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Finally cord cutting gets a major boost This will only fuel rumors that Showtime, and news outlets plan to do the same in the near future. Added to the rumor mill that Verizon is working on a streaming TV service.
HBO is cutting the cord.
The company announced on Wednesday that it will launch a standalone streaming video service in the U.S. that will allow you to watch HBO programming without paying for an expensive cable subscription.
"It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO," Richard Plepler, HBO's CEO, said at an investor conference in New York on Wednesday, adding that it will be "transformative" for the company.
A lot of details remain unclear at this point -- how much will the service cost? Will it simply be HBO GO sold as a standalone product, or a slimmed down version with only some of the programming? Plepler acknowledged as much in his presentation, but said that for "competitive reasons," he won't be able to answer questions today.
An HBO spokesman would not comment beyond Plepler's presentation.
In the U.S., the company currently offers HBO GO, a service that lets people watch HBO programming on demand on many devices, though you must have a pay-TV subscription in order to use it. That, of course, hasn't stopped many people from sharing passwords.
Plelper's boss, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, said last year that a standalone service wasn't in HBO's "economic best interest." But subscriptions to pay TV in the U.S. have remained flat or slightly declined in recent years. Many people, especially younger people, are choosing to "cut the cord:" forgoing cable subscriptions and instead opting for services like Netflix and Hulu Plus.
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Yay! Finally! I can't wait to actually have the option to watch game of thrones in a legal, reliable, timely, and safe manner.
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I have never paid for television in my life and I never will. The internet is much more entertaining.
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Yea, it's a nice thing to have, but then it goes back to what happened with Netflix and Comcast. Will HBO have to start fussing up money for a "reliable service" through the users ISP?
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On October 16 2014 02:40 ShoCkeyy wrote: Yea, it's a nice thing to have, but then it goes back to what happened with Netflix and Comcast. Will HBO have to start fussing up money for a "reliable service" through the users ISP?
Well I guess that's why it's important for young people to stay in the know about politics, and to be active voters.
Best I can tell there are no potential presidential candidates from republicans who would back Net Neutrality.
So if America votes Republican especially for these midterms and the next presidential election, Net Neutrality will be gone in America.
Then services like this one from HBO will be getting shafted by ISP's like Comcast and would be forced to pay more. Which as we all know means they ask "Should I lower my profit margin/cut costs elsewhere to cover these increased costs, or should I just put the entire burden back onto the consumers shoulders" to which we all know the answer that is said with pride by most businesses presented with this issue.
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I'm happy for this, but I fear for the backlash from cable companies on my internet
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The rest of the world doesn't exist I suppose.
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On October 16 2014 07:11 Thorakh wrote: The rest of the world doesn't exist I suppose. http://hbonordic.com/home
Saw commercials for this site during this week.
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Still don't understand why HBO doesn't want my money. Guess I just have to wait longer.
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They're probably not ready. I think HBO is releasing it in the US only first to see if there are unforeseen problems. Maybe they'll still be tinkering with price and stuff.
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On October 17 2014 00:44 Cambium wrote: U.S. only makes me cry
There are other HBO sites globally. The nordic one I can use is around $10 a month. Which is more than I want to pay since I only want to watch two of their series a year on average.
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That and is cord cutting really a big deal in Europe as it is in the US?
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On October 17 2014 01:28 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: That and is cord cutting really a big deal in Europe as it is in the US?
Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Poland are the dozen in question and IHS says the subscriber reverses show that cord-cutting is now a reality in Europe.
The only large market of those is Italy. So in general it isn't widespread as I understand it.
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Now CBS has announced a online streaming service without cable, but more like Netflix as CBS is a free channel here in the states.
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HBO's new standalone streaming service is being prepped for an April 2015 launch, according to a Fortune report.
HBO wants to launch the service, which will not require a cable subscription, to coincide with the new season of "Game of Thrones," HBO's most successful show ever, with an average of 18.4 million viewers per episode, according to Deadline.
HBO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Fortune's report cites a leaked memo written by Mark Thomas, HBO's senior vice president of technology program management, and Drew Angeloff, HBO's senior vice president of digital products.
