In the late ’90s and early 2000s, a new way to watch videos started with sites like YouTube. These sites let people watch videos whenever they wanted, but they didn’t show live TV. Then, in the mid-2000s, a service called Joost tried to change how we watch TV by legally streaming TV channels. Sadly, Joost couldn’t keep going and closed down in 2009.
Around 2008, a website called Justin.tv, which later changed its name to Twitch began letting people stream live TV shows and games. This was a big hit, even though there were some questions about whether it was all legal.
By the 2010s, many new services like Sling TV, YouTube TV, and Hulu Live TV came along. They let people watch live TV channels without a cable subscription, which was a big change. Now, streaming TV is growing all over the world. These services try to be the best by having the best shows, prices, and technology.
If you’re thinking about getting a streaming TV service, here are some things to think about:
- What shows or channels do you want to watch?
- How good the video looks and if it plays smoothly.
- If you can watch on more than one device at the same time.
- If you can, record shows to watch later.
- How much does it cost, including any deals or free trials?
Streaming TV has changed how we watch TV, making it more about what we want to watch and when we want to watch it.
Netflix
Netflix changed how we watch movies and TV shows. It started in 1997 by renting DVDs through the mail, which was easier than going to a store. In 2007, Netflix began letting people watch movies and TV shows online, which was quick and easy. People liked it because it was affordable, and you could watch things anytime on many devices like phones and game consoles.
Netflix started making its shows like “House of Cards” in 2013. It has many different movies and shows for over 200 million people worldwide. Netflix works hard to make watching shows fun and easy. You can even watch shows when you’re not online, and Netflix suggests shows you might like.
Netflix is available in more than 190 countries and tries to ensure everyone finds something they like. It has different plans, so you can choose what works best for you, like watching in HD or on several screens simultaneously. Even though you can’t try it for free, changing your plan is easy if you need to.
The Netflix logo is simple, but everyone knows it. It shows that Netflix is about making entertainment easy and always trying to improve.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video started in 2006 and was first called Amazon Unbox. It’s a place where you can watch many movies and TV shows. At first, it let people download videos, but then it changed so you could stream videos, too. In 2011, it got even better because you could watch things immediately without downloading. A year later, it added many TV shows by making a deal with Viacom.
In 2014, Amazon made its TV show for the first time, called Alpha House. This was a big deal because it meant Amazon started making its movies and shows. Then, in 2015, they changed the name to Amazon Prime Video and added it to Amazon Prime. That means if you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping and music and can watch movies and shows on Amazon Prime Video.
What’s cool about Amazon Prime Video is that it has a lot of different movies and shows, including ones they made themselves. It’s easy to use, and they have a special tool called X-Ray that tells you more about the actors and music in the movies and shows you’re watching. You can watch in good quality, like 4K, on many devices.
Amazon Prime Video is now available in over 200 countries and keeps adding new, big-budget shows and movies. It’s competing with other big streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. Amazon wants to be a top choice for watching movies and shows, and its logo stands for good quality and new ideas in watching TV and movies online.
Disney+
Disney+ started on November 12, 2019, in the USA, Canada, and the Netherlands. Disney Streaming Services, a part of Disney, made it. Bob Iger, who was Disney’s CEO, planned this because he saw that people liked to watch shows online more than on TV. Disney+ has movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. It’s easy for everyone to use and safe for kids.
Right away, lots of people joined Disney+, more than 86 million in the first year. It had some problems initially because so many people wanted to watch it. The shows and movies you can only watch on Disney+ and new ones like The Mandalorian and WandaVision helped it grow. They made new Marvel shows like Loki and Hawkeye and started a cheaper plan that shows ads.
Disney+ is all about watching without interruptions on many devices, with a simple plan that shows how good its shows and movies are. They help customers a lot to ensure everyone can watch without trouble.
