Amazon Prime, Netflix, more streaming services offer free trials

Every day is a new challenge in keeping kids — and adults — entertained during the continuing coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.

So now is not the time to feel bad about being glued to the television, with all the free content being offered at least temporarily by subscription services.

On March 24, Comcast opened up some of its premium content and some on-demand offerings for free to Xfinity X1 and Flex customers, including educational and entertainment content for kids, fitness and TV shows and movies from channels like Showtime, EPIX, CuriositySteam, HistoryVault, The Reading Corner and DogTV.

More than a dozen other popular streaming services also are offering free promo and introductory offers, including:

• Amazon Prime Video: 30 days of free Prime access to original content, movies and TV shows. Even existing Amazon accounts are eligible for the free trial once every 12 months if they’ve had Prime in the past.

• Netflix: 30 days free on all of its tiers, including the $16/month Premium tier with Ultra HD (4K) content. You can open a 30-day trial account with any email address not previously associated with the service.

• Hulu: One month of free trial usage with an email address not previously associated with Hulu for both the ad-supported ($6/mo) and no-ad ($12/mo) tiers. Includes a selection of rotating movies and day-after or week-after access to broadcast and cable TV shows like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Rick & Morty.”

You can also get a one-week trial for Hulu’s cord-cutter service, Hulu TV.

• Disney+: The free trial period is just one week, but having maybe the next-best median content value outside Netflix (Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and every Disney film) makes its $7/month price attractive.

• HBO Now: Binge “Game of Thrones” and every other iconic HBO series free for 7 days. After that, it’s $15/month.

For more deals available from other streaming services, including CBS All Access, YouTube TV, Sling TV and more, check out the list at androidpolice.com.

And if you’re still valiantly trying to combine some learning with your virtual babysitting options, check out more resources here.