Video on demand. What's your thoughts?

kah22

About a year back my nephew, the family computer geek, took out a subscription to Netflix he had one screen left and he gave it to me.

Prior to Netflix putting the majority of VPN's out of business it was relatively easy to find a watchable film but in my experience that hasn't been the case for quite a period of time now. Over the holidays I found myself trying to find a few movies I'd enjoy but the length of time it took really pxxxed me off. If my nephew gave up his Netflix subscription in the morning would I take out one of my own - I don't think so!

I had a few parcels that I wanted to ensure arrived before Christmas so I took out a trial Amazon Prime subscription and with it, of course comes your pass into Amazon Prime video. To be honest I'm finding this to be just as frustrating; you think you have a movie worth of watching only to discover you can only rent or buy. Admittedly I'm not that keyed into Prime yet so maybe there is a better way to search

You might call this an end of year rant, and yes I accept that Amazon and Netflix can only show what they are licensed to show and that for every film worth of watching there might be twenty you wouldn't give daylight to! For me I think I'll do a little more recording than I've done recently at least then I'll have something I want to watch

It seems to me if you do want video on demand the only way you'll get any sort of a decent selection is to buy in

That's my rant. How do you feel about video on demand services?

JJ_Egan

I know a few people that love Netflix and likewise Amazon Prime .
Personally its not the sort off stuff i watch even on free TV or my subscription services . The live Sport daily package may be useful for some though .

Dont know where the VPN out of business comes from there are loads out there .

agrinnall

I gave up Netflix earlier in the year as I'd watched most of the things that were there at the time that I was interested in, although I probably will return for a while when the next series of House of Cards and Better Call Saul are out.

I'm now on Prime, which to my mind has less of interest than Netflix but I'm still working my way through The Man in the High Castle series 2, The Americans, and watching The Grand Tour as each episode comes out. It's just about worth it for the combination of free delivery and VoD, but I may not renew after the first year.

Johnmcl7

I think it depends what you want from the service, I wouldn't use Netflix or Amazon prime if my main interest as films as both are poor for that. Instead I'd try and snap up some cheap Now TV movie passes as I'd say Sky are by far the best for films.

I'm not so fussed about films as I'll tend to buy ones I want on blu-ray so my main interest is TV series and I'm a fan of a lot of the Netflix original content.

John

worried_jim

I've been a Prime customer for three years now and have the Firebox. Amazon is so good that this year I gave up Virgin and got a second hand BT Youview box for £48. Wish I'd done this sooner.

There is so much good stuff on Prime that over the Christmas period I haven't seen any traditional tv- in fact I am seriously considering scrapping my tv license as the BBC or ITV no longer cater to my (male) tastes- I couldn't careless about some z list trying to Waltz and I couldn't give a stuff about baking cakes. Give me the excellent "Startup" or "Harry Bosch" on prime every time.

Real quality drama not some idiot trying to flog tat from his attic.

I have (plus others) the Now tv App on the youview box and currently have three months Sky movies for £1 per month and for everything else there is the, ahem, internet.

Great piece in today's Guardian about the future of tv (streaming)-

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/dec/30/2016-tv-turned-upside-down-terrestrial-channels-streaming

thescouselander

I used to have Netflix but gave it up as I wasn't watching much and got Prime instead. I watch Prime a lot compared with Netflix and the additional benefits such as access to Prime music, Prime Photo Storage and free next day deliveries from Amazon makes the subscription very good value IMO.

I guess it depends what you're into though. The films arent up to much but I do watch a lot of the original series and mini-thescouselander likes the kids stuff.

boliston

I have got the netflix 7.49 per month sub (my OH pays half as it's a 2 screen option) and have watched quite a few films so far but I have found that films with a low rating strangely often seem better than ones with a high rating.
I have heard that prime needs a "plugin" to work if you don't use microsoft windows or apple computer (i have linux as it is free) but netlix seems to "just work" without any faffing about.

RumRat

I had Netflix, but, soon found I'd gone through all the films I wanted to watch. It only seems worth the money, on any of them, if you are addicted to box sets.
To be honest, I watch far less TV now that there is more choice. The more outlets the more rubbish they have to make to pad out the content.
I don't have any pay TV now. If I want to watch something special I'll pay to see it at the cinema, otherwise, there are plenty of free methods to watch most content....

henm2

'otherwise, there are plenty of free methods to watch most content....' such as using Kodi or Mobdro for your media streaming.

googler

A few years ago, one had to visit a bricks and mortar store to either rent or buy a DVD in order to watch a movie on demand. This involved travel expense and time.

A few years prior to that, the same could only be achieved by renting or buying a VHS tape, with the same expense and time constraint.

A few years prior to that, you had to either wait for the movie to appear in the schedule the TV channels made for you, or visit a cinema.

OP, count your blessings.

Hermia

I have Netflix and Amazon Prime and am pleased with both. I definitely think the selection has got better over time and will hopefully improve. I mainly watch documentaries and foreign films/TV. I am impressed with the fact that films are appearing much faster on the sites. Amazon Prime have just got the Louis Theroux Scientology film and that was only in my local cinema a couple of months ago.