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Streaming Platforms Review 2023
Today, there are more streaming services available than any terrestrial television network. In the UK, there are fewer than 9 available, though most of these are “Inward Geo-Locked” which in essence means that the UK is way behind on delivering their own platforms than the USA, which has 50 services in North America alone, from well-known brands like Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Now, Netflix, Paramount+ & Peacock to some you probably have never heard of like Break Movies, BritBox, Docurama, Feeln, Snagfilms and Viki. While we – the UK – are undermined in this area, it has been found that more revenue is drained away from local and central government tax collections which help the communities as well as the country itself.
Everyone should have heard about the great “Coffee Shop Scandal” that involved a certain famous American retailer who argued the fact that with their HQ (Headquarters) being in Seattle, USA, they were “exempt” from paying tax to any other country because the taxes were paid to the American Government annually. This was not the case, however, and that famous coffee shop company paid the UK £7 million contribution for the 20 years that they had been operating in the UK. But that is old news.
Rating and reviewing Streaming Services is not as easy as one would imagine, especially as those platforms switch and change so regularly from their formats and prices to fit both the market and the customer climate. Here, I will rate 10 platforms that I have personally used and subscribed to over the past several years only to leave me with 2 – and possibly only one – left out of these to keep. Now, some people may agree with the ratings as well as the reviews, while the main point here is that everyone should be happy with their Streaming Platform, not just have it as a commodity that sits there as a “reserve”. From worst to best, here are my Top 10…
10 Apple TV – Rating 3.2/10
No. Not for free, not for any gift presentation from anyone. Apple TV serves not as a Streaming Service, but as an extra revenue conduit that plucks more Bucks from your pocket and provides nothing that the viewing Streamer would pay out their money to entertain. A monthly subscription is just £6.99 per month after a free 7-day trial.
Boasting Award Winning Shows and Original Content made available every month, I am at a loss of who exactly it is that awards these shows and films – as there are so many Awards these days for every occasion and 9 times out of 10 it is the very same Networks that compile them against their own content – as to believe only iPhone Users scramble through these selections “Clicking” wildly – like Instagram – even though they don’t like or haven’t even seen the shows. But alas, take the FREE Trial and see for yourself if this is worth the Monthly Subscription or not.
9 NOW TV – Rating 3.9/10
Although having the opportunity to test drive this Subscription Service at a family member’s home, I was disappointed to find that NOW TV is made up of basically every other Subscription Service Platform as well as having exclusivity in only Reality Television Programmes, which has dominated people’s viewing over the last three decades. For me, I was more interested in “The Last of Us” which as a true Gamer, I had the pleasure of playing the original game on its release back in the ’90s, but this was not good enough to steer me in the direction of Subscribing to the platform.
Current costs are: Entertainment membership: £9.99 per month. Cinema membership: £9.99 per month. Sports membership: £33.99 per month or £11.99 for a Sports Day membership. But, even with the £9.99 p/m Cinema Membership, this Streaming Service breaks the bank of reasonable availability in that most of the Films available are available – or are marked to be available – on other popular and much more in-line entertaining Platforms at the same price. How can I watch without ads? If you’d prefer to watch on-demand shows, movies and sports without ads, you can choose to upgrade to NOW Boost for just £6 a month. With Boost, you can watch ad-free, and you also get extra streams so you can watch on 3 devices at the same time.
8 BBC iPlayer – Rating 4.5/10
The BBC, for many years now (like the Royal Mail), has been left behind in the dark ages. While some may disagree with this observation, I prefer to go with my own observations in saying that the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) have taken in much of the license payer’s fees, but at each turn failed to deliver a service that satisfies those payees – not Subscribers – in delivering a better range of Television or Film schedule. At the moment, like that of SKY TV, and let’s face it, at the moment SKY is but a TV Station with additional perks that the BBC have not, the number of repeats far surpasses that of any other available network right now.
As for the BBC iPlayer, as an App, it does give the user the impression of a great range, from the Catch ups to various films and documentaries, as well as Soaps and Reality Shows. But, when you get down to the bone of the BBC iPlayer, what you are actually getting is the very same as you do with the BBC terrestrial channel. There is very little difference except for the further, but a limited variety of programmes that you may have missed, while with no “Exclusivity,” it is as good to have as the radio in your kitchen – which also plays songs repeatedly throughout the day.
If you are an avid Soap fan, Reality Show lover or someone who just likes nostalgia, then the BBC iPlayer is for you – and it is FREE – just remember, however, that you will need to be one of the TV License holders to view it in comfort. As a FREE service (which if you weigh up the cost of a TV License, it’s not really FREE at all, but you have that option.
