But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more

Josh you may just have to get over it and digitally rent Predator, it'll cost like three or four bucks which might beat old-school VHS rental prices, adjusted for inflation.

I do however agree 100% about needing tools to organize shit. Obviously these services aren't designed around the needs of movie nerds with serious analysis paralysis, but half the fatigue of deciding what to watch comes from the fact that (at least on Roku), the My List interface for all these things amounts to a linear one-way scroll, with the newest-added stuff at top. So the longer I've been meaning to watch something, the further it is out of reach, and the more impatient my partner gets as I scroll around trying to pick something. Just a mess and really tedious if you really get into adding every kinda cool movie that pops up over time.

The other thing that's desperately needed, but will never be implemented, is a quick button to take something out of all listings, so that if I'm scrolling through comedies or action movies or whatever, I don't have to keep scrolling past the same movies I have no interest in watching, often appearing in multiple categories. Of course, they want to create the impression of incredible abundance, but it ends up backfiring and feeling like they only have 10 titles I'm seeing over and over.

^^I was going over Prime last night because a friend asked about 'off the beaten path' stuff she could stream, and oh man the repeats.

We watched "The Conversation" on Amazon last night, and no joke, the initial search resulted in three or four entries returned for the same film, each with slightly different art, and only one of which was active/live.

yeah, none of the services have any useful kind of organising of watchlists at all - it really speaks to the idea of just keeping you watching ~whatever~ on their service, and attempting to sap viewers of the very concept of choice or control.

I think Netflix has put money into producing BCS since at least season 2 (co-funding AMC)

I do not think that Netflix co-funds AMC, and I'm fairly sure that even if they did, this would have no 1:1 effect on the production of a programme that AMC does not own, but I'd be interested to read about either

but does that allow them to call it a Netflix Original Series, when it's neither exclusive to Netflix not, afaict, produced or paid for by Netflix?

I've not been DMing with Sarandos for the last eight years or so but I've reached a conclusion: the dude simply does not seem to give a fuck

the repeats are especially annoying on Prime because the service in fact is stacked with deep cuts, but you'll never find them in the genre listings because of all the repeats filling them up. best bet is to find one movie in the genre you're after and start going down the "Customers Also Watched" rabbit hole. acres and acres of kung fu movies, blaxploitation, direct-to-video Mad Max knockoffs, 1960s Italian and Japanese scifi, beach party movies, dim transfers of old VHS releases of noir films, head-scratching minor animation, bottom-tier 80s comedies, and on and on. or, hey, want some Altman? well, the service might tell you about The Long Goodbye being available for streaming, but unless you know you're looking for it, you might not realize that right now this fuckin thing has Images, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean AND a restored California Split with the never-released-on-video theatrical soundtrack. it's a bewildering and frustrating cornucopia.

With Prime, you can actually filter things quite well on the web interface, though it's well hidden.

This url shows all English-language Prime movies released in 1970s and 80s, for example:

https://www.amazon.com/s?i=movies-tv&bbn=2649512011&rh=n%3A2625373011%2Cn%3A2625374011%2Cn%3A2649512011%2Cp_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A2651258011%7C2651259011%2Cp_85%3A2470955011%2Cp_n_availability%3A8219609011&dc&fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1596241647&rnid=8219608011&ref=sr_nr_p_n_availability_2

And you can also make it just show you ones that have been added in the past 7 days, 30 days or 90 days. Or restrict it to certain genres.

Sorry, this is the right url - the one above shows physical media too

https://www.amazon.com/s?i=movies-tv&bbn=2649512011&rh=n%3A2625373011%2Cn%3A2625374011%2Cn%3A2649512011%2Cp_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A2651258011%7C2651259011%2Cp_85%3A2470955011%2Cp_n_availability%3A8219609011%2Cp_n_format_browse-bin%3A2650306011&dc&fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1596241937&rnid=2650303011&ref=sr_nr_p_n_format_browse-bin_1

thanks!