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Cayman Islands24199 Posts
they are actually using MLB.tv's technology. i have that service and it's quite unstable for a stretch of this year.
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On October 16 2014 04:22 aksfjh wrote:I'm happy for this, but I fear for the backlash from cable companies on my internet Exactly. Comcast-TimeWarner is going to control most cable and throttle you for cutting it. Americans will end up paying the same as if they had cable and internet except they wont have a television.
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On December 10 2014 14:26 Sub40APM wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2014 04:22 aksfjh wrote:I'm happy for this, but I fear for the backlash from cable companies on my internet Exactly. Comcast-TimeWarner is going to control most cable and throttle you for cutting it. Americans will end up paying the same as if they had cable and internet except they wont have a television.
This 'cord cutting' term is a joke. Your TV and internet comes from the same cord in most places in the US/Canada. Sometimes phone too. Of course you are not going to cut THAT cord.
Need to come up with a better term. How about 'expensive-cable-package-with-100-channels-we-have-to-pay-for-when-we-only-watch-a-few-cutting'. Rolls off the tongue.
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Now DISH just announced this:
Dish Network is making the first big news in what’s likely to be a busy year for the future of television. At the International Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, the company unveiled its Internet television service, a $20-a-month alternative to cable that’s the most ambitious play for cord-cutters to date. The service, confusingly, is named Sling TV, even though it has no direct connection to the Slingbox, another device aiming to appeal to people fed up with the restrictions of cable. Sling TV will be available on a range of connected televisions, streaming boxes and sticks such as Roku, and mobile devices.
Dish has been working on the service for four years, says Joseph Clayton, the company’s chief executive officer. It spent much of last year lining up deals and developing technology to insert targeted ads into live streams. The company had originally said the service would be ready in 2014. A lot was happening while Dish was putting the finishing touches on Sling TV. HBO and CBS announced they would begin selling standalone streaming subscriptions, and Sony launched PlayStation Vue, its own cable replacement service.
Dish’s big advantage is a deal with Disney, giving it access to ESPN’s channels, which are arguably a necessity to draw viewers away from cable. The basic Sling TV package offers about a dozen channels, including Disney, ESPN, Food Network, HGTV, TNT, CNN, and TBS. It also features Internet video from Maker Studios, which Disney bought for $500 million last March. Viewers will be able to pay extra for additional channels grouped by themes like sports or children’s programming. For years, Internet television services have struggled to get off the ground because they couldn’t get rights to content. The introduction of Sling TV is evidence that this is changing.
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That sounds interesting from DISH. I pay almost $80 for my TV package, mostly because of relatives. $20 sounds nice, but I'm not sure if it has all the channels they watch. It certainly has almost all the channels I do watch.
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Direct TV coming up with sling tv for cord cutters. Don't know much details but it's good news for cord cutters. I seriously need resources to watch live European football games in hd. Online streams are spook poor.
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I don't get why TV is still a thing. On Demand services are just so incredibly much superior to a classic TV model with channels that send stuff when they want it, riddled with absurd amounts of ads. And they are obviously technically possible now. So why does TV still exist? TV is so absurdly outdated.
The only problem i have with legal on demand stuff is that for some reason country lines still exist for them. For inexplicable reason, despite most of them being US made series, almost everything i can see on Amazon Prime for example is in german dubbed. And while the dubbing might be good, i still greatly prefer the original versions. If it is on the internet, why does stuff have to be country-locked. The internet is international. Do not make stuff US only. Is my money really worth less than the equal amount of money by an american? Apparently yes. So don't complain if i pirate stuff if you don't make it available to me legally in a reasonable fashion.
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On January 12 2015 17:44 Simberto wrote: I don't get why TV is still a thing. On Demand services are just so incredibly much superior to a classic TV model with channels that send stuff when they want it, riddled with absurd amounts of ads. And they are obviously technically possible now. So why does TV still exist? TV is so absurdly outdated.
