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Jon Hamm and Jennifer Aniston in "The Morning Show," now streaming on Apple TV+.
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Not only are television screens getting larger, but the number of must-watch shows is increasing across a growing assortment of on-demand streaming video services intent on persuading you to cut your cable TV cord.
Everyone is familiar with streaming pioneers Netflix, which first began streaming in 2007, and Amazon Prime and Hulu, which both started around the same time. However, with so many evolving streaming options, choosing the right budget-friendly platform can be challenging. See our breakdown to help you determine the best streaming platform for your needs.
In this story
Amazon Prime vs. Netflix | AARP Members Only Access | Apple TV+ | BET+ | Discovery+ | Disney+ | Hulu | HBO Max | Paramount+ | PBS Passport | Peacock |
Roku (Howdy) | Starz | Sports | How to stream live TV
Ways to keep costs in check
For consumers, more options can mean more temptation, kind of like the by-the-pound buffet at the grocery store. To keep your budget in line, ask yourself:
- How many hours of TV do I want to watch in a month?
- Does a new service have enough shows I like to be worthwhile?
- What are a service’s terms of cancellation?
Some companies offer a free trial period, which can help you assess their programming, but they require a credit card to sign up. Keep in mind that you will be charged automatically if you don’t cancel your subscription before the free trial ends.
Unlike cable television, streaming services don’t charge fees for installation or for starting or canceling service. So you can subscribe for just a month — as long as you remember to cancel before the next billing cycle — and resubscribe later, once the platform repopulates with new viewing choices.
Another option is bundling, which allows you to pay one price for two or three streaming platforms. This could lower your costs, but only if you like enough shows on every service that you’ll be paying for as part of the bundle.
Or you can try downloading free ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) services, which offer all their programming for free with ads. Though they might not provide the newest movies and TV shows, they do offer many timeless classics.
For those who aren’t ready to move to streaming, cable TV channels, which often have ads, will continue to exist because “they serve their parent corporations a unique economic opportunity,” says Josh Jackson, assistant director of the media studies program at the University of California, Berkeley. “Broadcast television is still the primary vehicle for advertisers to reach a massive audience quickly.”
But much of broadcast television relies on advertisers who prioritize viewers ages 18 to 49. And content is created to appeal to that age group. Streaming services might give older adults more opportunities to find the shows they want, Jackson says.
“A subscription-based television environment that’s more concerned with numbers of subscribers and less concerned with demographics might provide a greater variety of shows that might value and target an older audience because their appeal to advertisers isn’t part of the equation,” he says.
That means shows such as The Kominsky Method, starring Michael Douglas, 80, on Netflix; classics such as Friends on HBO Max; and hits including Only Murders in the Building on Hulu can become part of your watch list.
Amazon Prime Video vs. Netflix
Netflix reigns over Amazon Prime Video as the streaming service with the most subscribers, based on estimates through June 2023, according to Statista Consumer Insights. Disney+ and Hulu are third and fourth, respectively. Disney has been the majority owner of Hulu since 2019.
Both Amazon and Netflix provide original shows and films, some of which have won top awards. Each platform carries additional movie and television options never broadcast on the big or small screens, but the services differ in a few ways.
- Amazon Prime Video is available without an Amazon Prime account at $8.99 a month. However, when signing up from the Prime Video page, you must change the default plan to avoid bundling in Amazon Prime’s standard delivery service. Users can rent or buy newly released television shows and movies individually without an Amazon subscription.
- Netflix has a membership option with ads at $7.99 a month. Some of its movies and shows are not available to subscribers on this plan because of licensing restrictions. The platform’s standard plan without ads recently increased to $17.99 a month. But video quality is not 4K (Ultra HD) unless you join its premium plan at $24.99 a month.
The company has cracked down on password sharing and allows only two people to stream Netflix at once on its standard plans and four on its premium option. Members may be added to an account for an additional $6.99 a month with ads or $8.99 without ads.
AARP Members Only Access
What is it? AARP Members Only Access offers exclusive and premium content for members, including a rotating selection of on-demand full-length films and documentaries, as part of your AARP membership. Other content available includes celebrity interviews, Spotify playlists from legendary musicians, popular books and AARP Smart Guides.
How to access: Log in and create an account with aarp.org using your AARP membership number. You can view the material on your PC or Mac or cast it to a bigger screen, such as your TV.
Price: Access comes with joining AARP: $15 for first year with automatic renewal; $20 a year after that.
Apple TV+
What is it? Apple TV+’s latest award-winning and viral successes include Severance, a show about office workers whose memories are divided between their personal and work lives, and Ted Lasso, a comedy about a football coach leading a British soccer team. The service has no ads, and Apple says it comes out with new original programming each month.
How to access: The Apple TV app, which is available on most Apple products and most smart TVs, PS5, Roku and Xbox.
Price: One-week free trial, then $9.99 a month. Additionally, three months of the service come free with the purchase of a new Apple device.
BET+
What is it? BET+ provides a collection of dramas, movies and sitcoms featuring Black culture with more than 1,000 hours of ad-free viewing. This includes exclusive programming such as documentaries, originals from Tyler Perry and specials from BET Networks.
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