Great start.

What's the difference between HBO Max and HBO Now? Is Now going away?

And what about free, ad-supported streaming platforms such as Crackle? Do they have any traction at all?

Could see myself subscribing to one service for a month, binge watching the shows I want to watch, canceling and moving on to the next service.

Currently have Sling, Hulu, Netflix, Prime, HBO, Starz and no cable.

Probably will turn into just Sling, Prime, Disney, and Netflix next year. Netflix would probably be the first cut at the rate they're losing content. There are some other decent free channels out there like crackle, tubi, vudu, etc to offset what we're losing.

HBO will continue to make good stuff but nothing has gripped me like GoT to make me stay. And the only reason we have Starz is for Outlander.

They used to talk about the "killer app" that operating systems needed to thrive. Now it's the "killer series."

So, assuming a TV show will be exclusive to it's network platform from here on out?

i.e. Parks and Rec going away from Netflix forever to be on Peacock forever sorta deal?

Any cross platform play y'all think?

You'll still see cross platform and non-exclusive deals. Companies will just be more cautious now about how & where to monetize the back-end. Up to this point it was simply a bidding war between Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. Now content owners will have to factor in the need to prop up their own platform vs just taking the cash from a competitor.

Edit: Update to say I think you'll definitely see this with new shows. Same day/week viewing may be exclusive to one platform with back seasons on different platforms. And less popular catalog titles will be distributed to as many different streamers as possible to maximize revenue. I.e. Family Matters is never going to be a subscription driver for Warner...so they'll display it themselves plus continue to sell to Hulu. Then pull it back if they do a reboot, then resell it once subs have churned. It'll be perpetual.

Also a slightly different situation there as several networks have (or previously had?) a financial interest in Hulu, they aren't technically a third party. Disney I believe now has the majority ownership after their purchase of Fox.

I feel like there should be a single background logo that all of those other logos are in and it should be a Plex logo.

They operated independently as a 3rd party up until the Disney acquisition of Fox. It was required by their articles and each ownership group had seats on the board.

I suppose you can say they're no longer a "3rd party" now that Disney has full control (although Comcast still has a 33% financial interest for the time being.)

But I do think content providers will continue to negotiate contracts for Hulu and Disney+ separately. They won't do blanket streaming agreements with Disney and allow Disney to stream on either platform at will.

How many of these offer network channels?

Seems that is a big difference between the list. I know youtube tv does, and hulu live (which is $45/mo). But just guessing that most of these don't.

We have an antenna, and it hasn't been working out that well. Literally a few of the best parts of a football game I'm watching last weekend, it freezes up or jumps/skips. At one point, we lost it completely, and it's 10 minutes before we get back to watching again.

Completely unacceptable if we have friends over watching. How embarrassing it would be.

These aren't live tv platforms, they're more platforms offering original content.

Check the cutting the cord thread for more info on what you're asking about. YouTubeTV, PS Vue, Sling, and Hulu Live are what you're looking for.

TCTTS said:

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Ok, sure. Out of all the things I've said in this thread, you're honing in on one small thing I said offhandedly and calling that a "difference of opinion." You're right, streaming platforms may very well forever stick with the monthly subscription model. But my broader point in that paragraph was simply to say that overall conditions in the future MIGHT not be quite as lax as they are right now, which is a very distinct possibility.

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But the contracts (more specifically the restrictions) for cable service exist because the providers have near monopolies. They aren't tolerated because that's just how it has always been. There was no other choice. If the market moves towards many people only subscribing intermittently (which I think is likely based on HBO) and a company decides to require a yearly subscription, their competitors gain an advantage by not doing it.

They'll probably follow the standard subscription model and offer a discount for longer term commitments, but I don't think that's going to keep people from switching. With on-demand content like this, a situation exists that hasn't before. With cable TV, if I didn't have a subscription when the content was broadcast, it would be much harder for me to consume it later on. With on-demand, if I want to watch Mandalorian, or Wandavision its going to be there whether I'm subscribed when it comes out or not (although Disney is in a better position for this with the movie tie ins driving people to consume the content on time.) Orange is the New Black is there to catch up on whenever I want to. Keeping a constant stream of content coming out that everyone wants to watch, such that most people feel like they'll be missing out if they don't stay subscribed is unlikely.

I don't know how many people there are out there that will go back to paying the same amount that they did with cable to watch ALL the new content that comes out and a bunch of reruns. Some people are just going to forgo watching certain things for a time (or maybe forever).

On a side note... who are all these people that binge watch friends over and over again? Its a great show, but there's a million great shows out there now. I don't understand that mentality.