The only problem i have with legal on demand stuff is that for some reason country lines still exist for them. For inexplicable reason, despite most of them being US made series, almost everything i can see on Amazon Prime for example is in german dubbed. And while the dubbing might be good, i still greatly prefer the original versions. If it is on the internet, why does stuff have to be country-locked. The internet is international. Do not make stuff US only. Is my money really worth less than the equal amount of money by an american? Apparently yes. So don't complain if i pirate stuff if you don't make it available to me legally in a reasonable fashion.
the right to distribute is typically sold to a local distributor (in your case, some TV channel in Germany) whereby they then make money in the local market from ads and/or TV subscription, and the original producers block that specific country from viewing their contents directly
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Thus we have the crux of the issue. Distribution is archaic, in it's ancient grace it holds many people making much monies.
Another reason Comcast wants to kill Net neutrality. Because if they control the bandwidth then they get to stay a middle man. Without it studios will be more free to put their content out on the internet without a traditional program distributor or distributors will have to pay more for exclusive rights.
With the new smartify your tv gadget you can turn your TV into a monitor for a USB sized computer. What need then does one have for a cable box and a subscription through a cable distributor? This is also why the distributors have been buying up the content creation studios. Just in case their whole model implodes the revenue would presumably flow into the businesses that create the content. If they win on net neutrality then they just get to own the whole entertainment process from creation to delivery.
If the ISP's win on Net Neutrality even if you created something like twitch, internet providers could come in to your potential customers and say
"In order to gain RESTRICTED access twitch you will need to pay for the special twitch bundle fee* which includes LifetimeOnline and the Home Shopping Web Channel (a $25 value) free of charge!".
(* Subscription fee is $9.99 and does not include any additional subscription fees for the Twitch.com website itself or individual streamers)
OR
You can order COMPLETE UNRESTRICTED ACCESS to (Comcast's version of Twitch) for $5.99 and get a 1-year membership to ESPN.com for free! (a $49.99 value)
If ISP's win on Net Neutrality you can expect emails and letters like that to follow shortly.
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On January 12 2015 21:39 GreenHorizons wrote:Thus we have the crux of the issue. Distribution is archaic, in it's ancient grace it holds many people making much monies. Another reason Comcast wants to kill Net neutrality. Because if they control the bandwidth then they get to stay a middle man. Without it studios will be more free to put their content out on the internet without a traditional program distributor or distributors will have to pay more for exclusive rights. With the new smartify your tv gadget you can turn your TV into a monitor for a USB sized computer. What need then does one have for a cable box and a subscription through a cable distributor? This is also why the distributors have been buying up the content creation studios. Just in case their whole model implodes the revenue would presumably flow into the businesses that create the content. If they win on net neutrality then they just get to own the whole entertainment process from creation to delivery. If the ISP's win on Net Neutrality even if you created something like twitch, internet providers could come in to your potential customers and say Show nested quote +"In order to gain RESTRICTED access twitch you will need to pay for the special twitch bundle fee* which includes LifetimeOnline and the Home Shopping Web Channel (a $25 value) free of charge!".
(* Subscription fee is $9.99 and does not include any additional subscription fees for the Twitch.com website itself or individual streamers)
OR
You can order COMPLETE UNRESTRICTED ACCESS to (Comcast's version of Twitch) for $5.99 and get a 1-year membership to ESPN.com for free! (a $49.99 value) If ISP's win on Net Neutrality you can expect emails and letters like that to follow shortly.
That works for some countries, and really doesn't work for others.
Even for countries like the U.S., I would imagine 'middlemen' (I don't know what to call these firms really) are still needed. Streaming will slowly eat away cable TV until it is irrelevant, but that will be years if not decades. Even though the younger generation is in general tech savvy and willing to board the streaming ship asap, the older generation would still much rather watch regular TV without the hassle of buying a USB-sized computer. There is no way in hell my parents would and could move away from regular television.
And then you have countries like Japan, where CDs and DVDs are still prevalent and dominant. Streaming won't be popular for a very long damn time.
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United States32008 Posts
Smart of them to do that finally
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T.O.P.
Hong Kong4685 Posts
Internet only is the same price as Internet + TV for Comcast in my area. There isn't any good internet alternatives either.
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On January 20 2015 12:58 T.O.P. wrote: Internet only is the same price as Internet + TV for Comcast in my area. There isn't any good internet alternatives either.
You have Comcast in Hong Kong?
