Too Many Streaming Services??

[lonestar]

From a chat I was having with some friends over on Facebook, thought I'd bring it here. With the launch of AppleTV+ and the impending Disney+ launch, are we reaching a point where we're gonna be over saturated with them? I'm already paying for Netflix, Prime, Spotify/Hulu, CBS All Access and D+ on the horizon. The thing is, each one has a few "can't miss" things. Netflix has Stranger Things among others, Prime has LOTR on the horizon and the free shipping, Spotify isn't going anywhere as it's my most used and the Hulu comes free with it, CBS has Picard and Discovery. D+ will have all the Star Wars and Marvel content. So when is apple gonna have that "can't miss" show that'll get me dropping another 10 buck? I'm already pushing 50 to 60 a month, fortunately I get my cable with my rent otherwise that'd be another c-note on top.

And for the streaming companies, when will keep adding them to a point of diluting the market? Who will feel the effects first (after the consumer of course), the streaming companies or cable?

[ariich]

Definitely.

Here in the UK, I'm paying for Netflix, Prime and Now TV. As a package, I find that reasonable. Assuming we get Disney+, I'll add that and maybe maintain those four for a while and see how I get on. No way I'm adding anything else though.

[krands85]

It's even worse if you're a big sports fan too, at least in the UK. Sky Sports, BT Sport, Prime and Eurosport Player, among others.

[ariich]

[lonestar]

Saw that the other day, just brilliant.


Thankfully my cable is in my rent so I don't have to worry about the limited amount of sports I watch.

[Phoenix87x]

Funny Pirating joke

It's even worse if you're a big sports fan too, at least in the UK. Sky Sports, BT Sport, Prime and Eurosport Player, among others.

That nails it 100%. And I'll tell you right now, when I go on amazon and iTunes and am willing to pay to rent a movie and it says for prime members only or some crap, then I'm like well to hell with you then. And then I go watch it my way. I hate how many streaming services have popped up. One subscription is all I am willing to pay.

[lonestar]

I mean, at some point some of them have to start dying off. Not everyone is going to be willing to get all of them, so each is going to need that can't miss content. The LOTR, Picard, Mandelorian, etc. Just curious to see who drops off first.

[faizoff]

Yeah it's definitely getting to be too many streaming services but the good thing is that they don't lock you into a one or two year contract. Apart from the deal that Disney+ had for 3 years of paid service up front.

I share costs with others on Netflix and Prime and I will get Hulu or HBO whenever there is a show I'm interested in watching.

[King Postwhore]

I see shows and get upset I don't have that streaming service. 

[The Walrus]

Yeah the branching of streaming services has annoyed me so much I have actually returned to a few less than desirable sources for watching certain programs. I have decided to drop most of them once Disney+ comes out. Then I'll be borrowing my friend's Netflix account (he made a profile for me as well) whenever I want to watch one or two things a here. Then I'll have to renew HBO when Westworld comes back. I might have to get Hulu at some point. And when The Boys comes back I'll need to get Amazon Prime apparently (I was lucky enough to catch season 1 while I had a free trial). Ugh.

[lonestar]

I think I get my money back on Prime through the shipping alone, so I don't feel bad about that one. Hulu is free with my Spotify, and HBO came free with my phone contract with AT&T. I'll see what to do once D+ comes out, I may de-activate CBS until Picard or Discovery S3 come out, but that one is only 6 bucks or whatever. As a friend said elsewhere, I could cut out my starbucks daily and pay for all of this tenfold.

[The Walrus]

I can't remember exactly what happened, but this past summer my Fire Stick crapped out momentarily, and I had to reinstall Spotify and Hulu on it and log back in - well I had to reset my Spotify password 'cause I couldn't remember it, and then suddenly my Hulu was gone (I had the Spotify+Hulu deal for a long time). I contacted Spotify and they wouldn't/couldn't do anything to reconnect it

[lonestar]

That's fucking weak. Hope it never happens to me, not that I watch Hulu much, but if my landlords ever decide to dump their cable, it is very handy for catching up on network stuff.

[El Barto]

[Funny Pirate Joke]

I saw this coming 8 years ago and never took my hat off.