By the end of 2022, Disney+ had more than 160 million people signed up worldwide. It’s one of the biggest online watching services. Disney keeps adding more shows and movies to keep it exciting. The Disney+ logo depicts the fun and adventure that Disney is famous for, making people feel like they are stepping into a world of imagination.
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu started in 2007 as a project by News Corp and NBC Universal. In 2017, it launched Hulu + Live TV, changing how we watch TV. Hulu was first known for its on-demand shows, but adding live TV made it even better. Now, you can watch shows anytime or live on TV, all in one place. You can add extra channels and save shows to watch later, although there’s a limit on how much you can store.
Hulu + Live TV works with many devices, making it easy for everyone to use. It has a trial period, so you can try it before you buy, and it’s set at a good price with great customer service. Hulu has had some big moments, like starting the cloud DVR in 2016, launching Hulu + Live TV in 2017 with over 50 live channels, and getting 1 million subscribers fast. In 2019, Disney took full control after buying Fox, and even after raising prices in 2021, Hulu + Live TV has grown to over 4 million subscribers by 2022, adding more channels and features.
The Hulu logo focuses on bringing new and traditional TV together, making it easy for viewers to enjoy their favorite shows in new ways.
HBO Max
On May 27, 2020, WarnerMedia launched HBO Max, a big streaming service that combines shows and movies from HBO, Warner Bros., and Turner networks. This service has a lot of different things to watch, from HBO’s famous series to lots of movies and new shows you can’t find anywhere else. HBO Max is special because it gets new movies from Warner Bros. right after they’re in theaters, plus it has its new shows.
HBO Max is easy to use and helps people find something fun to watch, whether it’s serious dramas or cartoons for kids. You can watch it on many devices, making it good for people who like to watch shows and movies anywhere. It’s a bit expensive, but the quality of what you get is worth the price.
When HBO Max started, it wanted to be as big as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, even with Disney+ coming out. It launched with over 10,000 hours of shows and movies. In its first year, 44.2 million people in the U.S. signed up, and by early 2022, it had 76.8 million subscribers worldwide.
In April 2022, Discovery Inc. bought WarnerMedia for $43 billion and decided to combine HBO Max with Discovery+ into a new service in 2023. This move is supposed to improve the service by adding more kinds of shows and movies and reaching more people worldwide.
The HBO Max logo shows that the service is all about high-quality and different kinds of shows and movies. It’s a symbol of HBO Max trying to be the best place to stream, mixing HBO’s famous shows with new and different entertainment for everyone.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV started in February 2017 and quickly became a popular choice for live TV online. It was first available in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, offering lots of channels for $35 a month. Over time, it grew to have more than 100 channels available nationwide.
One of the best things about YouTube TV is its cloud-based DVR, which lets you save shows for up to nine months without running out of space. You can watch on several devices at once and set up six different accounts in one household, making it easy for everyone to watch what they like and get personalized suggestions. Thanks to Google, you can watch your shows on any device, anywhere.
YouTube TV is easy to use with many devices and has helpful customer support through live chat, email, and a help center. There’s a trial period, so you can try it before you decide to pay for it.
Even though YouTube TV has had to deal with some challenges, like changing prices and issues with channel licenses, it has done well and will have over 5 million subscribers by 2022. Its logo, with the play button inside a TV, shows that YouTube TV is about combining traditional TV with the new ways we watch shows today, aiming to give viewers a great experience.
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ started in November 2019. It’s Apple’s streaming service with its TV shows, movies, and documentaries. It’s easy to use, works well with all Apple products, and even people who don’t have Apple stuff can watch it on other devices. Apple TV+ is all about good quality shows and movies that are special and not found anywhere else. They even have famous actors and directors involved. People can try it for free, and if you buy certain Apple products, you get Apple TV+ for a year for free.
2017 people started talking about Apple wanting to make its shows and movies. They hired two big names from Sony Pictures, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, to help make it happen. They got stars like Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg to join, and actors like Jennifer Aniston and Jason Momoa to star in shows. Even though it started with just a few shows, Apple TV+ is growing by adding more and getting more people to sign up. Shows like “Ted Lasso” and “The Morning Show” have won awards and made more people interested in subscribing. Apple TV+ may not have as many subscribers as other services yet, but it’s focused on having good shows and movies.