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On October 16 2014 02:36 Incognoto wrote: I have never paid for television in my life and I never will. The internet is much more entertaining. Ditto, this is wisdom.
...
Sorry for interrupting with that, just adding my little say.
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Beta invites for Sling TV are expected tomorrow, first wave of invites at least =/
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner's TWX.N HBO is preparing to sell a standalone service over the Internet for the first time, in one of the most closely watched moves in pay TV history. Yet the road to the launch has been far from an easy one - marked by changes in strategy, deadlines, and the departure of its chief technology officer along with two of his lieutenants.
Otto Berkes, who was previously a Microsoft executive, resigned from the CTO position in December, only a matter of months before HBO is expected to start selling the new product, and two senior vice presidents on the technology team, Mark Thomas and Drew Angeloff, are also leaving, sources familiar with the situation said.
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Children’s entertainment giant Nickelodeon intends to follow the example of HBO and unveil a direct-to-consumer subscription service in February, the chief executive of Nickelodeon’s parent, Viacom, said during a call with investors Thursday morning.
More details about the service will be revealed when Nickelodeon hosts its upfront meeting with advertisers next month. U.S. TV networks try to sell the bulk of their ad inventory in the upfront market, and TV networks that cater to children typically lead the salvo.
The new Nickelodeon service will be aimed specifically at consumers who use mobile devices, Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman said during a call held to discuss Viacom’s financial performance. He suggested the service would have a different name or brand, and said it “will be very attractive to parents and children.”
A spokesman for Nickelodeon, Dan Martinsen, declined to offer additional details.
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Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications has struck a deal with Dish Network’s over-the-top Sling video distribution service. Sling will have rights to both live and video-on-demand content.
The terms of the agreement include Univision’s flagship Univision Network, UniMás, UDN (Univision Deportes Network), Galavisión, El Rey Network, Bandamax, De Película, De Película Clásico, Telehit, tlnovelas, FOROtv as well as Univision and UniMás broadcast stations nationwide, the companies said Monday.
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The rumor mill has been quiet as of late regarding Apple’s plans to disrupt the TV industry. But now Recode is reporting that Apple is in talks with programmers about doing its own Internet-based TV service for cord-cutters.
Similar to the way Dish’s Sling TV bundles channels together at an attractive cost, Apple would design its own experience around delivering content without the use of traditional cable companies.
Apple has been trying to get its own TV subscription service off the ground for years, with reports dating back to 2009 that it was pitching such a product to potential partners. Now that Sling TV is out, ESPN and HBO are unbundling, and Sony is about to release its own TV service, the right pieces appear to be falling into place.
Recode points out that talks are still early, which means it could still be a while before any sort of Apple-branded TV service sees the light of day.
“Apple has shown programmers demos of the proposed service, sources say,” according to the report. “But talks seem to be in the early stages, which means terms like pricing and timing aren’t close to being ironed out. Several programmers say they’ve yet to start talks with Apple at all.”
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Sling TV is now live. AMC being added to their core package.
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United Kingdom20157 Posts
Internet and other non-tv services have been my primary (well, almost only) source of media consumption for most of my life. Am i a hipster? >_____>
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On January 12 2015 17:44 Simberto wrote: So don't complain if i pirate stuff if you don't make it available to me legally in a reasonable fashion. Use and pay for Hulu or Netflix?
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You can only use Hulu inside the US. Which is part of my point. When i last looked at this stuff, Netflix also wasn't available here, and most other distributors only had 90% german dubbed versions in their libraries. Apparently Netflix is now available, but they probably also only stock the sucky german versions.
As i said, i have an amazon prime account currently, and a lot of the stuff on it is only available in german dubbed versions for inexplicable reasons. I have no interest in watching the german dubbed version of anything. And i see no reason why it is so hard to get the original version of series on these services, or why they have different packages based on which country you live in, it is ridiculous. I find this especially annoying in the cases where something is made available for free on the internet page of the creator, but only in specific countries. Like Doctor Who, which is free if you are in the UK, and simply very hard to get access to if you are not. Why are my eyes worth less than those of an englishman?
