British and American Streaming Services Are Very Different. Here's How.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ต.ค. 2024
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This week, I compared British and American streaming services. Here's what I found.
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IMHO invest in a razor! Shave that beard and mustache off! IMHO you look better without the face fur.
@@clarencesmith2305who asked for your opinion and why would anyone care?
Laurence has grown his winter fur
He does appear quite furrious
I live in central Indiana (like 15 miles from where Laurence used to live )and can confirm it's most likely winter fur. It gets REALLY cold around here, but especially in Chicago with all that lake effect weather. A beard can make a ton of difference and help keep you warm!
Chinsulation does come in handy...
😂
I wonder how many millions of years until media companies realize that all this splitting and segregating of content just angers people and drives them to piracy.
Almost like sovereign countries have their own rules! Imagine that!
UK is definitely the worst though.
Some times there are legit reasons, such as rights issues releasing in other countries, but most of the time, yes it is ignorant dumbassery by them
Psst, change your vpn.
TH-cam does :D
Most of my favorite British shows are only available on TH-cam. I'd like to pay BBC money to see more of Dara O'Briain's big giant head, but TH-cam is the only option for us poor, deprived Americans. Likewise for every British documentary set after 1945...
Because most people don't care for looking for pirated content because they don't know how, or don't care to look for it, or don't want the hassle and will pay more for convenience, and the reason why content is split is because of different pricings in different regions.
It's shit, I hate it, but that's the explanation. Understanding why it happens does not mean I have to like it.
I don't have much to add in way of conversation, but I'll drop a comment for the algorithm's sake anyhow. Cheers!
I noticed the title of US show, in French, forgive my spelling "Le agence' Risque" which translates to. "The Risk Agency". And was a show about soldiers wrongly convicted, so now they put their services up for hire..
THE A Team of course.
Thank you for the shoutout about the Oxford Comma! 😊
I am fiercely committed to the Oxford comma. It instantly irritates me whenever I see it left out.
The thing about library size is that Netflix for example has many tens of thousands of titles. But they've learned that they get more money when they don't make all of them available all at the same time. So the number of titles you see show is just what's visible, not the entire library.
True, but this isn't necessarily as nefarious as it sounds. There is a not-insignificant infrastructure cost involved in having each movie actually available in a datacenter in a format that is ready to stream to anyone on demand, plus it costs money in data transfer fees and computing hardware costs every time somebody actually does stream it, and it also generally costs more money in licensing rights to actually stream it to people than it does to simply possess it.
On the other hand, they _don't actually make any money_ when they stream these movies/etc to people (it just costs them money to do it). They only make money from the monthly subscription (which they still get if you stream 1 movie or 100 movies), so if having those additional titles available isn't going to get a lot of new people to sign up (or keep a bunch of people from leaving), then it's actually financially _a net loss_ for them to make them available. They need to pay significant additional costs in infrastructure and licensing fees to do it, and they get no additional income out of it as a result.
And this isn't new with services like Netflix. TV stations and cable channels have been doing exactly the same thing since the beginning of (recorded) TV programs, really. It just wasn't as obvious because so many titles weren't all concentrated all in one place (and controlled by a single entity) as they are nowadays.
they don't keep the licenses for everything year-round, for example they usually license back to the future for three months a year. They want you to stay subscribed and by shifting the availability of things they maximize their investment as well as keep you more entertained
Lawrence, you've actually saved me money by posting this, because I had no idea about the $6.99/with ads plan on Netflix. I signed up years ago for the most basic plan (at that time), so I had assumed I still had the cheapest they offered. Turns out I was wrong. You just cut my Netflix bill in half
Beard is looking pretty EPIC .
Growing up I was taught not to use the Oxford, but as an adult I changed my mind for the very simple reason that a meme suggested it. And that meme was basically to the effect of the difference between:
I invited the strippers, Lincoln and Washington
I invited the strippers, Lincoln, and Washington.
Anyway English is a mess and we have enough exceptions so it's easier to just not bother over complicating it.
