watch some Ken Burns stuff on it.

SiriusXM. I have a Sirius radio in my car, and when I was driving more, I listened to it a lot. Now that I’m working from home, and they’ve added it to the Amazon Echo, I use it listen to music while I’m working.

Spotify. I probably used this more a year or two ago than I do now.

16

Netflix - I’ve wavered a few times but they almost always have something good to watch. I tend to spend more time adding to my watchlist than actually watching. Shows like Stranger Things, The Witcher, and GLOW are big hits.

Hulu - I only watch a few things here, if others in the household weren’t watching it I would probably cancel. What I mostly watch here is Cougar Town, Community, Sirens, and House Hunters type shows.

Amazon Prime - I never feel like a have a full grasp of everything here. I feel like they have many times what Netflix has, but less overall quality. Some very good stuff pops up now and then. As far as originals I love The Grand Tour and Carnival Row (which has nothing to do with carnivals, and instead involves Orlando Bloom and fae folk.)

Disney+ - I got a 2 year deal on this, took them 6 months to make it watchable for me after launch. I loved The Mandalorian and the new season of The Clone Wars, I like having Simpsons and Star Wars at my fingertips, but I really don’t watch the service that much.

SiriusXM - They have some really good content and DJs, like Mojo Nixon on Outlaw Country. I don’t know who the guys on Turbo are but they tell some good rock band stories from the 1990s. I listen to Turbo, Lithium, Outlaw Country, and the 80s/90s stations mostly. I really dislike having to fight for a ~$5 per month rate though, the default is $15 per month and you have to threaten to cancel to get a good deal. $60 per year is attainable without being on the phone too long.

17

Amazon Prime–I think the only shows I’ve watched are Top Gear, Grand Tour, and House. I subscribe for the prime shipping benefits.

Netflix–this would be first service I would drop if not for the Great British Bake Off

Acorn TV–British shows

BritBox–British shows

Hulu comes free since I am a Sprint customer

18

Hulu - I watch this one almost every day—mostly for TV shows. I worry that the increasing fragmentation of streaming services will ruin it.

Amazon Prime - I signed up for Prime to get deliveries during the pandemic. I didn’t think I’d use the streaming much, but I’ve found a lot of interesting stuff there. I wish their user interface wasn’t such a godawful mess.

Netflix - I probably watch this one the least. I was going to cancel after House of Cards ended, but for some reason I haven’t. They’re pretty good at coming up with new stuff that gets me to postpone cancelling.

My local public library offers the Hoopla and Kanopy services, and I use those quite a bit too.

19

Amazon Prime (like a lot of people, more for the shipping and such than for the TV)
Disney +
Netflix
Hulu
HBO Max
They’ve all got at least a couple of things that I want to see; if I had to pare it down I’d shed everything but Disney+ and Netflix.

20

Philo tv
Netflix
Hoopla

Canceled Siriusxm when they removed Jam Radio, tried again then canceled for good. If anyone has ideas for hearing jam bands, please share.

Canceled Amazon Prime. Tried movies and music, a few times (user interface had trick buttons where I might get charged).Two day shipping was nice but three or four days is okay.

Right now, I’m trying Deezer.