Internet Video Sources

List of Popular Sources for Internet Streaming Videos
In my opinion, most people will choose one subscription service and one service for rentals or "on demand." Whether you call it Pay-Per-View or On Demand or Rental, it is all the same thing. None of the subscription services are going to have new, blockbuster movies or a huge selection, but they do have a lot of TV shows and older movies and independent movies. When you want to catch the latest big budget film, you'll have to pay, but generally that is about $3, or cheaper than from your cable provider.


I also won't be purchasing any videos online until they are delivered in a non-copy protected format or are much cheaper.  Nobody wants to be tied to a single player for their movie collection, and if you buy now I am not that confident I'll be able to play it in 2 years.



Amazon Instant Videos - Many older and less popular shows and movies are available free to Amazon Prime subscribers. Amazon Prime was originally a service to get free delivery on physical products ordered from Amazon, but not they include a bunch of video content. The rest of the Amazon Instant Videos are either available on a rental or purchase model. They have newer movies and TV shows and is a good alternative to your cable provider's On Demand service. Amazon has announced they now have over 100,000 titles available to stream. Presumably, that counts each episode of a TV show separately but that still puts Amazon at #1 for quantity of content. However, not well supported by many devices other than Roku. Can be accessed on Google TV through the web browser, but is difficult to navigate.


Blockbuster On Demand - I haven't had a chance to play with this. Works on a rental model. Currently, you can get the Mediapoint Digital Media Player device free if you rent $99 worth of movies on the service (which is a Roku + 4 months of Netflix). You can also get this on TiVo and the WD TV Live devices, but not on Roku.  There have been published reports that BoD has upwards of 10,000 titles, however a quick check of there library reveals they appear to have less than 3,000 available for rent, about 1/2 at $2.99 and most of the others at $3.99.


CinemaNow - Another movie rental and purchase service, this one works with few devices other than a handful of Blu-ray players and networked TVs. Cannot even playback HD videos on Mac computers. They advertise it plays on XBox 360, but requires you to download to your Windows computer and connect to that from your XBox. It appears CinemaNow is not really a streaming service at all, but more of a download service. They claim over 10,000 titles, which is less than the Netflix subscription service, although they have more New Releases.


Crackle - Crackle is a pretty amazing service from Sony. Amazing because it is completely free. You do have to put up with advertisements but considering the cost of digital delivery that's a small price to pay. The movie selection isn't great, most movies are at least 10 years old and they have only about 250 available at a time, plus around 100 TV shows. It integrates nicely with Roku. It supports PS3, Boxee, TiVo, iPad/iPod, Google TV and of course many Sony Blu-ray players. Apparently no XBox 360 or WD TV Live support, yet.


Hulu - Free streaming with advertisements. Generally has a few episodes of a few TV shows and lots and lots of clips and trailers. Not licensed to be played on any devices other than personal computers.


Hulu Plus - A monthly subscription based on the Hulu platform. It has more full episodes but many of the full episodes available on Hulu are not available on Hulu Plus. This is because Hulu Plus can be played on many TV devices (Roku, Google TV, etc.) and not all content providers like that idea. Many users complain that the streaming is not as smooth (frequently pauses to buffer) as other services.


iTunes - Uses a rental model, basically a pay-per-view, or you can purchase. Apple recently announced that they will store content in the "cloud" so you will require an Internet connection to watch the videos you purchased but also means you don't need to worry about backing up your large media files. Works primarily with Apple products.


Netflix - Subscription based. $8/mo. Content is limited as content providers make little money. The most popular source and inexpensive. Supports virtually all devices, even AppleTV. New titles are not available generally until after the DVD has been out for 28 days, if then.  Reportedly there are about 12,000 titles available at any time, but the selection changes regularly. As subscription services go, there really is no contest. Netflix has a separate DVD mail service.


Qriocity - Pay per view movies. Owned by Sony but has movies from all major studios. Can be played on Roku and Sony Google TV devices. I believe the name is supposed to sound like "Curiosity." Too cute to last.


Vudu - Vudo used to make a device but now is just the service and streams to PS3, Boxee and a few other devices. You can also watch on your computer. They focus on full HD content and new releases. Cost is generally $2 for a rental and you have 48 hrs to watch it. As of September 2011 they have about 10,000 and about 250 TV Series.