I guess people in the US don't even realize how silly this stuff gets when you are NOT in the US, and don't want shitty dubbed versions of shows. And i don't see why i should get worse service then someone living in the US on something that is on the internet. I do not think nation borders should matter on the internet. Basically, piracy is mostly a service problem. If there was a service that would allow me to watch all of the series, in the original version, when they are available, for a reasonable price, that would be better than piracy (I don't actually pirate a lot anymore anyways, since i don't actually watch a lot of series). It is the same thing that steam did to video games. You have a service that allows people to get what they want hassle-free via the internet, without stupid barriers like "No you only get the shitty german version"(steam does a bit of that, but not too much), for a cheap price. We are talking about stuff that was available for free on TV before anyways.
Obviously, video is moving in the same direction, but they have it a lot harder than video games since they have to fight the established structure of TV stations, with silly distribution rights based on country and whatever else legal bullshit is the problem. I don't really have a lot of tolerance for that shit.
There should simply NEVER be an "This is only available for people inside country x" on anything in the internet in my opinion. Those popups are utter BS. Of course, if you live in the US you probably don't know them.
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On December 10 2014 14:26 Sub40APM wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2014 04:22 aksfjh wrote:I'm happy for this, but I fear for the backlash from cable companies on my internet Exactly. Comcast-TimeWarner is going to control most cable and throttle you for cutting it. Americans will end up paying the same as if they had cable and internet except they wont have a television. I thought the whole 'net neutrality' thing was going to help with that threat. Or do you just think that they are going to find another way around and still be able to throttle people's internet?
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One of the potential loopholes in the current proposed net neutrality rules is data caps. ISPs can theoretically impose severe data caps on their consumers and ask for bribes from content providers so their content doesn't count against data caps.
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I almost kind of hope Comcast loses their shit and goes hardcore against their customers. It could spur a demand for Google Fiber (for us city/close suburban folk). I would support my government paying for some Google fiber under the condition it would have relatively universal access.
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Northern Ireland20731 Posts
On February 10 2015 02:42 Simberto wrote: You can only use Hulu inside the US. Which is part of my point. When i last looked at this stuff, Netflix also wasn't available here, and most other distributors only had 90% german dubbed versions in their libraries. Apparently Netflix is now available, but they probably also only stock the sucky german versions.
As i said, i have an amazon prime account currently, and a lot of the stuff on it is only available in german dubbed versions for inexplicable reasons. I have no interest in watching the german dubbed version of anything. And i see no reason why it is so hard to get the original version of series on these services, or why they have different packages based on which country you live in, it is ridiculous. I find this especially annoying in the cases where something is made available for free on the internet page of the creator, but only in specific countries. Like Doctor Who, which is free if you are in the UK, and simply very hard to get access to if you are not. Why are my eyes worth less than those of an englishman?
I guess people in the US don't even realize how silly this stuff gets when you are NOT in the US, and don't want shitty dubbed versions of shows. And i don't see why i should get worse service then someone living in the US on something that is on the internet. I do not think nation borders should matter on the internet. Basically, piracy is mostly a service problem. If there was a service that would allow me to watch all of the series, in the original version, when they are available, for a reasonable price, that would be better than piracy (I don't actually pirate a lot anymore anyways, since i don't actually watch a lot of series). It is the same thing that steam did to video games. You have a service that allows people to get what they want hassle-free via the internet, without stupid barriers like "No you only get the shitty german version"(steam does a bit of that, but not too much), for a cheap price. We are talking about stuff that was available for free on TV before anyways.
Obviously, video is moving in the same direction, but they have it a lot harder than video games since they have to fight the established structure of TV stations, with silly distribution rights based on country and whatever else legal bullshit is the problem. I don't really have a lot of tolerance for that shit.
There should simply NEVER be an "This is only available for people inside country x" on anything in the internet in my opinion. Those popups are utter BS. Of course, if you live in the US you probably don't know them. In the case of the likes of Dr Who it kind of makes sense to me. BBC is a state broadcaster and funded by a TV licence that any UK home with a television is theoretically meant to pay, that's how it gets its funding and that's the tradeoff for 'free' content without commercials. I'm surprised though that it hasn't been exported to Germany in some palatable form, it's one of the BBC's big earners iirc.
