Dplay

If you're happy with your Freeview, good for you. If you don't want to pay for them, that's up to you. If everybody else wants to subscribe to the players, that's up to them.

With regards to consolidation, Covid and lockdown helped the bulk of VoD providers ramp up consumer demand (especially Disney), and lets face it all of the companies that have launched have either really deep pockets or other sources of income. They're not short of a bob or two (especially not Amazon) - they can afford to run VoD at a loss for a while, these aren't tinpot operations that are set up in a back bedroom just waiting to be eaten by Google ...

I'm happy for the extra competition. Having Netflix as a monopoly for a ton of content was never going to be great for competition as it'd give them the power to get licensing rights for very little money.

This way it gives the companies the free reign to earn more money back from selling VOD content directly to the customer instead of via a third party.

Obviously not everyone is going to pay for every single VOD service that enters the market, but that's the beauty of competition, someone who pays for Discovery+ may not want to pay for StarzPlay.

Personally I will continue to pay for Discovery+ after my free trial ends as there's a ton of factual content that I want to watch, where as I wouldn't pay for Disney+ unless I'm watching The Simpsons on a loop. (The Nat Geo archive is excellent however)

Amazon's is almost better value in all honesty compared to the rest of the market because even if you find sod all you watch to watch on the Prime Video you get all the other benefits too. Yes its more expensive than Netflix and Disney+ but you get the video, the free expedited and/or same day delivery, the Kindle stuff, the books, the music, the food, Wardrobe... and somebody will come and wipe your backside after you've been to the loo... I might have made one of these benefits up.

But each to their own. They all have their own quirks and delights, I like Netflix as it remembers where I was on the service last time whereas Amazon and Disney don't, Amazon's interface is a pain in the backside on a smart TV (better on the Firestick but still a pain), and I've managed to break Disney+ on NowTV a few times, but the navigation is crap on it anyway especially if you go into an item and come back it goes back to the top of the list. Slightly better on Firestick but still crap.

I think for me personally, Amazon is there because I pay for the delivery perk over all the other features including Prime Video. If I find something to watch, great. But otherwise it's there if I have some spare time as they have the occasional treat which is hidden in the awful navigation on the Firestick.

I only found out that Prime Video had the HD remasters of The Professionals because someone told me about it, not through their suggested algorithm.

Funnily enough it did suggest it to me!

How unfortunate ITV4 are still showing such poor quality copies when these pristine verions exist... but I guess ITV make more money from them on home media and streaming than they would if they broadcast them on an FTA channel.

They really are fantastic remasters. Network Distributing did a great job with it. Prime Video also has The Sweeney which are DVD quality, but still better than the knackered old version still doing the rounds on ITV4.

Doesn't help that ITV4 started cropping them to 16:9 on most episodes a couple of years back... and they weren't even new transfers, just crops of the old ones, so hurts the picture quality even more.

Who has the rights to The Sweeney and The Professionals? I assume it's Fremantle as they own the Euston Films back catalogue.

Apparently Lionsgate have the rights to The Professionals as they were planning a film adaptation. ITV Studios have the distribution rights to The Professionals. The Sweeney is Fremantle as you rightly mentioned own the Euston Films archive, with Thames's kids shows with Boat Rocker Media.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lionsgate got cold feet about The Professionals after how The Sweeney film did commercially and critically.

I see Acorn are advertising now which have quietly been streaming British TV abroad for a few years now and are now launching in the UK. An obvious candidate for BritBox to swallow up at some point.

Acorn is owned by AMC Networks and they have a slightly broader remit than BritBox with dramas from the likes of Australia, New Zealand etc it's not just a British TV streamer.