People are ditching their subscriptions in their droves. Netflix’s subscriber numbers have fallen for the first time in more than a decade, dropping by 200,000 in the first three months of the year. Now the streaming service has revealed plans to introduce adverts as a way of making a cheaper subscription plan available to viewers.
Although we’re facing a cost-of-living crisis as inflation soars, could you really live without your favourite streaming service? And how do you decide which one that is? Working out which is the best value streamer is tricky — and can divide families, while figuring out which shows are on what platforms isn’t easy either.
Netflix
What you get for your money
Since its launch of The Crown in 2016 and Narcos in 2015, it has commissioned an increasing number of lavish shows such as Bridgerton and Inventing Anna; but don’t get too attached — it generally doesn’t like to make third series because people are more likely to move on to something new.
Downsides?
Every month it removes shows. It’s also hard to search and doesn’t have many old films. The pressure is on for a brilliant new series — some say it hasn’t really had one since The Queen’s Gambit.
Prime Video
What you get for your money
Amazon’s original selling point was its vast library of films, including lots of old classics; you can easily search by film, director or actor to find your favourites.
It still has lots of films, but also a small but growing library of original TV shows including Clarkson’s Farm. Foreign drama is another strong point.
Downsides?
You have to pay extra for some of the films.
Apple TV+
What you get for your money
There is Apple TV — a set-top box that has been around for 15 years — and AppleTV+, which is the tech giant’s streaming app, launched at the end of 2019. You can watch the streaming app on any Apple device and most (although not all) smart TVs.
The streaming service has a smaller library of shows and films compared with rivals, but it is growing. Apple has deep pockets and is throwing money at exclusive, high-quality dramas, films and documentaries. The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell is a breakthrough hit. The films Coda and The Tragedy of Macbeth are available on the app.
Downsides?
The limited content. Some viewers will find it annoying that it does not “drop” entire series in one go — but releases episodes weekly.
Disney+
What you get for your money
Don’t be fooled by the name. Disney+ has a great deal more than cartoons and films. For a start, it has the Beatles documentary Get Back (it’s three hours long so you get value for money). And it is increasingly stealing Netflix’s thunder by commissioning seriously good drama series, notably Dopesick and The Dropout, about the Theranos blood-testing scandal.
There is of course still a lot of what you would expect from Disney and this is its biggest draw, especially if you have children. Encanto, the latest Disney animation film, is on there, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Disney now owns Pixar, Marvel and Lucas Film, which means that every Toy Story, Loki and Star Wars film or new TV series is on there. Plus, it has National Geographic and The Simpsons.
Downsides?
There aren’t many documentaries; its library of National Geographic shows is very America-focused; and the fast-forward buttons are fiddly.
Which will you choose? Or are you sticking with all of them?