-
23 votes
-
HBO Max adds a shuffle button to help you find something to watch
6 votes -
YouTube to stream 4000+ episodes of television for free to US viewers
8 votes -
Hulu offering Disney Plus addon for $2.99
7 votes -
The White Vault (Audio drama)
4 votes -
Black Friday streaming deal roundup
2 votes -
What’s the deal with Seinfeld’s aspect ratio on Netflix?
5 votes -
Star Trek Day - Join Paramount+ and fans from around the world for a free live-streamed celebration on September 8th, 8:30PM EST
4 votes -
Locast suspending operations
@Locast: As a non-profit, Locast was designed from the very beginning to operate in accordance with the strict letter of the law, but in response to the court's recent rulings, with which we respectfully disagree, we are hereby suspending operations, effective immediately.
8 votes -
Film-makers buckle under relentless appetite for Danish TV – a victim of its own success, the industry behind cult dramas such as The Killing struggles amid bullying claims
10 votes -
Great foreign shows?
What foreign series do you absolutely love?
18 votes -
‘The Office’ piracy skyrocketed in the US after leaving Netflix
22 votes -
Univision announces PrendeTV - A new streaming service with free, ad-supported, 100% Spanish-language programming for the US Hispanic audience, launching in Q1 2021
5 votes -
Roku has acquired the exclusive global distribution rights to the portfolio of shows from Quibi
8 votes -
Culture kept in its coffin: How the Netflix model buries our media history
7 votes -
Any way to get a Canadian (CBC) show in the US?
My spouse is a retired dancer interested in watching the CBC comedy Off Kilter. When we go to their website and click on "Watch Now", all of the episodes show as "This video is unavailable". They...
My spouse is a retired dancer interested in watching the CBC comedy Off Kilter. When we go to their website and click on "Watch Now", all of the episodes show as "This video is unavailable". They appear to be on YouTube, but when I go to YouTube, I can only watch the trailer. If I attempt to watch episode 1 it again says, "This video is unavailable." So I assume it's some sort of geo-locking or something? I'd even happily pay for them, but they don't appear to be offered on any service on the AppleTV (at least in the US). What's the recommended way to watch such a show? As I say, paying isn't an issue, just watching.
7 votes -
Hulu available for $2/month for twelve months from November 26th-30th
5 votes -
Roku and Comcast reach agreement to carry Peacock on Roku
5 votes -
Netflix: Watch free
11 votes -
Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino have left the production of Netflix’s live action "Avatar: The Last Airbender" adaptation
Mike's Statement Bryan's Statement
14 votes -
The fall of Netflix (Lack of comfort food TV)
9 votes -
Plex to incorporate free live streaming TV
13 votes -
The Legend of Korra is coming to Netflix on August 14th in the US
@NX: She's the avatar, you've gotta deal with it. The Legend of Korra is coming to Netflix on August 14th in the US. pic.twitter.com/r16aGudm7s
13 votes -
Quibi raised $1.75 billion and secured a roster of A-list talent, but it can’t get audiences to notice
12 votes -
Star Trek: Lower Decks sets release date for August 6th
5 votes -
HBO is making Watchmen completely free this weekend
14 votes -
WarnerMedia says goodbye to HBO Go amid streaming rebrand
5 votes -
To deliver ‘The Simpsons’ in 4:3 aspect ratio, Disney+ had to rearchitect its content-delivery system
12 votes -
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" announced for CBS All Access
23 votes -
Avatar: The Last Airbender is available on Netflix
25 votes -
Mystery Science Theater 3000 returns for social-distancing Riff-Along special
5 votes -
HBO Max to launch May 27th
15 votes -
Quibi reached 1.7 million downloads in first week, will fast track ability to play media on TV
8 votes -
Sling TV gives America free 14-day 'quarantine offer,' supports local and state shelter-in-place orders
6 votes -
HBO will stream 500 hours of free programming in the US, including full seasons of ‘Veep,’ ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘Silicon Valley’
17 votes -
The golden age of free TV online | No Sweat Tech
9 votes -
Netflix will now let you disable its awful autoplaying feature
45 votes -
ViacomCBS to launch new streaming service blending CBS All Access with Paramount films, Viacom channels
8 votes -
Viaplay has ordered ‘Delete Me’, a Norwegian form series skewing young adults and headlined by cast of up-and-comers
3 votes -
NBCUniversal unveils Peacock, a free premium ad-supported streaming service with subscription tiers
15 votes -
Streaming TV is better in every possible way
In the recent topic about NBC's new streaming service the claim was made that: This is straight-up worse for the consumer than it was before. I responded to that comment, but wanted to expand on...
