February Is Full of Wins if You're Streaming TV, but You Might Want to Cancel 3 Services

February means it's all about the big game, whether you're a cord-cutter or not. You can stream Super Bowl 58 without cable on Paramount Plus, and even outside of sports, this month is stacked with tons of must-see content. Your streaming subscriptions will be put to good use, so it will be hard to let any of them go. But we'll guide you to which services are offering the best shows and movies. 

Netflix has Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the streamer is receiving licensed titles such as Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken and HBO's Warriors. Oppenheimer hits Peacock, and Hulu won't disappoint with Abbott Elementary and its FX originals like Shogun. Not only does this month offer abundant releases and live sports, but most are top quality (that means Max's Tokyo Vice too). Still, you could be tempted to shed a subscription or two to save a few bucks. 

Every month, you may need to weigh whether to cancel a streaming service because of cost and the content that's currently available. In this current financial climate, I'd like to offer one strategy: Churn like ice cream, aka rotate.

How to do it? Subscribe, cancel, roll with a different service, then resubscribe, keeping your favorites in a rotation. Rotating streaming services can be a money-saver 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 with your posse, go for it. 

Here are my suggestions for which streamers to keep or cancel in February, 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. It's 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

These streaming services are keepers in February

Paramount Plus: You already know you need this for the Super Bowl. If you're new to the service, there's a 7-day free trial available, and if you decide to stick around, Halo season 2 drops on Feb. 8. Here's what else is coming: Korean series A Bloody Lucky Day (Feb. 1), The Tiger's Apprentice animated film (Feb. 2), Past Lives (Feb. 2) and the Grammy Awards (Feb. 4).

Hulu: In addition to network shows, Hulu has lots to offer in the realm of originals. A peek at what's arriving is below.

• Feud: Capote vs The Swans (Feb. 1) 
• Love & WWE: Bianca and Montez reality series (Feb. 2) 
• Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold (Feb. 5) 
• Abbott Elementary (Feb. 8)
• The Pod Generation starring Emilia Clarke (Feb. 16) 
• Life & Beth, season 2 (Feb. 16) 
• American Idol (Feb. 19)
• The Good Doctor, Will Trent and The Rookie all have new season premieres arriving on Feb. 21
• Shogun, an FX series (Feb. 27)

Netflix: Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the biggest releases this month, but here's a look at other titles.

• The Tourist (Feb. 1)
• Orion and the Dark (Feb. 2)
• One Day (Feb. 8)
• A Killer Paradox (Feb. 9)
• Love Is Blind (Feb. 14)
• Players - a film starring Gina Rodriguez and Tom Ellis (Feb. 14)
• The Vince Staples Show (Feb. 15)
• Ready, Set, Love (Feb. 15)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (Feb. 22)
• Mea Culpa featuring Kelly Rowland (Feb. 23)
• Formula 1: Drive to Survive (Feb. 23)

Disney Plus: If you want to watch The Marvels, now is the time to stream it (Feb. 7) along with Genius: MLK/X (Feb. 2), Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold (Feb. 5) and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, season 3 (Feb. 21). Otherwise, you can skip Disney Plus. 

Prime Video: You'll find Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Feb. 2) and Upgrade (Feb. 9) as the biggest releases. If you have a standalone Prime Video subscription and you're not interested in these titles, drop it. Remember, Amazon now charges $3 a month if you want to stream without ads. 

Max: It's the end of Curb Your Enthusiasm when the final season kicks off on Feb. 4. Tokyo Vice season 2 drops on Feb. 8, and the Puppy Bowl streams on Feb. 11. True Detective: Night Country airs its finale on Feb. 18. It's your call whether this service is worth keeping for the entire month and into March.

You might want to cancel these services

Peacock: Stream here for Kings from Queens: The Run DMC Story (Feb. 1) and Oppenheimer (Feb. 16). Take a break after streaming Oppenheimer or keep streaming live sports, reality shows and the Chicago franchise. Don't cancel if you have that one-year discount for Peacock where you're only paying $2 a month.

Starz: Cancel after the Raising Kanan finale on Feb. 9 unless you want to stream Hightown season 3.

Apple TV Plus: The New Look debuts on Feb. 14, and Masters of the Air will stream into March. These are high-quality series, but unless you must watch them each week, I'd hold off on Apple TV Plus for now. 

Waiting can save money and time

Waiting until most or all of the episodes of your favorite series land on a platform is a wise strategy if you don't get FOMO. 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, The New Look and Masters of the Air have 10-episode seasons with weekly episodes. Why pay for two or three months of Apple TV Plus when you can wait to watch it in full anytime in April? If you're keeping Max for Curb Your Enthusiasm (10 episodes) or Tokyo Vice (also 10 episodes), why not hold off until April or May after they wrap? 

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 $20, Hulu starts at $8 and Starz runs $10. Peacock has a base rate of $6 a month. Should you decide to rotate, set yourself a calendar reminder to alert you when it's time to re-subscribe or cancel. 

See you in March for another streaming service forecast.