What to do when the streaming party ends
Providers want us to pay more for less but you can STILL get bang for your buck!
When I was a boy, a lad on our estate used to go home ‘religiously’ at 6pm every night. That was the sacred time when his entire family gathered to watch the Angelus, kneeling piously in front of the telly. That was a bit extreme yet for decades family routines were built around TV schedules with everyone gathered around to watch The Late Late Show at 9.30pm on Fridays – or the 6 O’Clock News.
Now, an ever-growing number of us want to have a vast selection of programmes at our fingertips to watch any time we feel like it – via streaming services such as Netflix and Prime.
‘US audiences streamed 21 million years’ worth of video,’ TV analysts Neilsen reports.
Netflix also boasts that streaming has surpassed traditional TV watching habits.
It’s hardly surprising given that many streaming services – which spend a fortune competing with each other – have lured us in with high-quality content at a fairly low cost.
Most streaming plans offer a massive amount of content for an average of €10-€12 a month (Neflix’s basic package is €8.99).
Well, the streaming party is about to end.
Many providers ‘pushed the boat out’ a bit too far financially to win customers and now are ‘rowing back’ by cutting content and raising prices.
Most major streaming platforms have announced looming price hikes and reductions in content. The average basic price per service is predicted to almost double in some cases to around €15-€20 a month.
Many households have got used to having several streaming services on the go – in theory, it could be up to five or six – which would tot up to €120 a month. Can you really afford that?
If not, here are some tips on how to streamline the streamers and get the most ‘bang for your buck’.
1. GET A BETTER TV DEAL
Most people could save around €50 a month simply by getting a better deal on their TV contract – enough to pay for all the streaming they want.
TV providers such as Sky and Virgin offer a half-price deal for a year – after which you get clobbered on the double.
Providers know most people won’t bother switching every year. But if you do, you could save around €600 annually.
Another tip is to get a ‘triple play’ service – lumping TV, broadband and phone together, which works out cheaper.
Our table, right, shows the lowest triple play prices, ranging from around €50 a month.
2. DIP IN AND OUT
In our house, we pay for Netflix and Prime all the time.
But I will dip in and out of other platforms depending on value and timing – and whether there’s a particular series, documentary (or Taylor Swift, right, concert movie!) that someone wants to watch. It also goes without saying that Disney+ is a must for the children over Christmas.
And NOW TV also has great offers for Sky sports, cinema and entertainment which I will snap up occasionally.
From as little as €3 a month, these won’t break the bank, especially if the soccer season is reaching a climax and you want to watch your favourite team in action.
Another tactic is to subscribe to one platform, say AppleTV, then make a point to watch everything you want on it before cancelling after a month or two.
Switch to another like Paramount and do the same. You can raid Apple’s selection again in a year or two when they’ve refreshed their offerings.
3. MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU’VE GOT
Most households miss out on thousands of ‘hidden’ films and TV shows that there simply is no room to display on the home page.
Amazon Prime, for example, has 9,000 films and 1,500 TV series. So how do we find them?
One trick is to select a film or show you like and you’ll see five or six similar ones listed underneath. Click on one of those and you’ll see another half dozen options below that.
Or just look up suggestions online. The review site Rotten Tomatoes has a useful guide called 85 Hidden Gems on Amazon Prime.
4. BE ’APPY
Most of us have smart TVs with apps shown at the bottom of the
home page, just like on our smartphones.
You can open up a whole world of new content just by using them.
Some come already installed – like Prime, Netflix and AppleTV, which you have to pay for.
On LG television sets, you should also see Rakuten, which is a (sort-of) free service, where you’ll always find something to watch among its free content.
To find more, go to the ‘app store’, which should be listed alongside the other apps.
On LG televisions, for example, select the reddish LG Content Store app.
There you see a wealth of TV apps, including the basic players for RTÉ and Rakuten.
I can’t vouch for the quality or cost of others but most say they are free with some paid-for content.
I was amazed, though, by the range on my LG TV set. There are channels dedicated to jazz, fishing and even Flamenco.
Others specialise in countries ranging from Poland to Pakestan.
There are also free news channels like CBS and Al Jazeera and others with classic movies and TV shows.
5. ACCEPT ADS
The new era of streaming will involve the option of accepting advertisements interspersed with your content.
Netflix’s ‘standard with adverts plan’ costs £4.99 (€5.83) a month in the UK for the basic package, albeit without HD quality films.
Comparison site Bonkers.ie advises: ‘The plans are priced slightly differently for different markets, with Germany being €1 cheaper at €4.99 compared to France’s €5.99.
‘But we can expect Ireland to be slightly higher, owing to the fact that we have some of the world’s most expensive Netflix pricing already.’
6. IT’S FINE TO GO ONLINE
You don’t have to watch content on your television set, there’s a wealth of free content to view on your tablet or computer via platforms like You Tube.
7. GET OUT MORE!
An even better solution to rising TV prices is: just watch less television. It’s far cheaper and healthier to just go for a walk or do a bit of exercise.
You can still be entertained by listening to a podcast or audio book on your headphones while you do!