Before you sign up for Disney+, use this calculator to add up the 'true' cost of your streaming [tr]

MarketWatch ^ | November 13, 2019 | Jessica Marmor Shaw & Katie Marriner

[SunkenCiv]

As our calculator shows, the perhaps impulsive addition of just one service to your budget can snowball into a hefty outlay over a hypothetical half-century horizon, particularly when you're looking at that "true" lifetime cost.

Take someone paying for Netflix's NFLX, +0.07% standard subscription and Hulu, with no add-ons. That person is looking at a monthly bill of $18.98, and a lifetime aggregate cost of $19,264. Factor in the opportunity cost -- as represented by how much money could have been made investing that same money in the S&P 500 over those years -- and the lifetime cost balloons to $87,656.

Now tack on Disney+, and you're looking at $25.97 per month, $26,358 over a lifetime and a "true" lifetime cost of $119,938.

It may be hard to put that number in context over a lifetime, but that's well over three times the current median annual income in the U.S. of about $31,000. It's also, however, far less than the $300,000 "true" cost of an iPhone as estimated by MarketWatch columnist Brett Arends.

In a MarketWatch Twitter poll, 58% of people responding said they only intend to pay for one to two services.

Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Sling, Amazon... there are now So. Many. Streaming options. How many are you going to pay for?

[SunkenCiv]

I don’t want it right now — the services I mean.

[Deaf Smith]

Jack Rabbits have very long ears.

Mom used to say she only shot Jacks through the ears, so as to not harm them...

???

Yeah, that is what I thought too.

[cableguymn]

Nope. They do a short free trial and that’s it as far as I know.

[SunkenCiv]

Mom used to say she only shot Jacks through the ears, so as to not harm them...

Good way to make a Jack crap itself all the way to the hearing aid store. :^)

[SunkenCiv]

[mutters] "Two million channels and nothin' to watch...".

[Deaf Smith]

Seeing my Mom now, it is hard to picture her shooting pistols out a car window, back when.

[ZinGirl]

Yup. My daughter and her hubby have it. He has a degree in finance but also a freak IT whiz. $13/month for Disney, Hulu and ESPN. If HE says it’s worth it for now, we believe him. :). The channel has soooo many classic Disney shows/movies. Hubby and I just watched The Imagineering Story. All about how Disney got started. It was really good and fun! Crikey...seeing Kurt Russell as a young one (remember “Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” and “World’s Strongest Man”...which, btw, are on Disney Plus) introducing a 70s segment on how Haunted Mansion came to be was entertaining!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

$23 Android TV Box with Kodi/Taz/CCloudTV and a VPN.

Watch anything you want.

[SunkenCiv]

:^)

[SunkenCiv]

:^)

[glorgau]

... and if you live in a tent rather than some house or apartment, you could save hundreds of thousands over the course of your shortened lifespan.

It’s discretionary spending for entertainment.

[al_c]

Still cheaper than cable.

[Vermont Lt]

If you use that logic, nothing is a good “expense.”

And the problem with the “take the money an save it” is that it normally never happens.

I used to use this BS when I was selling cable TV in the early 1980’s. “Its just a dollar a day...”

[Vermont Lt]

Most of the folks around here will be thrilled to see 2025.

[minnesota_bound]

Try the free Pluto TV app.
I can watch James Bond films on the 007 channel.

Disney Plus is $6.99 a month. Where do they get $25.97 a month?
https://www.disneyplus.com/

[Swarthy Greek Immigrant]

I signed for the free one year version because I have unlimited data plan from Verizon. I will cancel at the end of the year.

[abb]

The Johnny Mercer version is superior, imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rkEtnhf0J4
Johnny Mercer & Pied Pipers - Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah 1947 Paul Weston & His Orchestra

[TennesseeGirl]

I signed up for Disney+. I was really looking forward to seeing the classics again. Unfortunately, my Roku is too old. The modelI have is a 25900X. Can’t get the Disney+ app on it. Sorry, Disney. I won’t be spending money to upgrade my Roku just so I can watch Disney+. I have absolutely no desire to sit my 4 year old granddaughter down with my laptop.

[TennesseeGirl]

Crap. Correction: my Roku model is a 2500X.

[SunkenCiv]

Roku’s got to address the problem they have with their remotes — the new one has the same unreliability at sending the signal to the Hitachi TV (Roku is built in) that the Roku 1 I got for the old-style TV. Obviously the new one has a better picture (4K), and the Roku remote (other than those shortcut buttons which are just a nuisance and in a nuisance location) size, layout, and simplicity is the best there is and has been that way from the first time I’d ever used one (somewhere I still have my Roku 3, pretty much loved that one).

The Roku stick I’ve used for the smaller flat screen used to have the occasional problem, but used radio signal instead of infrared, and was much, much more reliable. The main problem with the stick has been when it’s been on for hours, the temperature increase makes it slower to respond to commands, or just refuses to connect.