Streaming Services: A Rant

[Coventina]

If the mods want me to move this to another forum, just let me know.

Much has been made of us living in a "Golden Age" of TV.

It's true that there are a lot of quality shows being made (although not all of them are to my taste).

However, I am at my last nerve with content providers.

I have Amazon Prime, because, well, I have Amazon Prime, and I have access to Netflix thanks to my brother.

So, I do have a lot to choose from.

However, I just decided to write this, upon finding out that CBS' "EVIL" is going to be on Paramount + from now on.

Just how many streaming services are we supposed to sign up for?

I am NOT going to pay for: Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, HBO Max, Apple-whatever, Discovery+, and whatever other randos are out there!!! And to have what were formerly broadcast shows, like the Orville (gone to Hulu) and Evil (now gone to Paramount+) well, they just lost how much of their audience?

It makes me reluctant to start watching anything new, to be frank.

Or, just wait until the series runs its course and eventually ends up on a service that I do have.

These streaming services are NOT turning out to be the bargain they were advertised as. Unless magically everything you happened to want lands on one.



Rant over

[kirkuchiyo]

1. I tend to skip between services. I signed up for CBS

to watch Picard, then I dropped it. Likewise I signed up HBO MAX to binge all of Big Bang Theory and now that I'm done I'll probably drop it soon. Its not like you sign a contract, just do one or two at a time.

[Earth-shine]

4. Picard was fantastic! You didn't watch Discovery?

> just do one or two at a time.

Exactly!

Pick service for a month. Watch everything. Move on.

[kirkuchiyo]

55. I did watch most of the first season

But we lost interest. I need to go back to it.

[Earth-shine]

56. I am a long-term ST fan. I thought Discovery was a bit flawed, but otherwise quite engaging.

Some of the things that irked me early in the first season, such as the appearance and behavior of the Klingons, worked themselves out.

I thought season 2 was a Wow!

At some point, when I have the time, I'll get the subscription to Paramount+ and see season 3.

[kirkuchiyo]

64. My name is Kirk, I am required to be a fan, pretty sure it's in the bylaws

Though I prefer Picard to Kirk. I'll make sure to check it out. I seem to remember that the Enterprise shows up near the end of season 2, correct? And there is a spin off coming with Captain Pike(April?)

[Earth-shine]

68. You really want spoilers?

My own personal preference is not to know what happens in advance.

I very much enjoyed not knowing the season endings to Picard and Discovery.

Pleased to meet you, Kirk. Picard was a more realistic character, for sure. But, JT Kirk is my largest boyhood hero.

[wcmagumba]

9. I do the same, plus I love UK and AU shows, accessible with a cheap VPN and a bit of set up...

Loved Picard and Discovery, picked up Disney Plus just to watch the Mandalorian...I have Amazon for the shipping and quite a few shows (because of my low income, I get Prime at 1/2 off)...my favorite sci fi these days is "The Expanse" on Prime (five seasons, I'm watching for the 3rd time)...first season, first couple of shows are a bit slow and confusing (sometimes) but hang in and it all pulls together and you'll be hooked...All together, with rotating, I spend about $25 a month tops, plus cost of internet....streaming works great for me....

[ecstatic]

49. I wish I could be that disciplined

I hate feeling pressured to watch something within a short period of time, so that strategy would never work for me.

[HipChick]

2. What's the cost v cable?

[Coventina]

3. Oh, don't even get me started on cable.....

[SharonClark]

8. Just dropped cable which was $140/ month

plus taxes and access fees. I miss MSNBC and CNN but I can get that news online.

I pay for Amazon Prime at $120/year and Netflix at $13/month. Then I opt in one other like Britbox or Acorn for about $7/month.

I hate ads so streaming works well and saves me lots of money.

[Trailrider1951]

29. SharonClark, you may like these websites where you can stream CNN and MSNBC live for free:

https://www.livenewsnow.com/american/cnn-live.html

https://www.livenewsnow.com/featured/msnbc.html

they don't always work well, but they work most of the time. Enjoy!

[orleans]

65. wow - thanks for these links. nt

[brooklynite]

39. COST??? You want me to PAY for programming???

[msongs]

5. doe streamings have adverts during the program? nt

[Hugh_Lebowski]

7. Generally no, which is why it's so amazing to me ... I freaking HATE commercials

These days they put products into the show, into the script, etc. 'Native' advertising. Obnoxious but not as bad as regular commercials.

