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Streaming TV in March Is a Slam Dunk, But You Can Cancel 3 Services

Some big shows are releasing new seasons — including an anime favorite and Ted Lasso — but here’s a guide on which services to drop to save dough.

With so many shows returning to TV in March, it will be tough to decide which streaming services to keep or cancel. After more than a year of waiting, Ted Lasso and AFC Richmond are back on the Apple TV Plus field. Two years have passed since we’ve seen Baby Yoda, so fans will make The Mandalorian season 3 appointment TV this month. There’s more: Succession returns at the end of the month for a last hurrah, and I have to mention that one of the biggest anime series in the world is hitting the screen on March 4 to wrap up its story in Attack on Titan Final Season part 3.

That means some of you will need to keep at least three streamers in rotation this month — including Crunchyroll — if you want to watch these shows immediately when episodes are available. But you don’t have to.

Each month, you probably weigh whether to cancel a streaming service because of the cost and whatever content is currently available. In these iffy financial times, I’d like to offer one strategy: Churn like ice cream.

What’s that? Simply rotate your services. Subscribe, cancel, stream on a different platform, then resubscribe, keeping your favorites in a rotation. This allows you to save money when Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max and so on don’t have the content you want to watch at a given time. Just remember to shut off autorenewal for your monthly subscriptions. Churning may not be an option if you’re sharing your accounts with people outside your household, but if you can work out an arrangement with your streaming peeps, go for it.

To give you a head start this spring, here are my recommendations for which streamers to keep or cancel for March, based on new TV shows and movies (I didn’t consider sports and live TV streaming services) arriving on each platform. Your tastes may be different, but if nothing else, I urge you to at least consider the concept of rotating for savings. It’s easier than you may think.

Watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV Plus

$7 at Apple TV Plus

March streaming service rotation

Keep Cancel
Apple TV Plus X
Hulu X
Netflix X
HBO Max X
Disney Plus X
Starz X
Paramount Plus X
Prime Video X
Peacock X

Keep streaming these services if you’re a fan of their shows

Apple TV Plus: On March 15, it’s Ted Lasso, y’all. That is all.

Netflix: Chris Rock goes live, Shadow and Bone is back and the second half of You drops along with a string of new titles. New releases are listed below, but if you’re mad at Netflix about the upcoming password-sharing fees for the US, do as you will.

  • Sex/Life season 2 (March 2)
  • Chris Rock: Selective Outrage live comedy special (March 4 at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET)
  • Divorce Attorney Shin K-drama (March 4)
  • MH370: The Plane That Disappeared (March 8)
  • You season 4 part 2 (March 9)
  • Luther: The Fallen Sun (March 10)
  • Nike Training Club releases new workouts, including yoga (March 10)
  • Money Shot: The PornHub Story (March 15)
  • Shadow and Bone (March 16)
  • Agent Elvis (March 17)
  • The Magician’s Elephant (March 17) animated original film based on book
  • Waco: American Apocalypse (March 22)
  • The Night Agent season 1 (March 23)
  • Love is Blind season 4 (March 24)
  • Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (March 31) original anime film
  • Murder Mystery 2 (March 31)
Watch Shadow and Bone on Netflix

$7 at Netflix

Disney Plus: Keep streaming Star Wars: The Bad Batch and welcome The Mandalorian season 3 (March 1). You may also want to check out Chang Can Dunk (March 10). But if you’re not a Star Wars fan or don’t have kids who need to watch Disney Plus this month, then cancel it. 

See at Disney Plus

Starz: BMF wraps its second season on March 17, the same day Tariq St. Patrick debuts with more drama in Power Book II: Ghost season 3. With Zeke and Mecca dead, there will be plenty to answer for in the latest installment. Right now, you can sign up for Starz and pay $5 monthly for three months.

power book II characters Cane, Effie, Tariq and Brayden stand around a table in an old warehousepower book II characters Cane, Effie, Tariq and Brayden stand around a table in an old warehouse

Power Book II: Ghost season 3 comes to Starz on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.

