While today's cord cutters are replacing their former TV-viewing activities with popular streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, the shift away from linear television on to on-demand, online streams has allowed a variety of niche services to pop up, too. Available for a few more dollars per month, viewers now have the option of further customizing their over-the-top video content bundles by subscribing to both premium and niche services offering everything from high-quality television drama, as with HBO NOW's original programming; kids' fare, as with Nick's Noggin; or, more recently, made-for-TV movies as with Lifetime's new video-on-demand app; and much more.

The problem, of course, with the unbundling of content in this manner is that you'll soon reach the point where your monthly expenditures on streaming video are no longer cheaper than cable TV.

Unbundling Can Get Pricey

Think about it this way – if you're already paying for Netflix ($8.99/mo, unless you locked in at the older $7.99/mo rate), Hulu ($7.99/mo) and Amazon Prime ($99/year aka $8.25/mo), then you're spending $25+ on your core line-up. If you add on HBO NOW and Showtime, or perhaps a TiVo subscription for your fancy cord-cutters' DVR, then you could easily double that or more.

The trick to keeping things affordable, then, may be about knowing which add-on services you want to subscribe to and when. For example, you may want HBO NOW while "Game of Thrones" is airing, but then choose to cancel it until the show returns for its next season. This will require a lot of juggling on your part, but it also gives you the option of stretching your dollars and being able to sample some of the other on-demand options that are out there.

So how many on-demand streaming services are available, beyond the big three? Quite a few, as it turns out. As a cord cutter myself as of the beginning of this year, I've begun making a list of the additional streaming services that are available today – and it's extensive. The majority of these services allow for cross-platform viewing, meaning web/desktop, mobile and TV, though some are limited in terms of which streaming media players they support.

Instead of sharing a massive list of the long tail in video streaming, I'm choosing to highlight a handful of notable services below. This is by no means a definitive list, and it's also a U.S.-centric one, to be fair.

Niche Content Abounds

For starters, there are already a number of places offering movies for rent, download or streaming, like Crackle, M-Go, Popcornflix, SnagFilms, VUDU, Warner Archive, CinemaNow, and more. Just browsing through your Roku channel options will present you with more choices than you probably will ever need, given the big three's already expansive movie lineup.

Then there are dozens of niche services that span genres. For example, you can find comedy on Funny or Die, watch video games on Twitch, music on Vevo, anime on Crunchyroll, and webseries or other YouTube creator content on Vessel. I've even caught myself watching Periscope's live streams instead of turning on the TV in recent days.

Meanwhile, on mobile and the web, you'll also find that a lot of the TV networks also offer their own dedicated apps where you can view at least some of their content for free. Many of these are "TV Everywhere"-enabled, which means they open up the gates to pay TV subscribers who can then watch more shows.

And let's not forget that there are sites like YouTube and Vimeo; storefronts like iTunes, Google Play and Amazon; and DVRs for antenna users that let you watch and stream back the over-the-air programming you've recorded.

In other words, you're not lacking for options when you cut the cord.

But if you're looking to flesh out your lineup with a little more content this year, below are some newer and more interesting services you can try, as well as a couple for your kids.

Beyond Netflix: The Rise Of Niche Subscription Video

HBO NOW – $14.99/month

HBO's launch of its standalone service HBO NOW this spring was one of the larger announcements in the video streaming market this year. At $15 per month, it's a decidedly premium addition – nearly double the cost of some of its competitors. But HBO was betting on the popularity of its "Game of Thrones" TV series to bring new subscribers in, and that trick appeared to have worked. Its iOS app topped the App Store's revenue charts in May, and held a strong position throughout June as well