So even with 8 streaming services, it's a bargain compared to cable, but...

[puzzlegal]

I have a mixed streaming/over the air/buy disks strategy. I have an antenna that provides free major network shows at their broadcast times. I mostly use it for Olympics and political debates. I also subscribe to Netflix, and I have Amazon prime for shopping, and sometimes use it, although I don’t like their interface. (Hey, maybe it’s better now that I’ve upgraded my Roku.) When I decided to watch game of thrones, I looked at my options and bought a box of Blu Ray disks. Same with Downton Abbey.

Mostly, I’m sad that Disney is pulling the marvel universe from Netflix. I’m probably just going to stop watching that.

[That_Don_Guy]

@Lancia

For example, years ago King of the Hill was released on DVD. I created a thread about it here and someone basically said “yer an idiot because it’s available on Amazon and iTunes.” Well, it’s certainly not available on Amazon anymore. But I bought the DVD’s, so when I want to watch them I dont have to worry about if the streaming service I subscribe to still has them.

As a consumer I refuse to play that game. I’m not a big TV watcher so it doesnt affect me much. I suppose if I was the Homer Simpson type I might be more pissed than I am. Of course, I may have and subscribe to the new Disney service, which will bring my streaming subscription to 3: Amazon, Netflix, and Disney. If it wasn’t for The Simpsons I would have no interest in Disney+. Even with them I’m not sold on it… see the DVD comment above.

The problem there being, The Simpsons is 12 seasons behind on DVDs (Season 19 will be released in December), and there’s every chance that they’re just going to stop making them at some point.

@zbuzz

Is this the thread? If so, you misinterpreted my post. I thought it was weird that they went straight to full season streaming/downloads without trying to cash in on DVD sales first, I wasn’t taking a shot at you.

I remember when Ally McBeal was released to DVD pretty much right after it was released, and the thought was that it was weird that this happened without trying to cash in on syndication, as was happening with other shows - the usual “waiting period” before a video release was eight years. When Fox discovered that it didn’t really affect syndication, other shows - Futurama and Family Guy come to mind - soon followed with “immediate” releases.

[LurkMeister]

I recently upgraded my TV to a Toshiba Fire and added my Netflix and Amazon Prime log-ins. When I got he TV ATT was having a contract dispute with Nexstar so I didn’t have access to CBS, and after a little thought I decided to purchase CBS All Access so I could watch the shows I was missing, as well as Twilight Zone, ST:Discovery and the upcoming Picard show. Unfortunately, I’ve been having a lot of trouble with All Access buffering and sometimes even locking up. A little online research shows that this is not an uncommon problem.

I am thinking of adding HBO Now to the TV, rather than adding it to my cable service.

[Renee]

@purplehorseshoe

The hell were you watching on Hulu with ads? Do you mean, like, in between shows the way HBO does, or like, commercial breaks mid-show?

I’ve never had to sit through mid-show commercials on Hulu. Maybe I’m not watching the cool stuff.

She has the Hulu that gives you access to local channels and sports. It’s like, $40 a month or something ridiculous. I think it was an HGTV show that was current? The commercials were where regular commercial breaks were, and were 90 seconds, counted down with a little timer on the top left of the screen. I was appalled.

[iamthewalrus_3]

@SamuelA

I did not know you can do this. I just bought a Roku, actually. So Roku is providing that streaming service your payment information and handling login for you? That would go a long way towards making this painless. Just subscribe for 1 month whenever a service has something I want.

Yep. I assume Roku takes a small cut.

I believe you can add new channels from the device itself, but you have to go to the web page to cancel. But it’s not jumping through hoops or anything to cancel. It’s just going to a list of subscriptions and pressing the cancel button.

[filmore]

For the Roku managing subscriptions, it can be a little confusing since the Roku device allows you to add the app manually or to add a subscription to the “Roku Channel” app.

The Roku device itself allows you to add apps to the Roku itself. Those subscriptions wouldn’t be managed by Roku. Those manually managed apps are what you see on the title screen of the Roku. You may see things like Netflix, YouTube, Prime, etc. Those apps you have to create individual accounts for each one and manually manage payments.

Roku also has an app called “Roku Channel”. The Roku Channel is a streaming umbrella sort of like Amazon Prime. It has some content you can watch directly and you can also add premium subscriptions to Roku Channel. It’s sort of like having cable. From within Roku Channel, you can easily add and remove subscriptions to premium channels without having to create individual accounts and payments. It’s all under the Roku Channel control.

You can see the difference on these Roku screens. You can see the manually managed apps on the title screen, like Hulu and Amazon. You can also see the Roku Channel app. If you went into Roku Channel, you could add premium channels like HBO, Showtime, etc. I don’t think all apps are available within Roku Channel. Like, I don’t think Hulu and Amazon are enabled under Roku Channel. They have to be manually managed.

[ISiddiqui]

@Renee

She has the Hulu that gives you access to local channels and sports. It’s like, $40 a month or something ridiculous. I think it was an HGTV show that was current? The commercials were where regular commercial breaks were, and were 90 seconds, counted down with a little timer on the top left of the screen. I was appalled.

It was probably a live show. The highest tier Hulu is “Hulu with Live TV” meaning its broadcasting the channels. Some Network On-Demand content, which is not a part of the Hulu service, also has ads due to Network contracts.

[SamuelA]

@filmore

For the Roku managing subscriptions, it can be a little confusing since the Roku device allows you to add the app manually or to add a subscription to the “Roku Channel” app.

You can see the difference on these Roku screens. You can see the manually managed apps on the title screen, like Hulu and Amazon. You can also see the Roku Channel app. If you went into Roku Channel, you could add premium channels like HBO, Showtime, etc. I don’t think all apps are available within Roku Channel. Like, I don’t think Hulu and Amazon are enabled under Roku Channel. They have to be manually managed.

This is less than optimal and not as convenient as it should be…

[iamthewalrus_3]

@SamuelA

This is less than optimal and not as convenient as it should be…

I’m sure it could be improved, but it’s really not that bad.

It’s certainly not as bad as adding and removing channels used to be with cable. You had to call them on the phone. And often you had to buy a whole additional “premium” bundle that included a bunch of stuff you didn’t care about and also HBO. And sometimes you had to agree to pay for them for a period of time. And you had to call them to cancel.

In contrast, on my Roku, I can just go to the app icon for the streaming service I want. If my subscription isn’t active, I can press a button and reactivate it. Roku bills me. When I want to cancel it, there’s a simple button to press on the website. It took me just 4 clicks from the Roku landing page (log in, my account, subscriptions, cancel).