I'm totally with you on the general point you are making. I'm one of those freaks that really doesn't like to pirate, but will do so because some content is just so fucking difficult to obtain.
Netflix's library is immeasurably better than when I first signed up to it and my god I would pay a shitload of money per annum (and I mean a relative shitload) for a similar service with close to everything on it.
Incidentally, try out Netflix if indeed it is available in Germany. Once you subscribe you can use a VPN or whatever to change the region and unlock a lot of content. I have no idea as to what the situation is with regards German dubs and whatnot, (I despise live-action dubs, don't mind animated ones) but many of the anime series I've watched have the option of either Japanese audio or the English dub depending on your preference.
Aside from the very occasional programme or live event fuck television, it has genuinely denigrated into a mess of complete nonsense 'reality' bullshit that I and most of those I associate with have next to no interest in.
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Yeah, we have similar state broadcasters here in germany, for which i pay ~20€ a month despite not even owning a TV. Because i could possibly watch the shit they produce on my computer. Not that i do. Because they don't produce anything even close to Doctor Who in quality. They mostly do talkshows and very, very german police murder shows. I didn't actually know that BBC works like that.
And yeah, i'm thinking about getting a netflix subscription at some point. The main question would be how good their library is, since i usually tend to watch random weird shows, usually not necessarily new ones but just something i just came across and want to watch, so a deep library of weird stuff would be good. Is there any way to actually search their library without subscribing?
And like you, i generally prefer to aquire my media legally, but in many cases it is either very hard or absurdly expensive to get. I am not going to pay 3-5€ per episode of some show i am probably only going to watch once. I could go into the cinema for the same amount of time for that money. And i am not quite sure why movies and series seem to lack behind in reasonable distribution compared to video games. I guess it is because of the legacy of TV companies which are obviously based on incredibly outdated tech. I have no idea why TV is even still a thing, it just loses to on demand video distribution in every possible respect.
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On February 10 2015 02:42 Simberto wrote: You can only use Hulu inside the US. Which is part of my point. When i last looked at this stuff, Netflix also wasn't available here, and most other distributors only had 90% german dubbed versions in their libraries. Apparently Netflix is now available, but they probably also only stock the sucky german versions. I don't live in the US either and just used a free VPN which only required one firefox addon.
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So basically, you need to use a VPN to use those services and lie about where you are from (And probably also commit some sort of crime in the process), because your money is for inexplicable reasons worth less than that of americans, and even if it were, you still couldn't buy it at an increased pricepoint because of ????
And somehow that is reasonable?
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Well, they certainly did like my money. And I also doubt it's a crime. In Australia it's fine for example:
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Robert McClelland told The Australian last week: “In relation to the use of VPNs by Australians to access services such as Hulu and Netflix, on the limited information provided there does not appear to be an infringement of copyright law in Australia."
Anyway, agree with everything else that you said.
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On February 10 2015 02:42 Simberto wrote: You can only use Hulu inside the US. Which is part of my point. When i last looked at this stuff, Netflix also wasn't available here, and most other distributors only had 90% german dubbed versions in their libraries. Apparently Netflix is now available, but they probably also only stock the sucky german versions.
As i said, i have an amazon prime account currently, and a lot of the stuff on it is only available in german dubbed versions for inexplicable reasons. I have no interest in watching the german dubbed version of anything. And i see no reason why it is so hard to get the original version of series on these services, or why they have different packages based on which country you live in, it is ridiculous. I find this especially annoying in the cases where something is made available for free on the internet page of the creator, but only in specific countries. Like Doctor Who, which is free if you are in the UK, and simply very hard to get access to if you are not. Why are my eyes worth less than those of an englishman?
I guess people in the US don't even realize how silly this stuff gets when you are NOT in the US, and don't want shitty dubbed versions of shows. And i don't see why i should get worse service then someone living in the US on something that is on the internet. I do not think nation borders should matter on the internet. Basically, piracy is mostly a service problem. If there was a service that would allow me to watch all of the series, in the original version, when they are available, for a reasonable price, that would be better than piracy (I don't actually pirate a lot anymore anyways, since i don't actually watch a lot of series). It is the same thing that steam did to video games. You have a service that allows people to get what they want hassle-free via the internet, without stupid barriers like "No you only get the shitty german version"(steam does a bit of that, but not too much), for a cheap price. We are talking about stuff that was available for free on TV before anyways.