They have a real hard time incorporating 'Ask your Doctor if Humira is right for you' ... into an actual script

[SharonClark]

12. IMBD (?) has ads about every 30 minutes

but it’s free. I watched one movie to check it out and the ads weren’t bad, but I still prefer paying a little to avoid ads.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. Here's my trick ... I have Prime (cause I have Prime), and Netflix on my folks account

And HBO Max, which I've kept from GoT days ... may cancel eventually.

I do NOT have cable. Not having cable means ... I don't even know what's on cable.

"What's on TV" to me? Is whats on those 3 services.

If it's not on those, then I probably don't know about it anyway but if I do I say 'welp, it's not on here, maybe someday it will be'. And get on with my life

[Coventina]

10. I guess I just have to give up on broadcast TV.

That's really what peeves me is shows moving from broadcast to a streaming platform. It's just plain alienating.

I really enjoy watching the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and the MSNBC shows from time to time (who has time to watch all of them every day? Not me!) I know MSNBC is cable, not broadcast, but you get the idea. Plus, the Daily Show on Comedy Central, etc.

on edit: dumb typo

[soothsayer]

20. I'm annoyed too. I need amc plus to see the walking dead?

I need whatever plus to see 90 day fiancé? Nay, I say, nay!

If we wait long enough, they’ll come around.

[Sibelius Fan]

11. Yep. That's the way to go. Have friends and family sign up for different services

then share the log-in info so others can sign-in from other locations.

In our house, I pay for YTTV, Netflix, Disney (includes Hulu) and amazon prime with HBO Max add on. My son pays for Criterion, Paramount+, Apple TV and a few others. We use Roku on most of our TVs. We share the pay-for services.

[Disaffected]

36. Is that kind of grifting

against the terms of service?

[Sibelius Fan]

40. Not grifting at all. YTTV allows you to create up to 6 family accounts

under a single subscription. It also allows the service to be viewed on three different TVs at once.

[Disaffected]

42. OK but

what about the others you mentioned?

[Sibelius Fan]

46. It's streaming. The whole rationale is that you cut the cable cord that ties you

to one house or room. They all promote installing their apps on all of your video devices - TVs, phones, notepads etc. It’s all about your family using their app. There’s no expectation that said family all lives under the same roof.

[Disaffected]

47. I don't know about the others but I don't think Netflix for one would agree with you.

"Netflix’s terms of service state that streaming content on the platform is 'for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.' "

Netflix is also trying to thwart password sharing.

[mcar]

13. I go from service to service depending on what's on

I'm about to reup my Paramount (CBS) to catch last night's Kennedy Center honors and the next season of the Good Fight. I also watch the Star Treks. It's $5.99/month for a couple three months.

Then, I'll switch over to Starz for Outlander, etc.

[a kennedy]

14. and what's funny, most awards, like the Emmy's, most the winners are on the pay for shows.....

not even on “regular” networks……most are on Netflix.

[Elessar Zappa]

15. I have 6 streaming services.

It still saves me money compared to what I was paying Comcast for cable.

[Mad_Machine76]

38. Same here

plus there are a growing number of free streaming services (if you can handle occasional ads)- Tubi, Crackle, Pluto TV (which is practically like TV with a bunch of novelty channels like a Star Trek channel that shows TNG S1-4 and some of the ST movies, a rotating James Bond 007 channel which shows all of the Bond movies up through Die Another Day, Classic Doctor Who, and lots of other good old movies and content). If you're subscribed to internet services through Xfinity, you can get a streaming device like Roku and have access to their Peacock streaming service.

[SharonClark]

16. Does anyone here recommend Sling?

[mwooldri]

21. If you want cable type service then yes I do.

Right now Speccy Cable is offering their services with HBO Max for a special deal so I'm with that for a year. When the prices inevitably get jacked up, I'll dial the cable back to Internet only and if I want cable type programming I'll get Sling again.

[Tomconroy]

26. I have Sling. It works well for me.

I mostly watch the news shows: CNN and MSNBC plus Turner Classic Movies and they have all of them bundled in the Orange channel, I think. The Blue channel is more sports oriented. If that is what you're interested it's a good fit. Runs about $45 when everything is added up.