In the recent topic about NBC's new streaming service the claim was made that:
This is straight-up worse for the consumer than it was before.
I responded to that comment, but wanted to expand on it a lot more. So here goes.
If you've never read about it, you might not know what TV was like before the internet, so I want to give a brief history of television in the US as I understand and remember it. I was born in the early 1970s, so that's where I'm coming from.
~1940-~1960 - Televisions are large heavy devices full of vacuum tubes. In order to watch something on your TV you also need a large metal antenna on the roof of your house. There are 3 television stations - ABC, NBC, and CBS and they all broadcast in standard definition. You can clearly pick up 1 or 2 of them, but the 3rd is always kind of staticky because their broadcast tower is just over that hill in the distance, so the signal is weak. In order to watch a show you have to be in front of your television when the show is on. All shows are in black and white. Except the characters. They're all white. And straight. And middle class. And Christian. The shows are "free" because sponsors buy advertising time at the beginning or ending of the show.
~1960-1970 - Televisions are still huge boxes that weigh a ton and are full of vacuum tubes. You still need a large antenna on your roof to get the shows, and it doesn't work very well when it's raining. There are now 2 or 3 local stations that have a variety of programming throughout the day and often show re-runs of older shows you used to watch. You still need to be in front of your television when the show is on in order to see it. Some shows are now in color! Except the characters. They're all white. And straight. And middle class. And mostly Christian, though there is an occasional Jew, usually for laughs. Oh, and the big networks use satellites to broadcast their programs to local affiliates across the country. (This will be relevant in the 1980s.) The shows continue to be paid for with your attention; ads now interrupt the show for a few short minutes between the first and second or second and third acts.
~1970-1980 - You can now buy a small television that uses transistors instead of huge vacuum tubes that always burn out. It has "rabbit ear" antennas that don't require installation on your roof. There are now 5-7 local stations including a public broadcasting station that mainly shows a strange woman doing something called "yoga". For a very high monthly price you can get cable which gives you pristine picture quality of all the channels in your area plus 1 channel that shows movies. You need to have an installer come to your house to set it up, and they can't tell you when they'll be there, but they'll come eventually. All shows are in color (except for reruns of shows from the 1950s). Even the characters are starting to show some color! (But not too much.) There are a handful of LGBT characters, usually played for laughs or shown as someone others consider sick. Advertisements now occur roughly every 5 minutes.
~1980-1990 - Televisions are now all electronic (but still has the huge cathode ray tube displaying the picture). Most don't even need a separate antenna. It doesn't matter anyway because cable is cheap enough that most middle-class households can afford it. (You still have to wait for an installer to come.) There are something like 30 channels! It's insane! You can get multiple cable channels that show recent (only 1-2 years old) hit movies. And you can video tape any show you want to see so you don't have to be in front of the TV when it's on. (Assuming you can figure out how to set the clock on your VCR, and the power doesn't blink off for even a second during the show, and the show isn't pre-empted by any news or sports, and the tape doesn't get shredded or self-destruct.) You can fast-forward through ads, and your TV may have a mute button to turn the sound off during ads if you're watching live. If you're really a TV nut you can buy a satellite antenna. It's a 6-foot diameter round metal dish you stick in your back yard. You can directly receive the feeds from the big networks. This allows you to occasionally see Tom Brokaw eating a sandwich during what would normally be a commercial break. If you can't afford a satellite dish, you get to see ads every 5 minutes, plus product placements during the shows. Characters seem to have gotten whiter, straighter, and Christianer than they were in the 1970s. Ads remain largely as intrusive as in the 1970s, there are just more of them now.
~1990-2000 - TVs remain largely unchanged from the 80s. Everyone has a VCR. Everyone now has cable. (Waiting to get it installed now takes longer than ever, and the cable companies are notorious for terrible customer service.) Cable has 100 channels. Most of it is complete dreck and uninteresting to you. Since these channels have to fill airtime 24/7, much of it ends up being "infomercials." However, because there are so many channels most of the non-white, non-Christian characters move to niche channels. (There still aren't very many LGBT characters.) Satellite dishes shrink to about 1 foot across and several companies launch satellites just to provide consumers with content. Several cable channels spring up to show re-runs with small pieces missing, filled in with ads. The ads are much louder than they used to be.
~2000-2010 - VCRs start getting replaced with digital video recorders that can set their own clocks and schedule shows by name rather than date and time. They can save a number of shows without changing tapes. Some have automatic ad-skipping technology. DVDs replace VHS tapes. Televisions start moving to high definition LCD panels. Installing cable takes longer than ever, but cable carries hundreds of channels including channels devoted only to a single sport like golf or tennis. You can get bundles that include different features like lots of movie channels, adult content, artistic content, sports packages, etc. There are a variety of channels with shows devoted to different groups of people including women, minorities, and LGBT populations. It becomes possible to download an episode of a television show or a movie to your computer or iPod over the internet in only 20 minutes. You can watch on the way to work or on an airplane!
~2010-now - Standard definition TVs are obsoleted. All TVs are now High Definition and some are even 4k Ultra High Definition with High Dynamic Range color. The satellite companies are hemorrhaging customers. People are "cutting the cord" and getting rid of cable TV, though most still get their internet through the local cable provider. There's often only a single choice of provider.
Here's what streaming TV over the internet involves:
You can now be almost anywhere and instantly watch almost any episode of any television show you want with pristine quality. You don't need to install any additional hardware and the device you watch it on fits in your pocket. You can literally go to a cell phone store, buy a phone, and start watching television on your new phone minutes later. And you can put that on your huge high resolution TV, too.There are hundreds of streaming services, but you don't even need to subscribe to a service to find content. People are uploading it constantly. You can watch old episodes of thousands of shows as well as new original content for around what you used to pay for cable TV. You can watch educational stuff, or just short fun videos. You can find videos on every topic from every type of person about every type of person for better or worse.
And if you want to pay for video there are no ads. Nothing to mute, nothing to fast-forward through, nothing to annoy you. (There are still product placements, though they're usually subtle and make sense within the content.) If you watch part of a show on your phone on the train, when you get home, you can pick up where you left off on your television instantly. The weather doesn't affect the picture quality. Shows are never preempted because some politician is making a speech or a sporting event or awards show went longer than expected. There's always something on, even if it's a holiday or summer or there some big event you don't care about going on.
There is one down side: sometimes something you want to watch is on a service you have and then later it goes away, or it's not on a service you have. Usually you can subscribe to a service for 1 or 2 months, watch what you want and unsubscribe.
21 votes -
The world wants more Danish TV than Denmark can handle
8 votes -
Hulu Black Friday Deal: $2.00/month for twelve months on new accounts
4 votes -
How to save money by switching subscription between multiple streaming services
10 votes -
WarnerMedia unveils HBO Max - Launching May 2020 with 10,000 hours of premium content for $14.99/month
7 votes -
Sony will shut down its PlayStation Vue streaming service on January 30, 2020
5 votes -
South Park nears $500 million deal for US streaming rights
7 votes -
‘Bone’: Netflix will animate Jeff Smith’s acclaimed comic book epic
9 votes -
Amazon's progressive children's shows are hidden gems
6 votes -
Streaming services and the endangered magic of the long-form series
8 votes