Almost 70% of the world’s population has some kind of streaming service subscription. Millenials, GenXers and Gen Zers tend to have multiple subscriptions each – up to 80% for millenials. If you want to take a break from playing online games with your Play Croco Casino bonuses and watch some shows, you should take a few minutes to check out which services offer you the best content.
Streaming sites rely on an Internet connection to play TV, movies and sometimes, even live broadcasts. The technology for streaming began in the early 1990s. In recent years companies such as YouTube, Spotify, Hulu, Pandora and Netflix have given classic TV networks a run for their money by delivering high quality content straight to any PC or mobile device with an Internet connection. All multimedia content becomes accessible at a touch of a user’s finger.
There are many advantages to subscribing to a streaming service. If you have Internet connectivity, you can immediately gain access to hundreds of new and classic TV shows and movies as well as new content that the streaming channels produce themselves.
You can watch the content at any time from any location for a flat monthly fee with no download time and no content taking up memory space on your device. The playback is instant. You don’t need to choose only one service – for a flat monthly fee per service you can sign up for multiple services which expands your selection options even further.
With so many services from which to choose you really need to do your research before you sign up. The commitment is monthly so it’s a good idea to remember that if you aren’t satisfied with one service, you can switch at the end of the month and continue on with another service, or sign up for multiple services at once.
Some pros and cons of the various streaming services include:
Netflix
At $9 per month, you won’t find a streaming service subscription for less. Netflix offers an excellent selection with a user-friendly recommendation system that’s easy to use (helpful for older users who aren’t familiar with many of the recommendation systems’ user interfaces). In addition to a wide selection of TV and movie favorites, Netflix offers high-quality original programing for an affordable price. There are different membership plans so you can join up depending on your needs.
Not everyone is a Netflix fan. Some people complain that their library is outdated and lacks the latest movies and TV shows, with new content only added slowly. Amazon Prime, for instance, is known for updating its library more often than Netflix.
In addition, there’s a lot of content available for residents of the United States but if you live elsewhere, your options are much more limited. People with a VPN that shows them as living in the United States can access the US library but not everyone knows to do that.
Amazon Prime
While other streaming services have better original content a better overall library of movies and TV shows and a better user experience, Amazon Prime is a close second. Plus, a membership with Prime is included with other Prime benefits (though a la carte content costs extra). For $10/month you get unlimited access to both Amazon Prime video and Amazon music we well as a free Kindle book every month and free two-day shipping on any purchases.
One of the biggest advantages of Prime is the original content which includes The Boys, Undone, Bosch, Fleabag, Good Omens, Catastrophe, Electric Dreams, Homecoming, Hunters, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Jack Ryan, Tales From The Loop, Patriot, Upload, The Expanse and Utopia.Many families prefer Amazon Prime because, they say, it’s the best streaming service for comedy and children’s programming. The a la carte service (additional cost) allows you to rent or purchase movies.
HBO Now
HBO Now operates by allowing you to extend a cable subscription and then stream content. The service costs $15/month and offers 100 TV series and over 650 movies from which to choose. There are parental controls which makes HBO Now attractive to families.
While the selection isn’t as wide as with other streaming services HBO Now does make their own past and present content (125 original series) available in addition to an on-demand library of content. Users can stream live episodes as they air on TV.
Some of the most popular content on HBO Now includes Big Little Lies, Game of Thrones Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Westworld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and adaptations of Watchmen and The Outsider.
Disney Plus
Disney Plus, at $7 a month, is probably the best deal of the bunch, if you like the content that Disney has produced. That’s generally family-friendly content including 30 seasons of The Simpsons, Marvel, Star Wars, to thousands of titles reaching back over 80 years. There are original television series and films from Freeform and Disney Channel plus select titles from 20th Century Fox Television and ABC Studios.
There’s not much else to say about Disney – the price, plus the wide range of family-friendly shows, makes it worthwhile for people who like that type of content.
Hulu
Next to Disney Plus, Hulu is the cheapest streaming service but many people don’t use it because there are inconsistent selections from old TV seasons and frequent commercials. Hulu provides access to many cable and major network shows immediately after their air. Subscribers can access a show’s current season and, sometimes, all of the program’s seasons.
Hulu has teamed up with the BBC to produce a number of original shows, movies and classic anime series. One current hit is High Fidelity which updates the old favorite by bringing the record shop to New York and swapping Zoe Kravitz for John Cusack.
Crackle
There’s no reason not to try Crackle because it’s free. It’s a service for those who like anime and cheesy action movies plus other original programming. Obviously, the service must pay for itself in some way so there are many commercials. There are also Crackle original content titles.