{"id":362744,"date":"2019-12-19T07:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T05:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=362744"},"modified":"2019-12-19T13:34:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T11:34:59","slug":"streaming-stateside-how-does-it-compare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/362744\/streaming-stateside-how-does-it-compare\/","title":{"rendered":"Streaming Stateside &#8211; how does it compare?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Craig Wilson<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A couple of months ago I moved from Johannesburg to New York City, just in time for the weather to turn cool, and the lure of the couch \u2013 ahem, sorry, I mean the sofa \u2013 and streaming services to get very strong indeed.<\/p>\n<p>So, how does the streaming landscape compare in the land of the free and the home of the brave to what I was used to in South Africa?<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">The tyranny of choice<\/h3>\n<p>First up, there\u2019s a pretty sizeable selection of services stateside. In addition to the usual suspects of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, there\u2019s the recently launched pair of Apple TV+ and Disney+, and the even-more-recently launched Plex. Most of those are available in South Africa, though.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s Sling TV \u2013 which offers live TV and sport \u2013 Hulu and Crackle.<\/p>\n<p>HBO makes some of the best TV content out there &#8211; from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/tvseries\/jvquw58k-game-of-thrones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Game of Thrones<\/a>, to the adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/tvseries\/yuzkib0j-watchmen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Watchmen<\/a>, to brilliant new series <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/tvseries\/sqx57jcz-the-righteous-gemstones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Righteous Gemstones<\/a> to documentaries like the acclaimed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/movie\/c7f3osod-the-inventor-out-for-blood-in-silicon-valley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the USA, the only place to watch most of that content is by subscribing to HBO Now. In SA, you can watch it all on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/browse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Showmax<\/a>, with a lot else besides.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F9cEYxMLiXU\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>So in the Land of the Free, streaming is anything but: if you want access to everything, it\u2019s very easy to rack up a monthly subscription bill of over $100 (around R1,500).<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s missing? There\u2019s no DStv Now or Showmax, of course.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not that big a deal when it comes to international programming as most of it is available on one or more of the myriad services available here, but it does mean I wish I\u2019d finished watching the Showmax Original <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/tvseries\/dqv89awk-talis-wedding-diary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tali\u2019s Wedding Diary<\/a> before I left Joburg.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Price of admission<\/h3>\n<p>When it comes to pricing, things are pretty similar, though SA pricing is often a little lower.<\/p>\n<p>Netflix and Amazon, for example, both start at $9 a month (roughly R130). The biggest difference is that there are two free services in the US: Sony\u2019s Crackle and Plex.<\/p>\n<p>The price of free? Having to endure one of the key horrors of video consumption streaming was meant to dispense with: advertisements. But wait, there\u2019s more. On Hulu\u2019s entry-level, $6-a-month plan there are ads, too.<\/p>\n<p>As many as four of them back to back, sometimes three or four times an episode. It\u2019s truly dreadful.<\/p>\n<p>Hulu\u2019s interface is also buggy and sometimes simply won\u2019t play an episode\u2026 but will play the following one without objection.<\/p>\n<p>To get rid of the ads on Hulu you have to pay double (or $12 a month). Which is absolutely worth it, because while US TV ads were entertaining the first time, seeing the same Chevrolet advert four times in one episode of Broad City got tiresome\u2026 fast.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">The what and where<\/h3>\n<p>The hardest part of having so many options? Figuring out what to watch where.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, though, to figure out which service has which content, there\u2019s Google.<\/p>\n<p>Most services offer a free trial, so if there\u2019s something I\u2019m really desperate to watch on a service I don\u2019t subscribe to, I\u2019ve gotten away with cramming the show into a few days and cancelling the trial before it\u2019s over. (Netflix still offers free trials in the US, but as of December 2019, it no longer does in SA.)<\/p>\n<p>Of course, free trials only work once, which means I\u2019m either going to have to sign up for new services or curb my streaming video consumption.<\/p>\n<p>For now, I\u2019m curbing\u2026 but we should probably chat again in a year. Because there\u2019s probably going to be another Baby Yoda moment on Disney+, right?<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">That\u2019s all, folks<\/h3>\n<p>So, does this mean South Africans are getting the short end of the streaming stick? Not at all.<\/p>\n<p>The US might have more options, but they\u2019re watered down and you have to pay for each of them individually.<\/p>\n<p>In SA, if you want some <a href=\"https:\/\/stories.showmax.com\/showmax-sport-streaming-all-the-details\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">live sport<\/a>, HBO, Hulu and Disney content (most notably its ABC-produced series like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/tvseries\/31n2gjlx-godfather-of-harlem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Godfather of Harlem<\/a> and Marvel content like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/tvseries\/rv77xdag-marvels-runaways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marvel\u2019s Runaways<\/a>), you can get the lot from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/welcome\/za\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Showmax<\/a> for R99 a month (a little shy of $7) and watch on two screens. Plus, you won\u2019t have to endure ads.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, if you mostly watch on your mobile device anyway, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.showmax.com\/eng\/welcome\/za\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Showmax now offers a mobile-only option<\/a> from just R49PM.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s around $3.50 and it wouldn\u2019t even get you a decent cup of coffee in New York.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xi_RIriilLA\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, if you want Netflix and Amazon\u2019s original fare you can add those two to the mix and still spend less than R400 each month for more content than any reasonable person should be watching. The money may be greener here, but the grass isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In South Africa, we\u2019re used to feeling a little left behind when it comes to things like streaming services. There are more than ever, but how does what we have stack up against what\u2019s available in the home of TV, the USA?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":362750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[10293],"class_list":["post-362744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-showmax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362744"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362816,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362744\/revisions\/362816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}