After its very successful launch in the US, Disney+ has now become a massive contender to take Netflix’s place as the biggest streaming service out there. With several high-profile new services being launched next year, including Disney+’s debut in the UK and new services in the works from both Apple and AT&T, Netflix’s domination of the industry is under scrutiny and talks of who will become its biggest competitor are now more relevant than ever. But with all these new options coming out it can be hard to know where to put your money so in this article I will be assessing all the streaming service options available and the kind of content each one offers to you as a consumer before coming to an overall conclusion on who to pick.
The obvious pick for many is Netflix itself with its library, perhaps the most versatile offering of the bunch with new franchises being introduced every month and a large offering of Netflix originals that already have an established and loyal fan base of their own. These include the likes of Thirteen Reasons Why, Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, Peaky Blinders, The Crown and more. They also have an ever-changing catalogue of franchises that are constantly being added and removed every month, with this month’s additions featuring the likes of 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 2010’s Inception, Pokemon: The Power of Us (the latest Pokemon movie), 2015’s Steve Jobs and more. With these new additions, its clear to see Netflix’s pulling power in the industry is still very strong and their current series still have enough pull to retain their current audiences, with new seasons of Sex Education and Bojack Horseman coming out this month too. However, with the newest crop of streaming services being introduced, Netflix have also lost the rights to many franchises including the likes of all their Marvel and Star Wars shows as well as recently losing the rights to stream Friends.
Disney Plus’ successful launch in the US also makes it a prime competitor for Netflix, with it boasting the rights to all Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Fox and National Geographic shows and already offering a massive library of established movies and tv series, with current box office hits like Avengers End Game, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker all set to hit the box office in 2020. Disney+’s first original exclusive show, the Mandalorian, saw massive success, seeing a host of memes, articles and videos being made by fans as a result. It had a very strong start, with expectations being risen by Disney to 25 million users by the end of the first quarter of 2020, Netflix on the other hand have lost 1 million users in the last 2 months. Disney+ is also planning to further grow its library with a tonne of new exclusive content coming this year including the likes of Marvel’s ‘What If…’ series, ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’, ‘WandaVision’ and the second season of ‘The Mandolorian’ all set for release this year. They also acquired the rights to all of Fox’s shows which may mean that we could start seeing the Simpsons and X-Men make their debuts on the streaming services. So if you are looking for a streaming service that offers Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Simpson’s and more family friendly content, Disney Plus is definitely the service to sign up for.
Amazon Prime video has also brought itself into the picture, with it being an established service for many years now. Their recent deal with the Premier League has seen them get the rights to stream all Premier League football, something only Sky and BT have previously offered. This has brought in a tonne of new football fans to sign up to the service to watch the Boxing Day matches on the go. It also gives the opportunity to international fans to stream the Premier League, when previously they may not have been able to. They also offer a range of exclusives themselves, including the likes of ‘The Romanoffs’, ‘Jack Clancy’s Jack Ryan’, and ‘Forever’. If you are a football fan who is willing to pay extra to watch every single game this is the service for you.
The last one is Apple’s new streaming service, Apple TV+, which hasn’t had the reception many would have expected, despite the new exclusive partnership Apple have formed with Richard Pleper, one of the main reasons for HBO’s last two decades of success. It’s service only offers original programming, rather than box office hits or a large collection of movies not made by them. Currently they boast exclusives such as ‘the Morning Show’, ‘SEE’, ‘Dickinsons’, and ‘For All Mankind’. While these have received relatively mediocre reviews, Apple have a couple more exclusives coming soon including the likes of ‘Little America’ and ‘The Banker’ featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie. While there is a lot of potential, Apple TV+ is still a bet for many and it’s worth waiting a bit to see what direction they take in the next couple months before deciding to sign up for the service.
While these are the main streaming services currently in the industry, there are also smaller ones that offer content to more niche audiences including the likes of Crunchroll, which offers a range of anime shows, DC Universe, Acorn TV for British TV streaming, Shudder for horror movies and series and Sundance for Thrillers and Crime related content. These offer their own unique content and are viable options for fans of these respective genres.
