DC Universe online streaming service

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Does anyone here have it? What do you think of it overall as a service?

I've watched my way through Batman The Animated Series and Batman Beyond. Currently working my way through Superman The Animated Series.

[Deledrius]

There's no way I'm going to shoot myself in the foot as a consumer and support Yet Another Isolated Streaming Service. It's the worst possible market outcome, sorry.

Fortunately, I have those shows on DVD anytime I want to watch them.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Well fair enough I suppose... but -- unfortunately -- I don't have all those shows on dvd.

I do vibe with you on what you describe "isolated streaming service," though I do find the stuff I'm watching to be worth paying for at the same time, so I humbly abide. Also while it'd probably just be cheaper to wait for Titans to finish the season's run and then binge watch it, I will acknowledge that they are putting a bit of effort into an original show and will pay for the service as each episode comes out as well (even though I'm burning through all these retro ones anyway).

[Deledrius]

I do find the stuff I'm watching to be worth paying for at the same time, so I humbly abide.

The big picture is that it's not about being a worthwhile value individually (even though I can easily seeing that being the case and don't dispute that), it's about a completely balkanized network. We need more competition, not less, so for me personally that's simply not something I can support. I know it's a lost cause, and we're going to be stuck in a dystopia because most people won't care until it's too late (and many will beg for more), but, well, I have to try.

CBS All Access, Disney+, etc. It's all about walling customers off with content exclusivity. No one can compete because there's no separation between the content owner and the content delivery network; it's all the same company. Netflix and Amazon are going to be choked out (which is why they've both tried to "join 'em" and make their own content when they realized they just couldn't "beat 'em").

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I feel like Disney, CBS and DC are joining them technically. The only reason they've considered doing this is because of how Netflix started the original content revolution -- for streaming. And this is actually nothing new. Netflix is no different from HBO. A subscription service that has an indefinite temporal roster of movies, to which they also started making original content that made large ripples in the previously established market for shows.

So again, I'm following what you're saying, but I don't see this as a catastrophic collapse of our competition competent media landscape.

If you wanted complete cable packages with all the subscription channels, it wasn't cheap. Not everybody had it, but they had basic cable. Now it's not gonna be much different (it's catching back up). If you want all the best subscriptions, it's not gonna be cheap.

Potential difference I see though is that all the stuff that used to be on basic cable is gonna be on its parent company's portal.

[J!!]

/me sits quietly in the corner, sipping his rum

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

/me sits quietly in the corner, sipping his rum

Well I don't see it as an absence of competition. You're getting one service or the other.

[Darth Wedgius]

I'm signed up with Hulu and Netflix, that'll be it for the foreseeable future. I'm very reluctant to sign up with another streaming service, and if I do, it won't be DC Universe. Young Justice and the Harley Quinn show sound a little tempting, but not enough to fork over money for.

But I have Justice league, Superman TAS, and much of Batman Beyond on DVD. And I get enough entertainment through YouTube, video games, and hobbyist programming that I really don't need the streaming services I have. I'd probably have unsubscribed from Netflix if my wife didn't use it.

[Robovski]

I cannot disagree, I only have three streaming services now because I pay for Hulu and my GF has the Netflix and we both have Amazon Prime and so have that service. CBS All Access has the least watched Star Trek and I'm not buying. Same for the rest of these johnny come lately like Disney+ I'll not throw my money at single source streamers. If I want that walled off stuff later I can buy it on media.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Just to speak on the same page, I don't personally think their products are as marketable as hulu and netflix. Just based on what I'm getting them for, I was happy to be subscribed to CBS aside from Netflix and Hulu just to watch the new Star Trek show. I was in aw a bit about all the CBS shows of the past being under one blanket, but I wasn't set out to watch them. With DC, I'm happy watching the DCAU while I watch Titans. I'm not certain how long that will last though.

I'm not against these services by principle. In fact I feel kinda bad that my investment in them is particularly definite instead of indefinite. With all the other subscription services I mentioned earlier, I think the original programming served as a boost to their product which was originally selling handpicked shows and movies from other producers. With CBS and DC it feels like a tentpole effort.