Cancelling your Netflix subscription doesn't have to be painful

Summary

Netflix has offered global on-demand streaming of movies, shows, and original content since transitioning from DVD rentals in 2007.
I’ve been subscribed to Netflix for many years, but I recently decided to sever ties with the streaming platform.
After some initial trials and tribulations, I ended up realizing that Netflix isn’t the be-all and end-all.

Like many others, I’ve been a long-time subscriber to Netflix. The streaming platform is near ubiquitous, with it entering the scene and carving out a dominant market position rather early on in the internet-based streaming era.

For the past several years, I’ve been dishing out monthly fees for access to Netflix’s catalog of films and TV shows, and for the most part, I haven’t thought twice about it. My blasé attitude began to change, however, when the company started to raise its pricing tiers on a more frequent basis.

More recently, I became frustrated by the fact that most of the classic sitcoms I love to watch on repeat — including Friends and How I Met Your Mother — simply weren’t available on the platform at the time when I wanted to binge a few episodes.

These gripes ultimately led me to my decision to cancel my Netflix subscription altogether: my plan was to take a break from the platform, at least for the short-to-medium-term future. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was to come away realizing that I never needed Netflix in the first place.

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Netflix

Netflix is a global streaming service offering on-demand access to movies, TV shows, documentaries, and original content. Founded in 1997 as a DVD rental service, it transitioned to streaming in 2007 and now operates in over 190 countries.

Subscription with ads: $6.99
Premium Subscription: $15.49 or $22.99 options
Simultaneous streams: 2-4
# of profiles: 5
Originals: Yes
Live TV: No
Free trial: No

It isn’t 2010 anymore

These days, online streaming options are aplenty

Pocket-lint / Tubi / Netflix

The cold and hard truth is that the media streaming landscape has drastically evolved in recent years. In its earlier days as an online streamer, Netflix enjoyed a near monopoly on content availability — it was a one-stop shop for both blockbuster movies and all the very best TV shows.

More recently, we’ve seen a democratization of the streaming landscape. One by one, intellectual property (IP) owners have pulled their shows and movies off of Netflix, opting instead to launch their own on-demand streaming services.

From my vantage point, Netflix losing out on previously available content makes the platform less appealing on the whole.

If you’re hoping to watch Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic, or Pixar content, you had better be ready to sign up for Disney+. If you’re interested in watching Game of Thrones or The Sopranos, you’ll have to pony up for Max. The list goes on and on: whether we’re talking about Paramount+, Apple TV+, Peacock, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video, each offers its own catalog of exclusive content.

There’s an argument to be made that this recent phenomenon is a wholly negative development — streaming platforms have flooded the market, turning the online streamer space into a sort of ‘cable 2.0’ as it were. Of course, that’s neither here nor there. From my vantage point, Netflix losing out on previously available content makes the platform less appealing on the whole.

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I’ve mended my broken relationship with Blu-ray, DVD, and even VHS

After initially parting ways with Netflix, I spent some time perusing some of the exclusive content available on competing streaming services. I found that the likes of Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and others offer a broad range of content that I wasn’t privy to when I was self-imposingly shackled to Netflix.

I also began using free streaming services like Tubi on a more regular basis. Without the need for recurring subscription costs, Tubi has provided me with a treasure trove of entertaining content (and most recently, even free access to Super Bowl LIX).

However, it was the rekindling of my love for physical media that was the most profound development in my experiment of living a Netflix-less lifestyle. I had forgotten the joy of enjoying the artwork on Blu-ray covers, as well as the tactility of holding an optical disc in my hand.

…it was the rekindling of my love for physical media that was the most profound development in my experiment of living a Netflix-less lifestyle.

With all the extra time on my hands, I even went as far as to pull out a long-forgotten box filled with VHS tapes. To my surprise, the fuzzy image quality and the need to rewind the filmstrip felt both nostalgic and comforting.

There’s also something to be said about real, physical ownership of a media collection. In 20 years’ time, there’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to watch Squid Game on Netflix — I’ve been paying hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the years for a license to access content, with no ownership or physical piece of property to show for it.

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It’s not all bad for Netflix

First-party IP and exclusive livestreams are the logical way forward for the company

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Pocket-lint / Netflix

In my case, I thought that giving up on Netflix would prove at least somewhat difficult, but this simply wasn’t the case. I was operating within my comfort zone, thinking I needed to stay on board simply because I’d always done so in the past.

In actuality, my decision to part ways with the streamer led to a personal renaissance in appreciating and collecting physical media. My lack of access to Netflix also incentivized me to leverage alternative streaming platforms more often, and to check out shows and movies that I’d neglected in the past.

I don’t think there has to be a sense of doom and gloom when it comes to Netflix.

That being said, I don’t think there has to be a sense of doom and gloom when it comes to Netflix; I see a path forward for the company — and no, it’s not venturing into the world of mobile gaming.

Rather, it’s the acceleration of developing exclusive content, driven by first-party intellectual properties, that’ll save Netflix from falling into obscurity. The company needs to continue prioritizing Netflix Originals like Squid Game, Stranger Things, Bridgerton, and Orange is the New Black. These are all examples of content that you won’t find anywhere else, and it gives people like me a compelling reason to return to the platform.

…it’s the acceleration of developing exclusive content, driven by first-party intellectual properties, that’ll save Netflix from falling into obscurity.

The other piece of the puzzle, exclusive live content, is equally important. We’ve seen Netflix jump head-first into live-streaming, including with its exclusive coverage of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match, and the Beyoncé Christmas NFL halftime show, to name just two examples.

If Netflix can maintain a steady stream of exclusive live content going forward (and if it can get its technical buffering issues sorted out), it might just be enough to compel jaded users like myself to resubscribe to the service in the medium-to-long-term future.