7 BritBox – Rating 5.1/10
BritBox is a joint streaming service courtesy of the BBC and ITV. It’s available for streamers in the UK, the US, Australia and Canada and offers exclusive British shows. These include classics like Doctor Who, Gavin & Stacey, Love Island and Spitting Image, but there are new shows too. A slow climber in the world of new current technology and variety although there are some – not a lot – of BritBox Exclusives that are available for the Subscriber, such as Spitting Image and some homemade movies.
Back in March 2022, it was reported that BritBox was going to change significantly and get “folded into” ITVX once the new service came to be. At the time, BritBox also confirmed to us that it will no longer produce original content, and some existing BritBox originals moved over to ITVX for their future seasons. Now, if you like the BBC iPlayer – which is FREE with a TV License to watch – then BritBox is probably not for you as it charges the Subscriber £5.99 p/m. A BritBox subscription costs £5.99 a month or £59.99 per year. The yearly subscription works out as roughly £4.99 per month, and the £5.99 monthly fee will set you back £71.88 over 12 months. As an added bonus for anyone thinking of Subscribing, there is a FREE 7-Day Trial that may – or may not – help you make your choice.
6 Freeview – Rating 6.0/10
With Freeview, as with any other FREE Streaming Service, such as Freevee, you know what to expect as regards to the content and with a large TV Guide that gives you that touch of what I call nostalgia, every programme and movie has “Ads”. Unlike the changing face of Netflix today, Freeview – and Freevee, respectively – are Free Subscriptions, so you cannot pay for any Ad-Free upgrades (which is a pity). Just go to channel 100 and you’ll see all the on-demand players you can use, plus a carousel of featured content to watch. You can filter programmes using the various categories, or use the universal search to find on-demand and live programming. As with Freevee, too, there is a search ability to find any show or film that is in its archive, and as a bonus with Freevee, you DO NOT have to have a TV License to watch any of their content – as with Freeview, unfortunately, you do. If you only watch on-demand or catch-up programmes through streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix, then you do NOT need a TV licence – that is UNLESS you’re watching BBC programmes on iPlayer.
For someone like me who likes favourites like Babylon 5, Space 1999 and Private Schultz, then I would recommend Freevee, while for that of Freeview, there is a limitation on how many times a person can watch older episodes of Doctor Who and other 70’s and 80’s shows. As a standalone preinstalled service inside most – not all – TV’s these days, Freeview is as good as the time spent waiting for your broadband service starting up and allowing you more range and variety.
5 Pluto TV – Rating 6.2/10
Again, like that of Freeview and Freevee, what Pluto consists of is a very select archive of content, although when Netflix lost the rights for dibs on “Star Trek Discovery Season 3” it was Pluto that won the bid. I did try – several times – to watch it on this platform, but unfortunately, as with the likes of the ITV Hub and Freeview, too many “Ads” saturated the good feeling of viewing and so I opted for watching the entirety of the third season on Paramount + later.
Pluto TV also offers over 45 channels in Spanish, including native language and dubbed movies, reality TV, telenovelas, crime, sports and more. Pluto TV is 100% free and legal: no credit cards, contracts, or bills. Pluto TV has the best in hit movies, cult classics and blockbuster films.
As Pluto TV has a very large – significant – content archive, it is sometimes a good Streaming Service to have handy. But as I said, if you, like me hate interruptions through “Ads” then it is what it is – an alternative convenience.
4 Lionsgate – Rating 7.0/10
Lionsgate+ is the place where you can watch original titles such as Outlander, Station Eleven, The Serpent Queen, The Great, Power Book, Gaslit, Tokyo Vice, Blindspotting, Dr Death, Doom Patrol and more. Film-wise it has a variety, some of which it owns and other titles that it licenses. It offers some of the best TV Series, as well as Film selections, too, most of which are of Lionsgate Productions itself.
When Subscribed through the 7-Day Trial, I managed to watch at least 70% of the content I had not been able to watch before, while the rest of the archive were programmes and movies I’d seen or found available on other platforms elsewhere. As a Streaming Service, I don’t disagree with their appearance on the scene, but what I do disagree with, as with others, is the lack of “Boom!” That pitch says – as well as proves – that this is the Streaming Service that YOU can’t do without and exclusivity which puts it far apart from others, like Amazon, Netflix and Apple TV, to name just a few. However, when it was time for my Subscription to end, I did not renew for reasons that this wasn’t – and isn’t – the Streaming Service for me to keep returning back to when so much of its content is licensed out to others.
LIONSGATE+ is a streaming service featuring captivating original series and curated hit movies. It’s available for £5.99 / €4.99 per month and for that, it is Ad-free with the prospects that both John Wick Chapter 4 and Hunger Games: Songbird and Snake are to be streamed exclusively to Subscribers, so there is always that going for the Streaming Service.