Obviously, video is moving in the same direction, but they have it a lot harder than video games since they have to fight the established structure of TV stations, with silly distribution rights based on country and whatever else legal bullshit is the problem. I don't really have a lot of tolerance for that shit.
There should simply NEVER be an "This is only available for people inside country x" on anything in the internet in my opinion. Those popups are utter BS. Of course, if you live in the US you probably don't know them.
I feel your pain. Have you tried a VPN with a host based in the states to connect to? You can bypass region locked content. I use one (provided by work so I don't have a clue what they cost, probably ~10 euro a month)
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See at that point it just becomes easier to simply pirate the stuff i want and not have to deal with all the silly hassle. Which is silly. It should be easier to get something legally as opposed to pirating it. I will not pay for a VPN (and figure out how that stuff actually works) just so i can buy stuff in the US. That is just ridiculous.
I can already bypass region locked content. I'd just like to be able to do that legally. Region locks are utter nonsense in an interconnected global internet. And since i am not even convinced that it is more illegal to lie about where i live for a contract by using VPNs, i really don't see the point of that.
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Netflix is available here now for quite some time, but the number of shows are pretty limited and pretty much always one or two seasons behind US release. Investing into a vpn makes sense though because torrenting here without one is pretty risky.
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On February 11 2015 09:28 Simberto wrote: See at that point it just becomes easier to simply pirate the stuff i want and not have to deal with all the silly hassle. Which is silly. It should be easier to get something legally as opposed to pirating it. I will not pay for a VPN (and figure out how that stuff actually works) just so i can buy stuff in the US. That is just ridiculous.
I can already bypass region locked content. I'd just like to be able to do that legally. Region locks are utter nonsense in an interconnected global internet. And since i am not even convinced that it is more illegal to lie about where i live for a contract by using VPNs, i really don't see the point of that. As long as "physical lines" separate countries in the real world, there will be digital lines in the digital world. And I doubt this will change anytime soon. Germany also has the biggest dubbing market in Europe. So getting the proper versions is always quite hard, especially if you want it timely.
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https://www.sling.com/ You want 200+ non bullshit channels, and you wanna pay only 20 bucks a month? Do you live in the US? Well.. here you go..
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Sling TV is now available on the Fire TV.
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Not sure if this fits here but I stopped watching TV long ago, now I'm getting myself a TV for Twitch, YouTube and Plex. Should I get a Chromecast or a Roku?
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Today Sling TV is adding the highly anticipated AMC and IFC channels to it’s core $20 package. It is also releasing it’s Hollywood Extra package today. (The channels should be added by the time you read this post. If they are not live now, they will be live shortly.)
In addition to AMC and IFC, Sling TV’s “Best of Live TV” $20 core package delivers ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, ABC Family, Disney Channel, CNN, El Rey and Galavision; some of the most highly watched TV channels.
The “Hollywood Extra” package will include EPIX, EPIX2, EPIX3, EPIX Drive-In, and Sundance TV for $5 a month. Replay feature allows customers to watch content that has aired up to seven days prior without a DVR. (Video-On-Demand content for EPIX channels and Sundance TV coming soon.)
“AMC Networks is pleased to have reached this comprehensive new agreement which will deliver our popular and valuable entertainment and news content from our entire portfolio of networks on Sling TV,” said Bob Broussard, President of Network Sales, AMC Networks. “Sling TV is an exciting new service designed to deliver content to consumers who are outside of the traditional television eco-system. With this agreement, we are joining a number of other respected providers of sports, entertainment and news content to ensure that we are capitalizing on innovative technology and new opportunities to reach as many people as possible.”
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I picked up SlingTV. Right now, I'm not impressed. In fact, it is basically unusable due to server-side problems that the service has. I spend more time buffering than watching TV. I've called customer support a couple times now. They admitted that they're having problems. If they don't get their act together soon, I'm out.
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