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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.

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)

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. 

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

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. 

Technologies

Trump warns ‘we’re going to hit them hard’ after Iran targets U.S. forces in Jordan: Report

The latest attacks prompted oil prices to climb above $90 a barrel, as energy market participants monitored the prospect of renewed supply risks.

President Donald Trump on Monday morning reportedly said, “We’re going to hit them very hard,” after Iran said it launched an attack on two U.S. bases in Jordan in response to an American strike on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

“There will be a response,” Trump said on a call to Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, according to Yingst.

The president also reportedly told Fox that U.S. air defense systems intercepted all but one of the missiles launched at the bases by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and that the remaining missile was allowed to pass through after it was determined that it would not strike anything significant.

The Guard said the U.S. attack on Larak Island killed and wounded several Iranian soldiers, and that it responded with missile and drone attacks on the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media reports.

The strikes “destroyed the technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites,” inflicting “heavy damage,” Iranian military forces reportedly said, while vowing increasingly forceful responses.

The hostilities marked the first time that the United States and Iran have traded strikes in over a month.

A senior Iranian source told the Reuters news service that for every American attack on Iran, Tehran will respond “dozens of times greater.”

“No target in the region is beyond Tehran’s reach,” the source told Reuters.

The source also said that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz will worsen for vessels that violate Tehran’s rules for passage through the strategically critical waterway.

American forces hit two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday after the U.S. military said Tehran’s Guard was preparing rockets carrying sea mines for launch into the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command confirmed to MS NOW.

“Earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement to MS NOW.

“Last week, CENTCOM completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes. U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” he said.

Larak, a small Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, has become a key military and shipping control point for Tehran, used by the Guard to monitor vessel traffic through one of the world’s most important maritime routes.

Sunday’s attack was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. strike on Iranian positions since late July.

The back-and-forth strikes come as the U.S. Defense Department on Monday announced that it had reached seven-year procurement contracts with General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin to increase production quantities and speed up delivery schedules for “critical subcomponents” for systems used to intercept ballistic missiles.

The systems are Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement.

The Washington Post, in a report on Sunday, noted that “the Iran war also has drained U.S. supplies of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors — vital not only to the protection of American assets in the Middle East but to regional allies as well — and long-range Tomahawk missiles.”

“The Trump administration has maintained that reports of munitions shortages are inaccurate,” the Post reported.

The war has dragged on for six months and sharply disrupted vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments.

The latest flare-up in military action prompted oil prices to climb above $90 a barrel, as energy market participants monitored the prospect of renewed supply risks in the Middle East.

International benchmark Brent crude

Trump on Monday extended his military threats against Iran to Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export terminal.

Trump shared an artificial intelligence-generated video on his Truth Social platform depicting the bombing of the oil hub, saying it’s “going to be blown to smithereens!”

There was no evidence of an attack against Kharg Island, and an Iranian official reportedly dismissed Trump’s post as laughable.

On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a supertanker had caught fire and was left disabled in the southern Strait of Hormuz after striking two naval mines, saying they were not complying with Iran’s rules for passage, according to Iranian media reports. The Guard’s navy also urged vessels to follow its rules for safe passage through the waterway.

Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that the U.S. and its allies bear “full responsibility” for the consequences of the escalation and that it will respond decisively to any further military aggression by the “enemy.”

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Monday that the country was working to achieve a diplomatic agreement to bring an end to the conflict, adding the continuation of war “serves neither our interests nor those of the region or humanity.”

Speaking alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kyrgyzstan, Pezeshkian said Monday that the U.S. side “has not fulfilled its commitments,” state media reported.

The U.S. Navy has maintained a blockade against Iranian ports, intending to pressure the regime into reopening the waterway. Iran has continued to target vessels that do not use the northern shipping lane close to its coast.

Another tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting inbound in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, using the southern lane along the Omani coast, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre. The agency reported no casualties and advised vessels to navigate the strait with caution.

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Technologies

Brent Crude Breaches $90 As U.S.-Iran Hostilities Resume

Oil prices soared to $90.34 per barrel after U.S. forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, reigniting tensions between Washington and Tehran.

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Technologies

Brent Crude Surges Beyond $90 Following U.S. Strike on Iranian Launchers

Oil prices surged past $90 after U.S. forces targeted Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, sparking renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran amid an ongoing Middle East conflict.

International crude oil prices surged on Monday following U.S. forces targeting two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, signaling a resumption of hostilities between Washington and Tehran.

Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 3.3% to $90.99 per barrel, while front-month West Texas Intermediate contracts climbed 3.6% to $86.36.

“Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, stated that U.S. forces had indeed struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island earlier that day, noting that IRGC forces appeared preparing to fire rockets equipped with sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz.”

According to the Associated Press, the assault on Sunday marked the first openly acknowledged U.S. operation against Iranian positions since late July.

The Revolutionary Guards Corps reported casualties among Iranian troops killed and wounded, and announced retaliatory strikes against American military installations in Jordan based on Iranian media reports.

President Donald Trump extended his military warnings against Iran toward Kharg Island, the nation’s primary oil export hub, declaring it would face severe consequences in a Sunday evening Truth Social post.

Vessel movement across the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor for global energy shipments, has suffered significant disruption due to the ongoing Middle East conflict now entering its sixth month.

“Supply risk will persist and oil inventories will continue to deplete in the coming weeks and months,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Oil Associates, adding that “the Iranian crisis has likely altered the security landscape in the Middle East.”

Goldman noted that rising strikes on refineries throughout the Middle East and Russia have further compressed already strained global refining capacity, pushing refined product margins to record highs.

—Verum’s Anniek Bao contributed to the report.

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