The Apple TV+ logo looks nice. It shows that Apple TV+ is all about being top-notch and offering something unique.
ESPN+
Disney started ESPN+ on April 12, 2018. It was a new way to watch sports online without needing cable TV. ESPN+ is different from regular ESPN channels because it offers a lot of live sports, shows, and other videos you can’t find on regular TV. This includes games from Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, and many other sports like tennis and boxing. It’s great for fans who like sports that aren’t usually on TV a lot.
In its first year, ESPN+ got over 2 million people to sign up because it showed a lot of special sports events. By 2021, it had 17.1 million subscribers; by 2022, that number grew to about 24.3 million. This shows how many people like using ESPN+ to watch sports.
ESPN+ is easy to use because it works well on many devices like phones, tablets, and smart TVs. You don’t need cable to watch it so that you can watch sports from anywhere. The subscription cost is low, making it a good deal for people who love sports and want to watch special games and shows only ESPN+ offers.
The ESPN+ logo looks simple but shows that ESPN+ is all about giving sports fans what they want to watch online. It’s a part of ESPN but stands out because it offers something different for people who love sports.
Sling TV
In 2015, Dish Network launched Sling TV. This service was made for people who like to watch TV online instead of using traditional cable. Sling TV wanted to be affordable and easy for everyone to watch live TV online. It started at $20 per month with a bunch of popular channels.
Sling TV was cool because you could pick what you wanted to watch. You could choose between “Sling Orange” and “Sling Blue” or get both, plus extra channels. This way, you only paid for what you liked to watch. It worked on many devices and even had a feature to record shows to watch later, but you couldn’t keep a lot of shows at once.
Since it started, Sling TV has been all about giving people what they want without spending too much. They added more ways to watch and record your favorite shows. By 2020, many people were using Sling TV, showing it was a good choice for watching TV online.
Even though not as many new people are signing up now, Sling TV is still a top pick for many because it’s not too expensive, you can make it fit what you like, and it’s easy to use. The company keeps improving it so you can find new shows you’ll like.
The Sling TV logo looks simple and is all about being easy to use and flexible, just like Sling TV wants to be for watching TV online.
DirecTV Stream
In 2016, a new TV service started called DirecTV Now. It changed its name a few times and is now known as DirecTV Stream. This service came about because more people wanted to watch TV online instead of using traditional cable. At first, it offered more than 60 TV channels for $35 a month, with popular channels like ESPN, CNN, and NBC. The goal was to offer a lot of channels like cable TV but make it easier to watch them online.
As time passed, the service changed its name and updated itself to meet customers’ needs better and align more closely with its parent company. They tried simplifying things for customers, such as making pricing more transparent and offering packages that included internet service.
In 2021, DirecTV became its own company again and was renamed DirecTV Stream. This new version offers features like 4K viewing, unlimited recording, and the ability to watch on multiple devices simultaneously. Now, DirecTV Stream has about 9 million users and provides live TV, on-demand shows and movies, and extra channels without requiring a yearly contract.
The branding of DirecTV Stream aims to show it’s a modern and easy way to watch TV and online content. The logo communicates the service’s commitment to offering a convenient and flexible viewing experience.
FuboTV
FuboTV was started in January 2015 by David Gandler, Alberto Horihuela, and Sung Ho Choi. It was first made for people who love soccer from other countries and couldn’t find much of it on American TV. At the start, FuboTV was all about soccer. But then, it grew bigger and offered all kinds of live TV. Now, you can watch lots of sports, news, and shows for all different kinds of people on FuboTV.
Over time, FuboTV changed a lot. It added movies, news, and shows to its soccer games. This mix makes it a good choice for families or anyone who wants many different things to watch in one place. FuboTV lets you watch some events in 4K, which means the picture looks super clear, especially for sports fans.