Thanks indeed! Watching The Parallax View now - it's a super clean widescreen transfer, better than the commercially available DVD.

Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas!

Alba - that's rad - can you show me what you typed into the search box, or how you generated that url?

Oh duh - I see the search refining tools on the left. nvm

Canceled our HBO Max subscription yesterday, fuck if I'm going to keep paying for this when I can only watch on my laptop. Absolutely insane that it's been over two months and still couldn't watch through Roku.

I have a standalone hbo max subscription, but if you add Hbo via Hulu or Amazon, does it then show the HBO max content or does it filter out all of that and just leave you with 'standard' HBO content? it's not even clear to me what the difference is now since it seems like Max is their only real streaming option.

Can you connect your laptop to the TV via HDMI?

HBOGo just got removed from Roku today too

I learned after installing it yesterday that Peacock doesn't work via Roku either.

what the difference is now since it seems like Max is their only real streaming option.

no, HBO Now is still the "basic" version, renamed to "HBO" this week to underscore the fact

Sounds like Roku might be a problem rather than the services.

everyone sucks here

developing for all these different platforms is apparently horrendously complicated... you’ve got to nail the relevant smart TVs, the relevant cable provided set top boxes, and it’s just a massive mountain to climb in terms of developer time. from what i understand the standalone OTT devices like roku, fire stick, chromecast, ps4 etc is a much smaller portion of the market.

Really? I didn't think anyone used the terrible apps built into the TV.

Ever since the Twitch app on Roku stopped being supported, I've been pondering switching to different device.

milo my memory is that globally, streaming sticks etc are the minority - i should really dig out the relevant stats though

Ever since the Twitch app on Roku stopped being supported, I've been pondering switching to different device.

Mine got fried by a power surge but the best device I've used was a NVidia Shield TV. The Android TV OS works great and it had a built in HD for a Plex server.

Apple TVs IME are cursed, I have to unplug and replug in my current one every day to keep speeds up or simply because it won't come on. I was actually going to switch to a Roku but with the service issues I'll probably get one of the newest NVidias.

Yeah all this fighting over licensing is pretty crazy. I guess that’s how we get underpriced hardware, but like many things internet, this could be solved by just having people pay for the cost of things.

So nVidia, yeah? Going to take another look.

IIRC HBO Max works on Vizio, which is my TV, so might as well give that a try.

Really? I didn't think anyone used the terrible apps built into the TV.

I used to take this attitude but now the built-in Roku interface to my new budget TCL TV runs about 5x faster than my 2nd gen Firestick, I hardly ever use the latter.

And yeah, for my HBO Max trial I just plugged my laptop into the TV with HDMI. Wasn't the end of the world not having a remote.

i have a 2017ish vizio, there's not a native HBO max app that i can find but casting to the tv from the iphone app works well

Yeah I can plug my laptop in with an hdmi, but the only place I have to set my laptop when I do is on the floor. But in a house with a curious cat and a sometimes inattentive 8 year old this isn’t exactly the greatest idea.

Roku has worked great for us to use Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and HBO Now, I’ve always been happy with that interface.

And I don’t think the problem is strictly with Roku, since NBC couldn’t get a deal done for Peacock to work with Roku or Firestick either. I think there’s a lot of money to be made and people on all sides are starting to dig in their heels. I just don’t like the idea of paying for a premium streaming service when I have to rig up a less than optimal, borderline annoying setup just to access it.

Well said. Streaming services have put the cart before the horse. It's hard to enjoy a service and its benefits, if you're keeping track of how to access too much, device-wise, etc. Kinda think the end result will be a lot of people saying, 'F it, I've got personal/public/friend's libraries of plenty of qual-o-tee entertainment/whatever easily accessible device/service setup - I don't need this many headaches.'

