If you are not taking advantage of streaming as part of your TV experience, you are missing out on so much.
Why do we say that? Because standard TV content has become somewhat stale and predictable.
Think for a second: how many of the shows on TV are in essence the same thing again and again? Detectives with some special skill or flaw, “math wizard,” “photographic memory,” “aversion to germs,” “novelist,” “profiling.” You have medical shows with that one-of-a-kind specialist who has a personality flaw that rubs people the wrong way but who also happens to be the best in the world at what he or she does. There are competitions — singing, dancing, et cetera — and the larger-than-life physical challenge shows.
These shows are not on TV by accident. They have a strong audience in both viewers and advertisers. But there is so much on TV besides these types of shows, and you won’t find them on your TV listings.
That’s where streaming comes in. While some people shortsightedly look at streaming as some kind of alternative to cable, it is not. It’s just another platform for content. The millions of people who have Netflix and standard TV packages should tell you that.
Streaming services are actually more like a throwback to what cable TV used to be. While it is now awash with cookie-cutter reality shows, it used to be a listing of niches where you could find the thing that interested you the most.
There is still a History Channel, but I challenge you to find much history-based programming on it. On Wednesday, Oct. 9, there were two shows on the History Channel — “Counting Cars” and “Forged in Fire.” Those are the only shows airing all day, over-and-over again; one is a show about people making swords out of go-kart parts — you know, just like the Vikings did.
On the other hand, the History Channel has a streaming option called History Vault featuring series like “Mankind: The Story of All of Us,” “WWII: The World in Crisis” and “America: The Story of Us.” And that is just one example.
There are entertainment channels that focus on specific audiences as well, such as Acorn and Britbox, which are centered around content from England and the Euro-Zone. There are horror services like Shudder, Japananese animation services, et cetera. That does not even begin to address the huge amount of sports available via streaming services built around the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball.
Most cable providers cannot provide those kinds of options. But when streaming is integrated into your TV experience through either apps built directly into a TV or via Internet-connected devices, a new world opens up.
Yes, the services I mentioned do have a cost. But there are a lot of free services as well that use advertisements, like everything else on TV. They provide so much content you can find yourself spending hours just looking at what is available versus actually watching anything. Or maybe that’s just me.
OK, I admit it, it’s just me.
But a little advice from an Advisor. If you have not explored streaming as a viable way to enjoy the kind of content you want, it’s time you took a look.
Ryan Downey is the executive director and editor of The Streaming Advisor.
