Here in the UK, we are currently being subjected to the Smart TV revolution and in tune with that, we are being bombarded with advertising, sales people at the door, sales people in the street and pretty much anywhere else you can think of. What are they people trying to sell me? A Netflix, NowTV or Love Film subscription.
Full Disclosure: I currently use Netflix because it's compatible with my Roku.
The thing that bothers me about these services is that they all offer a different selection of content because each one has signed up TV Studio X and Movie studio Y to exclusivity deals. Difference here, is that Sky's NowTV has the rights to new movies in the UK for the first 12-18 months after DVD release because of Sky's long standing agreements with studios.
"OK then" you say - get NowTV and that's problem solved. But I grudge paying double what I would pay for either of the others, much as I grudge paying Netflix whenever I see a movie listed on Lovefilm. The general rule of thumb is that Netflix is better for Movies and Lovefilm is better for TV shows, but looking at the UK catalogues for both tells me they both have a solid selection in both TV and film, leaving me back at square one.
I feel there should be some uniformity amongst studios or some regulation that requires them to make content available to any service provider - they can argue about costs etc themselves - but to leave exclusivity and first-run rights out of it so the consumer gets the best deal.
Is that so difficult?
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