Heat Wave Entertainment: Which Streaming Services Deserve Your Summer Subscription?

July’s hottest releases like Cobra Kai, Descendants 4, Élite and The Boys’ finale will keep summer sizzling.

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July’s hottest releases like Cobra Kai, Descendants 4, Élite and The Boys’ finale will keep summer sizzling.
The weather is scorching, and with school out for the summer, many of you are looking for ways to beat the heat. Luckily, July is promising for fans of cult-favorite franchises. Netflix has Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Sweet Home, Cobra Kai and Élite, while Disney Plus serves up Descendants and more Bluey. And if you loved Ugly Betty, you may be interested in Prime Video’s Betty la Fea, a sequel to the original Colombian version of the series. On the live sports side, the Olympics will touch down on Peacock, but don’t forget its price hike this month. While I typically dish out monthly advice on which streamers to keep or cancel, I also want to point out that if you can save money with any of the new streaming bundles, do it. Still, you may want to drop a few services due to pricing and content availability. Keeping that in mind, I have a strategy to share: Churn like ice cream — aka rotate. Take charge of your streaming time and expenses by subscribing, canceling, switching to other services and then resubscribing, ensuring the platforms you want are on rotation. Rotating streaming services can mix things up and save money when Netflix, Hulu, Max and others don’t have content you want to watch at a given time. (Just remember to shut off autorenewal for your monthly subscriptions.) This method may not fly if you’re sharing your streaming accounts, but if you can work it out, go for it.  Below are my suggestions for which platforms to keep or cancel for July, based on new shows and movies coming to each platform. Though I didn’t include any live TV streaming services or niche platforms like Crunchyroll, there’s a wealth of anime series landing this summer. Your preferences may be different, but if nothing else, I urge you to embrace the churn for savings. It’s simpler than you may realize, and don’t forget, a VPN can come in handy too. Read more: Got Kids? Here Are 15 New Movies and TV Shows to Stream This Summer William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, Yuji Okumoto as Chozen in Cobra Kai. Netflix: From Eddie Murphy to Exploding Kittens to K-drama hit Sweet Home, Netflix has a roundup of appealing titles to catch this July: Max: You’re probably watching House of the Dragon, but don’t miss Suicide Squad Isekai if you like anime or the July 4 release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Shark Week begins on July 7, and you can watch a series of shows and movies for the annual event on Max. Disney Plus: Families who love Bluey and Bingo will want to stream the bite-size Bluey minisodes that arrive on July 3. Seven of them will drop at midnight PT, but you’ll have to wait for the rest at a later date. Older kids can check out Descendants: The Rise of Red on July 12, the newest film in the series, which features singers Brandy and Rita Ora as royal moms. And The Acolyte will air its season 1 finale on July 16. Prime Video: The Boys continues to stream each week until its season 4 finale on July 18, and the platform will release a string of other titles: Hulu: Have you streamed The Bear yet? Add the new season to your July watch list and maybe some of these releases:  Peacock: Starting July 26, Peacock will start streaming the 2024 Paris Olympics and will air the games into August. Anthony Hopkins stars in the new gladiator series, Those About to Die (July 18), and the Love Island season 6 finale hits on July 21. Keep your subscription for all that or if you’re a fan of Hallmark’s Christmas in July lineup. Starz: Power Book II: Ghost will take a break after its mid-season finale on July 5 and returns in September. You can take a break, too, unless you plan to stream season 2 of The Serpent Queen on July 12. Apple TV Plus: The streamer is dropping a few new movies and titles, including a Time Bandits reboot on July 24, the film Me on July 12 and Women in Blue on July 31. Land of Women will stream throughout the month, but these are all binge-able if you want to wait. Paramount Plus: SpongeBob’s birthday is this month, so you may want to keep this service for the kids. Kamp Koral season 2 hits on July 10, along with a host of other themed content for the beloved sponge. If you’re not interested in this or Evil, season 4, skip Paramount Plus. If FOMO isn’t a thing for you, waiting until most or all of the episodes of your favorite series are available on a service is a wise strategy. That way, rather than pay for a service for several months to cover the six- to 10-week run of a show, you can catch up on everything by subscribing for one month. And then repeat the cycle again. This works well if you don’t mind being a binge-watcher.  For example, if you prefer to catch up on House of the Dragon’s second season when it’s over, wait until the finale in August to stream Max. After its recent price increase, this can save you a few bucks. Apple TV Plus has several new shows you can postpone for a binge, including the 10-episode Time Bandits. Why pay for two or three months of these services when you can wait to watch these shows in full anytime in the coming months? Your Time Bandits binge can be saved while saving you cash. Think about how much you’re paying per month for each streaming service you have, and do the math. Netflix is $7 to $23 (plus extra member fees), and Paramount Plus starts at $6. Apple TV Plus is $10. Disney Plus is anywhere from $2 to $25 depending on bundles, Max costs $10 to $21, Hulu starts at $8 and Starz runs $10. Peacock’s new price will be $8 a month when its price hike hits. Should you decide to rotate, set yourself a calendar reminder to alert you when it’s time to resubscribe or cancel.  Don’t miss August’s streaming service rundown, which will include The Umbrella Academy, The Rings of Power and a few finales.

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