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Television's self-service buffet has never been more diverse for Australian audiences and, at the same time, never been more complicated. In addition to slabs of new content being pushed out by a handful of new "streaming" players, audiences must now contend with multiple screens, multiple subscriptions and a more complex navigation around who owns what.
Streaming film and TV content is not new to Australia - services like Ezyflix and Quickflix have been in the market for several years, and the dominant pay TV platform, Foxtel, has already launched Foxtel Play. But this week the US-owned Netflix joined the Nine and Fairfax-owned Stan, and the Foxtel and Seven-owned Presto. Every course of Australia's long-awaited TV dinner has finally been served.
As a group, they create a collective cost and audience share pressure which will, in time, change the shape of Australian television, either by accelerating the fragmentation of audiences, or by driving up the cost of acquiring content. For consumers, the benefits are manifest. It narrows, if not closes, the delay Australian consumers face for international content, though there is still much to be done on that front. And the real cost of entry - around $10 a month - is genuinely low.
The accompanying guide reveals some startling distinctions between the different services. At just $8.99 Netflix may be the cheapest entry point but its local library is comparatively lean - just 1120 titles, compared to 7110 titles on its US service - and its entry-level service is available only standard definition. On a per-hour basis, Stan boasts the largest library (approximately 7000 hours) for just a dollar more, and is delivered in high definition. Equally, Netflix is the only one of the three new players offering 4K ("ultra" high definition) content. And Presto is the only delivered solely in standard definition.
What is more, a large slice of content has been acquired on a "non-exclusive" basis. That means, for example, that shows like Summer Heights High, Doctor Who, Absolutely Fabulous, The Good Wife and Ray Donovan are available on more than one platform. Equally, each has invested heavily in exclusive content, leaving real fans with some Solomon-like decisions. Frozen, for example, is Netflix (and Presto). And The Lego Movie, in SVOD terms, to Stan.
And Foxtel owns Game of Thrones, though it can be sourced later from both Quickflix and iTunes. With that in mind, and in response to consumer demand, Foxtel Play is offering the upcoming new season of Game of Thrones on a no-contract basis: that is, $25/month for the service plus $5/month for the premium drama add-on for three months. (It's usually $20/month.) Total outlay: $90. And it does include streaming rights to all of the preceding seasons.
In a sense, that transaction illustrates the many, and explains perfectly how the new universe hopes to work. Consumers have much more power, but with that comes more paperwork. And a touch of caveat emptor, let the buyer beware. And the final realisation that the long-held notion of "all-you-can-eat" TV is something of an illusion. It is perhaps more correct to say we're now customers in TV's equivalent of a food court. Happy dining.
(For a closer look at ease of use, streaming quality and data usage, click here)
Netflix
What it does: streams films and TV shows
Platforms: PC/Mac, tablet, mobile, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fetch TV
Cost: three tiers, basic ($8.99), standard ($11.99), premium ($14.99); no contract
Trial period: 30 days free
Quality: SD (basic), HD (standard), 4K (premium)
Screens: unlimited devices; 1 stream (basic), 2 streams (standard), 4 streams (premium)
Total library titles: 1120 titles approx. of which 220 approx. are TV*.
Total library hours: 5000 hours* approx.
Key suppliers: Netflix (USA), Disney, Beyond Distribution, Warner Bros, BBC Worldwide, 20th Century Fox, NBC Universal, Village Roadshow, ABC Commercial
Key content: exclusive rights to House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Bloodline, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Grace and Frankie, plus streaming rights to the films Frozen and Maleficent.
Usability: Excellent, simple.
Data consumption: 1GB/hour (standard definition), 3GB/hour (high definition), 7GB/hour (ultra high-def)
ISPs offering unmetered data: Optus, iiNet
Stan
What it does: streams films and TV shows
Platforms: PC/Mac, smart TV, tablet, mobile, Airplay via Apple TV, Chromecast
Cost: $10/month (no contract)
Trial period: 30 days free
Quality: HD
Screens: unlimited devices; 3 streams
Total library titles: 1250 titles approx.
Total library hours: 7000 hours approx.
