Fox Local on Roku

When Fox Local launched back in May, I was not impressed.

For one thing, it wasn't available on Roku. For another, it only offered 17 local channels, with Atlanta being the nearest to me. Over 200 miles is not local, as far as I'm concerned.

Well, they finally fixed one of the problems. It's now available on Roku, as of this week.

The other problem is a little better, sort of.

When the service launched, it listed these cities as available: Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St.Paul, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington DC.

In reality, only three of those were actually available -- Atlanta, Detroit, and Washington, DC -- with the rest listed as "coming soon." Well, those 14 are no longer "coming soon" but are actually available. Still, over 200 miles does me no good.

My Streaming Life won't benefit from Fox Local still. I'm still liking the idea of Fox Local. I'm not liking the execution.

Windows updates

If you run Windows on your computer, you should be keeping it up to date.

Okay, you probably have a couple of questions. First may be "What do you mean if I run Windows? Doesn't every computer run Windows?"

Well, no. There are four major operating systems: Windows (the biggest), MacOS (the second biggest), Chrome OS (the new kid on the block), and Linux (the one that runs most servers on the Internet). Most users run Windows.

So, why are updates important? Security. Plain and simple, security. Your operating system is flawed, and updates will keep you safe.

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What does this have to do with streaming? If you stream on your Windows computer, then there's your answer. But if you don't stream on your Windows computer, you can still be impacted if your computer is attacked and is taking up bandwidth doing nasty things.

Besides streaming, it's simply a good idea to keep your computer up to date so you don't suffer identiry theft or other nasty things.

My Streaming Life doesn't involve Windows, but I do have a Windows computer, and I keep it safe.

Netflix anger

A lot of people got angry when Netflix decided to crack down on password sharing. They complained and threatened to leave.

Did they? No. And I recently read an article on The Streaming Advisor about that very topic. It was an interesting read.

In the content business, which every publisher including The Streaming Advisor participates in, you have to put something out there. But it is obvious that the results of surveys do not predict the future well. Because you have to factor in human nature and our comfort level with routine. You also have to factor in what I call the water cooler effect. That when folks sit around the water cooler/break room/coffee machine and complain and make threats about things, they are just performing for their peers. I don’t know why they perform, but they do. I guess it makes them feel good about themselves at the moment. Sort of like the guy who says he would play football with a broken foot in response to a highly-paid NFL star missing action because of an injury. That same slob would not stand up to get the remote or another slice of pizza with a torn ACL, but would try to have you believe that he would make his body do the near impossible if given the chance.

My Streaming Life doesn't normally include Netflix, although I'm running a test right now involving it. But, if it did, I wouldn't have been impacted. I don't share passwords and don't use others' passwords. It's not what I do. And now it's not what others are doing either.

Kanopy

My local library has recently added Kanopy as an option.

"What's Kanopy?" you ask.

No really, go ahead and ask.

Well, since you asked, here's what they say:

Kanopy is the best video streaming service for quality, thoughtful entertainment. Find movies, documentaries, foreign films, classic cinema, independent films and educational videos that inspire, enrich and entertain. We partner with public libraries and universities to bring you an ad-free experience that can be enjoyed on your TV, mobile phone, tablets and online.

Someone sounds a little full of themself. But it is a good video streaming service, and it has some good content.

Here's the thing: not everybody gets the same content. You see, Kanopy offers multiple catalogs of content, and it's up to your local library to select which catalogs they want. And, there can be restrictions.

My local library offers a little over half of the Kanopy catalog, but it's unlimited. That is, I can watch as much as I want as many times as I want. But I only have about 55-60% of the overall catalog.

A family member in another county has a larger catalog of content, but is restricted in how many views she gets. That's because that library pays per view, while mine bought unlimited. Her library saves money by limiting the number of views, and mine saves money by selecting fewer catalogs.

I'm sure some libraries have the full catalog of content, but keep in mind that not all do. Your library has to pay for it, and that can run into some money.

Kanopy is available on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV (including Chromecast), and other platforms.

My Streaming Life only recently added Kanopy. I like it. I wish my local library was able to provide more, but for now, I'll enjoy what I have.

Cutting back

I've cut back on streaming services. I've never subscribed to a lot, and I'm subscribing to fewer than ever.

Well, I did subscribe to Netflix recently, but that was to test something, not to watch and keep the service.

