Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

I posted this comment in The Stand thread since it was just announced the show will be an exclusive streaming series on CBS All-Access. story suggested that it would make a good spinoff topic:

This comment doesn't just apply to The Stand. There are other shows like Titans, Young Justice season 3, Star Trek: Discovery. Original shows from EPIX, which is now a standalone service and the lists go on and one. ESPN has a standalone service with content exclusive to it as well.

Disney, Warner Bros, NBC are all coming out with TV/movie streaming services this year. Hell, I even read that PBS is likely going to start a streaming service.

and there are some posters here who flat out refuse to support streaming. I won't name any names or call anyone out, you know who you are.


What are your thoughts? Are you all just overwhelmed? Are you angry at the networks and studios for going to this model? For those who are cord cutters, is this becoming more expensive than you originally hoped for because you were hoping to save money on TV? Do you simply just not have the time or money, so you have a "set number" of services and simply ignore everything else no matter how much people rave about it?


I assume most here love it because of the convenience factor and no commercials and endless amounts of content to watch on any given day. And I assume the cost factor for those who choose a very minimal amount of services to spend money on. I also know that most streaming series usually end up lasting longer than most network and cable shows.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

It's on my schedule, it's usually uncensored, and it's usually commercial-free. But I use Netflix, Hulu and Amazon more than anything on cable. And for now, reasonably priced.

Dislike that they don't all have commercial sponsored free-tiers, and general lack of physical media releases (I'm not big on physical media but like the option for the stuff I love). Absolutely hate the idea of platform-specific Services (ie: Only being able to watch Apple shows on Apple devices).

I used to like how few cancellations there were as well, but that's reversed pretty heavily these last couple years.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

I'm hating this idea of each little company creating their own service. We have Hulu and Netflix, and sometimes Amazon when we have Prime active, and I'm not interested in very much more. We've resisted CBSAll Access by using other methods to watch Discovery so far, but we might splurge on that for all other new shows they're making. If CBS could put all of Trek on there (including the movies) plus maybe add some documentaries or DVD special features, that might make it worth it.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

The splintering sucks but I said years ago that this was bound to happen, particularly when people were wishing for a la carte cable.

CBS AA is the only one I've really bitched about since Star Trek is on Netflix everywhere else and they are simply using/milking the Trek nerd fandom to prop up the thing.

And the emergence of cable-like services like Sling, Fubo, Vue, etc is generally a good thing.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Subscribe for a month or two, watch what you want, cancel. Some of these don't need to be year-round subscriptions.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

I won't cut the cord because I like watching sports on the DVR and I can barely keep up with the shows I watch on cable so I don't want to pay for a streaming service when I'd end up have to quit shows I like.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Definitely a Love Hate thing for me.

I guess be careful what you ask for in terms of A La Carte TV huh? Now the "Nickel and Diming" has taken off with each Network doing streaming and charging for it. I can't watch American Gods, ST: Discovery, and a few other shows because of this. So I'm just accepting that I'll have to miss these for now.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

The concept is good however what people really want is one service that has every tv show and movie new and old at one non crazy price each month. (yes, that is not even possible with how ownership of content works)

As it stands there are a hundred different services and we still don't have everything and the cost is too much.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Love:

A/V quality - while cable & broadcast are mostly stuck in 1080i, or even 720p, a good portion of streaming is available in 4k with HDR. Plus better sound. And then there are the lack of on-screen promotions that litter traditional TV.
Binge watching
No equipment/fees/contracts - unlike cable, streaming is exactly the price that's quoted. In cable-speak, you can almost double the advertised price once you add all the 'fees'
No contracts/online access - you don't have to call & strike a deal just to stop service. You can even cancel & they will only say 'come back when you're ready' instead of trying haggle

Hate:
Services with commercials - not just that they're forced, but streaming services only seem to have about 3 different commercials they play every.single.break.
Keeping up - there is no way to keep a consolidated list of shows like on a DVR. Sometimes I simply forget that I'm watching a series until I run across it months later.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Watch on my own schedule, etc, etc.

Too many services- eventually they will start eating each other. It's only a matter of time...

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Yeah Eddie W, and the shittier Streaming services just plug the ads in randomly. They don't even use the natural breaks points.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Most of the streaming services offer better quality than the TV stations plus no commercials. I can watch 3 episodes (40 minutes x 3 = 2 hours) in the time it'd take to watch only 2 episodes on TV (1 hr x 2 = 2 hours) due to the commercials.
I can also watch when I want, pause and come back, etc. TV can only do that if you have a DVR and since cable is pretty much dead/non-existent here.

All we really have here is two crappy Dish providers: DirecTV and DishNetwork, and choosing between them is tough when both have channels the other doesn't due to disagreements in pricing or something contract-wise. Like for a long time all Viacom channels such as Nickolodeon wasn't available on one of them.

It's just less hassle to go with Netflix and be done... and it was far cheaper.