You can use FuboTV on smart TVs, streaming sticks, phones, and tablets. This means you can watch it almost anywhere. FuboTV has different plans you can choose from, depending on how much you want to watch and how much you want to spend. They even offer a free trial, so you can try it before you buy it.
In 2018, FuboTV joined with FaceBank Group, which helped it grow by adding new features and more channels. By 2020, it had over 100 channels. As more people decide not to have regular cable TV, FuboTV has become more popular, especially for sports fans. It stands out from other streaming services by focusing a lot on sports.
Now, FuboTV has more than 1.5 million people signed up and has even started to include betting features for sports games. Its logo looks modern and shows that FuboTV wants to offer many different things to watch, from its start with soccer to becoming a big name in streaming.
Twitch
In 2011, Justin Kan and Emmett Shear started Twitch. It was a new part of their earlier project, Justin.tv. They wanted Twitch to be a special place for gamers to share and watch video game streams. Twitch became very popular for gamers to come together, watch games, and talk with each other in real-time. It wasn’t just about playing games; it became a place where people could share all sorts of things like music, different lifestyles, and art, but it kept its main focus on gaming.
Twitch made it easy for people to join in. You could watch streams on computers, phones, and gaming consoles. It was free, but you could also pay to support your favorite streamers. Twitch kept growing and adding new features. In 2014, Amazon bought Twitch for $970 million. This helped Twitch improve by making streams faster and adding more types of shows.
Twitch became a big deal in esports, hosting big gaming tournaments with millions of viewers. It added features to let streamers customize their channels and started a section for streams about everyday life. By 2022, Twitch had millions of people visiting daily and thousands of people creating content monthly. It shows how much people like watching and creating live streams.
The Twitch logo symbolizes Twitch’s vibrant community and role as a leader in live streaming and gaming culture.
Peacock
Created by NBCUniversal, Peacock is a new streaming service that’s easy and fun to use. It has a free version with ads and a paid version with more stuff to watch. You can watch old shows, new shows, movies, and sports like the Premier League. Peacock made it easy to find and watch different shows and movies on many devices, so everyone can find something they like without paying extra.
NBCUniversal started working on Peacock in 2019 because they wanted to share their big collection of movies and TV shows directly with people online instead of through regular TV. They launched Peacock in July 2020, when more people looked for things to watch at home because of the pandemic. Peacock is special because it has many NBC shows, classic movies, sports, and news. They made deals with WWE and ViacomCBS to have even more things to watch.
Peacock got exclusive shows like The Office and added big events like the Olympics to attract more viewers. They worked with companies like Roku to help more people use Peacock. By early 2022, Peacock had 28 million monthly users, showing it’s doing well and competing with big names like Netflix and Disney+.
The Peacock logo is colorful and has a feather to show how many different kinds of shows and movies they have. It represents NBCUniversal’s history of making great entertainment and their move into the new world of streaming.
CBS All Access
In 2014, a new TV service called CBS All Access started, and in 2021, its name changed to Paramount+. This was a big deal because it was the first time a major TV network decided to start its online streaming service. The idea was to make it easy for people to watch shows on the internet, including news, sports, and all kinds of entertainment. They started making their shows in 2017, like Star Trek: Discovery and The Good Fight, which many people were excited to watch.
As time passed, Paramount+ added more new shows like The Twilight Zone and Star Trek: Picard. They teamed up with Showtime to offer more options and got the rights to stream shows from networks like BET and Nickelodeon. People could watch even more stuff, like live sports and big events like the Grammy Awards, on many different gadgets without needing anything special.
Paramount+ is known for having a lot of different things to watch, from live TV to shows and movies you can watch anytime. It’s easy to use, doesn’t cost too much, and you can watch it on many devices. The logo is a door to a world full of fun stuff to watch for all kinds of people, whether at home or out and about.
