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How Many Streaming Services Is to Many?
Thread starter Zardnaar
Zardnaar
As the title says.
At one point we had four now we have two. Most we didn't pay for as they came bundled with ISP deals. For example Netflix was free and we got lightbox for free with the internet. The price didn't go up even if we are technically paying for the ISP.
We changed to a new company paid for Netflix and picked up Amazon prime and some technical difficulties so only really had it for a few weeks.
I'm paying for another one. But wait there's even more. Hulu, Disney Plus, CBS, HBO are all jumping on the bandwagon.
Now theres a limit of time and money and a big problem is a relative lack of content. Netflix for example looks big but we've had it for three years so have watched a lot of back catalogue.
There's some good shows on it but I watched half a season of Orange is the New Black today and in the last few weeks Stranger Things, Designated Survivor, and Black Mirror. Also enjoyed House of Cards.
An older show with a lot of seasons of 20 plus episodes and 7 to 10 seasons can keep you busy for a while but a lot if shows are 10 or 12 episodes. One day of binge watching on a day off on or a few nights and that season is done. Netflix only has a handful of good originals.
The new Disney plus looks really starved for content. Most if the Star Wars movies, The Mandalorian, and something with Jeff Goldblum for new shows. Only 4 movies of the MCU.
Let's assume the Mandalorian is really good, Rebels or Clone Wars good. You can bang that out fairly fast then what?
Amazon Prime has The Man in The Iron Castle and some other OK shows, but the good stuff is mainly older shows you have already seen or own. Decent amount of movies though and some 80s stuff as well.
Outside Amazon and Netflix the others don't seem to have that much. All of them suck for UI, Amazon was even more annoying than the local NZ one which while small had more quality content than Disney will have on launch.
The smaller ones seem to only have 1 show that's "must see", CBS pushed Star Trek, Disney The Mandalorian. How many do you want to pay for? For us it's going to be 3 I think.
The New Zealand one I referenced.
https://www.lightbox.co.nz/
Have a look at the quality of the most popular shows. It's better than a few if these new ones. $5 USD approx and we dumped it due to seeing everything we wanted and it had a few good NZ shows as well.
CapnZapp
Not sure what you're trying to say, or what you want to discuss.
Yes, you can soon go wild and subscribe to more than half a dozen streaming services.
Other people find the shows they like and watch just them.
I use three. Sky, Netflix, Amazon. That covers everything.
Plus the free stuff like BBC iPlayer and the like.
Us Europeans have it easy.
The OP is likely despairing about the US market, however.
40th lv DM
I suspect I'll add the Disney one once the 1st Marvel show launches.
So that'll make 3: Netflix, Prime (wich I actually have because of the shopping, the streaming is a bonus), & then Disney.
As for Star Trek?
I'll just leave Discovery as an easy Christmas gift idea for my cousins & watch it on disc 6+ months later than everyone else.
I've got Amazon Prime w/Starrz, Netflix, Hulu, CrunchyRoll, and CBS
I only got CBS for Star Trek (which we do watch parties, so they're only getting my dime).
I'm sure I'd like the new MCU content, but I'm not keen on adding another sub. Maybe one of my friends from the Trek watching posse will carry that weight.
There's a lot of overlap between Netflix and Prime, but the original content on both is good. That's probably why both started making original content.
I watch Hulu the least (well Crunchy Roll is for the wife). I got it for "current" shows which I've fallen behind on so now it's even less relevant.
I'm still spending less than my cable bill was, but I wouldn't mind trimming the fat.
Prime is likely to stick around because I save a fortune in shipping.
Dannyalcatraz
The only one we have is Amazon Prime...and we don't use it. So my answer at this point in time is "one".
trappedslider
Zardnaar said:
Unless you're only talking about NEW content, in which case you should use the word NEW because you've got the whole back catalog of Disney movies and shows,along with PIxar's movies,some of Fox's shows.
As for me currently, I'm only subbed to to Netflix and Amazon prime, but I may add Disney+. I'm only subbed to the two I mentioned because of The Crown (netflix) and The Man in the high castle (amazon). I just recently watched Good Omens, which was very very funny and good.
Reactions: Parmandur
trappedslider said:
There's not much of the back catalogue either though.