A couple of things are going to happen. The cable co.s have to keep jacking up their broadband rates to counter the loss of TV subscribers. Christ, I'm paying $70/mo now for the slowest speed they offer. It was $40 only 3 years ago. At the same time the streaming services will have to jack up their rates to pay for the content they're actually producing now that they're no longer simply distributors.  When people are paying exactly what they were a few years ago for stupidly expensive CATV there will be a revolt.

The problem we've yet to see is with the broadband side of things. RJ kind of hit on it with the services he's getting from other services. Spectrum will offer a service or two as part of their broadband package, but they might also slow their bandwidth to competing services. They were fucking pretty hard with Netflix back when there was net neutrality, and that's only going to become more pronounced now that it's gone. Factor in data caps and it all becomes a real mess.

The CATV market began to implode ten or so years ago, particularly with regards to ESPN, which is why we're seeing all of these streaming services, but the implosion is still going on. We're a long ways away from seeing how it all settles out. For the time being I'm not taking the pirate hat off anytime soon, that's for damn sure.

[ProfessorPeart]

For the time being I'm not taking the pirate hat off anytime soon, that's for damn sure.

Hate to say it, but I'm right there. I just can't afford a decent TV package and 20 different freakin' streaming services. It's just not sustainable. Something will break. The questions are what and when.

I'm dropping $100 for the Top 200 from Dish and honestly, I'm not using it that much except for local content and a handful of cable shows. Then I have Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. I'm drawing the line there. Not planning on Apple TV or HBO Max. It's just too much. I'm already thinking about downgrading Hulu to the commercial version since I don't use it that much.

The content fragmentation is my biggest complaint.

[SoundscapeMN]

they need to bundle all of the Streaming Services for like $80/month.

[lordxizor]

they need to bundle all of the Streaming Services for like $80/month.

Streaming cable! If I were tech savvy, I'd start this business.

I have always avoided paying for any streaming service, but I'm going to bite the bullet and pay for Disney+. Too many things on there I want to see. The way to do it is to pay for each service for a month or two, catch up on everything you want to see, cancel, and move on to another streaming service.

[axeman90210]

Yeah, it's getting to be a bit much. I've got Netflix, I use my parents' Hulu account, I had Amazon Prime anyway, and I locked in 3 years of D+ when they had a deal at like $4 for D23 members. I'm pretty sure my parents have CBS All Access, which I don't need yet because I've never particuclarly been into Star Trek, but I will use when The Stand comes out. So far nothing on Apple's new service that sounds can't miss, and I'll see about HBO Max later on. I keep on waiting for some tech bro to launch a single pay service that gets you access to a bunch of streaming services and accidentally re-invents cable.

[jingle.boy]

The cycle repeats itself.  We got boned by cable companies, so technology led us to piracy.  Then someone came up with a viable legal alternative (Netflix) at an affordable price, so we played nice.  Now we're getting boned again.  Wait for NBC/Universal's services.  Then Fox will come out with one, and all the old big-4 will be back to boning us, and making even more money cuz we're paying twice thru some form of cable subscription, and the streaming service.

All hail the return of thepiratebay!

[jammindude]

I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and CBS (which I would be shutting off if it weren't for my wife being the Star Trek fan she is).   

For Marvel and Star Wars content, I'm definitely signing up for D+, but I'm glad I get the first year free because of a deal through Verizon. 

But seriously, after that I'm done.  I don't care who comes up with what anymore.  I don't have Hulu, and not even The Orville (one of my favorite shows) can make me sign up for Hulu just for that one show.   I'm too old to spend time pirating anymore, and to be honest, I don't even know if I'm going to have time to watch the shows I already want to watch, much less put more things into the queue.   

If I just have those 4 "biggies", I'll probably have more content than I could ever watch in a lifetime.

[faizoff]

I read that NBC are contemplating making their service free with ads, a bit like Hulu but without the tiers. I doubt Fox will have their own since Disney bought them.

[Cool Chris]

I don't even know if I'm going to have time to watch the shows I already want to watch, much less put more things into the queue.   

This is about where my life is at now. I cut the cord last year - cable TV was costing us $120/mo). Wife had resistance because she doesn't like change, and just wants to be able to turn the TV on a flip through channels. But she really only watches 10 channels at most, so I was able to convince her Sling had all the channels she ever watched, and while the interface would take some time to get used to she would actually enjoy it more. Which she finally does. The 2 year old will watch any cartoon, and the 8 year old has some shows on Sling and watches either YT or movies we rent/own.

