The article mentioned that most of MGM's pre 1948 movie catalogue is owned by Warner Brothers.

The topic header is a bit misleading... if you subscribe to Amazon Prime, you're already a Prime Video, Music and Book subscriber automatically.  Not everyone uses it.  I was that way for about a year and then I clued in!!!

Now, one thing about Prime Video is that they have tiers... Have Prime, you can watch all this stuff.. want Britbox or Stack or Smithsonian shows.. then pony up $$.  Wouldn't be surprised if this rolls out in that fashion.

cash wrote:

There is already a MGM channel on Prime Video 

The MGM subscription channel isn't that great. The MGM movies they offer are the sort of midrange middle of a weekend afternoon seen it a couple of times movie fare you get on cable tv. I tried the free month's trial and dumped it after two and a half weeks.

Brit Box is the only channel I'd consider subscribing to on Amazon.

I'd rather have HBO than Amazon Prime. If it wasn't included I wouldn't subscribe.

It's going to be another heavy blow to physical media.

Jody Thornton wrote:

Chrisphen wrote:

It's going to be another heavy blow to physical media.

 
That battle is already over.

Indeed, it is. The end is already near for standard network TV. And it’s their own fault.

While I can understand why streaming may be better (you can watch what you want, when you want, bingeing an entire season at once, seeing more adventurous programming, no ads, etc.) I always believed the major networks could still compete.  But looking at the season ahead that was just announced last week, it’s easy to understand why the numbers keep dropping like a stone.

The major complaint I have is that there’s so little originality and so many do-overs are bowing to political correctness. Everything, it seems, is either a remake or a spinoff. And in at least one case, both.  

Consider: 

-The CW has retreads of Kung Fu, Dynasty and Walker (former Texas Ranger) currently showing. (The first one features a main character who is a woman, unlike the original.)  

-This summer, Fox is bringing back Fantasy Island for a third run. (There was also a 1998 version with Malcolm McDowell as the main character.) In this case, Mr. Roarke is now Ms. Roarke, played by a woman. (This seems to be a common theme. Magnum P.I., another CBS remake, has an actress playing the role of Higgins.) 

-The Equalizer has returned to CBS with, you guessed it, a female in the lead role.  

-ABC is bringing back The Wonder Years, this time telling the story of a black family in Alabama in the 1960s.

-CBS is reuniting the old cast of the original CSI in a show dubbed CSI: Las Vegas (That’s the remake and spinoff I was referring to.) 

-There’s another FBI show on CBS, taking over the entire primetime schedule Tuesdays, while Dick Wolf’s other franchise, Law & Order, welcomes yet a third L&O titled newcomer to dominate all of Thursday on NBC.  

-The CW will be offering up a Christmas special remake of “The Homecoming,” the 1971 TV movie that inspired The Waltons. That guy who plays the teen Kevin in ”This Is Us” will play John Boy in the new edition but with original narrator Earl Hamner now deceased, who will take on that voiceover role? None other than Richard Thomas, who played John Boy in the original long running CBS series.  

With all these same old/same old on offer, no wonder people are seeking alternatives, even if they have to pay for them.  

Even shows that offer some originality are deserting free TV.  

-CBS will air about five new “Clarice” episodes (itself based on the Jody Foster character in The Silence of the Lambs) before it moves to its streaming service Paramount Plus.  

-Evil, an Eye network original and critical hit last year, won’t be returning to free TV, but will go to Paramount as well.

-And the long missing-in-action Seth MacFarlane sci-fi show “The Orville” won’t be back on Fox, but will move to Hulu in the States instead whenever it finally returns. A Rogers rep assured me more than a year ago that the company held onto the Canadian rights and will still show it on City TV if and when it ever comes back, but there are no guarantees.  

With all these remakes and unoriginal copies of old familiar shows (which is exactly why they do it), there’s getting less and less reason to watch regular free TV. And the networks have no one to blame but themselves. (Although because they each own their own streaming services, perhaps that’s not an accident.)