Technologies
Don’t Feel Obligated to Pay Over $100 on Streaming TV. Try This Instead
Tighten up your monthly subscription budget for Netflix, HBO Max and your other favorite platforms.
Between the impending rollout of Netflix’s account-sharing fees and a wave of streaming service price hikes, it may feel like a luxury to stream. If you add up the costs of each platform, you may discover you’re spending over $100 a month. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Let’s say you’re subscribed to multiple streaming platforms, you watch one or two of them until your favorite series ends its season, then look for the next thing. But is it worth keeping all those accounts active if you’re not watching anything on them? I don’t think so.
Have a look at this budget-conscious strategy to help you save on your streaming TV expenses.
Rotate all your streaming subscriptions
For cord-cutters, shifting from cable to streaming can be a wise financial move. Because you’re able to sign up for monthly plans, it’s easy to jump into a streaming service and jump out when prices increase or content gets dull. But according to Deloitte’s 2022 Media Trends report, the main reasons people cancel their streaming subscriptions are because of costs and lack of fresh content. Media companies call this behavior «churn.» We’re calling this the rotation method, and you should try it.
The incentive? You save your coin and avoid content droughts. Let’s say a popular show like Ted Lasso or The Masked Singer is set to premiere on a streaming service. Find the total episode count and wait until they’re all available at once on a platform. You cancel Apple TV Plus, Hulu, Disney Plus or other service and then, once all the episodes are available, resubscribe to catch up. Alternatively, you can start streaming a show midseason to cut costs. My monthly guide on which streaming services to cancel can help you keep up.
The downside? You won’t have immediate access to every show you want to watch and will have to wait until the full season airs. And since many streaming services release new episodes weekly, you might not be caught up at the same time as your friends. If you’re someone who prefers to watch episodes immediately when they drop, you may decide it’s worth it to have multiple subscriptions at a time. If you have patience, however, you can save some money.
The strategy can also work if you have a live TV streaming service to watch a particular sport or major event like March Madness. Once the season wraps, cancel the service or move to a cheaper platform with fewer channels, like Sling TV.
Need help figuring out the best way to rotate? Follow the tips below to learn how to churn streaming platforms until your wallet feels content.
Why pay for three months of Apple TV Plus to watch Ted Lasso’s final season when you can watch all 12 episodes in May for the price of one month?
Apple TV PlusTip No. 1: Cancel your subscription before getting charged
Set calendar reminders for your billing cycle and upcoming TV show or movie release dates. Give yourself enough warning to begin or end a subscription. Apps such as JustWatch, TV Time and Hobi help you track when and where TV shows and movies appear on a streaming service. And JustWatch added a tracker specifically for sports. If you have a smart home device from Google or Amazon, you can set reminders for specific dates and allow a voice assistant like Alexa to notify you of an upcoming bill or streaming release date.
Tip No. 2: Sign up for streaming service deals
Look for discounts on streaming services. For example, Starz is now $3 per month for three months, a drop from its regular $9-a-month rate. You can also take advantage of the Disney Bundle, which provides access to Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus in a single package for a reduced price. And eligible Hulu subscribers can add on Disney Plus for $2. Lastly, be sure to check with your mobile carrier to see which ones offer free streaming subscriptions.
Tip No. 3: Pick one or two default streaming services
Subscribe to one or two must-have services for the year, and select only one or two more options to fit your monthly budget. Rotate the bonus service(s) according to what you want to watch, ensuring you don’t miss your favorite shows while sticking to your monthly spending cap.
Tip No. 4: Use monthly billing only
Avoid annual subscriptions and pay attention to your auto-renewal payment dates. Your billing cycle can help determine when it’s the best time to quit a service, even if you’ve only signed up for a free trial. The only advantage to signing up for an annual plan is when the price is drastically cut down.
Tip No. 5: Don’t cancel your subscription, pause it
Hulu allows you to pause your subscription for up to 12 weeks, and Sling has a similar option with stipulations. Check with your streaming provider to see if you can take a temporary break without canceling.
Give it a shot, and if you don’t like it you can always resubscribe. For more excellent tips on streaming TV, check out this guide to Netflix’s hidden tricks and our tips on the best VPNs.
