Your video streaming services guide

WHETHER YOU’RE AFTER A SERIES TO BINGE, MOVIE TO CRITIQUE OR DOCO TO ABSORB, AS LONG AS YOU HAVE AN INTERNET CONNECTION, WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED.

IN THE SPACE of a few short years, Australia has gone from enviously watching on as the US and UK flaunted Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer and more to becoming absolutely spoilt for choice ourselves. Not only do all the major free-to-air networks now have their own video on demand (VoD) offerings, but we also have myriad subscription streaming services vying for our hardearned dollars.

And Aussies have certainly taken to streaming culture. According to Deloitte’s 2017 Media Consumer Survey, subscriptions to paid VoD services such as Netflix and Stan surpassed Pay TV subscriptions for the first time last year, and 32% of us are subscribed to more than one premium service.

So with such a multitude of services to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. From content and user experience to cost and value for money, we’re taking a look at what each major player brings to the table to help you make the right choice.

Whether you’re a film buff, TV junkie or doco nerd, there’s something for every taste and budget so you can binge watch to your heart’s content. The official websites for each service will offer instructions on how to set them up on your device. You’ll be able to watch on your laptop, there’s an associated app for your smartphone and tablet, and many modern TVs (in the last three years or so) even have their own apps, too.

HOW WE TESTED

All streaming services were tested using each platform’s respective app on an iPhone 8 and iPad Air 2, both running iOS 11, as well as Google Chrome on a MacBook Pro running macOS High Sierra and streaming video to Google Chromecast. Tests were conducted using both a 4G mobile connection and ADSL2+.