Streaming Services

Before there was Netflix, Disney+ and your dozens of other streaming services, there was cable. While cables still used by millions today, the increase in people switching to streaming service has caused cable to fade into the background. It’s just easier to have everything in front of you at a click of a button instead of having to wait for it to air; and while streaming services might have been the better option before, are they still the best option for someone on a budget?

Prior to big name streaming services like Disney+ and Max there was only Netflix, there were smaller more focused streaming services of course but Netflix was the streaming service. Netflix used to have a lot if not most of the popular films and tv shows, most of which have been moved to other platforms. 

So, is it worth it? To spend your money on multiple streaming services just to have everything right there? The main appeal of switching to streaming services is the convenience, everything is right there. You don’t have to wait for it to air or buy/rent the film or tv show; but with so many films and shows moving platforms it begins to feel similar to a time before cable, where you had to subscribe to specific channels. 

Unless you’re a hardcore Disney fan who could watch just Disney for the rest of their life and be fine. The majority of people however are going to like a lot of different shows and when those shows move to other platforms, they might want to go finish watching that show, or just to rewatch it. So, it is safe to assume that a good chunk of people is subscribed to at least 2 streaming services. 

Varying Prices

When choosing which service to stay subscribed to there are a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration; but the most important is probably the content and the cost. While costs can vary from service to service many have a at least 3 price options. the 1st being the cheapest and with ads, the 2nd being a little more expensive and without ads, and the final being some iteration of a “premium subscription” which unsurprisingly costs the most.

These are however not your only options, there are also “bundles” where you pay more than the regular cost of one but get 2-3 streaming services out of the deal. Which sounds good in theory, but unless you’re a big ESPN fan or are going to use the other platforms that come with the bundle, it might not be for you.

Content

While cost is a big part of why someone might choose a streaming service; content is probably the more if not most important component when it comes to choosing what platform to spend your hard-earned money on. You wouldn’t want to pay money for something you weren’t going to ever watch.

But what do you do when the show you want to watch isn’t on a streaming service anymore? What do you do when a streaming platform cuts a bunch of shows from its roster and effectively erases the existence of shows that production teams spent years working on. 

Because of the removal and cancellations of so many belove shows a lot of people have begun to turn to pirating shows off of the internet in some shape or form. Which is illegal, it is a crime to pirate stuff off of the internet. Despite that a good handful of people on the internet participate in piracy because of streaming services either failing to release episodes or because they removed the shows from their platforms entirely. 

While there isn’t anything that can be done when a streaming platform chooses to mistreat a show by cancelling it or removing it there are plenty of excellent films and tv shows that can be watched and for free.

Alternatives

A great free, and legal alternative is Kanopy, Kanopy is a free streaming platform that you gain access to by making a library card at the Iowa City Public Library. Which is also free. At first it might be easy to assume Kanopy doesn’t have anything of interest because it’s free with your library card, but there are plenty of excellent films on Kanopy. Such as “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, “Lady Bird”, and many others. 

Another good option is to just get back into using DVDs, the library has a good selection of movies and shows which you can rent for free.