If the superfluous comma is needed to make your sentence understandable then you need to think about rewriting the sentence or using semi-colons. It's never acceptable in good writing.
@@tautology_zeronah
They can pull the Oxford comma out of my cold, dead hands.
I invited Lincoln, Washington and the strippers
The correct answer is "it depends." I know it's been drilled into many American's heads to always use it, but around 99% of the time, it's not necessary. And there are instances where using it actually makes the sentence more ambiguous. For example ...
"To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God."
Is your mother's name Ayn Rand nor not? There's no way to tell from this wording. However ...
"To my mother, Ayn Rand and God."
Removing it clears up that confusion since all human beings only have one true mother.
EDIT: And, no, don't @ me with "But, but, you can have a stepmother." ... then say it!
I still just use an antenna. But I don't watch enough tv to pay for a subscription.
The good thing about OTA TV is the in between channels. I never watch the real networks but I'll watch the one with nothing but westerns. I blame my grandfather for that. He'd if he was watching TV, we had to watch westerns (classic TBS ftw). Now that I'm older, I love them too.
@@TheSolidSnakeOil my kids discovered the ME TV cartoon channel. The best place for Saturday morning cartoons.
@@TheSolidSnakeOil The sub channels are pretty good - I'm also a fan of Grit TV, but also Comet and others. The main channels are mostly garbage.
Britain has "television" now?? Will wonders never cease....
Un-fun fact: Several years ago, a US company lost what seemed like a ridiculous lawsuit because of an even more ridiculous argument about the interpretation of a contractual item that did not use the Oxford comma. I'm not a lawyer and I know about it, so I'm sure every legal department at every major US company does too. Which is why the US page used that comma. Can't say why the UK page didn't ;) [I love these videos btw. Keep 'em coming]
I was taught in school in the US to use the Oxford Comma in shorthand and transcription for business letters.
When I was in grade school I had one--only ever one--teacher who said we should use the Oxford comma (it was not named). We all thought, "no, that's crazy b/c it's not needed and you're the only teacher we've ever heard that from." I didn't even know it had a name.
But I could see what you said, totally making sense. The Brits say 'if needed' and American lawyers say put it there anyway 'just in case".
It was the funny one. I regret I didn’t try prime while visiting the UK a month ago. Was actually too busy sightseeing and returning dead to the hotel. I cancelled my Netflix subscription after they banned my daughter from watching it. I wouldn’t get salty over it if I was watching it. But it happens that I watched everything I wanted there and since there were no major updates I didn’t watch Netflix for over a year while still paying for it because my daughter was watching some shows there. Now I ultimately switched to Prime which I already had and HBO Max. Good riddance, Netflix!
That "voluminous" @9:01 really saved you from the pedants ready to say "it should have been 'fewer' not 'less' for a number."
(It's me, I'm the pedant.)
I use an IPTV service. It has every licensed TV station around the world, access to all of the movie channels, televised live events, almost 60K movies, 18,000 TV shows and 15 second delayed live sports. The program guide needs some work, but other than that it's alright. Programming can be recorded as well.
Oooh, Laurence, you (or your editor) used the pound symbol instead of dollar at the 3:35 mark for $139. Was that force of habit?
I started paying for ad free TH-cam & couldn't be happier. I was trapped in the shower, listening to ads longer than the podcast. "That's it!"
Never going back.
Given an “ad” can be longer than the video it is in, this is understandable if you have money you aren’t using… 🤔
So, they put ads in your way, to make you pay. And then like a good little girl, you did it.
@@misspat7555Like shoving a full episode of a TV cartoon? I actually had that happen to me before.
Reach around the shower curtain and hit the skip button.
Yeah, ad-free YT is one of the never-going-back things for me. It’s annoyingly pricy, but well worth it. (For those saying “hit the skip button”, you would still have to watch at least 5 seconds of the ad, and there are also a lot of 15-second forced-view ads out there. Plus, even at 5 seconds, hearing the same ad over and over and over again, often in the same video, gets annoying fast.
