zlacker

>>ksec+(OP)
I know it's morally dubious, but I'm completely back in pirateland because of all the changes/price hikes/partitioning in the streaming space. My interests make it so I only watch 1-2 shows per platform so I'd be approaching ~100$/month.

And even if I was swimming in money, it's often easier to just download the shows I want and watch them on Plex/Jellyfin than trying to navigate the (often ad-riddled) interfaces of the various platforms and finding where the content I want is.

One example is Rick and Morty, it's made by Adult Swim, but they don't have a streaming service in Canada. It seems to be on Primevideo but under a different system than their regular content. The other way to watch it is to buy it from my cable provider (I don't have cable). So to watch a 20-minutes animated show I'd have to take a +40$ subscription.

>>belval+Qg
Actually you can get Rick and Morty legally in Canada via StackTV on Amazon channels for $12.99/month if you’re an Amazon Prime member.[1]

You can also watch episodes in the Global TV app, but you do have to have a subscription to Global TV to watch those, though it is often included in basic packages that start at $25/month ($15 for Alt TV) as CRTC mandated that channels be made available a la carte with a cheaper “Starter” package.[2]

That said the cheapest (legal) way to get Rick & Morty is to record it yourself over-the-air for free given that Global is a nationally broadcast TV channel, for now. Edit: Actually, I’m not sure this is still the case.[3]

1. https://www.adultswim.ca/where-to-watch/

2. https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/television/program/alacarte.htm

3. https://blog.fagstein.com/2018/11/13/corus-asks-crtc-to-shut...

>>lstamo+aq
I mean... this answer is probably the best illustration of GP's point... Talk about customer hostility...

(the companies/pricing being customer hostile, not you of course)

>>black_+ws
Oh the hostility is definitely still present despite (perhaps because of) the CRTC’s regulations. For example, Bell successfully lobbied the CRTC to mandate that you can only buy TV from your ISP if watching on a home ISP cable package. This doesn’t apply to Crave/Netflix/OTT, but if you want to a-la-carte buy a Global TV channel you’ll have to buy it via your ISP, often Bell.

There is definitely a need for things to change yet even in the land of the free (USA), there are talks of trying to “bundle” together OTT streaming as the next wave of getting you to pay more to watch the same content.[1]

There is some good news though. Often when you subscribe to internet there are limited two-year promotions that offer streaming TV at no extra cost. Unfortunately, these plans often don’t include PVR function and also don’t include the ability to skip commercials when playing on demand, but luckily a number of on-demand streaming methods can still be tricked by adblock such as Pi Hole, in my experience. Not all of them, of course.

1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/streaming-service-bundle-cable-...