Saturday, September 10, 2016

Streaming Video Power Rankings: Week 24

We all know that NCAA football polls are rife with agendas, ignorance, and apathy. You can always count on the Streaming Video Power Rankings, though, because what is more credible than the whimsical weekly ponderings of one biased individual?

1) Netflix: As is abundantly clear by now, if Netflix doesn't irritate me in a given week (and deleting more Disney cartoons this month is a step in that direction), it's tough to unseat it. One thing I will point out: ABC show "Galavant" debuted on Netflix this week--both seasons. I was always kind of interested in it, but I was disappointed when I was unable to stream it before season 2. Now, in typical ABC fashion, the whole series comes to Netflix after it's canceled. Way to build an audience! I'm sure "Agent Carter"will arrive any day now after ABC has ensured there will be no use in growing the series' base.

2) WWE Network: I am still not a subscriber, but this week's "Hidden Gems" drop, featuring a piece of footage considered a Holy Grail (actually, considered lost forever) and other cool rarities, is an impressive glimpse into what this COULD have been doing all along.

3) Shout! Factory TV: Deserves a high spot if only for the great episode of "The Dick Cavett Show" I saw this week: Little Richard being Little Richard, Rita Moreno, and Erich Sagal being a good sport when confronted by haughty critic John Simon.

4) YouTube: I am not at all bothered by the fact that I complain about commercials on all these channels, then put on YouTube and watch tons of old commercials.

5) Pub-D-Hub: Some weeks, you just want to watch some 1960s TV news footage, a "Cowboy G-Men," and a "My Little Margie." this was one of those weeks.

6) MLB TV: Yeah, the Pirates stink lately, but I'm not taking it out on MLB TV.

7) Hulu: Don't get me wrong, there is still tons to watch on Hulu--tons--but new adds have been blah for weeks. I feel like Hulu needs something big.

8) My Retro Flix: Props to this channel again now that I actually have watched something on it. It has some legit advertisers (I think it was a big car company  that I saw--Honda, maybe), but not too many, based on the fact it repeats the same ads over and over. Still, that's a good sign and indicates to me that they may actually be licensing some of the non-PD content. I plan to write more about this channel soon. (By the way, what did I watch? Why, 'Devil Girl from mars," of course)

9) Tune In: You know, Pandora (like many other big streaming music Roku channels)  is just fine if you want to hear songs you like, but the Deep Oldies Radio station on here plays some things from the 60s I never heard before.

10) PRO Classics: Peter Rodgers Organization, that is, a company which has streaming rights for various titles and is sharing some of its library in this free (ad-supported, of course) channel. This is version 2.0; there was a PRO Roku channel years ago that eventually vanished. Some of this content is available elsewhere ("I Spy" and "Rifleman" are on Hulu, and more of them), but I don't think "Movin' On" is easy to find, let alone in a FREE service. Let's keep an eye on this one.

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