I’ve decided on a monthly budget that I will not exceed for streaming services. This means, if I decide to subscribe to Disney+, I’ll unsubscribe from another service (say, Netflix) for a number of months. When Netflix releases something of interest (e.g. a new season of Stranger Things), I’ll unsubscribe from Disney+ and restart Netflix. It takes a little bit of effort, but we are getting something pretty close to the a-la-carte TV model that we wanted.
I will also subscribe to CBS All Access, only for Picard, then I will cancel (the same rule will apply, another service will need to go while i’m subscribed to CBS).
There is more entertainment than anybody has time to watch, so there really is no reason to need to subscribe to all of these services at the same time.
This is the one time where I might be glad to be Canadian… the new Trek content is on a cable channel here, included in a package I already subscribe to. (Used to be call “Space”, but they just rebranded and I don’t even know the correct name any more.) Of course, CBS All Access is not available here, so it’s a good thing I can get it somehow… because “Picard” looks really interesting.
I don’t care so much about the cost. I’ll pay for good entertainment, I understand the value that I perceive in it.
My problem is how every company now has their own app/website/whatever, with their own questionable UX design, their own little quirks, irritating adverts, resource requirements, unexpected UI updates - all these tiny micro-frustrations nipping away at me while I’m trying to relax. All I want to do is watch a show. My dad always says these streaming services are missing the simplicity of sitting in front of the TV and channel surfing. I used to roll my eyes, but now I kind of get what he’s saying. It doesn’t seem like much, but these “micro-frustrations” add up during times where I’m trying to escape the drone of everyday life into a 60 minute fantasy land.
I want a unified platform in which I can directly pay the content creators for their work. That simple. That’s what the internet should have enabled for us. Until then, I probably won’t be opening my wallet for any of this.
Think it’s the way to go as more and more services launch and as prices rise. Just subscribe to a service for a month, binge what you want to watch and move on.
Content providers have been doing a fantastic job of making piracy more and more attractive as of late. The cost and hassle of juggling multiple streaming services is unnecessarily expensive and cumbersome.
That’s a great point. The extra-greedy approach may blow up in their face as many people get fed up and decide to pirate instead. This is especially true for services that try to lure subscribers with one show - and without other appealing content (I’m looking at you, CBS & Star Trek: Discovery).
Interesting. I never thought to look for it and I am pretty sure I once read an article that said words to the effect of “Space is debuting Star Trek Discovery in Canada since it is only available on CBS All Access in the USA and the service is not available in Canada.” However, Star Trek Discovery debuted in 2017 and the signup page is copyright 2018 so perhaps it launched later and I never heard the news.
Both Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek Picard are/will be available on CTV’s Sci-Fi channel (formerly Space, I believe), as well as Crave TV. CBS All Access is not required to view these series in Canada at this time.