I think I mentioned it upthread, but dreading when it’s like, “oh that show is on Prime, need to make sure I’m on my fire stick, but then my son wants to watch Netflix so I gotta switch to the Roku later and remember to switch to the Chromecast before tomorrow night”.

https://www.cnet.com/news/hbo-max-hbo-go-roku-and-fire-tv-you-in-the-crossfire-login-what-happened/

from that same link and in response to suggestion otherwise upthread:
https://www.parksassociates.com/blog/article/pr-07242019

Among streaming media players, Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV are the clear market leaders with almost 70% of the installed base of streaming media players in the United States. Consumer-reported data reveals that between Q1 2017 and Q1 2019, Roku’s share of the US SMP installed base grew from 37% to 39% while Amazon’s share of the installed base increased from 24% to 30%.

again ILPLEX above all

A traveler from the not-so-distant past would spend sixty seconds considering this mess before muttering,'the fuck is wrong with you people?'

And I don’t think the problem is strictly with Roku, since NBC couldn’t get a deal done for Peacock to work with Roku or Firestick either. I think there’s a lot of money to be made and people on all sides are starting to dig in their heels. I just don’t like the idea of paying for a premium streaming service when I have to rig up a less than optimal, borderline annoying setup just to access it.

That's what makes it sound like Roku (and Amazon) are the problem. They don't provide you much in the way of ongoing service - you pay your Internet bill, the streaming services pay their Internet bills/buy content/etc.. Roku is just a middleman that gets paid for the device to start with. If they want a cut just for existing, that's just going to get passed along to consumers at some point, along with the device they paid Roku for to start with.

ulysses i think that just talks about media streamers - i.e. doesn’t take into account consoles, set top boxes, smart tvs etc?

maddeningly difficult to find an answer here but as of 2017 these were the stats in europe - https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2017/11/28/how-consumers-in-europe-and-us-watch-ott-video-on-the-tv/

Like that thing I linked to a few days back, if a huge number of people entitled to HBO Max *for free* reportedly haven't taken advantage of it yet, then the onus is on HBO Max to find a solution, even if it costs them. We have a Roku TV, which works fine, but teaching my family to watch how to use the PS4 to watch HBO or Peacock was something of a chore that felt a bit like workaround jerry-rigging. Which it kind of is, since like hooking a laptop to your TV it's definitely not the way most would prefer to do it.

Plex remains the best because it's the only service that always has what I want, when I want it.

I use Prime, Netflix, Disney, All 4 and BBC iPlayer on my PS4 and it's simple and straightforward imo. So much easier than any smart TV setup I've used.
I assume it's not so simple for less popular apps?

We use the apps for Netflix and Prime on our 5 yr old Samsung TV and have never had any problems with them

We do Netflix, Prime, HBOMax, Hulu & YouTubeTV

no problems here except keeping track of shows

.. oops, we have all those on AppleTV

Oh, PS4 is super simple. But for the rest of the family it entails switching the connection on the Roku menu to the PlayStation, turning the PlayStation on, and then using the PlayStation controller as a remote, which they are not familiar with. And then remembering to turn it all off afterwards, so the PlayStation doesn't just stay on and more importantly the PlayStation controller doesn't stay connected and run out of charge.

A lot of tv remotes can be used as ps4 remotes fwiw

https://support.playstation.com/s/article/How-to-Control-Your-PlayStation-4-with-a-Remote?language=en_US

Tracer, is that the case there? I guess i didn't read it that way.

Prime is compatible with chromecast, as of very recently.

how do you mean ulysses?

this chart seems to be saying that 7-20% of people who watch video on demand do it with an “SMP” i.e. streaming media player, and the rest get it from their tv, set top box, console, or just plugging in a laptop

https://i2.wp.com/www.broadbandtvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Devices-suded-for-viewing-OTT-video.jpg

that’s three years old, and isn’t from the US, but my understanding is that smart tv usage is only increasing as people ditch their older TVs. and many of them reason, why get a roku or whatever if my tv’s got netflix built in. in ant case when big media companies are prioritising platform development i think a lot of them are targeting big swathes of the smart tv market first, then consoles, then moving on to streaming sticks.

(obviously the exact order is going to be determined by what they reckon their audience is using)