Good video, L.B. (Instead of streaming service, I recommend coloring books).
Amazon Prime may have more titles “available”, but as a person who pays for Prime, rarely are those movies free. They are still considered part of their library I guess.
That was great in spite of all the math. Yes, I have great spite for math.
I was told…
Anybody remember when TV was free? Yes, I know. We only had 3 network channels and PBS. It was a whole lot simpler to just pick a channel and let it play. I also remember when we actually had to pry our backsides up off the couch and manually change the channel. For all of you 21st century people, that means NO REMOTE CONTROL 😮 ! I prefer to read a book, except for that time I got to watch a movie about Chief Joseph and the Nez Purse native Americans and my brother DIDN'T get to watch a basketball game. Our mom said it was because my movie was "history". Sorry, brother. Okay, not really sorry. Life for us kids was certainly more interesting with only 4 channels. No video games meant we played outside, too. Seems like a long time ago. I remember catching a passing stegosaurus on the way to school...
Channels were always blurry and snowy or you had to go outside and turn the antenna. Some days, you'd only get bullfights out of Mexico. But it was free. Today, basic cable is ridiculous.
The first good TV wireless remote controls came out in 1956. They used ultrasound to control the TV and clicked when you hit the buttons, which is why remotes are sometimes called “clickers”.
Also, one person usually had to serve as an antenna.
Reminds me of the time I had to go to Shelbyville to replace the heel of my shoe. This was in 19dickety2, we had to call it dickety in those days because the Kaiser stole the number 20. Now anyway, we had to take the stagecoach to Shelbyville, which cost a nickel, and in those days nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. “Give me five bees for a quarter” you’d say". Oh yeah, before I left I tied an onion to my belt (which was the style at the time). Where was I?
And let's not forget how the TV stations rolled up the sidewalks and stopped broadcasting at 11pm every night. I can also still remember turning the dial through every UHF and VHF frequency to find those three or four stations: click-click-click-click-click-click pause, fiddle with the antenna click-click-click-click pause, turn the antenna again, let go, adjust, let go, sigh and stand in front of the TV holding the antenna through Scooby-doo...
Given that the per capital income of the United States is 30 percent higher than that of the United Kingdom, the fact that the UK pays 3 percent less for Netflix is not really much of a bargain for the British.
We were given Netflix for free for a year or whatever. Blah, it was unwatchable. After a while we forgot we had it. Still didn't watch it. Too many weird foreign movies and sicko freaky movies. No thanks.
What on earth constitutes a "sicko freaky movie"?
I don’t even have subscriptions to any streaming services, nor do I care about their prices or what they stream. I’m just here for your fun accent
Plenty of free ones.
@@bettyir4302 Free accents do not roll their R's quite how jolly old Laurence does
@@bettyir4302exactly: youtube
@@Spudz76 Witty !! 😂
English remains dominant in the US, but at least one other language (Spanish) is offered just about everywhere with a screen. When I went to Latin America, I didn't even consider not making a concerted effort to try to speak their primary language. Technology makes that easier than ever.
Yeah, my UK friends are always bragging about their better streaming libraries. I was especially shocked by UK Disney+, which not only has tons of non-Disney films but many that aren't available to stream in the US on ANY service.
Our Disney+ has many Hulu titles available. Currently watching shows/movies that wouldn't be in Disney + itself. NH resident.
How was this, of all the videos I've watched on TH-cam, NOT sponsored by a VPN? I can't imagine a more relevant topic for a VPN to sponsor.
In 2015, I visited London and brought my iPad. When I was there, I accidentally click on my Netflix app. While it didn't work, it did display the home page. When I looked at it, there was different movies and shows displayed and thought the US version got more British stuff.
Heck yeah Mr. Lawrence, also great to see your uploads
One other MAJOR advantage British viewers have is access to the BBC streaming library.
