i am shep

this is me

Tag: netflix

Subscription Fatigue

streaming

Over the past few years we’ve entered into the world of subscription services for entertainment, among other things. It started out with a few, but media companies have found the benefits of having their own streaming services outweigh selling their content to an existing service. At least, that’s what they think now, but what happens when people get subscription fatigue? It’s happening to me. Let me start by first listing all the entertainment subscriptions that I currently pay for.

Current Subscriptions:

  • Netflix
  • Amazon Prime (mainly for shopping)
  • Hulu
  • YoutubeTV
  • AMC A-List
  • Apple Music
  • DC Universe
  • Stitcher Premium (Podcasts)
  • The Incomparable (Podcast)

On and Off Subscriptions:

  • HBO Now
  • STARZ (though now that Counterpart is cancelled, I don’t see myself subscribing again).
  • Showtime
  • Various other podcast networks that I may subscribe to for a brief period of time.

That is a lot of subscriptions and it doesn’t include services that I would like to or will be likely to sign up for in the future. We know that Disney is starting their own streaming service and that’s where all the Marvel (and Star Wars) content will be. Apple is jumping into the streaming game with their own service (expected to be announced on March 25th). CBS has Star Trek Discovery and the reboot of The Twilight Zone on CBS All Access, which may be enough to tempt me to subscribe. Warner Bros. is launching a service with their film and TV catalog. Universal is as well.

At what point will consumers see subscription fatigue? Are they already? I am starting to feel that way. There’s only so much money I will spend on entertainment in a given month and there’s only so much time to enjoy said entertainment. This cannot be a sustainable model for users or for the services. I've only listed the ones that I subscribe to. There are many others, ranging from Britbox and Acorns, which caters to lovers of British TV, to WWE's streaming service for wrestling fans.

Will we eventually see bundled subscriptions? That sounds a lot like cable, which loses more and more viewers each year partly due to price. Will some of these services go away? I wouldn’t be surprised if Hulu eventually goes away now that is majority owned by Disney. I think this could also lead to a decrease in quality of the programming as well. As viewers are forced to choose what new streaming services they want to pay for, total number of subscribers for each service is sure to thin. So, if you have less viewers, you are less inclined to continue producing a low-rated, yet high quality, show like Netflix's Travelers or STARZ's Counterpart. If your service or show is niche, the budget for said content is sure to be small.

I don't have any answers to the above questions, and neither do the streaming companies. This is going to be a situation of wait and see how the market plays out. I think in the end we will see some casualties of the streaming wars with only the major players surviving. In the meantime, it's going to be tough to pick and choose which services I should continue using.

amazon-prime, apple-music, hbo, hulu, movies, netflix, podcasts-2, stitcher-premium, subscriptions, tv, youtubetv

White Rabbit Project

white rabbit project Netflix released a trailer for their new show White Rabbit Project today. If you were a fan of Mythbusters, you'll probably want to check it out. It stars the former Mythbusters build team, Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara as they go down the "rabbit hole to investigate weird and wonderful events from pop culture, science, and history."

I was a huge fan of Mythbusters and was sad when they decided to part ways with the build team in the final season. I'm happy to see the gang back together. You can stream all episodes starting December 9th. Check out the trailer below.

mythbusters, netflix, television, tv, white-rabbit-project

Cutting the Cord (Sort of)

A couple of months ago I decided to do something I never thought I would do. I cut the cord. Sort of.

In December I decided to cancel my cable. The bill was getting too high and I have been watching less and less traditional TV. Many of the shows I watch over the past few years have ended or I lost interest in them (looking at you The Walking Dead). Many of the shows I continued to watch I found I could watch the next day on Hulu, of which I was a subscriber. I also found many new shows that rivaled the quality of network and cable shows, even premium cable shows, on Hulu and Netflix. So, I made the decision to cut the cord.

Currently, I subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon (a bonus of my Prime shipping subscription) and HBO Now. The only show that I currently watch but cannot get on these services is AMC's Better Call Saul. Well, that was the case until this week. Charter, the cable company in my area, is offering their version of the Sling TV service called Charter Spectrum Stream. For $20 a month you get some popular cable channels (TBS, FX, ESPN, and AMC among others) plus either HBO or Showtime. So for $5 more a month I can get HBO plus some other cable channels including AMC for Better Call Saul. I can then cancel HBO Now. One of the other upsides to the service is that you get the local channels (even the alternate HD local channels that no one ever watches). This was great for me since, even with an antenna, I couldn't get any local channels over the air (not entirely true. If I touched a co-ax cable to the window frame and grounding the signal, I could get 3-4 local channels. Trust me, it works).

