Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Are you looking for the perfect gift for family and friends seeking instant gratification? Let’s face it; nothing says “I love you” in 2023, quite like a good reason not to leave the house.
To cover all the bases for those with even the most niche interests, here’s the perfect way to show how much attention you’ve paid to what everyone is actually watching and give them a lot more where that came from.
All of the streaming services below, including Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video either offer a way to gift subscriptions directly or via a gift card, which you can get emailed to your recipient directly from the place you’re purchasing it from (including Amazon and Walmart, among others).
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Sling TV
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Photo: Amazon Gift your cord-cutting pal live TV with a gift card to Sling TV. Available from Amazon in amounts between $25 and $100, you can kickstart a Sling TV membership for someone by covering two to three subscription months.
Sling TV has 46 live channels in their combined Blue + Orange, including local news networks, live sports, entertainment networks and more.
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BritBox
The BritBox catalog ranges from classic Doctor Who, and Prime Suspect to quiz panel shows such as QI, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and Cats Does Countdown, to all sorts of comedy classics, including A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Absolutely Fabulous, Blackadder, Gavin & Stacey, The Office, and The Thick of It.
BritBox also has original series, like Stonehouse, which stars Matthew MacFadyen as the real-life PM who faked his own death opposite his wife, Keeley Hawes.
A gift subscription costs $79.99 for a full year of streaming.
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ESPN+
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ESPN ESPN+’s gift subscription are exclusively available in one-year increments. The streaming service lets sports fans watch live sports from the NHL, NFL, NCAA, MLB, and more.
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Disney Plus
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Photo: Disney+ In addition to movies and series from the Walt Disney and Pixar collections, Disney+ also gives parents and fans of all ages access to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all things Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Studios goodies such as The Simpsons. So yeah, you do have to watch Cars and Frozen again. And again.
Disney+ gift cards have a $25 minimum and can be used on Disney+ or the Disney Bundle with Hulu and ESPN+.
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Amazon Prime Video
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Photo: Amazon If, for whatever reason, your giftee hasn’t gotten around to subscribing to Amazon Prime yet, then gifting them with an Amazon Prime account not only brings them into the fold of Prime Video series such as the award-winning Fleabag, The Boys, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but also thousands of other TV series and movies like the exclusive Red, White & Royal Blue.
In addition to access to all this fantastic content, your gift recipient will receive free delivery on almost anything else they may want to be shipped to their door, access to exclusive discounts such as Prime Day, and more.
Amazon Gift Cards (available in denominations from $1-$200) can be applied to Prime memberships. If you want to give a full year, you’ll need to get a $139 gift card. Gift cards can even be applied to VOD purchases, if you wanted to buy or rent movies like Barbie.
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Netflix
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Getty Images If you have Netflix, but someone you love does not, you can buy a Netflix gift card, available online via major retailers, and send that along to your recipient. Netflix will deduct monthly charges according to the recipient’s wishes.
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Hulu
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Photo: Hulu Sadly, you cannot directly gift someone a Hulu subscription. Instead, you’ll have to buy them a Hulu eGift card, available via major retailers online like Amazon and Walmart. Then your recipient will redeem the card on Hulu.
You can also use a Disney+ gift card to subscribe to Hulu with Disney+ in the Disney Bundle.
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Apple TV+
![Apple TV Plus : Illustration]()
Photo: Getty Images Gifting your loved one an Apple TV+ subscription is as easy as purchasing an Apple gift card from Amazon or Walmart. Apple gift cards can be used on anything in the Apple ecosystem, from products to apps to an Apple TV+ subscription. Your giftee will gain access to a library of Apple originals, including Ted Lasso, Severance, Hijack, The Morning Show, and so much more upcoming.
Not sure how much to gift? Apple TV+ currently costs $9.99/month for ad-free streaming.
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Paramount+
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Photo: ViacomCBS With football season ramping up, now is the perfect time to take a look at Paramount+, and plans start as low as $6.99 a month. Here you’ll find a vast library of TV episodes, films, and live sporting events from CBS, Showtime (only on the Premium plan), BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, and more. You’ll also have access to a library of original content, including Star Trek: Lower Decks, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and shows from the Yellowstone universe — 1883 and 1923.
How much to buy, then? Subscription costs run $6.99/month (with ads) or $11.99/month (ad-free with Showtime) after a free week.
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The Criterion Channel
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Photo: The Criterion Channel Look no further than Criterion’s catalog of classics for old-school movie buffs, which includes some 2,100 films available on a rotating basis. Akira Kurosawa. Fellini. David Lynch. Charlie Chaplin. Errol Morris. And so much more, even contemporary classics and modern-day filmmakers espousing their loves of old faves. Gift a one-month subscription for $10.99 or a one-year subscription for $99.99.
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Acorn TV
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Photo: Acorn TV You may have seen ads for Acorn as well as BritBox. Acorn came to our shores in 2011, when it pivoted from DVDs to streaming, much like Netflix. The AMC Networks-owned service is also the exclusive streamer of the acclaimed mini-series Deadwater Fell starring David Tenant and Cush Jumbo.
A one-year gift subscription to Acorn TV currently runs $69.99. There’s also a seven-day free trial.
For more content, check out the Decider Shopping section.