[Sibelius Fan]

41. Sling allows you to view on only one TV. YTTV allows viewing on three TVs at the same time.

[CrispyQ]

17. +1!!!

Another gripe with streaming services, you start a long series on one service & part way through the show gets moved to a different service. We've had that happen a few times. Also, some of the services that have commercials, some of the cuts to commercial are really bad, cutting off the last word or words of a scene.

We've done a few one-week-free-trial offers to watch a series or two, but for the most part we have Prime, Netflix, & Sling. Sling was not very good at first, crashing or not able to load programs, but it's improved a lot.

[Coventina]

19. Yes, we were in the middle of "True Blood" on Prime when HBO Max gobbled it up.

Then we started watching the Bond movies, but they got taken away as well.

I have trust issues, now.

[LeftInTX]

52. A lot of Bond movies are free on Tubi right now

https://tubitv.com/movies/596421/dr-no?start=true&utm_source=google-feed&tracking=google-feed

[SYFROYH]

18. For Hulu, I wait for the who season of Handmaids Tale to be available and then sign up

I binge-watch that show, watch a few other things, and then cancel.

[LAS14]

22. I have encountered more than one bait and switch with series.

If it's not "now it's on this other platform," it's "if you want to see the rest of the episodes, please pay.

Not good for blood pressure.

[ItsjustMe]

23. Free Streaming Services

https://tubitv.com/home

https://www.crackle.com/movies

https://www.popcornflix.com/pages/discover/d/movies

https://therokuchannel.roku.com/

https://pluto.tv/on-demand

https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/uxpage/View-All-Free-Movies-TV/207

[LeftInTX]

50. I love Tubi!

[ItsjustMe]

54. I do too

It's the best free streaming website, It has a huge library of content.

https://tubitv.com/home

[lunatica]

24. You can subscribe to many for free

Sometimes you have to look at ads, but if you can stand it it’s not too bad.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Related Pet Peeve

I have had cable with Comcast since 1987. (Had it before, but Comcast bought that company.)
I've been an avid watcher of the Discovery networks.
I've been a regular watcher of Discovery, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Science, AHC, Destination America...
For decades, I've been paying carriage fees as part of my bill.
Now, Discovery comes out with Plus streaming & they're running exclusives I can't watch.
If not for loyal viewers like me, they wouldn't have grown enough for people to care about their streaming app.
But, that must not matter to them.

[questionseverything]

27. I agree

All this streaming means is stuff that used to be included now cost extra

And my cable/net is already $230

Freaking pogo did the same thing a year ago and the spades that had been free for 20 years all the sudden costs money and the fun variations and friend perks are gone

I wish pain and misery on ea games

[ProfessorGAC]

30. Our Bill Is $100 Higher

But, they're the only option for broadband, and with our trees, dishes would not work right.
Admittedly we have all the movie networks & on demand stuff, so we are paying a lot but getting a lot.
So, we're stuck with this carrier even if we wanted to go streaming
And, by the time we pay $5 for this, $10 for that,...then got the devices to use existing TVs to process the signal, the savings wouldn't be profound. Unfortunately, without dropping a bunch of options, we have to pay what we pay.
You'd think if I'm paying carriage fees on a dozen channels already, the streaming app would be gratis.

[questionseverything]

32. Peacock is free as long as I don't mind commercials

But then i have to change devices and watching on puter/cell phone isn’t as comfortable when I used to be able to watch on demand for free

[ProfessorGAC]

33. It Should Be Free!

NBC is owned by Comcast. We're already paying them!!!
I think there are commercials on Discovery+ unless one pays extra.
So, even with ads we'd have to pay for it!

[timms139]

28. Best deal I've found

is IPTV for $12.50 for three months. 121 USA Entertainment channels ,574 regional network locals from every state, 33 news channels,63 premium movie channels,199 sports channels plus hundreds of Uk, Canada, and others. No it's not illegal. Lots of higher priced ones , some of the higher ones offer series with all episodes with recording and catch up . Use a firestick or smart tv or computer to watch. This is live tv.

[HipChick]

35. IPTV is good

when its stable

[hunter]

31. If anyone wants to make it difficult to watch their stuff, I don't.

.

