Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
- There is an all out war happening with streaming services, and as an innocent civilian, your bank account is caught in the middle of it. Not on my watch. Now let's go back in time to the simpler days of 2007, when we only had the war on terrorism to deal with. I had just started growing a beard, it wasn't good, and Netflix had just started their new streaming services. It was somehow worse.
It only worked on PCs and Internet Explorer. And for a cool $9.99, you could watch up to 10 whole hours a month from their terribly limited selection of 1,000 mediocre movies.
It was a joke compared to the 70,000 movies you could get on DVD shipped right to your door. Hey, but streaming isn't a joke anymore. Fast forward to 2023 and my DVD player is crusty, it's dusty, and musty thanks to hundreds of streaming providers that now exist. And get this, around 85% of U.S. households now pay for at least one of them. How have the other 15% survived? What are they, just like living their lives like weirdos? Now, when you add up
all the shows accessible from just the top nine services, you get a combined 10,000 shows that are available. But we all know there's only one show that's really worth watching. No, not iCarly. Don't you dare play another iCarly clip. We're done with iCarly. This is big time, folks. The streaming industry is expected to be worth $330 billion, with a B, by 2030. And that's somehow assuming that VHS doesn't make a wild comeback like Final Records.
But this makes sense. I mean, for a hot minute, streaming was an obvious, easy, cost-effective entertainment solution to the rising price of cable. But then what happened? You look up and you realize you got seven different subscriptions siphoning cash from your bank account every month just so you can keep tabs on what Baby Yoda's doing. Or try to guess, is that rubber duck or is it a cake?
Only one of those cake stands is holding an actual cake. One of these is a cake? That's gotta be the dumbest show of all time. Can we call that out? Who is the target demo for a show where you figure out if it's cake or rubber? And I'm finding out it's our production coordinator, Eboo. Wonderful. Great.
That explains a lot. - Let's be nice. We don't have to go there. I mean, you're not wrong, but you didn't have to say it. I mean, good Lord. - So it's time we talk about what's going on here and what you can do about it right after you like and subscribe. That's right, just a little click right there. A little click, easy click, and it's 100% free. You can cancel at any time or unsubscribe. And share this video with your mom, just like you share your Netflix password while you still can.
Now, these days, most of us feel like we've got too many subscriptions that we're paying too much for. Streaming went from money-saving to money-draining real quick. And with the continual price hikes and policy changes, password sharing crackdown, we're getting fed up here. And like the rest of our deepest psychosocial issues, we can all blame this on Disney. ♪
Now, let's be honest. It's easy to hate on Disney. But I got to tell you, Aladdin was a big inspiration for me growing up. I mean, a street rat marrying a princess. That's the American dream. Or in his case, the Agrabah dream.
Anyways, back to Disney hate. They get the credit, or the blame, for instigating this whole streaming war thing. You see, while cable providers and traditional TV networks were just coasting along like some kind of Toys R Us or Sears or Blockbuster or Tower Records, Netflix was out there innovating, crushing the competition, and stealing their customers. And pretty soon, these companies had to pony up and join the streaming race to catch up and survive.
So in November of 2019, Disney entered the chat armed and ready to take on the Netflix Goliath with Disney+. Throw in some other noteworthy competitors like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Hulu Live, YouTube TV, HBO Max, plus the demand for streaming that exploded during the pandemic, and this war was on like Donkey Kong.
So how did all these companies compete to get customers' attention? By pouring below-deck-sized boatloads of money into buzzworthy original content. I mean, think about just the last few years of the original series we've seen. HBO, White Lotus. Disney, The Mandalorian. Amazon, Ring of Power. Netflix, Squid Games. Paramount+, iCarly reboot. Just kidding.
They had Yellowstone on top of iCarly. You can't beat that kind of combo. Recent sources show that the streaming wars might be losing some steam, which you would think would be a good sign for pricing and for our wallets. But you would have thought wrong. And now that subscriber growth has gone pretty flat, we're at a point where companies are focusing on profitability and revenue as much as they are scale.
And that means money grabs like tiered subscriptions, ad-free packages. This is how companies are planning to earn some profit. Here's what that means. They're not fighting over you anymore with cheap prices. And just when it was starting to feel so good to be wanted.
