‘Subscription Fatigue’ Driving Cord-Cutters to Cancel Services

If you find yourself frustrated by the endless price hikes and changes in the streaming landscape, you’re not alone. We’re long past the days of sticking with 2-3 streaming services year-round. According to a new survey from Civic Science, more than 3 in 10 people have canceled one or more streaming services in the past 6 months.

One of the key drivers in that decision is “subscription fatigue.” A growing number of people are so overwhelmed by the services and options, that they’re just giving up and cutting back. This month, 41% of those surveyed said subscription fatigue was a major factor in their choice to cut a service. That’s up from 35% in July.

Despite this trend, streamers may not be panicking just yet. A growing number of quitters have returned to a service they previously cut. More than 1 in 3 people have gone back to one of their old services.

Honestly, you should be evaluating your streaming subscriptions at least a few times a year. If you go a month without using a service, you may as well cut it loose. A streamer like STARZ offers a sale every few months. Prime Video frequently offers discounts on its channels. The major streamers tend to save their sales for Black Friday (if ever), but even unsubscribing for a month or two can be a major cost-saver.

Related: See all Current Streaming Deals

Another reason streaming companies don’t seem too worried: subscribers are very reluctant to cut back. Civic Science’s survey showed that families feeling financial stress are most likely to tighten spending on non-essential groceries (38%) or spend less in bars and restaurants (37%). One in three would spend less on clothes and personal care. And 31% would switch to some generic or private label products to save money. Of those surveyed, just 24% said they’d spend less on streaming services and 21% said they’d cancel a service to save money.

Other Sneaky Savings Hacks

One thing we always recommend is to have an antenna on hand. A one-time investment gives you access to lots of great sports, entertainment, news, and classic TV. Pair it with a HDHomeRun and you can stream the antenna on any device. With a one-time lifetime subscription to Plex Pass, you can even record all of those shows to your computer’s hard drive.

Also remember the huge variety of free services!

If your library partners with Kanopy and/or Hoopla, you can get an awesome library of ad-free movies and TV. Hoopla also offers BingePasses for access to many other great premium services like medici.tv. Free PBS Kids is your best choice for preschoolers — even better than paid services.

If you don’t mind ads, Plex, Tubi, Pluto TV, and Fawesome are among some of the best free options for movies and TV.

For local news, you can check out free streamers like Zeam, Haystack News, Very Local, NewsON, and more.

Another great savings option is to buy a discounted gift card. I use this option to save on Netflix and my Hulu and Disney+ bundle.

And the easiest way to save on streaming is to sign up for free trials. Prime Video has more than 130 premium services you can try, and nearly all of them have 7-day trials. It’s the only way to get a free trial on Peacock, for example.