In the US, for example, I can pay to access only the final three seasons of Mock the Week, and I can only legally view British crime dramas if they are set in bizarrely depopulated parts of the Highland Moors, with max fog settings. ;)
While viewers in the UK, from what I understand, can access a much wider library of BBC content. And yes, tv fees are a thing, but the BBC does not *allow* Americans to buy access to many of its best programmes. They should at least let us pay for it...
Now you might understand all of the whack brand names on Amazon - it's because of all the copyrighted names around the world. In order to avoid issues many retailers use a program that generates random letters in sequence to create names not used in specific markets. This saves the marketer the expense of hiring a firm of lawyers to research if a name is 'clean' and fulfills Amazon's requirement in order to sell under their umbrella and avoid expensive legal entanglements.
I learned to use the Oxford comma in school. You would get marked down on a paper if you DIDN'T use it (US). I blame Microsoft for the Oxford comma's demise. Word changed to checking grammar and excluded this important use of commas....and folks started accepting it like that. Just my theory. I use them, but I also use two spaces after a period and start of a new sentence (another thing that irritates me lol).
Loved the sweater!
Laurence, your beard is looking awesome!
Americans make a lot more money, so it makes sense that is is cheaper in the UK
I'm proud of Britain for saying FU to Peacock. Good for you!! Now if the rest of us can exercise some unified discipline and cancel all our streaming services, we may gain an upper hand. We should not be paying for anything that has the backing of ad revenue. The streaming services are screwing us just like the cable companies did. Why do we keep rolling over for them??? I cancelled my Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime last month as soon as they started adding ads.
Meanwhile 90% of the UK pays insane premiums for Sky TV to have access to these exclusive shows.
On the other hand, the UK has a requirement to own a 'TV License' if you watch ANY 'Live Streaming' or 'Live TV'. The annual cost (according to Google) is 169.50 pounds (sorry- no symbol for pounds on my keyboard) or $218.90. THAT is a heck of a lot for the right to watch live broadcasts- and it's ANNUAL???
Yes so what's that all about? Some giant fee just to watch regular TV??
@@alwaystruetoblue It's a tax to pay for the BBC . but i know i saw a video that said if you don't pay it they can't do anything about it. maybe they started charging the tax through the streaming service? they used to have investigators going around trying to spot people with televisions that were not paying the tax.
I think it's getting to the point where most people don't pay it. They just rely on fear to make people do so, sending increasingly aggressive automated letters which loop every few months. lol. E.g. red envelopes with a window that says "Will you be in on [DATE]?", implying an investigation.
The problem is that they make us pay for the BBC which then "sell" the shows we paid for for next to nothing to "BBC Worldwide", a now completely separate private company, who then sell them to the rest of the world for massive profits. It's incredibly corrupt.
It's a bargain
It's to fund the BBC and infrastructure. BBC TV and radio channels have no advertisements and have to follow a charter to provide a wide variety of content, including educational content that would usually be ignored in commercial programming.
A decent vpn you can watch US, Australia. UK, New Zealand.. You can sign into any of them using you sign in and or password.
$4.28 for the basic Netflix in the Philippines. For less than half the US videos.
It boggles my mind how much cheaper internet and TV service is in the UK and you get the newest movies sooner and often for free, whereas the US we have to rent them most of the time.
Also interesting, I live in Brazil but also watch Netflix in the US. If I connect to Atlanta, Miami, or Los Angeles I get different show offerings from each area. I may save a show connected to Atlanta but when I connect to Miami, it is not available. The price for Amazon Prime in Brazil is $5.85 per month. Of course I pay for Amazon Prime in the US also, because the US account does not work in Brazil. Netflix works fine in either country.
In the US Amazon Prime is half price if you have a Snap card. I imagine lots of Americans can take advantage of that deal.
Your definition of a streaming service fails to address it's primary appeal. Namely the ability to watch what you want without having to endure the rest of the family! Hello from the UK.
Listen! And understand! That terminator is out there! It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear. And it absolutely will not stop. EVER! Until you are dead!
TH-cam: This is not a threat against Laurence (or anyone else). It's a quote from a movie, intended for entertainment purposes only!
Skynet offers UltraHD streaming, and absolutely free endless death robots you can't opt-out of.