We don't have any other streaming services, and I can't imagine signing up for any at this time. 

[lonestar]

I've never looked into Sling, what exactly is its premise?

[King Postwhore]

Sling allows you to watch any of your recorded shows (DVR) wherever you are.  Away on business,  you can still watch your recorded shows from a hotel, vacation....

[Cool Chris]

Well that, but it's like YouTube TV. There are a couple of channel packages you purchase, plus add-on packages for premium channels. I don't know how many channels we get in our package, but it's $30, plus one $5 add-on package. I think it is great for our family but again my wife watches maybe 5-10 channels (all in our package) and the rest of us barely watch any TV.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yea it's annoying when shows gets exclusive on a streaming service you don't have.

I have Netflix, HBO Nordic and Prime Video (I only got this for The Expanse S03 and the upcoming season) 

I might skip Prime Video for D+ mostly for The Mandalorian, i'm really looking forward to that.

[Grappler]

I have PS Vue, Netflix, Hulu and will have Disney Plus.  Hulu will lapse in November, since I had it for $0.99 for a year and don't feel like paying the full price.  PlayStation Vue is going away in January, which sucks.  It's the best replacement for a typical cable package and has all of the sports channels I wanted.  I'll likely switch to YouTube TV, and we'll lose the NFL Network, which isn't a big deal.

The trick is learning that you don't have to watch or subscribe to EVERYTHING.  I don't have time to scour these streaming services for all of their own original content, even though I'm sure I'd like a lot of it.  So I just stick with one or two, plus a streaming TV provider for access to regular/cable TV networks.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm going to abstain from Apple TV.

No one has mentioned the upcoming HBO Max or Peacock.

We still have a large cable bill, because I can't convince my wife to cut the cord.

[lonestar]

Now will HBO Max have different content than HBO itself? I already have free HBO with my phone contract.

[Chino]

Now will HBO Max have different content than HBO itself? I already have free HBO with my phone contract.

From what I understand yes. It's going to have an additional 1800 movies and a bunch of exclusive TV shows including South Park, Friends, and The Big Bang Theory.

[cramx3]

As others have stated, this is a cycling trend it seems.

It wasn't that long ago every wanted their TV "a la carte" and not pay for the packages including all those channels they didn't want.  Well, that's what streaming is becoming. 

Are there too many?  I think so.  But I still haven't cut the cord and still enjoy regular TV than having all these streaming services.  Actually seems I can stream anything that's on TV anyway through my provider so other than exclusives on Netflix or similar, I don't feel like I'm missing anything.  I don't have netflix either and don't plan on getting it or any other streaming service in the near future as I am fortunate to have a great cable deal through my work overlords.

[El Barto]

Now will HBO Max have different content than HBO itself? I already have free HBO with my phone contract.

From what I understand yes. It's going to have an additional 1800 movies and a bunch of exclusive TV shows including South Park, Friends, and The Big Bang Theory.

Oh, for fuck's sake. Services within services, eh?

We still have a large cable bill, because I can't convince my wife to cut the cord.

Do it and don't tell her. "Eh, must be a neighborhood outage. Probably take days or weeks to fix. I wonder if we can get by without it for a few days?" If she asks too many question just hit her in the mouth.

[faizoff]

No one has mentioned the upcoming HBO Max or Peacock.

I read that NBC are contemplating making their service free with ads, a bit like Hulu but without the tiers. I doubt Fox will have their own since Disney bought them.

I made a mention regarding Peacock being possibly free

[hefdaddy42]

We still have a large cable bill, because I can't convince my wife to cut the cord.

Do it and don't tell her. "Eh, must be a neighborhood outage. Probably take days or weeks to fix. I wonder if we can get by without it for a few days?" If she asks too many question just hit her in the mouth.

Good plan.   

[lonestar]

We still have a large cable bill, because I can't convince my wife to cut the cord.

Do it and don't tell her. "Eh, must be a neighborhood outage. Probably take days or weeks to fix. I wonder if we can get by without it for a few days?" If she asks too many question just hit her in the mouth.

Good plan.   

wtf