If I Could Change One Thing About Every Major Streaming Service It Would Be…


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It is always fun to think what if I was in charge and could do anything I want. If I ran Netflix I would do… If I was in charge of Sling I would…

Today I am going to take a moment to do just that; however, I am not going to go all crazy. My goal here is to list one thing I would change about each service that would make the service better. Now I could list multiple ways to improve every service, but I am only going to list the one I think would be most beneficial.

So here is how I would improve cord cutting….

Sling TV

If I could do anything to make Sling TV better it would be to add a traditional channel guide. I know Sling TV has the most subscribers of any live TV streaming service, but the number one complaint I hear is that the guide pushes people away. I often hear the number 1 reason people did not go with Sling TV is the guide after not having a channel they want. Now I would still keep the current guide I would just add a second option.

People are creatures of habit and, well, the new guide is innovative and I enjoy it, but I would also add the ability to have a traditional guide if that is what you are comfortable with.

PlayStation Vue

This one was easy. I would immediately change the name to Vue TV. I cannot tell you how many times I have talked to someone about PlayStation Vue to have them say, “but I don’t have a PlayStation…”

The PlayStation Vue name has easily cost Sony many subscriptions. It’s so bad that recently Sony started an ad campaign to inform potential subscribers that PlayStation Vue works on other devices.

If Sony would change the name it would quickly see a jump in subscribers.

DIRECTV NOW

Currently DIRECTV NOW is the only live TV streaming service without a DVR. Although adding Roku support would also help, the lack of the DVR is the main holdup for many. When comparing services, the lack of DVR stands out and holds DIRECTV NOW back.

Netflix

This was a tough one because there are many things I would change but at the same time it’s a great service. If I had to pick one thing to change at Netflix it would be the new rating system. The new thumbs up and thumbs down feature seems to be more about promoting Netflix originals than helping people find what they would like.

I understand that Netflix wants to push its originals, but it seems to be hurting people’s ability to find what they want. There is a balance here, and Netflix is going too far to push its own shows often ones that its viewers don’t want to see.

Amazon Prime Video

I love Amazon Prime, but it can be confusing at times. Amazon needs to do a better job of explaining and breaking out its Prime content. I often hear from new Prime subscribers that they don’t understand why they still need to pay for movies and TV shows.

This is a failure on Amazon’s part to explain how the service works and make it easy to find Prime content. While on the website it is fairly easy to understand, on many of its apps and the Fire TV Amazon could do a better job of breaking out the Prime content from the paid content.

Amazon has a huge library of free content available with Prime, it is just hard to find it if you don’t know where to look.

Hulu

Now I love where Hulu is going. It has made huge improvements to its service recently from more content to the live TV option; however, I don’t think its new app is helping it. Hulu seems to really want to rely on the idea that it can predict what you want to watch; however, Hulu still should make it easier to quickly find a channel you want to watch.

So much of live TV is just wanting to see what is on ESPN tonight. A lot of it is not about finding one show but just finding something to be on. The issue with Hulu is how buried the ability to find a channel is in the Hulu menu. I do love a lot of features of the new app but I think there is room for improvement.

Making a quicker way to find the channels you want would make Hulu more welcoming.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV has many major issues that I would love to address. I almost went with its limited roll out in only a handful of markets. That is allowing its competitors to build up a huge market share before YouTube is even available.

However, the limited device support is a bigger issue. YouTube TV’s app is currently only available on mobile devices. From there you have to use Chromecast or AirPlay to watch it on your big screen TV.

Yes, mobile video is a growing market; however, I don’t think Americans are ready to throw out their brand-new 4K TVs and watch everything on their phones and tablets. The lack of support for Roku, Fire TV, and even an official Android TV app is a serious limitation.

That is my list. What would you change if you could change one thing about any service? Leave us a comment and let us know.

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