General Entertainment In your opinion, what is the best combination of streaming services?

[Derek]

I wanted to cancel Netflix, but my SO is trying to get through 'Squid Game'. And I am invested in 'The Ozarks', wanting to see how that ends. 

 

Other than that, I'd be okay with just Disney+ (Marvel for me and Mickey for the kids) and antenna channels.

 

How do you all feel?

[Fizzzzle]

Netflix and Disney+ are the only ones I really plan on keeping around all the time. The rest I just kind of rotate as things come out.

[johnny]

i think hbo max is the best one. if i just had that and disney plus for the marvel and star wars stuff i think i’d be fine 

[skillzdadirecta]

ALL OF THEM.

[Nokra]

Netflix is the only one I really use. I also have Prime but never watch anything on it.  I'm somewhat tempted by Disney+ though. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu are the ones I use most. There's occasionally something else I want to watch, but I just torrent it.

 

Oh yeah, I do have Prime, but I rarely watch stuff on it. I keep it for the shipping.

[TheLeon]

I mostly rotate through them. I keep Disney Plus on an annual subscription because that’s relatively cheap. Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max I’ll sub for a while and then drop if I go a week or two without watching anything. Of those three, the one I probably use most these days is HBO. Although now that the Warner Bros new release movies deal is over, I’ll be more willing to drop Max.

 

When I’m feeling fancy, I’ll get something like the Criterion Channel for a while. 

I recently grabbed a cheap annual sub for AMC+ because I wanted to watch The Bureau and a couple other things, and that site is so terrible, it feels like a practical joke. 

[Bloodporne]

Uh right now I have Netflix, Prime and mooching off my friend's Shudder account which is fun if you like B Horror. 

 

I'm actually really interested in the Criterion service, would be curious if anyone has that here and what their opinion is.

[Fizzzzle]

47 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

Uh right now I have Netflix, Prime and mooching off my friend's Shudder account which is fun if you like B Horror. 

 

I'm actually really interested in the Criterion service, would be curious if anyone has that here and what their opinion is.

I've used it before mainly to watch old Soviet movies and such. It's an alright service, but not one that I would keep subscribed to all the time.

[Bloodporne]

Just now, Fizzzzle said:

I've used it before mainly to watch old Soviet movies and such. It's an alright service, but not one that I would keep subscribed to all the time.

What's the selection like? Is it just the bargain bin shit nobody buys from their archive or literally all, or most of, their stuff? 

[Fizzzzle]

4 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

What's the selection like? Is it just the bargain bin shit nobody buys from their archive or literally all, or most of, their stuff? 

You can look at their stuff at criterionchannel.com, but it's mostly a lot of old/foreign films. Especially a lot of foreign movies that aren't available on other streaming services.

[TheLeon]

Criterion channel is great if you have a genuine interest in those older/foreign films. When I scroll through lists like French New Wave or 50’s Japanese Noir though, I realize that I might not be a real film buff in that way, because it seems like homework. 

[Bloodporne]

29 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

You can look at their stuff at criterionchannel.com, but it's mostly a lot of old/foreign films. Especially a lot of foreign movies that aren't available on other streaming services.

 

21 minutes ago, TheLeon said:

Criterion channel is great if you have a genuine interest in those older/foreign films. When I scroll through lists like French New Wave or 50’s Japanese Noir though, I realize that I might not be a real film buff in that way, because it seems like homework. 

I recently got on a Noir kick and ended up buying the BluRay for Kiss Me Deadly and realized afterwards, wait, maybe I should just sign up to the Criterion streaming. I'll check the site thanks for the feedback gents

[Fizzzzle]

They have all the Kurosawa films on there with a bunch of extras, which is cool.

[Guest]

HBO Max hands down has the best content overall, and if you haven’t watched a lot of HBO or Warner over the years, you’re in for a treat.

 

Netflix and Prime both have lots of content, but most of it sucks.

 

D+ is really solid if you either like Marvel/Star Wars, or have kids.

 

Hulu is pretty decent for middle tier TV series

 

Most of everything else is pretty niche, so really depends on how into certain content you are.

[SimpleG]

9 hours ago, TheLeon said:

Criterion channel is great if you have a genuine interest in those older/foreign films. When I scroll through lists like French New Wave or 50’s Japanese Noir though, I realize that I might not be a real film buff in that way, because it seems like homework. 

Give the Japanese Noir a chance, films like Tokyo Drifter and Branded To Kill are great films. You can watch them at a very pedestrian level and enjoy them or jump into the deep end at the inner working of the films. 

[Chairslinger]

I think the answers in this thread are indicative of where the streaming services are at nowadays. Content is simply too diffuse now to give a one size fits all answer like you could have given 5 years ago.

 

Now it's really a series of "why I got this channel" answers for each individual person.

 

I have Prime because it comes with the service. I have Paramount because I am a huge Star Trek fan. I have Hulu mostly out if habit. And I get A month of Netflix here and there because it's friggin expensive and only really has a couple original shows I want to watch nowadays.

 

On the plus side, I've noticed the content has improved on all the "free" services out there. You just have to go looking for it more now.

[Jason]

I was doing intermittent canceling of Netflix, then let it keep recurring, but they're raising their prices again so I'm going back to intermittent canceling.