[BannonsLiver]

34. I dip in and out

For example I don’t want Disney + all year, only when they have shows on I like. When that show is over I drop the service. There were a couple of shoes on Showtime I liked this winter. When they ended I dropped Showtime. And so on..

[brooklynite]

37. Point 1: You're only paying for ONE streaming service at this point...

...since you're "borrowing" your brother's Netflix account.

Point 2: What you appear to be complaining about is that you have to PAY for programming you want to watch. CBS produced the show. CBS has placed in on their own streaming platform for people who PAY for it.

Point 3: A few years back, folks here were trumpeting the fact that they had "cut the cord" of cable TV, rather than pay for channels they didn't want to watch. Well, now you have the freedom to only sign up and PAY for the platforms you want. FREEDOM!

[Yavin4]

43. **ahem** There are ways to watch what you want for free.

But you didn't hear that from me.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

44. I'm surprised there's not a torrent of replies...

... about it yet.

[Yavin4]

45. Maybe the replies were pirated away.

[ItsjustMe]

53. You don't need torrents these days

I can stream most movies from a single link, and there are many websites to stream other content.

[Yavin4]

66. "I can stream most movies from a single link" -- Allegedly.

*wink* *wink*

[USALiberal]

62. I love it when DUers want to steal stuff! Nt

[USALiberal]

61. Stealing! How classy! Nt

[ecstatic]

48. I think they assume we're sharing accounts

You almost have to split accounts between 10 people or so to get the full spectrum of channels.

[LeftInTX]

51. Free or Purchase a series

Tubi
PBS
YouTube...whatever you can find...lots of documentaries etc....

However, if you are hooked on a series, free stuff won't cut it...

I have purchased a few series on Amazon....

Some that I have purchased:
Chernobyl
New York (Ken Burns)
Jazz (Ken Burns)
Saturday Night Live - Season 1

[Tracer]

57. For $5 / month, you can get PBS "Passport".

If you had that, you wouldn't have had to pay for the Ken Burns shows. (other than the $5, which is a pretty cheap cost).

[USALiberal]

63. I love passport! Nt

[LeftInTX]

67. I don't believe passport includes those particular series.

Or at least it didn't when I purchased them

[FSogol]

58. "Every episode of every TV show should have a separate streaming service you have to subscribe to."

- Joey Allison Sayers

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Sympthsical]

59. You should really look into Locast

Locast.org

It allows streaming of live local channels. Of course, it depends on which market you're in to see what is or is not available.

$5 a month. Totally worth it to me. You get all the networks, plus a bunch of other stuff I haven't entirely looked into. I use it to listen to the morning news while having coffee, etc. I have the option of switching between S.F. and Sacramento.

At the moment, I have Amazon Prime (because I have it anyway), Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ (because it's free with my Verizon plan for some reason), and HBO Max because I genuinely watch a lot of HBO content. Just finished a re-watch of Westworld with the mister because he'd never seen it. Next week, we start GoT, which he also hasn't seen. He's hilariously not spoiled. I tried to explain to him it really sucks in the end, but here we are. This week, we're going to binge through the last season of Kim's Convenience (sad face). Then Loki starts on D+ tomorrow.

So, I'm spending about $42 a month on streaming (I'm not counting Prime, because I'd have it regardless). It also allows us to share with friends and family. My mom, for example, has access to all my stuff. My nieces and nephews are all up in there. It's fine.

In other words, we're getting a lot of good value out of it. Compared to what we were footing for cable, where neither of us was watching anything to begin with, it works. He has some sports subscriptions. He does fantasy football every year, so he has some NFL thingy, I think and I think ESPN is hooked into our Hulu. I don't ask these things. But we can watch various games and things.

But Locast, if you still want to cut the cord and still want broadcast. Hopefully it's available in your market.

[JCMach1]

69. Locast for local... VPN and certain software can also be useful

Or so I hear.

[Captain Stern]

60. You hit the nail on the head.

When you said this:

Or, just wait until the series runs its course and eventually ends up on a service that I do have.

That's it.

[marie999]

70. Mostly I use Netflix to watch Chinese and Turkish romantic movies and series.

I also like things like "Resurrection Ertugrul". I don't know either language but I do not use English for speaking, only CC. I never cared for American soap operas. YouTube has some great older movies.