Starz

See at Starz

Prime Video: Adapted from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, Daisy Jones and The Six is a new series that will be the biggest drop on Prime Video this month. Begin streaming it on March 3.

Peacock: Bel-Air continues to air weekly. The Poker Face finale drops on March 9, so if you’ve been waiting to binge the show, March is a good time to sign up for Peacock — there’s a free seven-day trial available. You can also stream Premier League soccer and new episodes of NBC shows too like Chicago Fire. If you’re not into any Peacock originals or NBC shows, cancel.

Pause or cancel these streaming services in March

Hulu: If you want, you can keep watching network shows like Snowfall, Abbott Elementary and The Masked Singer or Hulu original Wu-Tang: An American Saga. New drops include Unprisoned (March 10) starring Kerry Washington and Boston Strangler (March 17). It’s likely the new installment of Attack on Titan will stream here too. But if you’d rather wait to binge these titles or you’re not into network TV, pause your subscription for now. 

Paramount Plus: Aside from Star Trek: Picard, Ghosts and a few reality shows, there may not be enough to keep you interested in Paramount Plus for March. But here’s what’s new: The Challenge: World Championship (March 6), School Spirits starring Peyton List (March 9) and Rabbit Hole (March 26) featuring Kiefer Sutherland as a spy.

HBO Max: The Last of Us finale airs on March 12, and Succession returns with its final season on March 26. Depending on your preferences, you might want to cancel HBO Max after The Last of Us ends, especially if you’re not a Succession fan. Friendly reminder that HBO Max now costs $16 a month for the ad-free version. 

Succession s4Succession s4

If you really want to save money, hold off on watching Succession’s final season for a few months.

Claudette Barius/HBO

Save more money by waiting to binge

If you’re not someone who routinely gets FOMO, then a smart method is to wait until the bulk or all episodes of your favorite series land on a platform. That way, rather than pay for a service for two or three months to cover the six- to 10-week run of a show, you can catch up on everything by subscribing for one month. And then repeat the cycle again.

For example, there will be 10 episodes of Succession season 4 on HBO Max. The finale drops around late May, so all episodes of the Roy family’s dysfunction will be available to stream at that time. Though it premieres on March 26 and runs through May, why pay for three months when you can wait to stream it in full anytime in June? The same practice can apply to The Mandalorian’s 10-episode run and 12 episodes in season 3 of Ted Lasso.

Note how much you’re paying per month for each streaming service, and do the math. Apple TV Plus is $7. Netflix is $7 to $20 (until account-sharing fees kick in), Disney Plus is anywhere from $2 to $11 depending on bundles, HBO Max costs $10 or $16, Hulu starts at $8 and Starz runs $9. The others have a base rate of $5 per month. Should you decide to churn, set yourself a calendar reminder to alert you when it’s time to resubscribe or cancel. We’ll see you in April for another streaming rundown. 

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Technologies

Pope Francis’ Funeral: How to Stream Live or Watch the Replay

Here’s how to stream the pope’s funeral very early Saturday, and what you can expect to see during the service.

After a week of global mourning for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, the pope’s funeral will be celebrated on Saturday . Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City (which is very, very early if you’re tuning in from the US or Canada), and he will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. 

The Vatican will be livestreaming the papal funeral and procession, though not the burial, on its YouTube channel as it happens. The funeral will also be televised live on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as on streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus. Due to the time difference, it seems likely that many interested North American viewers will catch it when it’s replayed later on Saturday. Numerous networks will rebroadcast the service later that day.

If you choose to stay up, or get up early, here’s when the live broadcast of the pope’s funeral will air in your time zone in the continental US on April 26:

  • ET: 4 a.m.
  • CT: 3 a.m.
  • MT: 2 a.m.
  • PT: 1 a.m.

The papacy of Pope Francis was notable for the progressive reforms he brought to the Roman Catholic Church. He appointed more than half of the current College of Cardinals and attempted to foster more positive attitudes toward members of the LGBT community and migrants worldwide.