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/disney-plus-lineup-shows-movies-streaming-1203188116/
Down the bottom is the full list.
Why does it have to be either/or? Especially if you have a handy Roku or similar TV.
For example, I love the show Ray Donovan. If I'm patient, I can wait until an entire season is finished, or nearly, finished, and then sub Showtime for a month. I'm essentially paying $15 for 10 episodes of Ray Donovan, which I consider fairly good value. And then maybe if I throw in a couple movies, or if there's another series I like, it fleshes out quite nicely.
I used to do the same with Game of Thrones, although HBO had more programs I liked so would sub for longer.
You could do similar with Hulu, Starz, Netflix, etc - even have them on rotation, a month or two of each in a row. That keeps things a bit fresh. Starz has a solid selection, but if you pay a monthly rate and watch a lot of movies, it grows stale pretty quickly.
Mercurius said:
Yeah we have thought of that. Free trial pay for a month and binge the few shows you care about.
I think that's our plan for the Mandalorian if it gets decent reviews.
A few are not available here though. And the ones that are often lack stuff like no HBO stuff here on Amazon.
I just keep forgetting to cancel stuff and it looks like Amazon just dropped a teaser for the next season of Jack Ryan. I tried the DC universe, but there's only so much time one has to watch something lol.
vpuigdoller
I vote for only one.
I think we'll have Amazon for a year, perma keep Netflix and rotate the others.
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
I think that if the businesses continue fragmenting the streaming services, we'll see two things. Some trying to charge a lot and failing (like Amazon's Anime Burst extra-cost), and others without a wide & varied catalog but some interesting shows that price themselves low cost as add-ons.
I expect that this trend will give rise to new software. First, one-interface apps/software that search multiple ones so people don't have to go searching, with good bookmarking across devices and such.
The other one would be time-shifting, where people pay for legal access to a streaming service for a single month, and the software spends idle hours you aren't using the service to record shows you have pre-selected, so you can watch at your own pace even after the month ends. In the US time shifting programming is legal (was a big thing when the VCR first came out), though of course specific contracts with the streaming services may prohibit it.
Blue said:
I think that if the businesses continue fragmenting the streaming services, we'll see two things.
You'll see a third - the package reseller. Someone will go to Hulu and Netflix and Amazon and CBS and all, and say, "Hey, we'll pay you half for your subscriptions, but promise you them in bulk!" They will then turn to the consumer and say, "We can give you each of these services for three-quarters the price you'd pay Amazon and Netflix direct!"
And, we will have re-created cable premium packages on the internet.
You'll see a fourth behavior crop up, as well - password sharing.
Why does it have to be either/or?
Because managing them to turn them on or off is a right pain in the neck, when the services have zero interest in making it easy for you. You have to remember to stay strictly on top of it, as most of these are auto-charge or auto-renew.
This may help create assisting streaming package management as a business model. I give you a one-stop location to manage all your accounts, turning them on and off as you wish.
dogoftheunderworld
Having HBO, CBS, and some others available as "channels" via Amazon has helped me with turning subs on and off. Also (at least for now), you can immediately cancel your subscription, and it stays live for the month you just paid for... so you don't have to remember that later. I've done that with HBO, CBS, even there Audible service.
Umbran said:
or piracy
At this point I've got Prime and Netflix. Netflix in Canada is crap, especially with the Marvel shows now being gone. We get a tiny fraction of what folks in the US do, though we do seem to get all of their original series. If I had only got it for movies, I'd have dropped it long ago.
Prime is pretty much the same in that the original content is the better part of the bargain. I've got it simply because, as others have said, I save a small fortune on shipping. The movie content here is largely B-grade stuff from production houses like The Asylum (you know, the low grade SyFy movies).
Netflix may just go away in favour of another service, like Crave, which has far better content here.
Kaodi
We have technically had Crave for a long time as TMN subscribers but we have hardly ever used it. Partially because our rural Internet is garbage (and making it hard for us to watch the new season of Veronica Mars). I have not really looked at their catalogue. We, or more technically, my Sister, also have Netflix. Even with perfect Internet I do not think we would be interested in more streaming services. Competition is creating more content but it is certainly not making getting all the content you want cheaper.