Hmm, let's see:
My Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle is $32.99/month.
Paramount+, $12.99
Netflix, $24.99
Apple TV, $12.99
The ugliness of multiple subscriptions needed because of licensing etc. is starting to really add up...
My Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle is $32.99/month.
Paramount+, $12.99
Netflix, $24.99
Apple TV, $12.99
The ugliness of multiple subscriptions needed because of licensing etc. is starting to really add up...
Like I feel like it's pretty common to be either a Netflix or Disney/Hulu household all the time, and then just subscribe to one other in any given month depending on what show you're mainly watching.
Like now that Slow Horses is back, it's time to wait a couple weeks and then switch to Apple TV for a month to catch the 6 episodes.
I'm becoming nostalgic for the Netflix DVD-by-mail era. Prioritizing your queue was important, since there were significant costs in returning a DVD and waiting for a new one to arrive. There was real anticipation in getting the next DVD, instead of binge-watching an entire series in one night without leaving the couch. We cared about what we watched since it wasn't readily available.
You can be just as intentional about your streaming services as you were about Netflix DVD's. You can prioritize your queue of upcoming shows, since there are significant costs in paying for a month of streaming you don't use. There's real anticipation in switching from Apple TV+ back to HBO, both of which generally release shows weekly, not at once. And then you can keep your list of movies you want to watch, and look forward to which ones will become available when you do switch streamers.
I mean, if you want to waste all your money subscribing to everything at once, then sure maybe everything is readily available. But most people I know, the thing they suddenly want to watch the most often isn't on a service they're currently subscribed to. So the anticipation you talk about continues to be a very real thing. Everything isn't readily available unless you've got lots of cash to burn.
And back in the day of Netflix DVD's, plenty of people watched network and cable TV just as mindlessly as you seem to think they do with streaming today... renting DVD's was an active intentional choice.
Didn't cable TV used to be like $80-120 for top packages (equivalent to having all of the content subs)? What is that in today's dollars?
The whining about not having every single piece of costly media production at your fingertips at all times makes no sense to me, especially when there is so much other media available at many price points (including $0).
Perhaps cut down on screen time if that much needs to be spent.
Used to. Just like Netflix used to be $11.99. You can easily hit up to $200/month for TV with sports (and by this I mean just channel availability, not things like League Pass/Season Ticket) and some movie channels, and nothing too esoteric.
Surely they can spend out of their $90B/year in annual profits. Certainly, companies need revenue to make new content, but they're also squeezing consumers for as much profit as possible.
Subscription Prices Gone Wild - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45364292 - September 2025