Monday, March 1, 2021

10 Reasons why I’m quitting Netflix for awhile… I don’t know, maybe forever

 

Last night I was sitting here with Netflix open on my TV, scrolling thru the rows of different movie genres, series, etc. looking for something appealing.

Then I did what I usually do; got tired of browsing and put on ‘live tv’ to MSNBC.

While listening to the usual row of talking heads, I opened my laptop and saw an entertainment news item about streaming service CBS Access becoming Paramount Plus on March 4. 

By the time I went to bed last night, it was 3:10 am and I was a CBS Access-Paramount Plus member (with plans to cancel my Netflix subscription before the next billing cycle).  So what happened before bed?

My Top 10 Reasons why I’m switching from Netflix to CBS All-Access

1.  You can’t beat Netflix only costing $10.00 a month, and there’s a large selection on there… so why do I spend more time hunting for something to watch than actual watching?

2.  CBS Access (becoming Paramount Plus on March 4) is only $4.99 a month if you allow limited ads. 

3.  IF YOU SIGN UP FOR 1 YEAR BY MARCH 4, YOU’LL GET 50% OFF.  I did and it cost me one payment of $29.99.  I’m paid up thru March 2022.

4.  Paramount Plus is coming with an additional 2,500 movies. 

5.  NEW PARAMOUNT (MGM & OTHER STUDIO) MOVIES WILL STREAM AT NO ADDITIONAL COST 4-6 WEEKS AFTER PLAYING IN THEATERS.

6.  IF YOU’RE A STAR TREKKO LIKE ME…  There are three new Star Trek series with a fourth Trek series “Strange New Worlds” coming this year.  Um, this should be my No.1 reason.

7.  The New Twilight Zone.  Stephen King’s The Stand as a series.  The Good Fight, from the makers of The Good Wife.  I’m itching to see these too.

8.  New episodes of Frasier are being produced.  FRASIER.  For this streaming service only.  I think I’m going to cry.

9.  The Smithsonian Channel—an old favorite of mine which was dropped from my ‘Expanded Basic’ cable back in 2013—is included here, with nearly 1,000 documentaries.

10. I enjoyed the first night of service so much I couldn’t bring myself to turn off the tv & go to bed until it was past 3am.  That’s a big difference from hunting & scrolling.

I’m a firm believer in “too much of a good thing” and there’s already too much to watch on cable.  I just figure, 30 bucks gets you an ENTIRE YEAR.  Even if you hardly use it, you can’t beat that.

I should ALSO mention I’m not a sports fan, but apparently Paramount Plus will be very “sports heavy”, with NFL, NBA, The Masters, international stuff.  Hm.

That’s all I have for now—were the commercials too much?  Not really, they were indeed ‘limited interruptions’.  But since I couldn’t fast forward thru them, I used the few breaks to make a cup of coffee, brush my teeth, run to the bathroom. 

Dealing with them reminded me of the old days, before we could record tv shows on our newfangled videocassette recorders and just press FF later.  It looks like we’re right back where we started from!


30 comments:

  1. You are so funny. David subscribes to Netflix, Prime, HBOMax, DisneyPlus. I just tag along for the ride.

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    1. Wow! Well Gigi, he might as well add this--it's only 30 bucks for a year! I try to stay on a budget, so all those packages would break my bank :)

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    2. My wife forgot to mention that I also subscribe to Apple TV. I got a one year free subscription because I bought an IPhone. I checked Paramount out, but the commercials turned me off. I think my plate is full.

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  2. I get Netflix (and Amazon Prime) free through my son-in-law's account, but like you, I often don't know where to start watching. I end up scrolling around a lot! I love Star Trek, so CBS All-Access might be the way to go for me. I don't watch a lot of TV though and pay a lot already for cable. What to do?

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    1. Margaret, you are in the same bucket as me. I don't watch a lot of tv either (except for MSNBC from 8-11pm). I say... GET THE CBS ALL ACCESS WHILE ITS HALF PRICE. You can watch it on your phone, your tablet & most TVs if you have a smart tv or Xfinity. I would've paid 30 bucks for the Trek series alone.

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  3. Like you, I've been toying with cancelling the streaming Netflix. (We still utilize the mail to your door DVD service and like it for seeing movies.) The streaming Netflix seems to have gone stale or my tastes have changed. After searching a long time a couple weeks back, I finally settled on Bloodline but after three episodes, I still don't know what the point of it all is yet. I might give it another episode or two and then stop and cancel Netflix.

    I hate the way everything is going with streaming. Soon, instead of getting all our cable channels from one source and paying through the nose, we are going to have to subscribe to a dozen different sources and probably end up paying through the nose. I guess the one saving grace is that streaming is perhaps more a la carte than traditional cable where you get 150 channels and only 20 that you ever watch anything on.

    So other than the two forms of Netflix, all I have is Prime which is worse than Netflix in my opinion as far as free content but since I like the other aspects of Prime membership, I will probably keep it around.

