Streaming Services


unixknight
 Share

Recommended Posts

How many is it worth having?

As more and more streaming services pop up, it's becoming more and more expensive to keep a wide range of options when it comes to content.  Making  matters worse, some of those services make you watch commercials even though you're already paying for the service itself.  

Individually, they cost around 10 or 15 bucks per month, but it adds up fast.  Additionally, unless you're watching on a smart TV or a game console, you still need a cable box that allows applications to be installed on it in order to access the streamed content.

My household is in a fortuitous place at the moment... We have Netflix as part of our cable package, we have Hulu as part of our cell phone package, and Amazon Prime Streaming comes with Amazon Prime, so we aren't paying individual subscriptions for any of those at the moment.  I can't help thinking though, that this is meant to get one used to having these services, and eventually they'll separate out so you have to pay for them individually again.  When that happens, I refuse to pay almost $50 a month for three services just to try and get the widest variety of content.  Add to that Disney's plans to do its own streaming service, pulling channels out of cable packages (like ESPN).

Oh, and CBS All Access wants me to pay a subscription to watch Star Trek Discovery.  (As if)

Maybe I'm just an old grognard, but I remember a time when TV was free, paid for by advertising.  Then cable came out and you got a  plethora of channels to choose from, and the only think that cost extra was premium channels.  Maybe on some level this is just the 21st Century version of the same thing.  

I think my gripe is that I really don't watch much TV per se.  I watch a lot of movies, documentaries and old TV shows but it's rare that I pay any attention to contemporary content.  Even so, if I wanted to follow just the 5 things I care about, I would need to have:

  • Cable (sometimes with the extra sports channels package, depending on the provider, to watch IndyCar)
  • Disney streaming (to get ESPN for watching Formula 1)
  • CBS All Access if I want to watch Discovery
  • HBO if I want to watch Game of Thrones
  • Netflix to watch Voltron

The result is that I could very easily spend between $130 - $150 a month just to watch 5 programs.

Nope.  Not worth it.  If I'm left with just Voltron and IndyCar, with F1 viewed through an app ($3/mo), then so be it.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, unixknight said:

How many is it worth having?

As more and more streaming services pop up, it's becoming more and more expensive to keep a wide range of options when it comes to content.  Making  matters worse, some of those services make you watch commercials even though you're already paying for the service itself.  

Individually, they cost around 10 or 15 bucks per month, but it adds up fast.  Additionally, unless you're watching on a smart TV or a game console, you still need a cable box that allows applications to be installed on it in order to access the streamed content.

My household is in a fortuitous place at the moment... We have Netflix as part of our cable package, we have Hulu as part of our cell phone package, and Amazon Prime Streaming comes with Amazon Prime, so we aren't paying individual subscriptions for any of those at the moment.  I can't help thinking though, that this is meant to get one used to having these services, and eventually they'll separate out so you have to pay for them individually again.  When that happens, I refuse to pay almost $50 a month for three services just to try and get the widest variety of content.  Add to that Disney's plans to do its own streaming service, pulling channels out of cable packages (like ESPN).

Oh, and CBS All Access wants me to pay a subscription to watch Star Trek Discovery.  (As if)

Maybe I'm just an old grognard, but I remember a time when TV was free, paid for by advertising.  Then cable came out and you got a  plethora of channels to choose from, and the only think that cost extra was premium channels.  Maybe on some level this is just the 21st Century version of the same thing.  

I think my gripe is that I really don't watch much TV per se.  I watch a lot of movies, documentaries and old TV shows but it's rare that I pay any attention to contemporary content.  Even so, if I wanted to follow just the 5 things I care about, I would need to have:

  • Cable (sometimes with the extra sports channels package, depending on the provider, to watch IndyCar)
  • Disney streaming (to get ESPN for watching Formula 1)
  • CBS All Access if I want to watch Discovery
  • HBO if I want to watch Game of Thrones
  • Netflix to watch Voltron

The result is that I could very easily spend between $130 - $150 a month just to watch 5 programs.

Nope.  Not worth it.  If I'm left with just Voltron and IndyCar, with F1 viewed through an app ($3/mo), then so be it.  

Do yourself a favour and skip the last five minutes of the last episode of Voltron, you don't need to see Shiro kissing another man.

Aside from that I hear you, I currently have Netflix and living scriptures together coming in at around $25.00 per month. I'm not a fan of having to pay that and have often considered cutting them entirely. Sure I'd miss having some shows, but it might also mean I just do other more productive things - what a shame that would be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, unixknight said:

The result is that I could very easily spend between $130 - $150 a month just to watch 5 programs.

