by Pa Rock
TV Junkie
I continue to be proud of the fact that I cancelled my satellite television service way back in early 2015 and am getting along just fine without current programming and commercials, thank you very much. For awhile I got my television fix through DVDs and watching YouTube and Hulu on the Internet. Them my son hooked me up with a Roku streaming device, and from that point on I have had access to literally more television programing than I could handle - and all without commercials.
I rely on two primary sources for the programs that I watch on the Roku - Amazon and Netflix. Access to Amazon did not cost me any extra out-of-pocket because I was already a member of Amazon Prime. Netflix is around ten dollars a month, considerably less than I was paying for the satellite service. Both of those providers enable access to movies as well as popular television programming. Both also market original movies and series which they develop and produce themselves - usually high-quality viewing.
If I could only have one of those two programming providers, I would choose Netflix. With Netflix a viewer has a complete and honest choice among its hundreds of offerings - which are updated monthly. Amazon also has a good variety, but with Amazon viewers don't always have automatic access to the offerings. One annoying trait of Amazon is that it will occasionally lead viewers on with free access to a season or two of a really good show, one like the PBS series "Poldark," and then, after the viewers are hooked, throw in a charge for the next season.
Also, sometimes there is an intervening service to which one must subscribe in order to see certain programs. Amazon will entice viewers to click on programs, and then a notice will pop up saying that to access that particular show viewers will need to subscribe to Acorn, Masterpiece, or some other service. With Netflix one gets what one clicks on - but that's not always the case with Amazon.
My favorite genre of programming is British television shows, both comedy and drama, produced by the BBC - and I am a particular fan of British detective programs and mysteries like "Midsomer Murders," "Luther," "A Touch of Frost," "Jonathan Creek," "Dalziel and Pascoe," "Rosemary and Thyme," "Death in Paradise," "Poirot," and "Miss Marple." Recently while trying to access a British detective/mystery offering from Amazon, I learned that I could only get to it through a service called BritBox. After a brief bit of investigation it became clear that this new service was the Holy Grail of British offerings.
I was connected to BritBox about a week ago and dived right into the buffet of great programs. Sadly, the experience was a bust. The shows were available, alright, for anywhere from five to thirty seconds at a whack, and then they would disappear as the service spent several long minutes rebooting. Over the past week I have managed to watch two 50-minute episodes of "Hettie Wainthrope Investigates" (starring comic genius Patricia Routledge of "Keeping Up Appearances" fame), an endeavor which took several hours to complete.
The Roku operates off of the Internet service in my home, and while that service sometimes is below what I would hope for, Netflix and Amazon operate relatively interference free. I was left to deduce that the problem with BritBox was based with the provider - and reluctantly cancelled the service
BritBox is a new subscription service and a few start-up problems are to be expected - but the offering is, at my place at least, unwatchable in its current form. I hope they can get the bugs worked out eventually provide all of that great British entertainment that America deserves. For now, however, it is a dream deferred.
TV Junkie
I continue to be proud of the fact that I cancelled my satellite television service way back in early 2015 and am getting along just fine without current programming and commercials, thank you very much. For awhile I got my television fix through DVDs and watching YouTube and Hulu on the Internet. Them my son hooked me up with a Roku streaming device, and from that point on I have had access to literally more television programing than I could handle - and all without commercials.
I rely on two primary sources for the programs that I watch on the Roku - Amazon and Netflix. Access to Amazon did not cost me any extra out-of-pocket because I was already a member of Amazon Prime. Netflix is around ten dollars a month, considerably less than I was paying for the satellite service. Both of those providers enable access to movies as well as popular television programming. Both also market original movies and series which they develop and produce themselves - usually high-quality viewing.
If I could only have one of those two programming providers, I would choose Netflix. With Netflix a viewer has a complete and honest choice among its hundreds of offerings - which are updated monthly. Amazon also has a good variety, but with Amazon viewers don't always have automatic access to the offerings. One annoying trait of Amazon is that it will occasionally lead viewers on with free access to a season or two of a really good show, one like the PBS series "Poldark," and then, after the viewers are hooked, throw in a charge for the next season.
Also, sometimes there is an intervening service to which one must subscribe in order to see certain programs. Amazon will entice viewers to click on programs, and then a notice will pop up saying that to access that particular show viewers will need to subscribe to Acorn, Masterpiece, or some other service. With Netflix one gets what one clicks on - but that's not always the case with Amazon.
My favorite genre of programming is British television shows, both comedy and drama, produced by the BBC - and I am a particular fan of British detective programs and mysteries like "Midsomer Murders," "Luther," "A Touch of Frost," "Jonathan Creek," "Dalziel and Pascoe," "Rosemary and Thyme," "Death in Paradise," "Poirot," and "Miss Marple." Recently while trying to access a British detective/mystery offering from Amazon, I learned that I could only get to it through a service called BritBox. After a brief bit of investigation it became clear that this new service was the Holy Grail of British offerings.
I was connected to BritBox about a week ago and dived right into the buffet of great programs. Sadly, the experience was a bust. The shows were available, alright, for anywhere from five to thirty seconds at a whack, and then they would disappear as the service spent several long minutes rebooting. Over the past week I have managed to watch two 50-minute episodes of "Hettie Wainthrope Investigates" (starring comic genius Patricia Routledge of "Keeping Up Appearances" fame), an endeavor which took several hours to complete.
The Roku operates off of the Internet service in my home, and while that service sometimes is below what I would hope for, Netflix and Amazon operate relatively interference free. I was left to deduce that the problem with BritBox was based with the provider - and reluctantly cancelled the service
BritBox is a new subscription service and a few start-up problems are to be expected - but the offering is, at my place at least, unwatchable in its current form. I hope they can get the bugs worked out eventually provide all of that great British entertainment that America deserves. For now, however, it is a dream deferred.
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