They're about to play some hard to get, some hardball. They're putting us between the rock and the hard place, which I assume could be any one of his thousands of muscles. Basically, these companies trained us to expect ad-free content for cheap while we had no idea that it wasn't actually sustainable. And now, we're the ones paying the price. I mean, let's look at Netflix. Back in 2011, a standard Netflix subscription was $7.99 per month. In 2013, the company introduced its $11.99 per month 4K premium subscription. And
And from there, things just got more expensive. Today, it's $19.99 for a premium monthly plan. I mean, just recently, Apple TV Plus raised prices from $4.99 monthly to $6.99. Disney Plus went from $8 a month to $11 a month. HBO Max just raised ad-free to $16.99 a month. And this is just the beginning, people. But as one source puts it, streaming may change, but consumers will adapt.
They love video too much. They know our hearts, and it's the cost of love. So while we're waiting on the wars to officially end and for peace again on entertainment consoles across the country, let's talk about how to not become a streaming war casualty. Right after this brief intermission where I try naming my top 10 streaming shows in 10 seconds or less. Get the timer on the... Get the clock on the... Timer on the board. The Office. Parks and Rec. Seinfeld. Breaking Bad. Dexter.
Dead to Me, Afterlife, Mad Men, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
You're basic. Okay, first of all, let me just speak to you burned and bitter streamers considering going back to cable. Just say no. Traditional cable prices are still on the rise, now averaging $217 per month. Outside of Netflix's looming policy changes, no other streaming services currently restricts sharing of passwords. Now, they don't encourage it, per se, but it's a good way to cut down on cost and stick it to the man. Who? The man!
Oh, you don't know the man? Another strategy to get the most bang for your buck is bundling up. And no, I'm not talking about what my mom made me do while waiting for the bus in those cold, harsh Boston winters. Here's what she said in Arabic. She said,
She didn't say it that nicely. It was more of a yell, but a love, a love yell. You know, she wants me to stay warm. So think of bundling in terms of celebrity power couples. For example, Disney and Hulu, that's the new Bennifer. And Ben Affleck and J-Lo are that couple with a tumultuous past, but economically pair well together. Some of their options give you access to new shows, classic movies, live TV, and sports for you Sprots fans out there.
with the prices ranging from $10 a month all the way up to $83 a month. Now, another strategy to get some cheap streaming, giveaways through partnerships. Believe it or not, there are some deals out there with companies you're probably already using. Here are some deals popular companies are offering.
offering. If you're a Verizon customer, there's a free Disney bundle and Discovery Plus. Discovery Plus only free for six months. T-Mobile and Sprint customers, free Netflix, Apple TV Plus, and Paramount Plus. If you're an AT&T customer, free HBO Max with certain wireless plans. Walmart Plus customers also get free Paramount Plus with the essential plan only. And lastly, you can always play the tricky, tricky game of starting those free trials. But let's face it,
We tend to lose this game and forget to cancel, which is exactly what these companies are banking on, by the way. But I've got a hack for you that will change the game. It's called Privacy.com. They're not sponsored. I'm not affiliated with them. I love them. If you're watching, reach out to your boy. But Privacy.com is what I use personally to protect my budget from unwanted expenses and charges that happen when I forget to cancel those trials and subscriptions.
Now, even with all the tips, hacks, and strategies, the best way to make sure you're not a casualty in the streaming war, or any other capitalistic war for that matter, is to take control of your money by knowing exactly where every single dollar is going. My advice is to make and stick to a budget every single month, paying attention to your expenses, and being proactive about canceling things you're not using. Now, my favorite app that does this is called EveryDollar. It's free to download. I'll link it below.
And remember, while streaming can be a great alternative to getting cable, the total cost of all those individual services can get up there. So you've got to be smart about which ones you subscribe to, cancel the ones you don't want, and try to share the ones that you use frequently.
If you want the nitty gritty deets about the streaming options out there and their cost, we've got a great article that goes super in depth on this topic. I'll link that below as well. And if you want more hacks on how to buck the system and make your money work for you, be sure to like and subscribe to get more content like this. Thanks for watching. See you next time.