The use of the optional comma is weird and not the norm for US English. If you can leave it out leave it out unless the sentence would become confusing.
I am always in favour of the Oxford comma ;)
I prefer the Oxfords comma but that’s not what you’re seeing. You’re seeing two independent clauses connected with conjunctions like “and,” “or,“ or “but.” In that case, the comma is superfluous and absolutely unnecessary.
I think the reason that those commas are showing up so much in the US is that people are composing on electronic devices that automatically insert the damn things.
I only buy blurays and dvds. Infinite replays and NO ADS.
Oh, and I forgot. Don't have to worry about if it's available or not at some point in the future
As some other commenter eluded to, I think the number of US Netflix titles dropped and dropped, because of splitting across multiple, newer, streaming services.
alluded to?
The most ubiquitous style guide in America -- The Associated Press Style Guide -- does not recommend the Oxford Comma, unless omitting it would be ambiguous. I never use it unless it's necessary. I think most people in the U.S. were taught in school to always use it so it seems older folks are more inclined to say things like "You'll get my Oxford Comma when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!"
Thanks! I’ve never seen a video explaining internet differences UK vs. US. Don’t know why.
Happy Halloween 🎃 ❤
As an American, it's actually worth subscribing to Netflix when I have to travel internationally for work. Other countries have an enormously better library than we do here at home. The US is massively segregated with every studio having their own streaming service and not sharing with each other. Overseas, that doesn't really happen, at least with American media, so you get it all on Netflix like the good old days.
*clutches pearls on the Oxford comma discovery*
Your beard is becoming epic, like a young Santa Clause!
I live in the USA and pay $ 24.99 for Netflix. No ads, but no extra perks.
I'm surprised there hasn't been a VPN ad 7 minutes in.
Your beard is getting very thick. Are you hoping to get a job as a Santa impersonator when you turn fully grey?🎅
He could always dye his beard and hair Santa white 🎅
😂😂😂
He would probably first tell you that in the UK, it's Father Christmas, not Santa Claus. 😉
@@dwilborn1257 younger generations don't generally use Father Christmas anymore. They've been too americanized thanks to the internet.
That is a very respectable beard. Keep it Lawrence!
The beard is coming in nicely...
I love the Oxford comma.
I'm surprised that this wasn't sponsored by a VPN.
Streaming, especially Prime, is not nearly the deal it used to be. Way more stuff behind yet another paywall, and the only movies "included with prime" are getting to be old junk.
I can’t imagine too many people sign up for Prime for the streaming. I would think most are doing it for the shipping benefits and the streaming service is just a bonus.
It's really annoying that you have to pay and there's still ads
Same BS the cable companies pulled on us.
@@bossfan49 right!? Like I don't mind having commercials there at all if I can't pause or whatever but they shouldn't make it so damn expensive
This is, by far, one of my favorite videos that you have ever posted! Bravo!
I ALWAYS use the Oxford comma!
A'reyt Laurence. I used to have a full Sky package when younger. I paid for it for my parents who were elderly, but later stopped it as I never had time to watch. I often wonder how people get time for all that pay TV. I stopped watching "free TV" almost entirely too, though I do still have to pay for a TV licence in UK, which does not get included in your price comparison.
Your beard is looking amazing!!
Lawrence! You should have factored in British TV Licensing costs to have the true value of streaming in the UK. In America, you can watch broadcast tv for free and have streaming services. In Britain, you pay for both.
How many broadcast TV stations can you watch in the U.S? You don’t need a TV licence in the U.K if you stream and don’t watch live T.V.
Love your channel - keep it up!
It took them 42 years to make nine episodes of Star Wars. I didn't realize it was a British TV show.
The net thing and the blue wall behind Lawrence are oddly satisfying.
Sure, groceries might be cheaper in Great England, but all you can buy are kippers and Heinz beans.
Oxford comma is a Harvard comma in the States. I knew what you meant because someone from the midwest said it was superfluous.
