Cancelling Streaming Services...
Ask a Question
Have you cancelled any of your streaming services to cut back?
Right now we have Netflix and Disney, I just cancelled NOW as there was rarely anything new on there.
I had Netflix cancelled about a year ago but I have Disney and YouTube premium.
Nadiaparveen smart tube next is a good replacement for youtube premium. It blocks adverts and sponsorship sections in videos for free.
BonzoBanana ohh didn't know about this thanks for sharing I will check it out soon
Nadiaparveen what do you get on YouTube premium? I've heard of it but don't know anything about it. How much does it cost.
Jerseydrew I'm on the individual plan for £11.99 a month and the main features are you can watch videos without any ads and you can listen to stuff on the background so you can do other stuff on your phone or have the screen off and it will continue to play
We subscribe to Netflix, but nothing else, not even a TV licence. We have such an extensive dvd collection that anything else we want we would just try and get the dvd for it as we hate ongoing payments with nothing to show for it.
I've cancelled Netflix, but it was more to do with a lack of things I wanted to watch. I'm currently with MUBI and Apple TV+ (free on an extended trial).
Given there is now a large number of streaming services, I've become a 'streaming nomad'. Jumping from one provider to another, usually after 1 or 2 months, when I want to see something different. When you go back to a company after a number of months there will usually be a block of content you want to watch.
I cancelled Netflix about 6 months ago. I watch a lot on Amazon Prime now. I do not have Disney
I have been very lucky to piggy back my sons accounts for Netflix, Amazon, Amazon music (on my echo dot) and also plex. However Netflix has now stopped this but I still have the others plus iplayer, itvx, YouTube (spend a lot of time on that) etc. So the only thing I pay is my TV licence.
Lynibis Do you need to pay the TV licence that is really for iplayer and any live broadcasts. A VPN like protonvpn would allow you to access other streaming services around the world including some that show BBC content with adverts for free. This isn't technically illegal to do but definitely not approved by the BBC. Personally I never do this though as my mother lives nearby who has a TV licence so watch any BBC stuff there. This time of year there is Wimbledon which I Iike watching but most of the year there is almost nothing on the BBC I watch. Wimbledon is one of those very awkward things to watch elsewhere as it would be a live stream wherever you watch it so technically illegal to watch even with a vpn. The TV licence is such a huge amount of money nowadays. Over 5 years its like £800. Much of the TV licence is spent on the BBC pension shortfall and other wasted money on un-necessary staff. At one point they had a ridiculous number of orchestra's on the payroll that were not often utilised. It's such huge levels of waste and inefficiency.
I find that when you go to cancel NOW they normally give you a hefty discount to continue for a few more months.
As far as a streaming service, I only use YouTube with multiple adblockers so my experience is as clean as possible.
And yes, I read that Google's trying to force users to watch ads, but I refuse to do that as it's a horrendous experience. I'd rather just give up instead if adblockers do stop working.
My partner has just cancelled Sky Sports & also our landline that didn't work !
We stopped BT sport as there’s enough coverage (too much sometimes) on the usual channels.
We cancelled a lot of ours, from Disney, Amazon, Britbox and Now. We only Netflix now but to be honest that’s all we need this time of year, prefer to outside than in watching tv.
I have netflix free through sky, I can use my daughter's disney, I do pay for prime so I can access the movies and shop on Amazon 
I have discovery + free, I do pay the tv license though as I like live tv....
I've had apple tv free for 6 months, again through sky, I shared it on here. I've been given sky cinema free for the month.
Yes i cancelled Prime video - i have sky and through sky go i can stream a lot so didnt see the need to keep prime too
its all getting too expensive these days!!!
We have the free streaming channels, itvx , iplayer, channel 4, channel 5. We pay for amazon prime which has an offering of live TV channels as well as on demand items.
juliehavelock15 You have to install the apk file, open the app, and there you go it's YouTube ad-free made for TVs.
github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext
For Android phones/tablets: ReVanced
github.com/j-hc/revanced-magisk-module/releases
Using the internet and YouTube without adblockers is just a dreadful experience, imo.
PhilipMarc I completely agree youtube with adverts and even sponsored sections is awful. I use my android tablet with smart tube next no problem. At the time revanced wasn't working for me and switched to smart tube next with no issues.
My mother's just ordered a android tv. The cheap 43" model from Currys for £199 plus 7% cashback through topcashback. So I'm hoping to sort that out with smart tube next, vpn and kodi by installing apps directly on the tv so no external boxes needed. This will save a lot of power as she is currently using a plasma TV which uses 120-200W and a separate fire tv stick which is probably 10-15W. The new TV is 1080p (fine for her eyes and distance) and is around 40-60W so a 100Wh saving every hour pretty much. It will take about 10 hours to save one unit of electricity which is about 40-50p and she has the TV on pretty much all day. Probably at least 10 hours so pretty much in a year she has paid for the TV and it's all savings after that.
The 1080p isn't an issue either as most of the sources with kodi and VPN are 720p with some at 1080p and SD. Pretty much no sources at 4K. There is literally no 4K content for her to use on the TV. 4K TV's also consume a little more power probably an extra 5-10W typically because there is more screen resolution to process. So every 100hrs it could be another 40-50p extra of power. It could be another couple of quid a month or at least a £1 a month.
Also as the TV has bluetooth I'm wondering if you can connect a bluetooth games controller to work with gaming and emulation apk's. I quite fancy playing a few snes games on it on occasion. It's basically a huge android tablet in the shape of a TV with a TV tuner built in.
Do like our family do, 1 of us pays for Amazon Prime, another Netflix, another Disney etc and we each share the details with the others. That way my 3 daughters and I can watch any of these in our own homes but only pay for 1 service. It works out great
Join for free to get genuine deals, money saving advice and help from our friendly community
Chief Bargain Hunter