I keep Hulu, but pause the service for months at a time, allowing shows to build up. I'll then binge the shows for a month, then pause it again. I pay for it 3 or 4 months out of the year.

Disney Plus will sometimes be included with Netflix, or at least, it used to be. I've not heard of anything I care to watch on the service, so when I pay for Hulu again, it will be just Hulu.

Paramount Plus and Peacock TV are part of other services.

AMC+ and Starz are ending annual subscriptions I did for a family member. I didn't watch the services.

Curiosity Stream is ending an annual subscription as well. I rarely use it and much of the content I like is available via other services.

That's pretty much it. I don't do a live streaming service such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, or any of those services. I do subscribe to Frndly TV, as it has the few channels I would watch if I had the other services. Antenna gets me local channels and I don't care about sports, except when college football kicks off. Then I will subscribe to Sling TV.

I've had services, but have cut back, and am continuing to cut back. And so have many others.

A report from Next TV says that 35% of US streamers are looking to cut back on services. Does that mean 65% are looking to increase? No, not actually. The report says 5% will increase, and the rest will leave things as they are:

New data reported by Aluma Connected Media Insights corroborates that finding, showing that 35% of subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) customers believe they are spending too much on services like Netflix and are looking to cut back.

This figure represents a 40% increase in customers looking to cut back vs last year, and nearly three times greater than the amount in 2019.

Furthermore, only 5% of all customers would be interested in spending more on SVOD services, down 38% from 2022.

This downward trend has remained largely steady throughout the past four years, as customers have gradually become dissatisfied with the aggressive market prices set by streaming services in an attempt to generate revenue.

So, seven times as many are looking to cut services than increase services. My Streaming Life has been there for some time. I'm not surprised to see others coming to the same conclusion.

Local Now

Local Now has improved its offerings quite a bit over the last year or so. It has gone from a replay of local news to a service with nearly 500 live streaming channels. It's turned into a pretty good service.

Recently, Cord Cutters News gave a good rundown of the channel:

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One thing I want to add. PBS isn't available everywhere. In my area, I don't get the local PBS channel. WVAN channel 9 in Pembroke is the closest PBS station, but it's not part of Local Now. Apart from that, the review is spot on.

By the way, I get PBS from the PBS app. Being a PBS supporter, I also get access to the entire PBS library via PBS Passport. Anyone who gives $5/month, or $60/year, gets PBS Passport. I give more. PBS Passport isn't a subscription service for me. It's a bonus I get for supporting PBS. Anyway, I get the statewide GPB feed, rather than any feed of a particular station. It would be nice if it was part of Local Now. I wouldn't drop my support, of course.

My Streaming Life includes a lot of free ad supported television (FAST) services, and Local Now is one of them. It's a good service.

Warner Bros Discovery putting more into streaming?

There are a couple of reports that indicate that Warner Bros Discovery is moving away from cable TV and putting more effort into streaming.

First, there was a report from The Hollywood Reporter about the WBD head of international TV distribution leaving:

In an internal memo seen by The Hollywood Reporter WBD's president of international Gerhard Zeiler announced that Blair would be exiting and also that his post, which he was promoted to in 2019, would not be replaced.

"Last year, we unveiled a new org structure for international, which we believed best positioned us for success at that time. But we also acknowledged that in an ever-changing industry and market, we would need to continue to evolve in a thoughtful and strategic way, along with the climate around us," he said.

"Seven months into 2023, although we remain confident about our trajectory as a business, we are at another inflection point, and one where the global economy has not rebounded as quickly as we had hoped."

The departure of Blair, he said, came after "much deliberation," but was a "necessary structural change to our team design that both flattens and streamlines the content licensing organization."

Then came the speculation. Cord Cutters News suggests that last sentence, combined with actions by Disney that cut cable channels overseas, may be part of a trend:

In the past, media companies have resold their content internationally to other cable networks to air in Europe and around the world. Now it seems that Warner Bros. Discovery is moving in a new direction, much like other media companies have.

Disney has even gone so far as to shut down many of its cable networks, including the Disney Channel in Europe, as it pushes fans to subscribe to Disney+. It is possible we will see something similar here with Max as Warner Bros. Discovery tries to cut out the middleman.

My Streaming Life hasn't had WBD services in a few months. But I haven't watched any of their content on cable in over a dozen years. If this is a trend, and if WBD is cutting back on cable, then the future of streaming looks even better.