DishNetwork/DirecTV easily gets up to like $130 a month here depending on what packages you go with to be able to use it in enough rooms, have DVR, and get the channels you want.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

True.
Also, often the 1080p streams from Amazon and NF can match and sometimes even exceed BDs.
I don't get Lossless with either of the 2 above mentioned services.

Amen to that.
Agreed, plus signal dropouts can be annoying.
FWIW, I won't subscribe to a service that has commercial breaks...never have, never will.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

The thing I hate about streaming vs cable is that I can't just channel surf. But this should be a thing I love because I definitely wasted a lot of time just rolling through channels in an endless loop. This week I DLed Pluto TV and instantly started surfing amongst all the truly crappy offerings.

I also miss the news and sports channels, especially MSNBC and ESPN2. But again those were real time wasters because show after show was just the same info coming out of different faces.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

This is where NetFlix excels.
NO ONE puts out as much high quality original content as they do...not even close.

I have Amazon Prime too and am constantly amazed at how little O.C. they have in comparison to NF.
God knows they have the money...I don't get it. -confused-

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

The decision for Disney+ is a no brainer for me. I WANT THAT CONTENT!!!

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

I buy physical Disney movies I like. No need to go with their streaming service.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Good topic, thanks for starting it. :thumbsup:

I like streaming services but am frustrated by limitations. I get that they can't keep content all the time but it can get frustrating. Netflix is the only one we've had consistently over the years. Prime, too, I suppose, though we don't touch it nearly as much as Netflix and the sad thing is it isn't because of a lack of content but because the interface is just so stinkin' terrible. We've had Hulu off and on but usually suspend our account in the summer when there isn't a lot of new content from new shows, but two years ago we just didn't renew at all. Then they had their Black Friday sale of 12 months for $1 per month for the commercial version and we picked it up again. We've liked having fresh shows back.

We probably have watched more shows together this year than ever, but we're at a different point in life, too. Our kids are old enough we can put them to bed and they stay in bed, but we're tired enough we're not leaving the house on any given weeknight, so staying in for a streaming service is nice. We have a good library of Blu-rays, though looking at them they're all either family fare or R-rated drama, no comedy. Our comedy is in the DVD section, and so, so many of them are non-anamorphic garbage. Some of those end up on streaming, but not all. Our brand-new receiver is amazing except it doesn't have a zoom feature like our old receiver did and even though the picture wouldn't be amazing, it would be nice to fill the 55" with the whole picture and a little more grain than around 36" of it with usual DVD grain.

I also think this will happen and it will be interesting to see who is left standing. Will Netflix, who was essentially first and biggest, survive or will the brands it brought to a wider audience all turn away and take their markets with them?

This also means you have to be a very informed consumer and know what you're doing. My hunch is there's a big batch of people out there who would love to watch some of these shows but can't figure out how to "chase" them, or give up on the value of doing that. There's an older lady who works at my local grocery store who sometimes wears a Star Trek pin on her uniform and we've been chatting about Star Trek ever since. She's the biggest fan I've ever met in person! Yet, when I told her about Star Trek: Discovery she was all excited because she hadn't heard about that. She doesn't follow entertainment news like the young people. She doesn't know how to create something like a Google alert for "new Star Trek." When I told her about CBS All Access, I saw her get disappointed, saying, "I don't even know how all of that works." I even offered to help her out and she said thanks but maybe it'll be on DVD some day. My hunch, as I say, is she's not the only one out there who is overwhelmed by having to chase content they would otherwise love.

I want it to be great, but we buy the titles we like on Blu-ray and the in-production movies are basically all remakes of classics. The Star Wars content would have to be amazing. Look, I love Star Wars, I'm most of my friends' "Star Wars Guy," but I've only seen half of The Clone Wars even though I've heard it's great but I didn't have cable and I didn't want to pay for it. Now it's on Netflix and I still don't feel the need to watch them all. Like I said earlier, if it's good content, people will consider pay, but it's gotta be great content to actually pay.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

One thing that pisses me off is streaming live tv, especially the local channels (ABC, CBS, etc). Apparently, local affiliate streams are only offered in certain markets and since I sometimes travel for work, I usually get screwed by this practice.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

I think the biggest problem with streaming is that it just gives you too many options and not enough time, to the point that you have to basically choose what your going to watch and how, whether it be cable TV or streaming. I do enjoy the niche services more than the huge services because I feel like I'm paying a decent price for something I want to watch, vs a big price for a lot I won't watch, and one or two things I will. That feels too much like when cable channels would bundle all these packages of stuff I could not care about and one or two channels I would.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

Many of these shows would not exist if not for streaming networks.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?
 

CBS AA is not available elsewhere so Netflix picked up the rights to air it. If CBS AA was everywhere it likely would not be on Netflix.

Re: Streaming television -- Why do you love it? And why do you hate it?