 

I'm grandfathered into the Hulu through Spotify offer. It's only the ad-supported tier but uBlock Origin kills the ads.

 

Paramount+ for Star Trek (plus the two recent South Park specials), which they're still consistently giving away free month codes for every single month.

 

HBO Max and Prime through my parents.

 

If I were purely spending my own money, probably the only steady ones would be Hulu--and that just because it's through Spotify, which I use WAY more than any of the video streaming services--and Prime because of the shipping.

[Fizzzzle]

Right now I have HBO (just picked it back up for Matrix, then I keep it for LastWeek Tonight and other random things), Disney+ for Marvel, and I pretty much always keep Netflix around because it's the first place I check when I want to watch something but I just don't know what.

 

And for those that say Netflix doesn't release anything good, just over the last 3 months they've put out Arcane, The Witcher season 2, Squid Game, The Forgotten Battle, Midnight Mass, and probably a couple other things I can't even remember that were all fantastic. Netflix does put out a *lot* of garbage, but they just put out a lot of content in general. That's why I keep it around for just like "I'm bored, I wonder what's new," because there's pretty much ALWAYS something new.

 

I do have Prime, but like others I don't keep it for the video content, though I do watch it occasionally. Right now I have Starz because I've been burning through a few of their shows (I never finished Black Sails, I'm finishing up Da Vinci's Demons, I also never finished Spartacus, so I might watch that, I dunno). A few of their series are also available on Hulu or Netflix, though. Like I'm pretty sure Spartacus and Black Sails are on Hulu, and I know Outlander is on Netflix.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Yeah, Netflix is hands-down my favorite. There's always something for me to watch and new stuff all the time. Sure, I don't care about a lot of it, but some of my favorites have been on Netflix. I've also gotten into Nordic Noir series and they have a ton of that. My Netflix backlog is pretty huge.

[Jason]

58 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

Netflix does put out a *lot* of garbage, but they just put out a lot of content in general.

 

Apparently their metrics weigh heavily toward how many new or returning subscribers a show brings in, while barely counting views from steady subscribers since they were paying each month regardless. So if that's right then you're actually doing your favorite Netflix shows a favor by cancelling and then renewing right when a new season drops.

[silentbob]

Pretty limited up in Canada and so I’m with Prime, Disney+ and Netflix. The only other big streamer is called Crave and handle all the HBO/Showtime shows but still are very limited on any 4K and Atmos on almost everything they offer.

[brucoe]

I tend to subscribe to all of them because I'm too lazy to try to figure out what's on what service. But that actually has become a problem because now I have so much choice of programming that I never know what's on because I don't go surfing through the services to see what's being offered.

[CitizenVectron]

In Canada Disney+ also contains Hulu content, so I'd say the holy trifecta:

• Netflix
• Disney+
• Prime Video

[Chris-]

12 minutes ago, brucoe said:

I tend to subscribe to all of them because I'm too lazy to try to figure out what's on what service. But that actually has become a problem because now I have so much choice of programming that I never know what's on because I don't go surfing through the services to see what's being offered.

I’m the same way; between my fiancé and myself we subscribe to basically all of them. 

[Derek]

Peacemaker has me really thinking about HBO Max. I opened up the app menu on my TV and it showed a picture of him with a 2 dollar off sale.

[brucoe]

3 minutes ago, Derek said:

Peacemaker has me really thinking about HBO Max. I opened up the app menu on my TV and it showed a picture of him with a 2 dollar off sale.

Such a fun show.

[Derek]

1 minute ago, brucoe said:

Such a fun show.

Is it a pain in the ass to cancel. I.E. do they tie you into a 12 month contract or anything? I haven't read up on it.

[Brian]

The only one I am subscribed to is YT Premium so my 2 year old can stop asking me to skip the commercials. Besides that, I mooch access to HBO Go, Netflix, Apple TV(free with phone), Hulu, and ESPN/Disney+. I also have Prime because of the shipping.  

[brucoe]

7 minutes ago, Derek said:

Is it a pain in the ass to cancel. I.E. do they tie you into a 12 month contract or anything? I haven't read up on it.

I get it through my cable provider. I've had HBO for years, and I called my cable company, and they just gave me the access so that I've had HBO Max from the day they started it.

[TheLeon]

11 minutes ago, Derek said:

Is it a pain in the ass to cancel. I.E. do they tie you into a 12 month contract or anything? I haven't read up on it.

You can sign up online easily. No cable required, no contracts, just a monthly fee.

[SuperSpreader]

HBOMax, Disney+, Netflix

 

I'm trying out Hulu now for the playoffs. HBO is included in my cellular bill. 

[Keyser_Soze]

The best combination is Viki and Netflix because that's what I have and I'm the best.

[Derek]

19 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

The best combination is Viki and Netflix because that's what I have and I'm the best.

I mean, I've heard good things about 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' and 'Heart Signal', but I don't know if it's enough for a sub.

[Keyser_Soze]

40 minutes ago, Derek said:

I mean, I've heard good things about 'Now, We Are Breaking Up' and 'Heart Signal', but I don't know if it's enough for a sub.

 

Viki subs are pretty cheap in comparison to other services. $5 a month or $50 up front for a year. Sometimes they even have sales on subscriptions as well. There are also a handful of shows you can watch free (with commercials)