Smarter ways to watch telly
Blayne Slabbert has some tips to get the most out of TV streaming services.
TECHNOLOGY
Streaming services are bringing an abundance of great television shows to Kiwis but with that comes a few problems.
A new report shows the increase in streaming options has led to an increase in people illegally downloading TV shows.
The study by Sandvine, a networking equipment company, shows people are going back to pirating TV shows because there are too many streaming services and too much content.
Illegal downloading declined around 2015 as Netflix became popular around the world. The service made it easy and affordable to get the latest new shows.
But as more streaming services arrived, releasing a huge number of TV shows, people have turned back to pirating as it became expensive to pay for several services, and also confusing to keep track of everything.
Kiwis have had Netflix since early 2015. It arrived here after Spark launched Lightbox the previous year. Sky TV also launched Neon in 2015 while Amazon Prime Video arrived a year later.
At the time Kiwis grizzled that there wasn’t enough content available and Netflix New Zealand especially was criticised as being short on shows compared to the United States version.
But now there’s enough television to keep even the biggest fan occupied for every night of the year.
Kiwis have seven streaming services to choose from – four subscription services plus the free offerings from TVNZ and ThreeNow.
Subscribing to all four paid streaming services will cost you between $47 and $65 a month, depending on options.
The prices are: Netflix ($11.99 for standard definition, $14.99 for high definition and $18.49 for 4K), Lightbox ($12.99 for standard and $15.99 for premium), Neon ($11.99 for TV shows only or $20 for TV and movies) and Amazon (about $10 a month).
That’s quite a lot of money for even the most hardcore TV fan, which is why pirating is on the rise again.
The Sandvine report doesn’t provide specific data for New Zealand, but globally it says the trend is clear and puts the blame on too many streaming services.
However, Kiwis are lucky as we have fewer services than the US, where more companies are launching streaming options.
Over there, HBO has its own service and Disney plans to launch its streaming site soon. The television studio CBS also recently started a service.
Since our market is too small, they’re unlikely to arrive here soon. That’s good news, as Netflix, Neon and Lightbox act as aggregators.
For example, most HBO shows are available on Neon while Netflix has picked up the top CBS show Star Trek: Discovery.
So while it’s a challenge for Kiwis to keep up with all the ‘‘mustwatch’’ shows, it’s possible, as long as you’re organised and patient.
First, don’t tie yourself to one service. It’s fine to be loyal to certain TV shows but sticking with one service means you’ll miss out.
That’s why you need to be organised. You’ll need to keep track of your favourite shows and where and when they’ll stream.
Then you can switch your streaming service each month depending on which one has the show you want at the moment.
Keeping track of all this is hard. There’s no TV guide to help you navigate all the services. You can try to use lemontv.co.nz but it’s not always reliable so you’ll need to come up with your own system.
The next part involves being patient.
First, it’s best to binge-watch a series so you can watch a series (or two) in a month before swapping to another if needed.
However, this means you won’t lead the discussion about the show at the water cooler and you’ll have to risk hearing or reading spoilers.
You’ll also need to be patient in waiting for a certain show to arrive. Kiwis used to have to wait years to see some TV series but now we see most at the same time as those in the US or Britain.
Still, there is the occasional show that takes a few months to arrive on one of our streaming services.
Doing this takes a bit of effort and there may be some months you will be paying for two services at once but you should be able to avoid this due to the sweeteners offered by our mobile and broadband providers.
For example, Spark offers free Lightbox to customers who sign up for certain plans. Vodafone does the same with Neon.
If this suits your situation, then you should be able to access at least two services at any one time while only paying for one.
The way we watch TV shows has changed a lot and the industry is still being disrupted.
However, it’s a great time to be a TV fan and this revolution has made it easier and more affordable for Kiwis to keep up with their favourite shows.