Streaming Video Power Rankings Week #106

We are a little late with the rankings this week, but that doesn't make them any less rank. Hopefully you were able to hold your wagers until now. It's been a busy week at Cultureshark Tower with less time for streaming video, but we will give it our all as always.

1) Netflix: It remains my go-to #1 for weeks in which I am not watching much, and I don't see a lot exciting going on here, but despite mediocre reviews, Lost in Space interests me. A certain YouTube channel, of all things, has bolstered my appreciation for Netflix. Finally, if you are like me and the news of R. Lee Ermey's death makes you want to check out Full Metal Jacket to see one of the most memorable performances in modern film, then this is the place to stream it.

2) Warner Archive: OK, I lied. I have been streaming a lot. It's just that soooo much of it is Eight Is Enough and Dr. Kildare. The former might show up on Hulu or Prime someday--maybe--but I fear something like Kildare will never stream again, to say nothing of lesser shows like The Gallant Men and Cain's Hundred.

3) WWE Network: I didn't partake in WrestleMania this year, but many did, and the Network is coming out of its biggest stretch of the year. The Network version of the smash hit podcast Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard might actually bring some new subscribers, and co-host Conrad Thompson promoted it on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast this week.

4) YouTube: In addition to the channel I mentioned in item #1 (see a Behind the Rankings this week for more on that), SeanMc's channel brought lots of great promos and commercials. Don Giller continues to do tremendous work with his Letterman-centric channel. This weekend he uploaded a clip of Milos Forman on Late Night to mark the director's death. I mean, I have come to expect a timely upload on this channel when a celebrity dies, but Milos Forman on Letterman? Great pull.

5) Prime Video: It gets credit for providing fodder for my podcast this week, and I should give it credit for premiering the new season of Bosch this week, even though I screwed up and said it was debuting several weeks ago. Also, Amazon made an interesting deal with FilmRise to provide ad-supported free Prime streaming of some TV series.

6) Filmstruck: I didn't watch anything here this week--shame on me--but the service added dozens of films based on themes like Charles Laughton, John Ford comedies, Los Angeles, and Vincente Minelli. Plus it is streaming the original The Big Sleep. How can you not appreciate a service that offers The Big Sleep?

7) Hulu: Did you see that survey that showed how little original content versus licensed content is streamed on here? The big takeaway: Put up the rest of those FoxMary Tyler Moore shows. Of course, that's my takeaway for any story involving Hulu, but still.

Anyone else think King of the Hill is an ideal and necessary fit for Hulu?

8) The CW: The season is winding down, but it's been a strong one for my core 3: Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, The Flash. It surprises me to write Flash may be the least compelling of the 3 this year, and, wow, I think I almost forgot about Supergirl on its hiatus--not a good sign.

9) HBO Go: Look for this one to shoot up in the rankings next week after I get to some more stuff. I enjoyed the Andre the Giant doc, but I haven't been able to see the Paterno movie nor all of the Garry Shandling doc (hey, that one IS 4 hours, after all). The new Wyatt Cenec series is intriguing, as does the two-part Elvis documentary (It's kind of ironic that every HBO documentary is so massive now except the Andre one).

10 Watch ESPN: The Roku ESPN channel that allows access to on-demand programming and the ESPN3 live events cable/satellite subscribers get. I list it here because getting DirectTV Now reminds me how useful this is. It may be the last week it makes the rankings, though, because ESPN-Plus, a new PAID SVOD service, has stripped this of much of its content. 'Fortunately" there is no Roku version yet, so people like me haven't seen the exodus of so much material from Watch ESPN...yet.