2023’s Best TV and Streaming Shows You Can’t Miss on Netflix, HBO, Disney Plus and More
Technologies
AI Trusted Less Than Social Media and Airlines, With Grok Placing Last, Survey Says
More Americans are concerned about the loss of personal interaction from AI than they are about potential job loss.
Google Gemini is the most trusted AI platform among its competition, but many people still have concerns about the technology, according to an American Customer Satisfaction Index poll released Thursday.
In ACSI’s results, AI scored an overall customer satisfaction score of 73 on a scale of 0 to 100, which the authors noted was slightly below social media (74), airlines and mortgage lenders, but in line with energy utilities.
Of the five platforms mentioned in the survey, Google Gemini led with 76, followed by Microsoft Copilot (74), Claude and ChatGPT (both 73), and Grok and Perplexity (both 71). Meanwhile, TikTok (77) and YouTube (78) both scored better than the AI platforms.
Gemini is one of the most prolific AI services, with access via smart speakers, TVs, phones and computers, while most ChatGPT users access the AI tool via the ChatGPT website or mobile app, and Grok via social media platform X.
The ACSI poll found that 43% of respondents said reduced human-to-human interaction is their main concern, followed by job loss for future generations (37%) and their own job risk (31%), based on interviews with 2,711 US adults.
Baby Boomers were the most skeptical generation in the poll, with 35% saying they are very concerned about AI’s effects, compared to just 6% who view it extremely favorably.
Disconnect between AI adoption and perception
While platforms such as ChatGPT have up to 1 billion weekly users, there is still a disconnect between AI’s adoption and public perception of it, which is driven by concerns over privacy, the spread of misinformation and the loss of jobs.
«Consumers spent the last decade learning to distrust how social media platforms handle their data, and AI’s privacy scores suggest they’re carrying that skepticism forward,» said Forrest Morgeson, associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and director of research emeritus at the ACSI.
21% reported an «extremely favorable» outlook toward AI, while an equal 21% said they are «very concerned about the consequences.»
These results were in line with another poll published by YouGov this week, which found that only 29% think the positive effects of AI outweigh the negative ones, while 36% think its net effects are negative.
It’s worth noting that more than half of the people interviewed (56%) had no recent experience with AI, but of the 44% who did, half of them use AI at least once a day, and the usage went up with people who earned over $100,000 a year.
Last month, an NBC poll suggested that AI was one of the least-liked things in America, but it was still more popular than the Democratic Party.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 18, #1042
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 18, No. 1,042.
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 NYT Connections puzzle features a fun purple category that’ll require you to spot certain beverage names. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times 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 the 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: Wow!
Green group hint: Plug it in.
Blue group hint: Cinderella team.
Purple group hint: Drink up.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Look at with awe.
Green group: Basic electricity terms.
Blue group: Unexpected winner.
Purple group: Starting with soda brands.
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 look at with awe. The four answers are goggle, marvel, stare and wonder.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is basic electricity terms. The four answers are AC, DC, power and voltage.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is unexpected winner. The four answers are dark horse, long shot, sleeper and underdog.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is starting with soda brands. The four answers are crushworthy, Fantagraphics, frescade and pepsinogen.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 18, #572
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for April 18, No. 572.
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.
Hockey fans, today’s Connections: Sports Edition is for you. All four categories are hockey-related. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for 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: Fire it into the net!
Green group hint: Lord Stanley’s hardware.
Blue group hint: Where hockey teams play.
Purple group hint: Put the biscuit in the basket.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Types of hockey goals.
Green group: Last four teams to win the Stanley Cup.
Blue group: NHL arena names.
Purple group: Hockey terms that are also food items.
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 types of hockey goals. The four answers are empty net, even strength, power play and short-handed.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is last four teams to win the Stanley Cup. The four answers are Avalanche, Golden Knights, Lightning and Panthers.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is NHL arena names. The four answers are Ball, Canadian Tire, Capital One and TD.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is hockey terms that are also food items. The four answers are apple, biscuit, grinder and icing.
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