My advice is to stop caring about so much stuff ;) my approach is:

”I have access to these streaming service, let’s wander around until I find something I like.”

This is how I found Blackish, Brooklyn 99, Rookie, Good Doctor, Good Place, Series it Unfortunate Events, Vikings, and of course my only true love iZombie.

Edited by Fether
Link to comment
Share on other sites

These special network streaming I don't find is worth it.  It's just too much money for what it's worth.  And, as a capitalist, I don't want to encourage them to keep those prices.  We got Amazon Prime and Netflix because my family are movie people.  Prime came with our Amazon account, Netflix came with our internet (which we can't do without because that's how I make money).  We cut off cable and just have the digital antenna for local news.  If the show is not available on those services, we can do without it.  Oh, we also have NFL Network... because my husband is an NFL junkie who should go to AA meetings for it.

Edited by anatess2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

- Netflix has been a mainstay at our house for a long time.
- I grabbed Hulu because they had a "$1/mo for a year" deal.  May cancel after that.
- We finally got a Roku, which added a whole crapton of free stuff, and made it easy to play from the tv.
- Few fans of MLP actually get Discovery Family on channel 328 on their DirectTV super mega package.  So we all go to half a dozen fan-run livestreams and watch new episodes together, happily shouting jokes in chat.  Then someone uploads it to vimeo, and it stays for about a week before Hasbro kills the link.  Everything eventually makes it to Netflix.
- RoosterTeeth has a subscriber premium thing for some new stuff, but unlocks it for everyone else in a week or two.  (RWBY, GenLock)
- Sometime when I have a week off work, I'll do the "Try CBS All access for free" deal, and binge watch the first two seasons of ST:Discovery, then cancel my subscription.  #FrugalPride
- I got my wife a year of Amazon Prime as a Christmas present, more because of the free shipping, than the streaming content. 
- Stuff often shows up for free a year after it shows on FX or AMC or the SciFi channel or whatever.  (The Walking Dead).
- Fox and ABC usually unlock new episodes of things after a week, then lock it again later.  (Simpsons, half a dozen Marvel or Xmen or DC spinoff shows, etc.)

Edited by NeuroTypical
Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Do yourself a favour and skip the last five minutes of the last episode of Voltron, you don't need to see Shiro kissing another man.

Aside from that I hear you, I currently have Netflix and living scriptures together coming in at around $25.00 per month. I'm not a fan of having to pay that and have often considered cutting them entirely. Sure I'd miss having some shows, but it might also mean I just do other more productive things - what a shame that would be.

I don't know whether I should be mad at you for the spoiler, or grateful for the warning.

We were on the Living Scriptures DVD subscription.  We haven't finished it but I'd like to, since we're more than halfway there already.  The problem is, and I hate to say it, the quality of the episodes isn't blowing me away.  I was also very disappointed in the number of things that are skipped.

22 minutes ago, Fether said:

My advice is to stop caring about so much stuff ;) my approach is:

”I have access to these streaming service, let’s wander around until I find something I like.”

This is how I found Blackish, Brooklyn 99, Rookie, Good Doctor, Good Place, Series it Unfortunate Events, Vikings, and of course my only true love iZombie.

I do the browse thing too, which is how I found Norsemen... Which is hilarious.  I don't like doing it though, because sometimes I start browsing just for a good background noise while I work on my hobbies, and before I know it I've wasted a half hour.  At that point I usually just put on a Star Trek series and go.

6 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

- Netflix has been a mainstay at our house for a long time.
- I grabbed Hulu because they had a "$1/mo for a year" deal.  May cancel after that.
- We finally got a Roku, which added a whole crapton of free stuff, and made it easy to play from the tv.
- Few fans of MLP actually get Discovery Family on channel 328 on their DirectTV super mega package.  So we all go to half a dozen fan-run livestreams and watch new episodes together, happily shouting jokes in chat.  Then someone uploads it to vimeo, and it stays for about a week before Hasbro kills the link.  
- Sometime when I have a week off work, I'll do the "Try CBS All access for free" deal, and binge watch the first two seasons of ST:Discovery, then cancel my subscription.  #FrugalPride
- I got my wife a year of Amazon Prime as a Christmas present, more because of the free shipping, than the streaming content. 