3 Paramount + – Rating 7.5/10
Here we have what could possibly be THE contender for Netflix, though there are some faults to the platform that brought to the public viewers such a great show as “Halo” which was a winning spin on getting subscribers. And then recently, of course, the much-awaited “Teen Wolf Movie” that by great admission brought me as many others to take advantage of the “7-Day Free Trial” in order to watch.
Paramount + as of all the platforms has its very own “Productions” of original content, although it is in its infancy – still – it could be a part of the 3 Golden Eggs in Entertainment if it really wanted to be. Be it a restrained effort to offer little to become bigger – which at points during the Satellite War became one of the silliest moves – common sense would tell these Networks that they are not only outsourced but are also overstretched on their perception realities of the era.
Paramount + is available as a worldwide Subscription Platform at £6.99 after a Free Trial, though you may want to get the Full Year Subscription for £69.99. If for any reason you haven’t caught up with everything after 2020 by the time your 6 months in, then this is a good deal.
2 Netflix – Rating 8.2/10
Many believe that Netflix is the King of “The Streaming Platforms” in the world, but in fact, it isn’t. As far back as 3 years ago, Netflix lost more “Popular Shows” than any other Network or Platform on a global scale, though few Subscribers realised this until later on – 3 years later – with the loss of “Star Trek Discovery” to Pluto TV.
On the whole, Netflix is a very good Platform to Subscribe to, as I am one of those Subscribers and in the essence of needing to reach out to others led me to write this Review: Netflix is not the Number One Streaming Platform for one reason and one reason only – Variety.
With success after success, Netflix has given its viewers and Subscribers an endless Well of great programmes and films, more so the television series that it has produced itself, such as the mentioned “Star Trek Discovery” as well as taking the helm of “Lucifer” and recently making “Sandman” to add to its Neil Gaiman franchise of greater successes. But, it has also been found that recently, Netflix has taken on what we call a “Typographical Conundrum” that is from the mass contractual Asian content. Of course, this came after the success of “Alice in Borderland” and “Squid Games”, which were red-hot TV Series’ as they stood. But to buy up more than half of Japan’s productions in the thought that viewers who “Liked” or “Loved” the two above shows, was a major mistake.
Netflix puts onto its Platform some 30 to 40 movies per month – notice how I don’t say NEW – a large majority of these are purchased “Licenses” from other Networks across the spectrum of ownership. To get great content you have to go elsewhere to balance the variety, though, for a while now, Netflix has licensed little of a great choice. However, most people keep their Subscriptions for the “Archive” of the platform, because whether or not you would call it nostalgia or “Set Ways” they keep going back to the same movies and shows – which is questionable on the “Figures of Viewing” and whether these revisits actually count as an “Original View” or if they count as a “Revisit” and don’t clock any numbers.
You can subscribe to Netflix in the UK; the service starts from £5 with ads and stretches to £16 for the Premium plan with perks including Ultra HD content and the ability to watch on four devices at the same time. By comparison, in India, where Netflix previously reduced prices in 2021, the service costs between £1.50 to £6.55.
1 Amazon Prime – Rating 8.9
Most probably one of the most successful platforms because of its variety and switchable content basis that no other Platform uses, and with its own studios that produce and release content straight to the Streaming Platform, like that of Netflix, subscribers get a large variety of choices. As an added bonus you get to merge your subscription with “Amazon Prime” which enables you to get Free Next Day Delivery on millions of brands and products.
Personally, as a subscriber, I opted into Amazon Prime for free next-day delivery products and later entered the television and film media world of the alternate side of Amazon – as well as Amazon being my Publisher for my books and Scripts – it was an all-round “Win-Win” for me. But, this does not reflect the choice of placing Amazon in the Number One spot here. Here, we have a platform that offers all-round entertainment as well as other great deals wrapped up inside its subscription base and as such it is well worth noting that Amazon doesn’t latch onto one success story series or movie to invest in an entourage of other “Same Models” that may or may not fail to entertain or bring in more subscribers.
You can subscribe to Amazon Prime in the UK for £8.99 per month, which includes the Free Next Day Delivery perk on the Amazon Store. But as yet, as you can see, there are no platforms out there – yet – that get a 10.00 score, although sometime in the future there may be one wild card streaming service that does qualify, but this, I fear will be far into the future of Television Entertainment.
Lessons To Be Learnt
Terrestrial television is struggling between viewers and those advertising companies that feed off of our thirst for great programmes and movies, while revenue is stupendously fruitful for the channels and production companies, it is the viewer that suffers – Imagine, going to the cinema to watch the latest Scream 95 or Star Wars Episode 367: The Re-Return of The Dark Sith Order as told by That Guy and finding that every 15-20 minutes there are adverts catered for that movie in the way of franchise and merchandise, as well as a Darth Sillyous Cooler Drink? Would that not kill the cinema ambience and its settling mood to survive Ticket Sale losses? I know so, I don’t think so.
