Online streaming services

[mtbc]

I now have the Roku hooked up and have been exploring. Figuring out what to install or subscribe to is an interesting puzzle, harder here partly because of greater fragmentation: both Amazon and Netflix in the US have a poorer selection than their UK incarnation so are not an easy yes on that basis. Amazon Prime feels less worthwhile also because of the apparent randomness of delivery day but is probably worth it overall.

Netflix streaming is less obviously worthwhile, Disney took the Marvel series, though Netflix's DVD service's wide selection is well worth it for me, it should get me shows like Star Trek: Discovery (2019) and, for example, it offers Counterpart (2017) which was great. Still, even with patience the DVDs-by-mail may not cover enough: for instance, none of either The Mandalorian (2019) or Money Heist (2017) have come out on DVD. However, too many streaming services have too few shows I care about to be worth the subscription.

The Roku is otherwise working out well. I can get the international news I like, most immediately from from Al Jazeera, France 24, NHK, and Sky News, and someday I shall probably go with Sling's cheapest tier. I also appear to be able to stream a wide variety of international radio through it, including various BBC radio. I plan to browse carefully through FilmRise given that a glance at their app already found me both Charlie Jade (2005) and Ultraviolet (1998), which I liked, so there is a good chance I may like other offered shows.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

We have Amazon Prime, so we do some streaming with them. Mostly we have them because we order a lot of supplements that are pretty impossible to find here, and I've taken to ordering clothes (tunics and such) through Amazon. Since there's the two of us, the price of Prime didn't seem too terrible.

[shadowkat]

You're making me wonder what the UK versions of Netflix and Amazon are like?

Both are limited here by distribution rights. How to explain? Hmm.
CBS All Access has sole rights to distribute Star Trek Discovery in the US, but Netflix has foreign distribution rights because CBS All Access may not exist or have a strong presence in foreign markets. Netflix doesn't have the right to air it in the US however.
Netflix however does have say secondary distribution rights to Star Trek Deep Space 9 - so it can stream that, even though it is a CBS All Access Property. I also has secondary distribution rights for the Legend of Korra, even though it is a CBS All Access Property.

So the UK may get things that only air on CBS All Access or Peacock or HBO MAX in the US, on Netflix UK and Amazon UK, while we don't.

It's all very confusing.

You might want to try Hulu - it has all the broadcast network television series, and the old ones. Also everything 20th Century Fox did and does.

[mtbc]

Seeing as I can get things like PBS via their own Roku app, my current thinking is that if a decent antenna works fine for local networks then Sling Blue will cover me for the rest of what I'd get from cable, even getting me Bloomberg. Hulu's definitely up there as a competitor though if I find myself getting a bit short or missing out, I know they've had some on-demand content I like.

Yeah, the CBS All Access stuff is partly what's missing from US Netflix for me. (-: Also, to take Amazon as an example, in the UK we got stuff like The Americans and Mr. Robot on that, both of which I liked, haven't yet checked what would even have them here.

[shadowkat]

The Americans should still be on Amazon. It had them when I last looked, along with Mr. Robot.

Amazon and Netflix are hard to find things in. And I often forget which has which of older content. Actually all of them are hard to find things in - I'm constantly utilizing a search button.

CBS All Access is problematic - Discovery, Good Fight, Picard, Twilight Zone, The Stand, and a couple of other things are solely on it. Though...not enough things to get me to try it. CBS (network channel) is broadcasting first season of Discovery - to pull people into it's streaming channel.

[mtbc]

Aha, I wonder if they came later? Some quick poking around suggests that The Americans was first on FX and Mr. Robot on USA so perhaps Amazon US rewards patience if they're both there now. I wonder if they actually arrived on Amazon US and UK at the same time and I didn't realize; I don't now remember clearly enough to be sure I was watching them in a fairly timely manner. (Was certainly week-by-week for Mr Robot rather than a dump afterward.)

It is annoying these days where some shows (maybe The Expanse is one?) have some seasons on one service then others on another. So long as the CBS stuff keeps coming out on DVD in the end then I'm okay to be patient there too.

[shadowkat]

It has a lot to do with who has the rights distribution.

Fox gave second distribution rights of the Americans to Amazon. So when it finished airing on Fox - it jumped over to Amazon. It didn't jump to Amazon until about a year after it completed its airing on Fox. Fox sold "second domestic distribution rights" to Amazon once it completed its run.

It's hard to know where they'll end up sometimes. Because logically - you'd think The Americans would be on Hulu - which is owned by Disney, who bought Fox. But no, there's a pre-existing secondary rights agreement with Amazon, and Disney is making money off of that - so the Americans is on Amazon.

Mr. Robot is also on Amazon. Amazon picks up a lot of those types of shows. There's a lot branding on streaming.

The Expanse got cancelled by Syfy in it's third season and got picked up by Amazon. (This happens a lot too - in which one network will cancel distribution but the studio will shop it around to other networks - until one picks it up. With streaming services added to the mix - there's more chances of it being picked up.) Amazon picked up The Expanse from Syfy and agreed to three more seasons. Along with exclusive distribution rights. You can only see it on Amazon.

Then there's the scenario of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra - CBS Viacom owns it. Netflix bought rights to show Last Airbender and Korra, but it's not exclusive - they are also on Nickleodean streaming and CBS. It's secondary rights.
Netflix paid for them - because it has a live-action series in development.

And dear god - there's a lot of content out there. I just went through an article by the NY Times, with critics picks for all the things to watch on streaming, and felt overwhelmed. If I did nothing but watch television for the next five years (and honestly who would want to do that?) - I still wouldn't get through everything. [Netflix has by far the most, with Hulu and Amazon not far behind. Disney the least. They didn't explore HBO Max, which I've been playing with - and is far more competitive than the critics think.]

I also realized how many of them I'd already seen. [Almost everything on Disney.]

During a pandemic, television becomes even more of an addictive crutch.

[mtbc]

Definitely thinking the difference was maybe just one of timing then, I think, for at least one of them, in the UK we were getting the episodes shortly after initial broadcast in the US; I guess after the full seasons were broadcast then both Amazon UK and US had them.

[mtbc]

Aha, yes, thank you for the link, on further investigation Amazon does have a good few movies I'd been intending to see -- including I think one or two you've mentioned!

[goldibehr]

Which Roku hardware do you have? Ours must be 5 years old at this point, and I'm looking for a backup unit in case it dies.

[mtbc]

Just the $30-ish Express, I'm normally wanting to watch live things (or latest news) or on-demand stuff (well after it's aired and I've seen enough reviews to decide to bother, e.g., I've just now started Evil (2019)) so DVR capabilities matter less to me. I also notice that some Sling subscription stuff bundles in a Fire stick and whatnot.