Decent article here that summarises everything we know and has a quick comparison https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/05/paramount-to-launch-streaming-service-in-the-uk-this-june---here/
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Paramount+ will have no 4K HDR content? Talk about taking a step backwards. Mind you, I recently applied for a job at one of Paramount’s subsidiaries in the UK and given that they can’t get basic email authentication right, I shouldn’t be surprised by this news.
That can’t be true, not in 2022…
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And it’s not as though they haven’t had enough time to work on the infrastructure for this thing, as well as ensuring all their production workflows are 4K (or above).
As last month on the existing Paramount+ service (in the US) they made a big deal about releasing the 4K Directors Cut of the original Star Trek The Motion Picture movie, they’re definitely some 4K content on there already.
It’s a start, although I already have that on UHD Blu-Ray and iTunes (also in UHD/4K) - and I suspect a lot of other people would too.
Looking online - I think the MoneySavingExpert site is slightly wrong about Paramount+ only having Full HD and not 4K content though. I suspect this is just because at the moment maybe Paramount haven’t specifically mentioned it will be there and Money Saving Expert never makes assumptions?
They’ve got lots of 4K content on the US service (all the new Star Trek films, the Quiet Place films, the Indiana Jones films, the Mission Impossible films, Intersteller, and, most importantly, Paw Patrol : The Movie as examples).
I wouldn’t expect them to specifically be ‘hobbling’ the UK service though. Even if there is some sort of capacity issue at launch, I would have thought introducing 4K would be on their plans - maybe with a Netflix like ‘premium price’ to get 4K. The US price is pretty different to the UK pricing - 2 tiers in the US with ad supporting tier at $4.99 and no ads for $9.99 vs single tier ad-free £6.99 in the UK.
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I do wonder why they arent doing an ad supported
tier here, considering its something other streaming companies are movung into, plus will be cheaper so should help with the current cost of living.
hmmm i wonder if virgin media will offer it to those who have sky movies
I don’t think so. Sky wont even be offering it to Sky Cinema customers who don’t have Sky Q or Sky Glass (basically those who still have an older Sky HD box or who only have NowTV Sky Cinema subs).
It’ll be an actual app within Sky Q/Glass. If you’re not on that platform, you’re not getting it for free.
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Just got an email from them and I am a bit surprised with the content they decided to show
Im sure all 4 of these will have their fans, but i doubt they are going to be big enough to really entice a lot of people to subcribe.
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I’m sure the clifford the big red dog fans will be clamouring to sign up…
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It does seem Money saving Expert might be correct about the 4K content not being present at launch.
Maybe there’s a unaired episode where they figure out it was her all along and justice is finally served
She just happens to be there when all these murders happen? A likely story
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Struggling to see anything here I’d pay £80 a year for. Hard pass from me so far.
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Same with me. I will probably occasionally subcribe for a month every so often, but it will never be one of my main streaming services based on what we know so far.
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That’s what’s so good about the streaming platforms compared to ‘traditional’ Satellite/Cable TV. Sign up for a month, rinse it of everything you want to watch, then cancel for 6 months or so until you want to dive in again.
Once Stranger Things is finished in July, I’ll probably be cancelling Netflix because there’s not actually much I watch on there now and it’s the most expensive out of all of them - most of my TV streaming is now Disney+, AppleTV+ and Discovery+. Looking at Paramount+ as well, there is a lot of on there that I would want to watch. Not just the Scifi stuff (Star Trek, Halo) but also other drama’s like The First Lady and a lot of their back catalogue of films.
Although it’s a very superficial requirement - probably a big factor on if I keep Paramount Plus will be how good the Apple TV app for it is and if it integrates probably into it (and so automatically queue’s up the next episode of whatever I’ve been watching when it’s available). I think the reason why my Netflix viewing has plummeted is purely because it’s the only streaming platform that doesn’t do that - so I don’t actually realise when something has been released because I don’t generally browse the app that much.
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I struggle to understand how Netflix’s engineers have been able to quickly build out an infrastructure that can scale and support a system that supports multiple resolutions and HDR streams and do it very successfully internationally, but Paramount cannot do this outside of the US/Canada.
HBO Max have until 2025 to do this, so I expect a damn good service from them from the start once they launch over here.
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It doesn’t make sense… they clearly have material shot in HDR, so they’re downscaling it… To produce a worse product?
I can’t believe the technology is much different… just higher bandwidth. Amazon and Netflix cope just fine…
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