A meta thread for video streaming services - Netflix, Hulu, Disney, HBO, Warner, Prime, AppleTV, etc

BBC and Discovery to create wildlife documentary streaming service (paywalled, sorry, but I can’t find it elsewhere yet). Not in the UK, presumably because of license fee rules (but maybe because Netflix has the rights now?), or China, but apparently all BBC documentaries will be licensed to the Discovery-owned service in other markets.

Very cool. I grew up on BBC documentaries. I miss them. I think the ones I remember watching were Horizon (a LOT of Horizon), and Q.E.D. I wonder if they still make those? I haven’t seen them since I came to the U.S. in 1991. I also used to watch one called Beyond 2000, but I think that was an Australian show.

On the other hand the PBS documentaries Nova has been a great substitute. And PBS documentaries in general are still my favorite thing on TV.

Horizon is still going, but it’s mostly rubbish

Has anyone tried Youtube TV? Looks like is streams live stuff (good for local channels as well as mindless channel surfing), but also has a strong basic cable stable of channels. Plus cloud DVR. Looks like a strong contender and better than the similar Sling. Just wondering if anyone’s tried and and what the catches are?

Yes, I have an account from a family member, which is the primary advantage of YouTube TV. You can give out up to five accounts, which all get their own settings and DVR. You do have to authenticate to the same area code every 3 months, but there are ways around that, a VPN or changing GPS in Chrome dev console.

Two primary disadvantages of YouTube TV. First, you are forced to use VOD for CW and CBS programs, which makes you watch commercials. And second, it has no Viacom channels, so no Comedy Central.

Ah thanks. So CW and CBS don’t really stream live feed, just give you access to their VOD which has it’s own commercials built in? I’m not totally following that.

And I did notice there is no Discovery channel stuff. But Discovery hasn’t had much worth watching in ages except maybe Deadliest Catch which I don’t really watch anymore. I did like River Monsters on Animal Planet though.

But I guess I could get direct subs to those if I wanted to.

The DVR and channel surfing thru various live streams is a great addition. And the price seems great for up to 6 total logins.

Actually, CW doesn’t stream a live feed to my specific location, but they do for other areas. CBS is live everywhere.

You can tell YTTV to record a show, and it will record every time that show plays, forever. Remember, unlimited storage DVR, with a 9 month retention. But for first-run shows on CW and CBS, the networks release a VOD version of that same episode and don’t let you play the DVR version. The VOD version has unskippable commercials, you can’t fast forward through them.

And that’s right, it’s also missing discovery channels, and Food TV, and the cooking channel, amongst others. Comedy Central is the big one for me.

Gotcha. I think. Doesn’t sound like a dealkiller by any stretch. Think I’m gonna drop cable and go full Roku (doesn’t seem to work with Amazon Fire sticks). And my god why does Apple TV cost so much?

Apple tax, plus it is very high-end hardware. Terrible remote, though.

Best device for youtube TV is an nvidia shieldTV, but roku will work just fine. Just don’t get the really cheap roku, get the streaming stick+ or an ultra.

A lot of cord cutters will do a package of YouTubeTV + Philo for the Viacom and lifestyle channels (including Animal Planet).

Wow, never even heard of Philo. Looks great. Thx

Yep, Philo is on roku also.

So this is a few years away or so but we want to move to Europe for awhile and we would like to be able to stream there. What options are there? If we could do Netflix and Amazon Prime we’d be happy, but I’m not sure that will be available.

Where in Europe?

I have and really like YTTV, and yeah, being able to share out the full subscription to anyone on your Google family plan is fucking awesome. Biggest issue I had was YTTV shitting the bed nationwide during one of the finals games during last year’s NBA championships. D’oh. But it has been excellent otherwise, and the “remember to record this show forever until the end of time” functionality of the DVR is really fuckin’ convenient.

My biggest annoyance is that at some point in the past, possibly when they tried to shoehorn real names into Youtube accounts via mandatory G+ account linking, my primary [email protected] account got bifurcated. There’s one version of it that is tied to my G+ profile and includes my real name, and another version of it that is Youtube-specific, doesn’t include my real name, and can’t comment on YT videos as a result.

The latter one is the one that YTTV is attached to, and so every time I go to open a tab to YTTV, it tells me my account (G+ connected realname armandopenblade) doesn’t have access, so I have to switch accounts, choose armandopenblade again, and then it properly switches to the YT-specific no-realname version of the account.

To run around this, I just leave a Chrome tab of YTTV open in the background at all times. It saves me the 15 seconds of extra clicking :)

Well, obviously not the UK.

Point being, while there are obviously other people who who can speak to certain specific countries better than I can, the picture varies quite dramatically from country to country. In general the Netflix selection in most non-UK European countries is as I understand it pretty poor if you don’t count originals, with the exception of those current run US shows Netflix has international rights for (eg Better Call Saul, The Good Place, Star Trek Discovery). But Amazon is even worse except maybe in Germany, from what I understand. On the other hand, there are other services in some countries, eg Sky’s NowTV in Ireland and Italy (and maybe other places) which are competitive.

I’ve been using DirectvNOW and it seems pretty good. I get all the major channels I want, and the premiums are cheaper to add than the other services. DVR is only 20 hours, but that’s fine if I delete stuff as I watch it.

Apple wants to become the ABC Friday Night-lineup of streaming services, but they’re hiring top-list talent that wants to make shows for grown-ups.

The New York Post reports that Apple’s original shows are suffering because of executive interference. Numerous sources told the Post that agents and producers are becoming exasperated with “intrusive” Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook.

“Tim Cook is giving notes and getting involved,” a producer who has worked with Apple said. The producer said one of Cook’s most frequent notes is “don’t be so mean!” An agent also said Cook has been giving “feedback” as he seeks family-friendly content.

Apple has too much money. They should spend it on acquiring competing or synergistic properties like Spotify, Shopify, and Yelp, not making TV shows.