What’s on it? Of the roughly 200 viewing options, there's a rotating selection of TV shows, including all episodes of recent (i.e., canceled) shows like Last Resort and The Player, as well as selected seasons of classics like Seinfeld and All in the Family. Sony is the rare exception, launching this free, ad-supported movies and TV service in 2007 that leans heavily on male-skewing content.
What is it? While just about every TV network has its own streaming portal, very few movie studios have followed suit, preferring instead to use established ones like Netflix, and VOD options like Vudu. (Note: While some of these services are available outside of the US, all viewing and pricing options listed here are for their US versions only.) To help make sense of it all, here is a small sampling of services available within the current streaming landscape, along with how much they cost and what devices you need to watch them. Confusing things further, Amazon has started offering several of these streaming services separately from their respective discrete apps via its Amazon Channels option. Universal search sites like Yidio and GoWatchIt don't cover many of these services. There have never been more options for streaming - and making sense of where to do that has never been more overwhelming. There are services for military veterans, workout routines, and science and nature documentaries, to name a few.
Tucked into just about every corner of the mainstream internet, these services offer platforms for all kinds of feature films, TV shows, and short-form series one could imagine - and many more one could not. And yet, specialized streaming services have been proliferating like cinematic universes and NBC’s Chicago shows. And some outlets, like YouTube, PlayStation Vue, Sling, and Hulu, have started offering streams of live TV and à la carte access to popular basic cable networks.Īll of that would provide enough #content - delivered through a sprawling technological ecosystem of tablet apps, set-top boxes, smart TVs, and USB sticks - for several lifetimes. This year, CBS even began making premium original shows - The Good Wife spinoff The Good Fight, and the first Star Trek TV show in 12 years, Star Trek: Discovery - for its subscription-only service, CBS All Access. Just about every broadcast and cable network also has its own streaming service (never to be outdone, HBO has two), and the major sports leagues all have their own as well. The world of digital streaming, however, expands far beyond the scope of these three services. In less than a decade, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video have become so central to popular culture that, for many, they've replaced broadcast TV networks as the new Big Three - the core trinity of content delivery for millions of cord-cutting viewers. Soon enough, all three also began streaming original content, which has gone on to win Emmys and Oscars and lead crucial national conversations about teen suicide, gender identity, women's rights, and abandoning best friends in the Upside Down.
A year later, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video officially launched similar services. It's been 10 years since Netflix first opened our eyes to the world of streaming movies and TV shows directly to our computers.