- The streaming landscape is exploding
and putting together a video on different services
and shows that's a crazy moving target.
Genuinely too much stuff to watch.
And by the time we make some kind
of definitive video on that topic
that breakdown is going to change.
Up to this point in 2022,
which streaming service is getting it done?
which service do you think has the best catalog of TV shows?
(upbeat music)
And while you are in between binging seasons
of Knight Rider,
we hope you'll keep up
with all the work here on reviews.org.
Guess I am actually rewatching Knight Rider.
It's surprisingly fun.
Hit those subscribe options down below.
Give us a follow around the socials
and check out the home site reviews.org.
We've got great reviews and tutorials ready to help you out.
Okay, just trying to wrap my brain around this topic
and we casually threw it out there in a video pitch session.
And when I sat down to start writing this script
it quickly snowballed
into a much bigger challenge than I was anticipating.
How do we even begin to rank
and grade TV catalogs on streaming services?
We all know the major players.
You've got Netflix and Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon
some really fast progress from Apple TV.
There are some eyeballs on Paramount with Star Trek.
And after those major players
there are 200 more discrete services
with a narrower focus on content or with smaller catalogs.
By the time I finish this sentence,
there will probably be seven new streaming apps launched.
I'm pretty good with a search engine
but even with my basic Google Fu,
I could not find anything resembling a current list
of services and including a catalog
of shows available on each service.
Something like a properly maintained database
that can globally account for every piece of media.
Nearest, I could estimate doing a little notepad math
we'd need to account for roughly 30,000 TV shows
give or take five grand across all regions,
archives of old classic TV
current broadcast shows and top popular streaming options.
That's a lot.
This question is so tricky to define
because the news on a streaming service is only as positive
as its most recent releases.
We all have really short memories right now.
I'm hot on Hulu because of the Orville
and Only Murders in the Building season 2,
that's gonna be coming up.
That's the fresh stuff.
Someone just signing on to Hulu today
would they be interested in a show
like 11.22.63 from six years ago?
Would they even be able to find it?
My wife and I, we really enjoy peacemaker on HBO,
but I'm also not embarrassed to admit
I've been binging old seasons of the Larry Sanders Show.
Back when HBO was the original experiment
in alternative TV production, "It's not TV, It's HBO."
I've said this before in other videos,
but I think every catalog suffers
from poor discoverability and search tools.
I was leaning on my Plex account
really hard for finding stuff while writing this script.
And we recently talked about those Plex updates
in a previous video,
that's linked below because beyond
just the outright quantity of media,
we need to also get into catalog instability.
For example, when it comes to old broadcast TV,
every channel and their mother are trying
to make their own unique streaming service.
So if you like to watch old TV shows
those agreements are not going to be permanent.
It's been fun revisiting Seinfeld on Netflix,
but I do not believe it's going to live on Netflix forever.
Even when a show is produced specifically
for a streaming service,
it could end up on another platform in the future,
just because of the way media contracts
are built and maintained.
And even if it lives on that service permanently,
there's no guarantee
that we'll really get to finish that story.
I was very satisfied with the last season
of Expanse on Amazon, but there is technically
more story to explore in that universe.
And it doesn't seem Amazon is going to produce that.
Of course, Netflix has built the harshest reputation
for building up a popular series
and then killing it before it's really finished.
Netflix's greatest strength,
their ability to experiment with content,
has also become one of the platforms greatest weaknesses.
Very clear when fans get left
in the lurch at the end of a show.
We can feel pretty good about Arcane, Cobra Kai, Squid Game,
this new season of Stranger Things was surprisingly solid.
We can point to some successes.
Shows that got to complete their vision
like BoJack Horseman and Ozark, but Netflix is also littered
with series that ultimately feel like a waste
of time because you know they won't really conclude.
We can only hope that with the recent rough financial news,
for Netflix, they're gonna take a closer look
at audience behavior,
creating a show and then estimating
what the run of that show might be.
Because I betcha the folks
at Apple TV are planning a little further out.
A perfect example where the show runners
on Ted Lasso have been very vocal about that show,
having a three season arc.
I'd much rather know it has an ending in sight
than pretend it can run forever,
but then get left unfinished.
So we can't leave this video off as just the philosophy
of how difficult it is to make videos on the YouTubes.
I'm gonna leave you off with my hot take,
while I obviously have soft spots
in my heart for Hulu and Netflix,
I think at present the best TV catalogs
are on HBO and Disney+,
not for the outright quantity of shows, obviously,
but for having a much tighter control
over their agreements and catalogs.
One Disney kind of owns everything.
You have Star Wars, Marvel, including the Netflix
and Fox Marvel shows now.
National Geographic and a huge collection
of classic Disney properties.
They own it all.
Even though it started at Netflix, I'm a lot more confident
that when I want to rewatch Jessica Jones again,
I won't have to hunt for it.
I'm pretty sure I know where it's gonna live.
And plus the new Disney shows
have been cranking like clockwork.
We were finishing up Moon Knight
and jumping right into Kenobi.
Disney TV is a machine right now.
And likewise HBO,
the new shows and films premiering on HBO
have been excellent
like the aforementioned Peacemaker,
but my wife and I were also looking forward
to season two of Hacks
absolutely solid dramedies.
So like Disney, they have a catalog spanning decades
of content that is outright owned by HBO.
They feel like they might be just a bit more stable.
For the shows and films that I like to watch,
I'm inclined to give HBO a slight edge.
That's definitely more of a personal preference,
which is why we need to hear from you.
Maybe I have this all wrong.
Maybe there's a bit
of data that turns this whole case upside down.
Maybe you have the hottest
of hot takes and we need to hear it.
So drop that hot take down in the comments below.
Which streaming service has the best TV?
I didn't even try covering the ad supported services.
So legitimately this field is wide open
and we'll share the results of this informal comment polling
in a future video.
As always thanks so much for watching,
for sharing these videos
subscribing to the channel.
For reviews.org, I'm Juan Carlos Bagnell,
aka SomeGadgetGuy
and I will catch you all on the next video.