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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 need

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...

rootsudo 1y ago
And piracy is how much…?
- thfuran 1y ago
  If everyone did it, there wouldn't be much to pirate. Nothing new at any rate.
  - toomuchtodo 1y ago
    https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-walt-disney-company-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-earnings-for-fiscal-2024/ https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-walt-disney-company-rep... 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 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45364292 - September 2025
- cryzinger 1y ago
  Mullvad is roughly $6/mo :)
thfuran 1y ago
You're paying for hulu twice?
- FireBeyond 1y ago
  Oops, fixed!
ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago
It's very weird to want to be subscribed to all of these. Especially at the same time. 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?
- lotsofpulp 1y ago
  Even more than $120 in the early 2000s, if I recall correctly. Not to mention contracts, installation fees, and having to wait on hold on the phone. And that was for a limited selection of media that happened to be shown at a certain time, with ad breaks. 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.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- FireBeyond 1y ago
  I definitely don't "want" to be. 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.
thisislife2 1y ago
You forgot to add the fees for an internet connection. With cable, you only paid a one-time installation charge. For streaming services, you also need to pay your ISP for the "data".
crazygringo 1y ago
You don't cancel them when there isn't any show on that you're watching, and then resubscribe? 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.
- jerlam 1y ago
  I'm convinced that "all the content, everywhere, all the time" has made people worse consumers. We just give the companies money every month and if we have time, we consume whatever they decide to give us, and if they decide they don't want to show something anymore, we can't complain. 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.
  - crazygringo 1y ago
    I don't know what you're talking about. 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.
andrewinardeer 1y ago
Seedbox: $9
supportengineer 1y ago
People used to hate cable TV because of the bundles. They wanted streaming so they could pay for only what they wanted. Somehow we are now paying more and getting less.

rootsudo 1y ago

And piracy is how much…?

thfuran 1y ago
If everyone did it, there wouldn't be much to pirate. Nothing new at any rate.
- toomuchtodo 1y ago
  https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-walt-disney-company-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-earnings-for-fiscal-2024/ https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-walt-disney-company-rep... 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 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45364292 - September 2025
cryzinger 1y ago
Mullvad is roughly $6/mo :)

thfuran 1y ago

You're paying for hulu twice?

FireBeyond 1y ago
Oops, fixed!

ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago

It's very weird to want to be subscribed to all of these. Especially at the same time. 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?

lotsofpulp 1y ago
Even more than $120 in the early 2000s, if I recall correctly. Not to mention contracts, installation fees, and having to wait on hold on the phone. And that was for a limited selection of media that happened to be shown at a certain time, with ad breaks. 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.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
FireBeyond 1y ago
I definitely don't "want" to be. 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.

thisislife2 1y ago

You forgot to add the fees for an internet connection. With cable, you only paid a one-time installation charge. For streaming services, you also need to pay your ISP for the "data".

crazygringo 1y ago

You don't cancel them when there isn't any show on that you're watching, and then resubscribe? 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.

jerlam 1y ago
I'm convinced that "all the content, everywhere, all the time" has made people worse consumers. We just give the companies money every month and if we have time, we consume whatever they decide to give us, and if they decide they don't want to show something anymore, we can't complain. 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.
- crazygringo 1y ago
  I don't know what you're talking about. 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.

andrewinardeer 1y ago

Seedbox: $9

supportengineer 1y ago

People used to hate cable TV because of the bundles. They wanted streaming so they could pay for only what they wanted. Somehow we are now paying more and getting less.