Key suppliers: Sony Pictures, CBS Studios, MGM, Village Roadshow, NBC Universal, BBC Worldwide, ABC Commercial, SBS (including World Movies), Viacom, Turner
Key content: exclusive rights to Better Call Saul, Dig, Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, Community, The LEGO Movie, the James Bond library, Wolf of Wall Street, streaming rights to Fargo, Breaking Bad, The Bridge, The Killing
Usability: Slick, multiple profiles.
Data consumption: 1GB/hour (standard definition), 1.5GB/hour (high definition 720p), 3GB/hour (high definition 1080p)
ISPs offering unmetered data: None at the moment.
(Stan is co-owned by Fairfax Media, the publisher of this website)
Foxtel Play
What it does: streams films, TV shows and sport; streams linear pay TV channels
Platforms: PC/Mac, smart TV, tablet, mobile (via Foxtel Go), Samsung Blu-Ray, Playstation, XBox
Cost: tiered by genre ($25-$50/month)
Trial period: 14 days free (no contract)
Quality: SD
Screens: 3 devices; 2 streams
Total library titles: TBC
Total library hours: 3250 hours approx.*
Key suppliers: 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, HBO, BBC Worldwide
Key content: first-run on Game of Thrones and Walking Dead, Jane The Virgin, The Flash and The 100, plus Foxtel "Originals" including Wentworth and The Real Housewives of Melbourne, plus up to 69 linear streaming channels including live sport.
Usability/interface: TBC.
Data consumption: TBC
ISPs offering unlimited data: TBC
Presto
What it does: streams films and TV shows
Platforms: PC/Mac, smart TV, tablet, mobile, Chromecast
Cost: TV $9.99/month, movies $9.99/month, both $14.99/month (no contract)
Trial period: 30 days free (no contract)
Quality: SD
Screens: 4 devices; 2 streams
Total library titles: 1200 titles approx., of which 100 approx. are TV
Total library hours: 4500 hours approx.
Key suppliers: HBO, Foxtel Productions, Seven Network, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Disney, eOne, NBC Universal
Key content: exclusive streaming rights to Modern Family, streaming rights to Sons of Anarchy, Homeland, The Americans, plus Foxtel "Originals" including Wentworth, Cloudstreet, Love My Way, Tangle, Devil's Playground
Usability/interface: Basic, can be sluggish.
Data consumption: 1.3GB/hour (standard definition)
ISPs offering unlimited data: Telstra Bigpond, Foxtel Broadband
Quickflix
What it does: streams films and TV shows; transactional streaming ("stream to own"); DVD rental
Platforms: PC/Mac, smart TV, tablet, mobile, Playstation, XBox, Chromecast, TiVo
Cost: $9.99/month (no contract)
Trial period: 30 days free
Quality: SD and HD
Screens: 6 devices; 3 streams
Total library titles: 2300 titles approx. of which approx. 275 are TV
Total library hours: 7000 hours approx.
Key suppliers: Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, MGM, Disney, Lionsgate, eOne, HBO, BBC Worldwide, ITV
Key content: transactional streaming ("stream to own") rights to Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, streaming rights to Orphan Black, Hung, Skins, True Blood, Entourage, The West Wing
Usability/interface: Spartan, clunky.
Data consumption: 1.5GB/hour (standard definition), 2.5GB/hour (high definition).
ISPs offering unmetered data: None at the moment.
Ezyflix
What it does: transactional streaming (rental); "electronic sell through" (download to own)
Platforms: PC/Mac, Samsung smart TV, tablet, mobile, Chromecast
Cost: rentals ($3.99 and up); download to down ($8.99 and up)
Trial period: n/a
Quality: SD and HD
Maximum screens: 5 devices; 2 streams
Total library titles: 2000 titles approx., of which 285 approx. are TV
Total library hours: 6000 hours approx.
Key suppliers: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros, Village Roadshow, ABC Commercial
Key content: exclusive film titles before their usual streaming window, including The Water Diviner, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, Guardians of the Galaxy, plus (out this week) Big Hero 6 and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Usability/interface: TBC.
Data consumption: TBC
ISPs offering unlimited data: TBC
with Adam Turner
*Source: Gyde.
