My September Streaming List Includes Keeping Netflix, Disney Plus and Max. Here's Why

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NFL season is kicking off its complicated broadcast schedule, and that means some of you will need streaming services like Peacock or Prime Video to catch all the games. But September also rings in the start of fall TV season, launching show premieres for Agatha All Along, The Penguin, The Golden Bachelorette, Power Book II: Ghost and more. Hulu, Netflix, Max and Disney Plus have varied lineups that include Studio Ghibli releases, the upcoming presidential debate, originals, a hot-dog eating contest and true crime stories based on the Menendez Brothers and Aaron Hernandez. It may be hard to decide which streaming services to skip right now.

Though you can sign up for bundles like the Disney Plus/Hulu/Max package or StreamSaver to keep your budget in line, every month you might think about canceling a service for your budget's sake. And every month, I offer advice on which subscriptions to drop or keep. Household expenses are up, so I'd like to offer one strategy to keep streaming costs down: Churn like ice cream, aka rotate.  

It's fairly easy. You subscribe for a time, cancel, switch to another service and then resubscribe, keeping your favorites in a rotation. Rotating streaming services can mix things up and save money when Netflix, Disney Plus, Max and others don't have the 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, try it. 

Here are my suggestions for which platforms to cancel or keep in September, based on new shows and movies (I didn't consider live TV streaming services) coming to each platform. Your tastes may be different, but if nothing else, I urge you to at least consider the concept of rotating for savings. Doing it is easier than you might think. And remember, a VPN can also be a useful tool when you're streaming. 

Read more: 50 TV Shows We're Looking Forward to Watching in 2024

Hold on to these streaming services in September

Disney Plus: Marvel's Agatha All Along drops on Sept. 18 with two episodes, and you can also stream the presidential debate here on Sept. 10. Other arrivals are Dancing with the Stars season 33 (live premiere on Sept. 17), LEGO Pixar: BrickToons (Sept. 4) and LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy (Sept. 13). 

Netflix: There's a lot happening with the live Chestnut vs. Kobayashi hot-dog eating contest, along with the return of Emily in Paris, Selling Sunset and Gyeongseong Creature. A crop of new movies, docuseries and shows will arrive like Rebel Ridge, Uglies, Nicole Kidman's The Perfect Couple, Twilight of the Gods and Rez Ball. Peep Netflix's newest drops:

• Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef (Sept. 2)
• The Perfect Couple starring Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber (Sept. 5)
• Rebel Ridge (Sept. 6)
• Selling Sunset, season 8 (Sept. 6)
• The Circle, season 7 (Sept. 11)
• Emily in Paris, s4 part 2 (Sept. 12)
• Uglies (Sept. 13)
• Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies (Sept. 16)
• Cocomelon, season 11 (Sept. 16)
• What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates (Sept. 18)
• Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Sept. 19)
• Twilight of the Gods (Sept. 19)
• The Queen of Villains (Sept. 19)
• His Three Daughters (Sept. 20)
• Mr. McMahon (Sept. 25)
• Nobody Wants This (Sept. 26)
• Rez Ball (Sept. 27)
• Gyeongseong Creature season 2 (Sept. 27)

Starz: Power Book II: Ghost season 4 returns on Sept. 6 to start airing the last five episodes of the entire series. Starz also debuts Three Women on Sept. 13, starring Shailene Woodley, Betty Gilpin and DeWanda Wise.

Hulu: Like Disney Plus, Hulu is streaming the presidential debate this month. FX has a full slate, and ABC fans can stream Doctor Odyssey and Grey's Anatomy season 21 on Sept 27 on Hulu, one day after they premiere on the network. Releases to catch on the platform include: 

• English Teacher (Sept. 3)
• Tell Me Lies, season 2 (Sept. 4)
• The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (Sept. 6)
• How to Die Alone (Sept. 13) 
• The Old Man, season 2 (Sept. 13)
• Emmy Awards (Sept. 16)
• American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez (Sept. 18)
• The Golden Bachelorette (Sept. 19)
• Grotesquerie (Sept. 26) 

Max: On Sept. 6, Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron will stream in the US only. Max also has The Penguin premiering on Sept. 19 and theatrical films Civil War (Sept. 13) and I Saw the TV Glow (Sept. 20) hitting the platform. 

Peacock: You'll need this service for NFL games if you're a football fan, but here's what is else coming: Bel-Air finale (Sept. 5), Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist series debut with 3 episodes (Sept. 5), The Voice (Sept. 24) and all the Chicago franchise shows (Sept. 27). Peacock is dropping roughly 100 horror movies this month too. If none of these interest you or you'd rather wait to binge next month, drop it to save a few bucks.

Prime Video: Besides Thursday Night Football, you can keep watching The Rings of Power each week, and if you're into the royals, stream A Very Royal Scandal on Sept. 19. Otherwise, if you have a standalone Prime Video subscription and you're not interested in these, then skip it for the month. 

Skip these and wait to binge

Apple TV Plus: Don't cancel if Pachinko is a weekly must-watch or if you want to streamSlow Horses season 4 (Sept. 4). The other major drop is the Brad Pitt-George Clooney film, Wolfs, which hits the platform Sept. 27.

Paramount Plus: Paramount Plus is a toss-up. NFL games will stream here, along with Apartment 7A -- a sequel film to Rosemary's Baby that drops on Sept. 27. Tulsa King season 2 also arrives Sept. 15, but if you're not a fan of these, then drop it in September. 

Being patient saves money on streaming

Wait things out until most or all of the episodes of your favorite series are available on a platform, especially if you don't get FOMO. That way, rather than paying 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 repeating the cycle again. This works well if you don't mind being a binge-watcher. 

For example, The Penguin has eight episodes that will air until Nov. 10, and Slow Horses will stream into October. You can binge the entire seasons later this fall rather than pay for months of a platform. Similarly, Hulu offers several ongoing titles like Grotesquerie, The Old Man and The Golden Bachelorette that will air for several months. You can start watching a month or so later in the season or wait to binge it all in November or December. 

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 $8. Apple TV Plus is $10. Until October, Disney Plus is anywhere from $2 to $25 depending on bundles. Max costs $10 to $21, Hulu starts at $8, Starz runs $11 now and Peacock has a base rate of $8 per month. Should you decide to rotate, set yourself a calendar reminder to alert you when it's time to re-subscribe or cancel. 

We'll be back in October for another streaming service breakdown.