C RY D E R
P O I N T
JANUARY 13
To Stream or Not to Stream…
What was the question?
WWW.QNS.COM | JANUARY 2021 | CRYDER POINT COURIER 13
BY JILL DAVIS
While we’re all hunkering down this
winter, we’ve got to keep ourselves entertained
somehow, right? And what have a
lot of folks been doing a lot more of lately?
Watching TV—or perhaps more accurately,
video—on your device of choice.
Despite the gazillion different options out
there, it can be frustrating finding something
decent to watch.
Many of you have probably signed up
for a streaming service or two, whether
you’ve cut the cord completely or just
wanted to supplement your regular cable
TV package. As Netflix and Hulu took
off, other providers wanted to get in the
game, and now the streaming landscape
is on the brink of becoming overwhelming.
It’s also on the brink of becoming
unaffordable if you add them all up, and
many services aren’t even offering free
trials anymore.
Here’s a brief rundown of a few of the
higher-profile streaming services to help
you decide what you want (or don’t want).
This is not by any means a comprehensive
list; as you’ll see, new services are launching
all the time, but hopefully this will
help you get started.
If you want more details or information
on other services, tvguide.com and
pcmag.com, which were the sources for
this article, offer a number of in-depth
run-downs on the topic. And you can go
directly to the services’ websites, which
of course make themselves sound fantastic
but will give you a good idea of what
they offer. Have fun “shopping,” and in the
meantime, pass the popcorn!
NETFLIX
Netflix can be considered the “Big
Daddy” of all the current streaming
services with a reported subscribership
of over 73 million in the US as of 2020.
The service’s biggest asset is probably
its extremely large and varied catalog
of content. It has, however, been losing
some programs to competitors, such
as “Friends” moving over to HBO Max
and some Marvel movies going to Disney+
(read more about them below).
As such, it’s been relying more heavily
on original shows to attract and retain
subscribers.
Problem is, the slate changes all the time,
with shows appearing and disappearing
constantly, which makes it extremely hard
to keep track. If you’re not hearing from
friends about a great new show you need
to check out, TVGuide.com and PCMag.
com keep updated lists—if you have the
time to go through the lengthy lists each
month. Monthly fees start at $8.99. Go to
Netflix.com for more info.
HULU
Considered one of the best services for
cord cutters, subscribers can combine
Hulu’s ad-supported on-demand streaming
with its Live TV option for $64.99 a
month. The Live TV offer includes many
of the standard broadcast and basic channels
as well as movie channels such as
Turner Classic Movies. If you want Hulu’s
live channels and ad-free package, that
will cost you $70.99 per month. If you
only want access to Hulu’s regular streaming
service, which includes some notable
original series, you can opt for it at $5.99/
month with ads or for $11.99 ad-free.
Check out Hulu.com for details.
AMAZON PRIME
VIDEO
Amazon began including access to its
Prime Video service several years ago
with an Amazon Prime subscription (free
two-day shipping). The Prime Video service
was a wannabe for quite a while but
has been building its library of original
programming in recent years. It also offers
a lot of movies, but critics point out that
they’re not necessarily top-tier films. On
the other hand, you have the option to buy
or rent TV shows and movies outright,
which is something Netflix and Hulu
don’t offer. Amazon Prime Video alone is
$8.99/month and the annual subscription
is $129/year. Go to Amazon.com or primevideo.
com to find out more.
DISNEY +
Disney+ launched at the end of 2019
and has already been successful with its
(no surprise) focus on kids and family
fare. The offerings include not only Disney
and Pixar films but also access to Star
Wars and Marvel movies. They’re also getting
on the straight-to-streaming bandwagon
with the latest movie from Pixar,
“Soul,” which is skipping movie theaters
and instead making is debut on Disney+.
As of March, 2021, the fee will be $7.99
per month or $79.99 per year. Go to Disneyplus.
com for more details.
HBO MAX
It seems that HBO wanted to make
things more interesting (or confusing)
with the launch of HBO Max this past
May. Originally known as HBO Go, which
still exists but is being phased out, HBO
Max offers a combination of programming
from HBO and Cinemax as well as
content from Warner Media.
Given the plethora of other streaming
services out there, HBO Max was having
a hard time gaining traction, so to incite
interest, it was recently announced that
Warner Bros. will debut 17 movies on the
service simultaneously with their theatrical
releases; titles include “Dune,” “The
Matrix 4” and “The Suicide Squad.” If you
are a subscriber to regular HBO on cable,
you can sign up to HBO Max for free;
otherwise, it costs $14.99 a month. Visit
hbomax.com to find out more.
DISCOVERY+
If you’re into unscripted, homebody,
how-to type shows, this could be a service
for you. Discovery+ just launched on January
4, 2021 and, like most services, offers
a mix of shows already in the can as well
as new originals.
Discovery+ says it will have more than
55,000 episodes of programs from Discovery
owned channels (HGTV; Food
Network; TLC; et al) and will include
new shows from “Fixer Upper” stars Chip
and Joanna Gaines, chefs Bobby Flay and
Giada De Laurentis, and nature documentary
host David Attenborough. The slate
will also include programs from such
networks as BBC and A&E. The monthly
fee is currently $4.99 with ads or $6.99
ad-free. At press time, Discovery+ didn’t
have its own web portal, but you can go to
discovery.com to learn more.
/Netflix.com
/tvguide.com
/pcmag.com
/TVGuide.com
/WWW.QNS.COM
/Hulu.com
/Amazon.com
/hbomax.com
/discovery.com
