IF YOU LOVE ...British TV
Those who enjoy British TV fare
have a choice between two great
services: Acorn TV, which costs $6
per month or $60 annually, and
BritBox, priced at $7 per month or
$70 annually.
One big difference between the
two is that Acorn also has programs
from other countries, including
Australia, Canada, Ireland, and
New Zealand. Exclusive programs
on Acorn include “Martin Clunes’
Islands of America” and “Jack Irish,”
which stars Guy Pearce.
With BritBox, you get many
popular BBC shows, including
“EastEnders,” “Coronation Street,”
and “Antiques Roadshow,” plus
older classic episodes of “Dr. Who”
(the first seven Doctors) and two
seasons of “Fawlty Towers.”The company owns Lucasfilm (all
the “Star Wars” movies), Marvel
Studios (“Avengers”), Pixar (“Toy
Story,” “Coco”), and 20th Century
Fox (“The Sound of Music,” “The
Princess Bride,” and TV shows
including “The Simpsons”). A lot
of that material will be available
at launch. Some of it is currently
available on Netflix but will appear
only on Disney+ starting next year.
Disney+ says it has plans for
10 original films and 25 original
series, including several
Avengers spinoffs and the “The
Mandalorian,” a big-budget Jon
Favreau-directed series set in the
“Star Wars” universe.
HBO Max
AT&T’s WarnerMedia division
says it will launch HBO Max in
spring 2020. The company hasn’t
announced pricing, but speculation
in the media is that the streaming
service is likely to cost $16 or $17
per month, just above what the
company charges for HBO Now.
This could be a compelling
option for many because the
service will include the premium
HBO service, a slate of new
original programs, and titles from
the TV and film library of Warner
Bros. There will also be content
from AT&T’s other properties,
including Cartoon Network, CNN,
DC Entertainment, TBS, The CW,
TNT, and Turner Classic Movies.
For example, the service will
have the exclusive streaming
rights to every episode of
“Friends” and “The Fresh Prince
of Bel Air”; original movies from
producer Greg Berlanti and Reese
Witherspoon; and original series,
such as “Love Life,” starring
Anna Kendrick, and “The Flight
Attendant,” starring Kaley Cuoco.
IF YOU LOVE ...Independent Film
Rising from the ashes of the
now-defunct FilmStruck
service, The Criterion Channel,
$11 per month or $100 annually,
targets filmophiles with
constantly refreshed selections
of Hollywood, international,
art house, and independent
movies, plus access to
Criterion’s entire streaming
library of important classic and
contemporary films.
Mubi, $11 per month, offers
30 curated classic or highly
acclaimed films each month.
Shudder, $6 per month or
$57 annually, caters to horror
fans, while Spuul, $5 per
month or $50 annually, offers
access to a huge library of
Bollywood films.WHAT YOU CAN GET FREEAd-supported free streaming services are among the fastest-
growing segments of the streaming world.
Many public library card holders can access Hoopla and Kanopy
to watch popular and indie movies.
Amazon’s IMDb TV focuses on older movies and TV shows, plus
IMDb programs such as celebrity interviews and documentaries.
Pluto TV, owned by Viacom, gets some programming from that
company’s networks (BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon)
along with modern movies and older classics.
People with a Roku streaming player or Roku TV can watch the
Roku Channel, which has a nice assortment of free movies and
TV shows. And Sony Crackle—being renamed Crackle Plus—has
a library of older TV shows, popular older movies, and even some
new original shows and movies.
SnagFilms streams movies, TV shows, and documentaries
outside the mainstream. Tubi boasts a library of more than
15,000 movies and TV shows, including selections from the libraries
of Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount Pictures, plus Starz Digital.
Vudu, best known as a pay-per-view service, has a rotating
selection of free older movies and TV shows, and it’s getting some
original content later this year.
And you might think of YouTube as the home of user-created
content, but the site also provides some free movies and
documentaries in its Free to Watch section.SEPTEMBER 2019 CR.ORG 33