Is Binge worth binging?
We rate Australia’s newest streaming service
In keeping with its focus on binge-watching, the service offers several film collections called Binge Centres which gather together movies from wellknown franchises.
Following on from the success of Kayo Sports, Foxtel has seen fit to launch yet another streaming service on the Australian market, this time offering a more approachable and affordable alternative to its own Foxtel Now platform.
Like Foxtel Now, Binge takes advantage of the News Corpowned company’s partnership with WarnerMedia, meaning it’s able to offer an enormous selection of TV shows and films, including many from renowned American pay-TV network HBO.
Add to this the company’s ongoing partnerships with NBC Universal, FX, BBC and Sony and you have quite the impressive back catalogue of TV and movies to choose from.
While that’s good news for those looking to re-watch
Entourage or relive the disappointment of Games of Thrones’ final seasons, we’re still not entirely sure if Binge plans to offer fast-tracked new episodes of current HBO shows.
Add to this a lack of features that we’ve come to expect from our premium-priced streaming services (4K streams, closed captions, offline viewing) and a paltry selection of compatible playback devices at launch, and it’s clear that Binge still needs a bit of work before it can live up to the likes of Netflix and
Disney Plus.
Upon signing up to its initial 14-day free trial, Binge users will be given the option of subscribing to one of three tiers. Once that trial period is over, you will automatically be charged for your chosen plan unless cancelled prior.
Far more competitively priced than other Foxtel-branded services, which cost a minimum of $25 per month, Binge’s lower pricing allows viewers to start streaming from just $10 per month, which gets you a single standard-definition stream.
For those of us who’ve moved on from CRT tellies, the next tier up offers two simultaneous high-definition streams at $14 per month, while a third and final tier allows users to stream on four devices simultaneously in HD for $18 per month. Unfortunately, there are no plans for a 4K streaming tier at this stage.
Content
If the words ‘back catalogue’ jumped out at you just now, we’re not surprised. As great as Binge’s library of HBO shows is, the platform’s emphasis on bingewatching complete seasons means we’re not sure whether you’ll see new episodes of current shows added here each week, as with the more expensive Foxtel streaming services.
Of course, there’s more to
Binge than its HBO partnership