While there are a vast array of Entertainment Platforms opening up their doors to such great shows as well as movies that they have created and released, it can’t be ignored that most, if not all of these are not immune to the fact other networks and platforms can sweep their continuations from under their feet for their networks. Fox lost “Lucifer” to Netflix, which went on to be a phenomenal success. Netflix lost “Star Trek Discovery” to Pluto TV, which failed, until finally recovering on Paramount + where there were no Ads. Cancelled Shows are also a huge “Selling Point Fail” although networks and platforms still go ahead and promote half-measures in the hope that viewers won’t notice – but we do – of course, there are some Sheeple out there who fall for the “But it has Adam Driver, or Chris Pine or some other great actor in it” so don’t worry that there are only 3 episodes, because you get to see the A-List Actor!
SKY TV, an accident that was waiting to happen as soon as Netflix came on the scene, as well as the BBC, I may add, has become troubled by an onslaught of declining subscribers. There are only so many of the global populous that are into Sports guys, so offering 3 months of free access to Football and Cricket is pretty much a bust. With many of their own pre-ideas brought back from the Grateful Dead, it would seem, what they cannot get their heads around is that fact “Product Placements” has led them to make a very lucrative profit – but they want more, and it is this that will lead to their downfall; preaching about how shows and films are “Stolen” from them after transmission and cost the broadcasters, makers and the people who helped make the product billions!
As it is today, we are on the pinnacle edge of “The Digital War”, whether you look at Entertainment or any other offering that uses technology as its basis: Cable & Satellite, Cinema, Theater, or Music Events, it doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day, what we as “Viewers” or “Listeners” pay for is already a done deal before we unbox it and this will continue until eventually, the wheel that turns the great machine finally breaks down, productions fade and the platforms and production companies go broke. It happened before, it will happen again, and when this does happen, again, it will be a lot more difficult to convince people – even the Sheeple – to invest in something that may well become that “Monster” or the “Money Wagon” that created and generated billions through misrepresentations in both offerings and in contractual entrapment.
Is there a solution? Yes, as a strategist, I for one know that there is a solution to every problem. If there is no solution to a problem found after months of painstaking attempts to resolve it, then that is not a problem, it is what we call a “Catastrophe” and catastrophes cannot be averted without avoiding that one catastrophe in the first place.
If we look at the problem now, it is quickly approaching a catastrophe that may never be reversed. Too many “Streaming Platforms” unfortunately manifest into a leaching effect that will take from one to feed another and grow like cancer until many of these platforms reach a point of “Static Shutdown”. Where there are hundreds or thousands of “Shareholders” and “Investors” more often than not this “Static Shutdown” follows not far behind like a persistent rash. Like everything in history, however, we as mere humans have followed the “Buzz Feed” and “Trends” that top the daily lucrative ladder to wealth. But take a minute to sum up both the past, present and possible future.
From stage to moving pictures to the cinema to television, we conquered within a hundred years. We came to champion over the television to satellite and cable to bring alive our daily products that were planted into every scene, while alongside these we introduced the actors to promote and sell the products so that there was more financial stability put into programmes and movies. On the up were the production companies who went onto the Stock Market, to share and spread the love for anyone who had the finances to invest. Betamax, VHS, and Laser Disc players enabled people to buy these programmes and films to view at home on their updated colour TVs, until eventually, this expanded into the form of DVD and Blue Ray, not forgetting how quickly Radio came along with playing the songs we loved on vinyl records until CD took vinyl away – not completely – but then manifested into Downloadable Content of MP3 and the stereotypical DRM Arco types that are exclusive to other providers. What we have today is what we see as a destroyed landscape of progress through technology abuse and the very nature of a cold machine that has us hasten through format after format until finally, we reach The End – That’s right, we have reached The End. Because whether you realize it or not, the choked-up system of Advertising and Manufacturing is at a loss of what to produce next and there sits the solution to the problem. Slow down on future tech for the householder and the overall consumer, allow time for a product to circulate and lessen the chances of any catastrophe hitting the entire global market. If we actually took notice of past historical mistakes, then we would never repeat them again in the present or future.
Marcus De Storm is a Blogger Elite, with over four decades of experience in writing as a hobby and producing over 47 published books of all genres, more than a hundred websites, and unknown high volumes of Music, TV, Film, and Product Reviews that are spread over dozens of Social Media Networks as well as the entirety of the Internetwork. At no point has he accepted monies or freebies for these submissions through his morale value code that states: I am neither a prostitute of my work nor a capitalist that opens up to the pandemic of corrupt writers out there who accept their seven pieces of silver for a name or financial security in lying to the consumer with their writing’s.