95_Aggie said:

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This is going to become so fragmented that everyone will long for the old days of "packages" on cable and satellite.

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You said it..

fig96 said:

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These aren't live tv platforms, they're more platforms offering original content.

Check the cutting the cord thread for more info on what you're asking about. YouTubeTV, PS Vue, Sling, and Hulu Live are what you're looking for.

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See above.

Not following what you're referring to.

fig96 said:

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Not following what you're referring to.

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that fact that you have to explain that these companies are for original content, and then there are other companies (some with the same name like youtube tv vs youtube premium, or hulu vs hulu live) if you want live tv alludes to the fact that it's getting very fragmented, and complicated.

You simply didn't have this with cable as 95_aggie has pointed out. You had an economical package, a bigger one, a bigger one, and then the one that had everything.

62strat said:

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fig96 said:

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Not following what you're referring to.

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that fact that you have to explain that these companies are for original content, and then there are other companies (some with the same name like youtube tv vs youtube premium, or hulu vs hulu live) if you want live tv alludes to the fact that it's getting very fragmented, and complicated.

You simply didn't have this with cable as 95_aggie has pointed out. You had an economical package, a bigger one, a bigger one, and then the one that had everything.

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Actually, I'd argue it's pretty much exactly the same thing.

Live streaming providers are the new cable companies, and Netflix/Disney+/etc. are the HBOs and Showtimes.

Now you just don't have to worry about contracts and random fees.

So do I.

I hate having my options for tv limited by which company happened to lay cable down my street. Making live tv providers like PSVue and YouTubeTV compete with one another will ensure we have options for good channels without having to subsidize all the garbage channels that have historically been bundled in.

As for all the streaming options. For me, there's no reason to have more than a couple. I have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and those 3 have more than enough content to keep me entertained. If one gets stale, I'll cut it and find a new one. If those 3 keep making new stuff I like, I'll probably never subscribe to any others.

Being an Apple user and Fan I think they have the ability to get some good original content and the low 4.99 price is pretty good.

John Francis Donaghy said:

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I hate having my options for tv limited by which company happened to lay cable down my street. Making live tv providers like PSVue and YouTubeTV compete with one another will ensure we have options for good channels without having to subsidize all the garbage channels that have historically been bundled in.

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I follow you, but most people have always had several options for cable service, considering the satellite dish companies and the ground wire companies.

Unless you're an apartment dweller who faces only north anyway.

Yep, I have Youtube TV, Netflix, & Prime Video. I can change my mind tomorrow and be done with them by the end of the month without having to fight with a customer retention specialist. It is awesome. Youtube TV is pretty sweet given the integration with my google account.

So this might tip the scales in favor of HBO Max...nice move.

HBO Max Acquires Streaming Rights To Studio Ghibli Films

https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/hbo-max-free-att-hbo-subscribers-1203383481/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/warnermedia-unveils-hbo-max-price-launch-date-1251013

Interesting article on Engadget about the streaming market on the heels of the Vue announcement

https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/29/ps-vue-dead-youtube-tv-streaming-cord-cutting/

MW03 said:

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Interesting article on Engadget about the streaming market on the heels of the Vue announcement

https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/29/ps-vue-dead-youtube-tv-streaming-cord-cutting/

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Interesting read, but I feel like they gloss over the live sports part of it which is key for a lot of folks.

As far as I know the ESPN bundle of channels, which is probably 75% of college football in particular, is only available from live TV streaming services. Although I am curious what ESPN+ without a cable subscription gets you?

Here's a link where you can pick which channels you care about, rank them, and it'll fit you to the best package.

https://www.suppose.tv/tv

Apple TV+ launched today, I'm a huge TV consumer, I'm a huge fan and consumer of Apple products, and I recently bought a new iPhone, which apparently secures for me a one year free subscription to Apple TV+. And yet, I have ZERO desire to watch a single show on this platform. I don't even have the urge to active my free account. Anyone else in the same boat as me? Anyone planning on checking out any of the series soon?

Very similar boat, I'm a bit intrigued but in no rush at all. I'm hoping for a new iPad in the next couple months so I'll check it out when I get a free sub through that, but overall I don't care much either way.

From what I'm hearing none of these shows are especially good either, which doesn't make for much of a compelling argument. Might do the 7 day trial at some point to check out the Jason Momoa show but that's about it.

I am counting down the day to The Mandalorian, however.

Looks like I'm in the market again.

My biggest issue with Vue, and it seems to be with all streaming services, I don't think the quality is there on sports broadcasts. I still think my old direct tv and dish signals produced a better HD stream. Is there a service that is best, or does it completely depend on bandwidth?