Philo
Philo is a TV streaming service that makes watching shows affordable. It started to make entertainment, lifestyle, and educational shows easy for everyone to watch without spending much money. Philo has many channels at a lower price than others and doesn’t cut corners on quality. People like its design and the fact they can save shows to watch later for up to a year.
Philo works on many devices, making it easy for more people to use. There’s a seven-day free trial to see if you like it. Even though it doesn’t have sports or local news, Philo has many popular cable channels for people who like other types of shows. If you need help, Philo has a lot of support options, including a detailed FAQ and direct help.
Philo was started 2009 by Tuan Ho and Nick Krasney and was the first for college students. In 2016, it changed its name to Philo and got money to grow bigger. Since then, it’s added new features, works with more devices, and offers more shows, including some you can buy to watch anytime. In 2018, it got $40 million to keep growing and work with big media companies. Philo has over 800,000 subscribers and focuses on offering good entertainment without sports or news to keep prices low. Its logo shows that Philo is committed to making television fun for everyone.
Pluto TV
Pluto TV started in 2013 and changed how we watch TV by letting people watch different channels and shows for free without paying for a subscription. It’s like old-fashioned TV but updated. You can find all sorts of things to watch, like movies, sports, and news, and you don’t have to pay extra to watch them on-demand.
The people who made Pluto TV, Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin, and Nick Grouf, wanted to make watching TV together something you could do over the internet, just like you might at home on the couch. They named it after Pluto, the planet, to show it’s a new world of watching TV. They started with about 130 channels, including news and sports.
Pluto TV added more shows and partnered with other companies as it grew. This caught the eye of Viacom, a big company that bought Pluto TV in 2019 for a lot of money. Later, Viacom joined with CBS to become Paramount Global and Pluto TV became a big part of their plan to get more people to watch their stuff online.
Pluto TV has more than 70 million people watching it every month worldwide. It’s still free and part of Paramount’s bigger plans for streaming shows and movies. The Pluto TV logo is simple and friendly, showing that it’s a place where anyone can find something they like to watch.
Vidgo
Shane Cannon started a company called Vidgo in 2018. It’s a TV service on the Internet you can use without signing long contracts or paying extra fees. Vidgo was first shown to people in 2018 in some parts of the U.S. It was cheaper than regular TV and other online TV services. At first, Vidgo had channels in English like A&E, ESPN, and Discovery. They wanted everyone to enjoy it, not just certain groups of people. They made it available in over 77 big cities and kept the price under $40. They added more channels, including some from Viacom and the Hallmark Channel.
Vidgo was different because it focused on showing live TV, especially sports and events, without being expensive. They even made it possible for people to watch TV together online, which made it more fun. You could use Vidgo on many devices, making it easy for everyone. As TV on the internet changed, Vidgo added new features like watching on different devices simultaneously. It has become a good option for people who don’t want to pay much for TV.
Now, Vidgo is known for being affordable and easy to use. It’s great for people who don’t want a contract and just want to enjoy many channels. The Vidgo logo shows that it’s all about bringing people together to watch TV and have a good time.
Xumo
Xumo started as a new way for people to watch TV. It mixes live TV and shows you can watch anytime, all for free. People like it because it has many channels for news, sports, and fun things to watch, and it’s easy to use. You can find what you want to watch quickly.
Xumo began in 2011 in Irvine, California. It worked its way into smart TVs and gadgets by taking shows from the internet. In 2016, it got a big boost when Panasonic added Xumo to its smart TVs, making it available to more people. Xumo has over 170 channels and became so popular that by 2020, 10 million people were using it every month. Comcast bought Xumo in 2020 because it was doing so well; in 2022, Charter Communications bought half of it. Comcast and Charter work together to make Xumo even better for people in the U.S.
Xumo keeps improving and works on smart TVs, streaming devices, phones, and computers. It’s free because it shows ads. The Xumo logo shows that Xumo is all about making it easy for everyone to watch many different shows.
