I know I'm new to this site, but I've been trying to find a new way to get releases sooner than waiting for torrents.. last year I signed up for the 10gig/month subscription plan at UseNeXT because of the recommendations from a site I trust. I must say, I am NOT disappointed. Yes, the "top newsgroup page" doesn't reflect the actual top groups anymore.. the lists on the web-site must not have been updated in EONS if you just look at the following (even though the files are no longer retained, naturally).. at the time of this exact posting, the top groups by articles are:
1) alt.binaries.boneless with 47,024,274.
2) alt.binaries.nl with 34,113,845
3) alt.binaries.dvd with 23,874,451
4) alt.binaries.cores with 16,861,724
5) alt.binaries.x with 16,399,844
6) alt.binaries.nordic.dvdr with 13,044,298
7) alt.binaries.hdtv with 12,949,176
8) alt.binaries.multimedia with 11,531,293
9) alt.binaries.dvd.image with 11,523,052
10) alt.binaries.dvd.german with 9,851,114
Keep in mind UseNeXT is a german based 'company', most of its SPEAKING users ARE actually german - rest of us just leech

Top groups by files are:
1) alt.binaries.nospam.teenfem.nonude with 320,545
2) alt.binaries.boneless with 309,307
3) alt.binaries.multimedia with 186,753
4) alt.binaries.nl with 177,716
5) alt.binaries.tv with 150,591
6) alt.binaries.pictures.tease with 149,278
7) alt.binaries.pictures.erotica with 147,376
8) alt.binaries.amp with 120,621
9) alt.binaries.modelsz with 113,498
10) alt.binaries.cores with 110,641
I promise the site is not bad.. see, the thing is, there are a lot of things I download that I do NOT need
right this instant, which is why I've found I like UseNeXT. If I don't need it right away, I can switch to "Unlimited Downloads" and while my download speed reduces drastically (usually from 350-370KB on my 3mb down connection down to around 100KB), it doesn't take away from my 10gig limit per month. Of course, there's the ability to use all 10gigs of unrestricted bandwidth and recharge MANUALLY so you start to use the next month's allotment right away. Retention is around 60-90 days. Oldest I've ever downloaded is 98 days, but I've tried files/articles that are gone by 63 days.
I know this topic is slightly old, but I just wanted to post my good experience with it. It totalled up to 120 gigs total I paid for and used every bit of it (within 5-6 months, although it was a 12 month plan - my "Account" doesn't end until July even though I canceled already - I can STILL use the Unlimited for completely free until then). So while I used all 120gigs I paid for, I've had to have downloaded at least 250 to 300gigs since I signed up last July.
My reason for coming to these forums is to see if I can find a competitor that can match UseNeXT for me.. Right now, I don't have the ability to pay another full-length subscription fee (sadly, unlike Giganews, Americans can't pay month-to-month, it's 12, 9, and 6 month plans respectively). So I can't get new releases within a few hours because I'm stuck using the Unlimited plan right now.. I'll be browsing the forums looking for anything similar, but even Giganews seems a little high priced in comparison to UseNeXT.

It does have the advantage of being able to cancel month-to-month though..