Yeah that's why we have Amazon Prime as well.  The streaming isn't blowing me away.  Occasionally I find gems on it that aren't on Netflix, but the time I spend browsing carries the same issue as what I said above.  If it didn't come with the benefits like free shipping, etc. I wouldn't find it worth paying for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We cut the cord to satellite about 4 years ago. I HATED letting it go, but it was just too expensive (and we didn't have any premium channels). I really miss cable/satellite for 2 reasons--sports (very hard to get football, basketball, or Olympics without cable) and DVR. 

We got an antennae for the TV to get the local channels and a Roku for all else. We had Amazon Prime for years, added Hulu and Netflix (got a 3 mo free giftcard and just kept it). If we could afford it (darn student loans!), I would go back to satellite. But, I don't see that happening until our debt has lowered significantly (probably about 8-10 years from now). 

When the Olympics come on, I usually get SlingTV for that time period. But then we ditch it. My husband doesn't watch much TV, but he watches a lot of Twitch and Youtube stuff. I'm the junkie who needs the TV/movies fix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I had my way we would only have Amazon Prime. Alas, this kids are split, so I had them contribute a portion towards the Netflix and Hulu subscriptions. We even fork a little over for a Korean site, that has documentaries my wife likes. We go commercial-free, so all together, it's probably $45-50 per month. Still, that's cheaper than any cable/dish system out there. And...as the kids flee the nest, I'll be dropping the Hulu/Netflix subs. Can't give it all up, though. Luddite-ism is a heresy, right???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

We finally got a Roku, which added a whole crapton of free stuff, and made it easy to play from the tv.

You may or may not care, but a Roku channel, Inc Family, is one of few places I know of to stream the Rankin Bass animated Hobbit film and it is only available on my Roku, but not my Firetv stick. I am admittedly a touch envious of the amount of free content I understand you get in the States, the Canadian free content is more limited, but still adds value to the Roku for sure. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, unixknight said:

I don't know whether I should be mad at you for the spoiler, or grateful for the warning.

Sorry about that, I should have thought that through more carefully before sharing - I just found it out of place and unanticipated. Maybe my gaydar is exceptionally poor, but I felt like it was purely a surprise and entirely unnecessary, it was a frustrating ending to an otherwise fun show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Sorry about that, I should have thought that through more carefully before sharing - I just found it out of place and unanticipated. Maybe my gaydar is exceptionally poor, but I felt like it was purely a surprise and entirely unnecessary, it was a frustrating ending to an otherwise fun show.

Yeah to save that until the very end sounds a lot like a 'gotcha.'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

Do yourself a favour and skip the last five minutes of the last episode of [cartoon show], you don't need to see [character] kissing another man.

Yeah, they be gayin' up the cartoons.  Star vs. the Forces of Evil, the last episode of The Legend of Korra, and now in volume 6, my beloved RWBY.  It's like part of the agenda now - gotta make sure everyone understands you're one of the modern tolerant nonhomophobic shows, and give alternate lifestyles some sort of positive representation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

Netflix is seeming less important to me since we got Amazon Prime and Hulu. I barely even watch Netflix any more.

For the movie aficionados, movies make deals with the streaming  services where they only release the movie to one of them for a period of time before they release it to everyone else.  So, depending on the deal, it could be that movies get released on Netflix only and then get released to Amazon 6 months to a year later or vice versa.  I'm one of those movie people but I still haven't found it worth it to get any other streaming service besides Netflix and Prime for movies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

For the movie aficionados, movies make deals with the streaming  services where they only release the movie to one of them for a period of time before they release it to everyone else.  So, depending on the deal, it could be that movies get released on Netflix only and then get released to Amazon 6 months to a year later or vice versa.  I'm one of those movie people but I still haven't found it worth it to get any other streaming service besides Netflix and Prime for movies.

I just Redbox movies that are new releases. It is easier than waiting for Netflix or the others to get around to them.

Does anyone remember when they said Netflix would have ALL movies? What a lark.

 

Edited by Emmanuel Goldstein
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

I just Redbox movies that are new releases. It is easier than waiting for Netflix or the others to get around to them.

Does anyone remember when they said Netflix would have ALL movies? What a lark.

 

The way my family does movies, Redboxing new releases would cost an arm and a leg.  :)

As it is, we pay $40/month "subscription" to see movies in the theater.  It allows my husband and I to watch 3 movies a week under subscription.

So, yeah, Alita has not even come out in the theaters yet but we've already seen it twice.  We'll probably see it a few more times and then snap it up at the streaming channel as soon as it gets released there... and probably stream it at least 7 times hah hah.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share