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    1. Ed, I think you & I were the last people to get Netflix dvds, I finally quit 6 months ago but only because it was taking forever to get discs in the mail! Still (as you know), dvds came with a MUCH wider selection than streaming. I very much miss the days when dvds were the way to go, with more distribution centers and the like. And yes, I think streaming is becoming the main thing, whether we (and cable) like it or not.

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  4. Gosh Laurie, I'm so sorry about your vision problems...it amazes me how people like yourrself can compensate. Well, I thought a lot about Amazon Prime the last couple years, I know it's huge popular. This CBS Access thing was 50% Star Trek & 50% the price. And yes, very agreed about having something during lockdown!

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  5. You tempted me with Star Trek and the Good Fight but I have a dumb TV and would really miss the fast forward button. Sounds like a really good deal though. Enjoy the heck out of it.

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    1. Haha--Patti I have a dumb tv too and frankly I don't WANT a smart tv! But Xfinity includes streaming sites like HBO Max & CBS Access & Netflix on their menu, that's how I watch it on my tv. I can use the FF button for everything but these CBS Access shows, but they're worth the ads!

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  6. I hope you’ll watch all of “Rake” before you leave.

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    1. Peter I don't know if I'll get to all of them, but I will try! It's been a great show and I love that bloke :)

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  7. That does sound like a good deal! Netflix is difficult to find shows on unless you already know what you are looking for. My son gives us Netflix each year as a Christmas gift and there are usually shows on it we enjoy. We also have Amazon Prime because it comes with our Amazon shopping subscription. But like you said, the price you paid for a year makes Paramount Plus worth considering! I'm going to check it out and see what all they offer. Tom would probably like the sports on it. Thanks for telling us about the good deal!

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    1. Thanks Bonnie, let me know what you guys decide! It IS a lot of tv, but 30.00 for a year can't be beat--and yep, a ton of sports!

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  8. It’s true that we end up doing a lot of scrolling to find something good to watch on Netflix and Amazon. In fact, since we watch every night, it’s hard to find something good to watch. We do watch network TV too. sigh... I don’t know. We’ll have to think about this.

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  9. This does sound good though....

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    1. Well Kay, the 50% off is only good until March 4--but you don't have to sign up for a year in advance. If you went with the monthly w/limited adds, it'd only be $4.99 a month. I just know for me personally, it's a better selection. :)

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  10. We have Cable TV but it's basic with no expanded stuff since I can't really sit thru Movies well even if they're good. The Man is the TV Person and he's addicted to his few TV Shows and watching endless reruns of the same thing as if for the first time, since he has Brain Damage and likes the repetition and familiarity of it I suppose? I'd rather listen to Music so on our Cable TV Channels my favs are the Music only Stations that have a specific genre of Music on each Channel.

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    1. Bohemian, I have several Smooth & Classic Jazz and other music channels saved on my cable channel list too. At least they're commercial free. :^)

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  11. MORE Star Trek? Which is exactly what I said when yet another Star Wars movie was made.. enough already!

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    1. Haha--no, I want more Star Trek! So do a lot of others, I think that's how they're getting people to sign on to this new streaming service!

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  12. Glad you are happy with your new streaming choices, Doug. I had dropped Netflix for a year and a half but signed up for it again to watch The Crown, The Queen's Gambit and The Dig. Now it's back to nibbling and spitting out the other fare. I have good old fashioned over the air antenna for PBS and local stations as well as two subscription British streams. But really, I seem to be watching mostly YouTube videos. Happy Trekking, Doug!

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    1. Florence it sounds like you have some good options yourself (and I loved Queen's Gambit & The Dig too, I'll probably be back on Netflix soon). I envy your antenna, in my last apartment I got all the networks over the air and "cut the cord". In my new place, I can only get 1 channel with an antenna. By the way, I think I watch Youtube more than anything too!

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  13. My Netflix just went up to $13.99! So far I am still finding some things I like there but not many. I record old westerns on GRIT and then I can fast forward through the commercials.

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    1. Granny if you lived alone, I would just go with the Basic Plan which is $8.99. You're on the standard plan, which allows you to watch Netflix in HD on 2 different screens at the same time. Hey I used to watch GRIT when I had an antenna at my old apt, that's a great channel!

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  14. As you can see from my latest comment on your previous post, I ended up watching "I Care a Lot" -- I had forgotten I said I wasn't going to watch it. My bad! :-)

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    1. DJan, maybe I was too harsh on the movie--I mean it does have a couple of stellar actors like Dianne Weist & Rosamund Pike, I just didn't like the premise. (But I DID read that it has people talking about seniors & rights, at least.) I'd like to know what you thought of it :)

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    2. Oh I just read your comment about this movie and liked it very much, so on point--thank you DJan.

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  15. So far we're sticking with Netflix (where we find a lot of good stuff) and Amazon (which has a weaker lineup but we get it for the free delivery). We'll keep an eye out for other services, but I can't see paying for three of them.

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    1. Well, I have 3 weeks to decide what to do about Netflix... the few things on CBS Access I like, I REALLY like--but what comes after them? I don't see myself lasting with this stream more than a year...

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