How To Choose a Streaming Video Service
Choosing a video streaming service can be trial. Understanding what you want to watch and what your family wants can be the deciding factor, especially if you have children. The price of the service has some weight as well. In this article, I go over some of the reasons how I choose my favorite streaming video service.
To Many Videos
First, let me say that there is a lot of streaming going on around this planet right now. With the onslaught of Covid-19, we have become a stay-at-home society. We do just about everything at home right now, so choosing a video streaming service is a major life decision. ///The victor of this type of lifestyle goes to the streaming service that you pay for monthly or don’t. ///
However, let’s move past Coronavirus for a minute and look at the big picture of where these streaming services are going in the future. We know that the top services now offer a lot of amenities for families, couples and individuals that want to get the best experience out of their streaming service. This video night at home will eventually be an all inclusive experience that will only get better through technology. After all, the goal is to cater all people’s tastes and individual viewing preferences.
I guess I will start with why. Why do I want this particular service? I know when I was looking at streaming services it definitely revolved around price. I started with the service that had the most stuff with the smallest price. As I progressed and started doing more research, it boiled down to finding the right service for what I want to be watching.
I am a Marvel lover. I grew up with the comics and have an affinity for watching superhero movies and shows. I don’t like most sitcoms and think they are not interesting for my time. You may like period pieces and that’s your niche in film and television. The point I am trying to make is that it’s not about what a service offers, it’s what the service offers to you personally. When I looked at finding a streaming service this way, it was all to clear and a much easier decision.
Omit — Below, I will lay out the amenities of each of the services I am covering and then I will touch a little bit of genres and niches. You may even decide you like one genre of movies and TV more than you thought. –Omit
NETFLIX
I will start with the most popular streaming service. Netflix has a lot to offer, but is it too much? I go crazy sometimes knowing that Netflix has so much content, I will never be able to see it all in my lifetime.
Netflix Pros
A lot of high-quality originals
Awesome interface
Great general mix of movies and TV
Offline option
Netflix Cons
No sports
No Live TV
Price points are high
Cuties
PRIME VIDEO
Amazon Prime Video offers decent value with acclaimed original content and access to a lot of popular TV shows and movies. If you do enough shopping from Amazon to make Prime a worthwhile investment, then you’ll be happy enough with Prime Video.
Amazon Prime Video does their streaming service like they do everything else, very well. It is bundled with phone and Prime shipping , so if you order from Amazon a lot already, this is a no brainer for the price.
Prime Pros
194 Original Series
Order other Networks through Prime
B-Movies (one of my favorite features)
Tons of stuff for kids
Offline option for streaming
Prime Cons
There is a lot not included in the prime plans
Separate Interfaces for Mobile and TV/Desktop
The interface is not as interactive as Netflix or Hulu
No option for keeping up with newer shows
HULU
Ok so you love TV more than movies? Well luckily there is Hulu. Hulu brings you the live TV as well as the week to week series programs you want. They are really best at their television service. Although they have a good mix of different genres of movies, you do see a lot of older movies on Hulu. One of the major advantages to the Hulu services is they do bundle it with Disney+ & ESPN. If you like sports, that is a very good option and if you have children then bonus. Like Prime Video there are addons with Hulu. You can choose from HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz or all of them if you like. Ok, on to the pros and cons…
Hulu Pros
Large library of content
Live TV
Packages
Addons (mentioned above HBO, Starz etc.)
DVR features (50 hours $15 extra for 200 hours)
Hulu Cons
Not a lot of movies
No offline options
To many ads
Well there is your streaming service. I hope that gives you a better idea of the service that is the most steaming for you. This article will have a part 2, but for now cruise on over to the following for this article “The free streaming service list”.