The Streaming Services Your Favourite TV Shows Are Heading To
Where to watch The Simpsons, Friends, HBO shows and... Seinfeld?
By the time you've finished reading this, there could well be as many as four new streaming platforms announced. Such is the enthusiasm with which huge media companies are revealing their answers to Netflix, it's causing headaches for fans of TV.
It used to be that TV was simple: you watched a show live or at a push you recorded it on VHS. Then you had to wait for reruns or syndication. Things got better with the advent of cable and the number of shows that were picked up for syndication and then TV on demand changed the game entirely. We thought back then that that was as good as it got for always having something to watch, and then streaming came along.
The problem with streaming, though, as it has always been, is that platforms can't just have every single show on there. Rights deals make it impossible, so being able to watch Friends at the same time as The Simpsons and Star Trek would usually mean having a streaming service plus a traditional cable package. That wasn't too bad, but this year is seeing a streaming revolution as major companies are revealing their own platforms with their own content on that will mean you're going to have to make some big decisions soon.
Unless you're a full-on MoneyBags, the question of which streaming services to sub to is going to have some casualties, particularly because creating a sort of content segregation programme means we're all still going to have to have cable to watch a selection and to watch live shows. Presumably until all of the platforms decide to take away live licenses to cable TV providers too.
Anyway, the question now is whether you should be keeping Netflix, getting Disney+, adding Amazon Prime and Apple TV Plus and what else is up for consideration too. That's an impossible question though and the REAL question you need to be asking is where your favourite shows are and how it'll be easiest to watch them when every service is live.
There are, of course, other more specialist platforms available and also Live TV streamers like Sony's Crackle and YouTube TV, but if you start trying to think about covering ALL bases, your wallet will be slim and your head will be fat.
Again, the question here is where you ought to be spending your money in order to still be able to watch the shows that you enjoy right now: old, new, forthcoming, whatever...