US Cable TV network Showtime has unveiled  its answer to HBO Now (and Netflix and Hulu, for that matter). Showtime All Access is an internet video streaming service that will let you watch TV shows, movies, and sports programming even if you don’t already pay to get Showtime through your TV provider.
Showtime All Access will be available for $10.99 per month starting in July, but at launch it’ll only be available via a web browser or an iOS device.
Showtime’s internet-only service will be available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV devices as well as the web. The service set to launch by July 12th, when the new seasons of Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex premier.
HBO NOW was also available exclusively on Apple devices when it launched earlier this year, but HBO’s internet-only streaming service is coming soon to Android, Android TV and Chromecast and HBO already offers a similar service for Sling TV subscribers.
It’s not yet clear if Showtime has plans to expand to Android, Windows, Roku, or other platforms. But at least you can stream Showtime All Access on most PCs with a web browser.
Showtime is charging $4 less than HBO for a monthly subscription… but if you decide to pay for HBO and Showtime and Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access, and any number of other internet video services in order to access all the online video your heart could desire… you might find yourself paying more money than you would have if you’d stuck with a normal cable TV package.
What’s nice about online video services like these is that you don’t have to pay for them all… just the ones you want. Assuming you have a reasonably cheap internet-only service, you could save some cash by signing up for just Showtime… or one of its competitors.
All these piecemeal, a la carte, per channel/service cord cutting pricing plans are going to be more expensive than traditional cable for a decent selection at the rate they’re going. LOL. UI for each will be non-uniform, no single guide for selection, etc. It’s all shaping up to be a wreck.
At least in Germany Netflix has 3 Plans. 1/2/4 concurrent devices, limited to SD/HD/4K Quality for 8.99/9.99/12.99.
I’m currently sharing a 4 Device account with 3 other people and so get all of Netflix in up to 4K when available for 3.25 EUR a Month.
If those other services don’t at least have similar plans that can be shared in a similar fashion i view them as definitly overpriced.
Netflix offers TV Shows, Movies, Documentaries and Comedy Specials from a variety of different sources aswell as original content. So those other Networks offering Content from just 1 source on their Services already have a lower percieved value to me, and if their Plans don’t permit per-Viewer cost similar to what Netflix family plans do, then Torrenting still seems a better option to me, even tho instant access to their backcatalogue would be more conveniant.
No Android! This always annoys me to no end. I’ll be keeping my $11 then, thank you.
That’s too expensive for Showtime. Netflix originals are in the same league or better typically. Maybe $11 for Showtime and CBS All Access together. Probably only if I got the local news feed though. And even then only if local channel reception over the air wasn’t any good – which it isn’t for a lot of people.
The biggest problem with dumping cable is the inherent extra cost in losing any bundling of your internet. I have a cable DVR box and the usual digital cable along with HBO and in effect if I dumped cable TV I might save $60 or so because my stand-alone internet costs would jump as I lost the bundle. This is all Time Warner.
So until some competition is actually forced into the home broadband market cable will continue to hang on.
That’s one way to look at it, but then, you’re still saving $60 / month if you ditch everything but broadband (or $45 – $50 / month if you sign up for one of the internet streaming services instead), and in many cases there are additional fees on top of the bundled price, so you end up saving more. That’s $600 – $700 / year, minimum.
(BTW: if you haven’t bought your own cable modem yet, there’s another $7/month savings, less the cost of the modem).
You’re right that most people will opt keep the bundles for a while yet — that’s what the cable companies are banking on — but these new stand-alone services are a good start in the breaking down of the cable TV monopoly, and is the reason why the recent net neutrality rulings are so important.
In theory, there is room for a ton of innovation and competition between streaming services over the next few years, with all kinds of bundles and packages being offered, but only if the gateway ISPs allow it.
Here’s a thought. Assuming you’re not one of those people who has to see a new show the day it comes out, you can consume the all best content from all of these services for an average of less than $12/month.
Simply rotate your membership between them as you want. Subscribe to HBO Now for a couple of months, and then when you’ve finished catching up with Game of Thrones, switch to Netflix for the latest season of House of Cards, and so on. As long as they all keep their original show back catalogs available on demand, you will have more than enough quality content to keep you going year round.
While it’s possible that HBO / Showtime / Netflix may do something to deter those who do this (rotate their back catalog, introduce a minimum commitment, charge more for a month-on-month subscription) I suspect inertia will mean that most customers won’t bother to rotate their services like this, so it won’t be a big enough problem to warrant doing anything about it. Even then, a minimum commitment of three months would still allow you to rotate between four different online services every year, and even if they charge a few bucks more a month for a short term contract, you’ll still be spending well under $20/month, on average.