There's really no reason these companies couldn't license the same films and programmes to all the services. It's the exclusivity agreements that are the toxic anti-consumer problem.
When you bought DVDs, they didn't just work on DVD players from one manufacturer, they worked on them all. Imagine if you had to buy different players to access exclusive content.
As an American I do not like using the Oxford comma. However, as an American attorney, I use it in order to prevent confusion among the stupid
I may have snorted at the CRM mistake. I have struggled with this a lot, as I have been working in medtech for nearly a decade. And I'm also, ahem, in the British English camp when it comes to the Oxford comma.
CORNETTO TRILOGY MENTIONED 🥳🥳🥳
Still split across those streaming services?
US: It's just the one service, actually
Re: Americans and the Oxford comma
It's a legal thing. Like millions of dollars has depending on whether or not the comma was there. So out of an abundance of caution, any good American style guide will tell you to put the comma in.
Friends and the US office are always in the UK top 10 for years on Netflix and see no abating their dominance. These must be insanely valuable shows in the US since Netflix lost them over there.
Laurence as far as Netflix goes Meatloaf said it best. Two outa Three ain't bad. Love your chsnnel.
But I won’t do that.
I was shocked to learn that this treatise on streaming services was not brought to me by Britbox!
I think if you use Britbox in the UK it creates a wormhole through spacetime.
@@Spudz76 I think they just call it "Box" in England... :)
What I'm hearing is I need to start sailing the high seas again.
5000 views in one hour. I'm impressed
I just moved to the UK. My Disney+ has more shows plus it comes with STAR which has more shows and movies.
I used to watch all my favorite British shows on Netflix... Monty Python, Red Dwarf, Dr. Who, Top Gear (UK), Faulty Tower... to name a few... now they are all gone.
Netflix is now 85% Netflix-produced movies and series.
oooh lawrence, media rights for the UK are far cheaper than America on average. For example I could have a TV on Blu-ray box set shipped to America for less than half the price it would cost me in America with free shipping. You'll find that pop songs are used far more often in far cheaper programs because it is far cheaper to get them. The smaller the population the cheaper it is to buy things to play for them. They pay almost nothing for the Super Bowl in Canada for example. also the Wizard of Oz is not black-and-white it's sepia tone
But the music artists and actors in the U.K get paid more for repeat fees. E.G actors get 100% of their original fee if repeated on terrestrial T.V. Less if on smaller channels.
@@bordersw1239 yes they get it typically at least it used to be for the first 10 airings. Which typically played out within two years of going to syndication
Thanks for the research
Laurence, another example of our 2 countries being separated by a common language. As you've, no doubt, heard your other half say, "inventory" get the accent on syllable #1, whereas you just said it with the accent on #2. Who'da thought?
I would never buy a product from a company that has delivers it in a box with Peyronie's disease.
Please do your Vlogmas this Year!!!! I miss it Sooooo Much!!!!
The U.S. version of The Office is also still available on Netflix in Canada. I’ve watched both versions and I refuse to pick a favourite.
Exchange rates change, meaning all of these price comparisons could flip upside down.
Shipping in USA with distances has to cost more
A million years ago in school, I was taught that a coma before and wasn't necessary 😮
🤷♀️ 🇺🇸
The thing with the "Oxford" comma is that is an Americanism, much like Noah Webster's inaccurate spellings. Throughout my school days, it was known as the American comma; the term Oxford comma only became popular in the last 25 years or so as a way to make it seem legitimate - which isn't.
Well, one of those football players played on the same team as Taylor Swift's boyfriend, and one of them played on the same team as Taylor Swift's boyfriend's brother.
I ❤ cyberdyne systems model 101.
Of course you could never watch all 15,000-20,000+ shows and films, just like you could never watch all the channels in your cable tv bundle (my family had Dish Network... so many strange channels and it was just the basic package that gave us local TV after the switch to HD (my family eventually got new tv's and a better antenna and ditched the dish... literally when they had the roof redone.)
Damn, I really thought today's sponsorship would be a VPN
Oxford comma forever!