Whether due to a set-and-forget mentality or fear of missing out on the next big show, it’s all too easy to pay for more TV than strictly necessary.
With TV streaming services costing an average of between £8 and £10 a month, you could be spending more than you think – without gaining much value from the money trickling out of your bank account each month.
What’s more, many families with conflicting viewing desires can end up paying for multiple streaming platforms, just to keep the peace.
Subscriptions are hitting the headlines
IFA Magazine reports that 60% of households spend £21 or more, and 7% of these spend three times that amount.
Considering the ever-increasing cost of streaming your favourite shows and movies, now may be a good time to reassess whether the amount you’re spending is justified.
Indeed, a survey of 1,000 UK adults revealed that:
- 56% find the total cost harder to justify
- 41% have more streaming subscriptions than they need
- 34% are paying for at least one service they rarely or never use.
Meanwhile, 34% also say they’ve continued to pay for a streaming service because they forgot to cancel it.
Even Andy Burnham has stepped into the subscription debate.
Writing for the Guardian, the prime minister pledged that from January 2027, the government would prevent businesses from renewing a subscription without first notifying you and make it “as easy to leave a subscription as it is to join”.
Take a few minutes to review your subscriptions, then rinse and repeat
To avoid paying for something you don’t need carve out a few minutes each month to review which channels you’ve been watching and any platform that you rarely visit.
If, for example, you’ve been subscribed to Netflix for several months, you may be short on quality content you want to watch. If so, cancel and return at a later date, when there should be a whole load of new TV to keep you entertained for several weeks.
Rotating subscriptions and picking up on your favourite shows later is often far more economical!
2 value-for-money TV streaming services and top shows that deliver
Amazon Prime Video
You may sign up to Prime for convenient and cost-effective deliveries, but within the package you can also enjoy Prime Reading, Prime Music, Amazon Luna for games, and of course Prime Video, which has come into its own.
Amazon Prime Video gives you access to award-winning Amazon Originals and pretty much every other streaming platform – meaning all your subscriptions are in one easy-to-manage place.
Following a one-month free trial, Prime costs £8.99 a month or a slightly more economical £95 a year. And students get a generous discount – half-price at £4.49 a month.
Top 3 shows to add to your watch list
- Goliath – created by David E Kelley and starring Billy Bob Thornton – a legal drama with a fantastic cast and class action lawsuits. Watch for great performances, gripping underdog v big business drama.
- Bosch – a gritty crime drama based in downtown LA, based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling novels. If you enjoy all seven series of Bosch, try spin-off show Bosch Legacy – not quite as good as the original, but worth a watch.
- Ride Or Die – a more recent release, Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer deliver a fantastically written action script to perfection. When secret assassin Judith (Waddingham) is forced to reveal her true identity to her best friend Debbie (Spencer), the two friends are catapulted into a high-octane chase around Europe to escape a mysterious enemy. Worth watching for the superb chemistry between the Waddingham and Spencer alone.
Paramount+
With seven days free and plans starting from just £5.99, Paramount+ is a streaming service that delivers, not least because of the wealth of great shows from Taylor Sheridan.
If you haven’t yet discovered Sheridan’s growing list of TV series and movies, you’re in for a treat!
Top 3 shows to add to your watch list
- Landman – written by Taylor Sheridan with Billy Bob Thornton front of mind for the lead role of oil company landman Tommy Norris. Set in the Texas oilfields, Landman has an incredible script. In any single episode, be ready for life and death drama coupled seamlessly with outrageous laugh-out-loud moments. With two series and a third on the way, Billy Bob Thornton is just one of many stars in this stellar cast, which includes Demi Moore, Jon Hamm, and Andy Garcia.
- Yellowstone – with five seasons and multiple spin-off series, this modern day cowboys and Indians tale took us by surprise. The first episode of series one starts in the middle of a battle between John Dutton and his posse of cowboys as they protect the Yellowstone ranch from land developers and an Indian reservation. Set in Montana, this epic series is made for your big-screen TV.
Once you’ve enjoyed all five seasons of Yellowstone, go back in time to 1883, 1923 (starring Helen Mirren), and Marshals.
- The Crow Girl – told across two seasons spanning 12 episodes, this dark psychological thriller stars Eve Myles as DCI Jeanette Kilburn and Katherine Kelly as psychotherapist Dr Sophia Craven. The drama is based on the Scandinavian series of bestselling novels and cleverly tells a complex story involving a string of murders of young men in Bristol that eventually exposes an even darker tale of horrific abuse spanning multiple decades.
Watch for the magnificent performance from Katherine Kelly.
Please note, we are not affiliated with Amazon or Paramount – these are just a couple of the platforms our team know and love!
What are you watching?
In the age of streaming, watching TV has changed from a communal everyone-watching-the-same-show-at-the-same-time experience into fragmented viewing – often years apart.
If you’ve seen a show that’s stuck in your mind, we’d love to know what and where to watch.
Email contactme@kbafinancial.com, drop us a message on Facebook, or call us on 0161 260 2002.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Approved by The Openwork Partnership on 10/09/2026.