What to expect from the funeral 

The funeral will follow many rituals, though not all traditional protocols will be followed. Most popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, but the AP reports Francis chose the St. Mary Major Basilica to reflect his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary that is located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome).

His funeral will be less elaborate than those of other popes per his own wishes. Francis simplified papal funeral rites last year, permitting his burial outside the Vatican, and emphasizing his role as a bishop rather than as pope (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome).

Previous popes were buried in three coffins: one of cypress, one of lead and one of oak. Francis requested to be buried in a single wooden, zinc-lined coffin and not to be placed in an elevated bier as other popes were.

The coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Basilica and placed on a dais in St Peter’s Square, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will lead the service. After the service, the coffin will return to St Peter’s Basilica before it is carried across the River Tiber and to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial. The ceremony is estimated to end around 2 p.m. local time, or four hours after it begins.

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be the first of nine Masses held daily at St. Peter’s until May 4. This is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church that observes nine days of consecutive mourning. According to Vatican News, a different group of mourners will participate each day, though the Eucharistic celebrations are open to everyone.

Who will attend Pope Francis’ funeral?

Hundreds of people, including world leaders and royals, are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral. 

US president Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social Platform that he and first lady Melania Trump will be at the funeral. This will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term. He is expected to have a seat in the third row, though the Vatican has yet to release an official seating chart. It is tradition for the first row of seats to go to Catholic royalty, and the second row to non-Catholic royals.

Prince William, who is attending on behalf of King Charles, will sit in the second row, which is reserved for non-Catholic royals. Former president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, devout Catholics, will also attend the funeral.

Conclave: What happens next to choose the new pope

After Pope Francis’ funeral, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will vote on his successor in an assembly of cardinals known as a conclave.

There are many matters for the cardinals to settle before the conclave begins, but once it does, it can take days or even weeks to conclude. Two-thirds of the cardinals’ votes are required to elect the next pope. The conclave occurs behind closed doors and the vote tally is never made public.

Read more: Where to Watch Conclave, the Vatican Thriller About Electing a New Pope

Look for the white smoke

The ballots are burned after each round, and chemicals are added to the flames to produce black smoke if there’s no majority. When a new pope has been selected, the chemicals will be added to the flames so they produce white smoke. Crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to watch for the results.

If you’re fascinated by the process, you can watch a dramatized version of the events in 2024 film Conclave.

In the movie, Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who spearheads the election of the next pope while investigating rumors about potential candidates. The film is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris and is completely fictional — though it does represent some of the events of how actual papal conclaves take place. In March, the film won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

You can stream Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, or rent it for $6 on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube or Google Play Movies.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 26, #685

Hints and answers for Connections for April 26, #685.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle features a lot of short words, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That purple category requires a lot of thinking — probably most people will solve it only by solving the other three and having four words left over. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rainbow.

Green group hint: San Fernando ____.

Blue group hint: Think Robert.

Purple group hint: Mixed-up hue words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tint.

Green group: Valley.

Blue group: Bobs.

Purple group: Color anagrams.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tint. The four answers are color, hue, shade and tone.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is valley. The four answers are dale, dell, glen and hollow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bobs. The four answers are Dole, Hope, Marley and Ross.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is color anagrams. The four answers are Dre (red), Gary (gray), genre (green) and lube (blue).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 26, #215

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 215, for Saturday, April 26.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition is tough today. The purple category theme threw me because of one phrase I didn’t know. And let’s hope you’re familiar with college coach surnames. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Try to achieve.

Green group hint: Move through it.

Blue group hint: Sideline bosses.

Purple group hint: Like a carton.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: What one strives for.

Green group: Room to run.

Blue group: College football coaches.

Purple group: Box ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is what one strives for. The four answers are aim, goal, objective and target.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is room to run. The four answers are gap, hole, opening and space.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is college football coaches. The four answers are Day, Lanning, Smart and Stoops.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is box ____. The four answers are lacrosse, office, score and seat.

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