SmartStream

This past year has been a wake-up call for streaming studios. As post-pandemic churn set in, these services started to report huge losses. The strategy to offer as many original titles to their users was a losing proposition, resulting in mergers, restructuring, and a reduction in new production.

The best discovery apps display titles on a watch list or let you search through all streaming apps and then instantly play regardless of which app is streaming. Amazon Fire TV devices now block apps from launching other apps.

Later this year, Showtime will be fully absorbed by Paramount+. Not only will the two services stream from the same app, but the premium cable channel will also include Paramount+ original content. The merge will happen soon, but pricing and dates haven't been announced.

With the coming addition of movie and TV rentals, Plex will become the first app you should open on your streaming device. Although we’ve written about Plex before, so much has changed that it’s time to do an overview of all of its features.

Following this past year’s merger of HBO Max and Discovery, it appears the new service will be called simply “Max.” This could be a foretelling of the new service, as many series, including Westworld, were canceled and will soon be removed from the service altogether. CEO David Zaslav is taking a radical stance to reduce costs and make investors happy.

Take advantage of the Black Friday streaming deals if you need a new streaming device or want to try a streaming service. Significant savings are available on Roku, Amazon, Apple, and Chromecast, and even the Nvidia Shield is on sale. With prices about to go up on many streaming services, the Black Friday deals are the best time to lock in lower rates or get substantial discounts.  

On November 4th, Apple will release the third generation Apple TV 4K. The updated streaming player costs less than its predecessor and offers several improvements, including the new, more powerful A15 Bionic processor and an updated tvOS 16 operating system.