Tag: streaming media

TV streaming bonanza looms for UK but can you afford it?

TV streaming bonanza looms for UK – but can you afford it?

Services from Apple, Britbox, HBO and Disney launch soon – but to get them all would cost £1,450 a year

Disney+ launches in the US in November, and in the UK a few months later. Expect all Disney stable titles from Star Wars to Marvel to Toy Story and yes, Frozen. Photograph: Allstar/DISNEY/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Television viewers who want to watch a range of sport and popular shows, including Premier League and Champion’s League football, dramas such as The Crown, Line of Duty and Chernobyl, archive shows such as Gavin and Stacey and new content based on the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, face having to pay more than £120 a month by this time next year.

The global streaming phenomenon, that so far has been all about Netflix, and to a lesser extent its rival Amazon’s Prime Video, is about to get a whole lot more complicated – and expensive – as a new wave of subscription streaming services join the battle to win over TV fans.

Apple launched its service, Apple TV+, on 1 November while Disney is launched its own service less than two weeks later.

ITV and the BBC will introduce Britbox, which will offer a best-of-British experience from Victoria to Love Island, at the end of 2019

2020 will herald the arrival of two more US-based streaming services, HBO Max and NBCUniversal. The new services are a part of a move by film studios and TV programme makers to sell their output direct to consumers, rather than through a service provider such as Netflix.

Each service will have separate content and those wanting to watch will have to sign up to a monthly subscription or annual fee.

The change means viewers will have to pay for multiple services to access the content they want, on top of fees for satellite and cable TV and the TV licence fee that funds the BBC.

HBO Max is part of Warner Media, which owns the film studio behind Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter, the DC Comics superheros including Batman and Superman, and HBO shows including Big Little Lies. In the US, Warner Media has taken back the rights to Friends, dealing a major blow to Netflix. The long-running saga is the most-watched show on Netflix.

Sky-owner Comcast will launch the NBCUniversal streaming service, taking back another big Netflix hit in the US version of The Office. It also owns the Universal film studio behind the Jurassic World and Fast and the Furious franchises.

The monthly bills of these two services in the UK have not yet been set, but they are likely to be £6-£8 a month – although Sky customers will get the NBCUniversal service either for free or at a very low cost.

The details of Apple’s new streaming service were unveiled last October. The mobile phone giant is selling fewer phones and expanding into services that customers will pay for every month rather than rely on big ticket phone purchases every two or three years.

Apple has earmarked $6bn to produce original programming over the next few years to make its service a must-watch. Star attractions will include Jennifer Aniston in her first TV series since Friends, a comedy-drama called The Morning Show with fellow A-listers Reece Witherspoon and Steve Carrell. The service will cost £4.99 a month, but be free for the first year for owners of Apple devices

This is part one of a 2 part blog

David Ogden

 

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Best Alternative to CableSatellite TV in 2019

 

Best Alternatives Cable/Satellite TV in 2019

Now there are so many alternatives to cable TV. Expensive cable packages can put a serious dent in your budget and your financial goals.

It’s not uncommon to pay $100 a month, $200 a month or more for cable or satellite TV packages. Basic packages can be affordable.

However, once you start adding in all of the bells and whistles things get costly. Extras such as movie channels, sports packages, etc., mean costs start to increase.

If you get a good deal on a TV package, you can pay a smaller monthly fee for a while. But, your premiums get doubled or even tripled after the trial period ends. In addition, there are installation fees, rental fees and other charges that can come with cable packages.

A cable package without movie channel choices might be more affordable. However, that leaves you with not much more than traditional TV show viewing choices.

The bigger cable packages offer a lot more shows and movies. But they are expensive, and many people can not afford them.
 

Alternatives to Cable TV are Actually Better

I remember when cable TV first hit the major city I grew up in. It was in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s. The first family to get cable TV lived just a couple of miles away from us. They were famous, that’s for sure. Later, I went to tech school with their next-door-neighbor.

 

Everyone was amazed at the fact that there were options to have a variety of channels available. We were used to having the usual 5 or 6 local channels. The cost of cable at that time? $7.95 a month.
 

That would be $26.78 a month in today’s dollars – still an affordable TV viewing option for many families. Today things are different. These days most cable and satellite companies are charging a much higher rate than that.

Luckily, advancements in technology such as live streaming are changing that. New technology means there are more ways for people to have access to cable alternatives. There is a wide range of TV shows and movies you can get without paying for a costly cable or satellite package.
 

There are some of the options you have available if you’re ready to cut the cord to cable TV. Many of these options allow you to have a larger selection of viewing choices than with traditional TV. However, they’re a lot more affordable.

Note: You will need to have Internet access to take advantage of some of these cable TV alternatives.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden