In case you didn’t know, the days of subscribing to just Netflix and Amazon Prime are slowly coming to an end. Just look at this list ranking all the different streaming services that are available today or coming soon. They’re coming, for your wallet.
As The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman points out in his assessment of video streaming services, it’ll no longer be possible to get by with one or two video streaming services if all the biggest names in entertainment get their way. Armed with large libraries of content and proof that people will pay monthly fees to watch their content, media companies are gearing up for a battle royal over the next few years.
There are some names you’ll recognize in the rankings, like Netflix, HBO, and Amazon, but all the new entries in the space are what caught my attention. Disney has its own streaming coming soon. WarnerMedia, the company formed by the merger of AT&T, DirecTV, and Warner Brothers is also coming. Apple, armed with a mandate from CEO Tim Cook to grow its services business, is cooking up a streaming service of its own too. THR’s extensive list even leaves out one important new wrinkle: DC’s new streaming/comic book subscription fan club.
Add all this up, and it’s clear media companies are ready to torpedo whatever chance you had at saving money by dropping your expensive cable package for Netflix, Hulu or Prime Video. The joke is on them, though. I’m hoping everyone’s reaction is to only subscribe to one or two, then pick up one of the others once a year and binge everything they have to offer for just a month. That’s why my CBS All Access subscription is on ice right now.
