Best Services
Once you have your streaming device of choice ready to go, it’s time to decide on what services you want to use. Of course, your viewing preferences will be the key determining factor, but I’ll cover the most popular choices as well as a summary of others you might find worthwhile. Many are free so you can check them out and see if you enjoy the offerings.
Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video
These three are the most popular paid subscription choices for good reason – they offer a ton of great content for less than $10 per month!
Netflix
Cost: $7.99 per month
Netflix leads the pack and has a very strong library of movies and television. I recently ran through the entire first four seasons of Breaking Bad and two seasons of Louie, both critically acclaimed television series, in little more than a week. It’s always great when you don’t have to wait to see that next show after a cliffhanger ending! There are several other series that friends have recommended to me that are in my queue to watch in the coming weeks / months.
If you love documentaries like I do, Netflix has a great selection to choose from. Likewise, there’s plenty of children’s programming to keep the youngsters entertained. And recently, Netflix signed a deal with Disney that will give them exclusive rights to streaming Disney films beginning in 2016. While that is a few years away, it does show that Netflix is willing to make big deals to provide their customers with the best possible programming. Its already committed to bringing back Arrested Development, a series from Ron Howard that had a loyal following that wasn’t quite big enough to keep it on the network airwaves, but the show may be a trendsetter for what’s to come in the world of streaming television.
If you chose only one paid streaming service, Netflix would be the choice. Keep in mind you can always cancel when you feel you’ve caught up on its offerings that interest you, then wait a few months and re-subscribe.
There are several websites dedicated to tracking what movies and shows are on Netflix as well. That way you can know when content will be dropped and when new offerings will be available. My favorite is InstantWatcher.com.
Hulu Plus
Cost: $7.99 per month
Hulu Plus provides mainly television series, both current and classic. It can essentially act as your DVR if you want. About the only key series missing are those from CBS (note: the network’s website at www.cbs.com will let you watch some of their shows in full). Otherwise, Hulu Plus has a very good selection of current shows and allows you to see the entire season (and often previous seasons as well) rather than just the five most recent episodes, as with the free version of Hulu, which is accessible through a web browser only on a desktop or laptop computer.
The library of classic TV shows is extensive on Hulu Plus. From The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Dragnet to Alfred Hitchcock Presents, you can spend weeks traveling down memory lane catching up with your old favorites.
Note that Hulu Plus does have commercials despite the monthly fee. They do this to keep the price for the service as low as possible. I’ve never found the commercials to be a problem as they are kept to a minimum.
Amazon Instant Video
Cost: $79 per year (part of Amazon Prime service)
Amazon Instant Video is included as a free service if you are an Amazon Prime member to get two-day shipping on all your orders from Amazon.com. So if you find yourself shopping with some regularity on Amazon and don’t think you want to pay for a streaming video service separately, this might be the best choice for you.
The Amazon catalog of movies and television shows is strong, with many similar offerings to Netflix. But it isn’t quite as extensive. Still, it’s a no brainer as a freebie add-on if you already have their Amazon Prime service. Get the app and take a look.
Free Services
There are at least a few worthy choices among the free options. In most cases this means there will be some commercials but rarely are they more than 60 seconds in any one break, so they aren’t too obtrusive.
Crackle offers uncut movies and several TV series, its big television offering currently being Seinfeld. Check out www.crackle.com for more info.
Popcorn Flix is another that has a fairly extensive selection of movies and documentaries, plus a few original web series. The movies aren’t A-list quality by any means, but occasionally you can find that diamond in the rough. Visit www.popcornflix.com for more details.