This is almost TV as I want it to be. I am paying for the channels I watch the most and can watch my shows whenever I want without the added cost of a DVR. It will be interesting to see how this continues to evolve over the next few years as more and more people cut the cord and opt to watch TV in non-traditional ways. The only thing I have yet to figure out is how to watch Cardinals baseball this summer (without using MLB at Bat and a DNS routing service). I think sports will be the last hope that traditional cable and satellite subscriptions have. Once the various leagues wake up to the potential of offering sports without a cable subscription, I will be set. But I'm not holding my breath.

cable, hbo, hulu, netflix, tv

The PS3 as a Media Center

Since I purchased my PS3 several months ago, I have come to the conclusion that it has been one of the best electronics purchases I have ever made, behind switching to Macs. Even though I'm not much of a gamer, I get tons of use out of my PS3. That's not to say I don't use my PS3 for games. In fact, I think I have more games for the PS3 already than I do for the Wii, which I've had for a few years. Titles like Assasin's Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Red Dead Redemption, Modnation Racers and the most innovative game, Heavy Rain, are games that I could not pass up. But again, I'm just a casual gamer. What I really use my PS3 for is playing back video files/discs.

Sony might not always do everything right (betamax, minidisc, memory stick, UMD), but they got a lot right with the PS3, and that includes a Blu-Ray Player. The PS3 is an excellent Blu-Ray player, and while I only have a few Blu-Ray titles, the inclusion of the player alone made the heftier price tag for the console worth it. In case you were wondering, it also plays standard DVDs as well. Since I am a movie buff, my PS3 gets a lot of use playing video discs. Great games and graphics and built in Blu-Ray/DVD player still isn't the tipping point for me though. Yes, those things are great, but what really made this one of my best purchases ever was Rivet. I've written about Rivet before, but in short, it allows me to stream music and video files from my Mac to my PS3, and the quality is fantastic. This is a must-have feature of any device serving as a media center.

Add the Netflix Watch Instantly disc to the rest and you have the (almost) perfect solution for a media center. Netflix streaming via the PS3 is also in HD, much better quality than you get when watching via a computer. I recently watched all 5 seasons of FX's Rescue Me using the Netflix disc on the PS3. The only thing I wish I could do is stream shows/movies from places like Hulu. Unfortunately, the PS3 browser does not support the version of Flash needed for viewing sites like Hulu. I'm hoping someone like Rivet could step in with a work around. I really wish the television networks would realize that TVs just aren't TVs anymore. They can do much more, and should allow their sites to be displayed on any device. If they would, the PS3 would be the ultimate device for my media center needs.

hulu, mac-apps, netflix, ps3, rivet, tv

Blockbuster Online is Lackluster Online

Blockbuster Online launched a new design today. The look isn't bad but there are some things that concern me. First, each new page I go to I see a welcome back message at the top of the screen under the navigation. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but every time I go to a new page it welcomes back a different name. I've been Ken, Brandy, Daniel, Walter, etc. I just hope personal information isn't readily available to other users during this design launch period.

The second thing that bugs me is Blockbuster launched the download service. You can buy and download or rent and download movies now. They are late to the game with this. Netflix has allowed streaming for a year now. Blockbuster seems to have more new releases available to download than Netflix but you have to pay for them, even if you're already an Online subscriber. With most plans on Netflix you get unlimited streaming as part of your plan. Like Netflix, Blockbuster's download service only works with Internet Explorer on Windows. I'm tired of major companies not supporting other browsers and operating systems. I want to watch on my Mac and I want to watch using Firefox. With Apple systems gaining in popularity and Firefox having a 20% market share, it's time to show some support. Netflix is rumored to support Macs by the end of 2008 so maybe I'll switch back to them when that time comes. For $1 more a month than Blockbuster I'll have unlimited streaming, which comes in handy at work.

blockbuster-online, firefox, macbook, movies, netflix, technology