How much do your subscriptions cost you a month and — as the old video piracy ads used to ask — have you got what you paid for?
According to Deloitte's Media & Entertainment Consumer Insights 2023 report, Australian households have an average of 3.2 subscriptions, with streaming video on demand (SVOD) services making up the bulk of those, at 2.6 subscriptions per household.
Reviewing what you're paying for some of these subscriptions and what you're getting in return can be a good place to start if you're looking to cut household expenses.
A few 'little' subscriptions can add up to a lot
Average Australian household spending on video streaming dropped from $62 to $57 a month last year, but reviewing what you're watching — and what it's costing you — can still be an eye-opening experience.
Financial educator Lacey Filipich says what seems like a small impost for a subscription can quickly become a big monthly expense when you sign up to multiple services.
"Subscriptions feel like tiny little drips because, individually, they're small amounts — they might be $10–$20 — but when you add them up, it's a lot of money," Ms Filipich says.
"People will look at their bank or credit card statement and go, 'Wow, I'm using five services that I'm paying for and I'm probably only using two', and that's when you want to say, well, I don't need the other three."
As Dan Barrett, a television and media critic and publisher of the Always be Watching newsletter points out, people have a finite number of hours to watch television shows and movies each week.
"I would suggest that on average, most people probably need no more than about three different services [at any one time]," he says.
"If you've got very specific interests — say, sports or anime or horror — maybe you'll want to get a specialty service on top of that, but I think for most people, three services is probably about it."
Ms Filipich only ever subscribes to one paid streaming site at a time, which she says works for her family.
"For some people who like to watch all the different shows … maybe they do need five subscriptions, but we're fine just having one. We watch what's on that one and then cancel it when we're ready to change to another one," she says.
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
It can be easy to fall into what's been termed a "subscription trap", with the process of cancelling or unsubscribing to a service far more confusing and difficult than it is to sign up in the first place.
Ms Filipich says there has been a change in ecommerce trends over the past couple of years and customers are much more willing — and likely — to cancel a service for a period and re-subscribe at a later date, which she says means it's in providers' best interests to make it easier for people to cancel their subscriptions.
"If they've made it hard for you to cancel, and you remember that, you're much less likely to go with them again. They recognise [making the process of unsubscribing difficult] is not a benefit for them anymore."
It's a sentiment echoed by Mr Barrett, who says "the benefit for the consumer is that a lot of these streaming services, you can turn on and turn off — all you need to do is go into your account settings and turn it off".
"It's not like the old days where you had to ring someone up on the phone to cancel it. It's now very consumer-friendly."
He adds that customer retention is an increasing problem for providers, who have changed some of their approaches accordingly.
"If you've watched streaming services lately, you may have noticed that they've gone from less of a binge model where an entire season is dropped on one day, to episodes being dropped in batches or going out weekly.
"This is to keep viewers subscribed for multiple months on end for a show that they otherwise could have watched within a weekend and then cancelled their subscription."
Other ways to save money on digital subscriptions
If you can stand the thought of going without a particular service for a month or two, it might be worth your while, as SVOD providers will often offer enticements such as a free month. Music streaming, audiobook and professional networking sites may offer two or three months' access to their premium subscription products for the price of one.
"If you're willing to wait that time — and it's purely opportunistic, you don't need it permanently — that's a great way to go," Ms Filipich says.
"Playing hard to get for a month or two by clicking on the site, signing up for something so they've got your email or they're tracking you, so they go 'hey, they nearly bought, let's see if we can tempt them', that can be a great way to go if you don't mind waiting."
You should also make sure you are not unnecessarily subscribing to a tier you're not making the best use of; for instance, a premium subscription for high resolution your television doesn't support, or additional screens or devices you are not going to use.
"You might have upgraded for a family access package and the kids aren't at home anymore, but you're still paying for four people to be able to access it."
Mr Barrett says some platforms still have discounts for annual subscriptions, and other platforms have started to bundle services together to a slightly discounted price to make their platforms a one-stop shop.
"One of the things that consumers are looking for at the moment is centralised billing," he says.
"It's very easy to lose track of what you're subscribing to when you're getting random bills every couple of days for different types of things, so you will find more consumers are moving towards platforms which have their own centralised service, where you can subscribe to other services through that platform."
But he also warns that some add-ons offered by certain providers when you subscribe directly, such as free shipping and annual discounts, are not always available through third-party bundling.
Don't forget about free SVOD and libraries
In addition to free SVOD services such as ABC iview and ad-supported services from the major broadcasters, public libraries also provide access to thousands of audiobooks, movies, documentaries and series — free of charge with library membership.
"Plenty of local libraries also have digital subscriptions to magazines, for example, or newspapers, and because they're digital subscriptions, you can do it from home now, you don't have to go to a library," Ms Filipich says.
