With the recent revelation that non-eBay online commerce hub Overstock would begin developing original programming to accompany a video streaming service, it appears more and more likely that a company has to jump into the digital-streaming fray to stay competitive. The people demand their delicious content, they want a lot of it, and they want it now. It’s simple capitalism; whoever offers the best, most diverse selection of movies and TV shows for the lowest price will inevitably emerge victorious from what future generations will refer to as The Great Streaming Wars, most likely in reverent whispers. While Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus creep around its back stair, Netflix remains the undisputed top dog of online streaming. But now, a new and unexpected contender has entered the melee.
Effective now, specialty home-video distribution company Shout! Factory has unveiled a new video streaming service called Shout! Factory TV. The service is accessible to computers, tablets, and smartphones through in-browser video and available to TV-internet hookups like Roku through a free app. As for content, Shout! Factory TV collects a heaping helping of the off-beat cinema classics and little-loved cult TV shows that have rounded out its distribution offerings.
The good news is that they’ve launched with a library containing a decent spread of worthwhile options—the homepage alone suggests the deliriously funny program Home Movies (with key voice work from H. Jon Benjamin, current reigning king of televised animated comedy) and a former MOTW, the trashtastic Plan 9 From Outer Space. The bad news is that the volume leaves a little something to be desired. Oh, I can hear it just fine, I mean that the “Drama” section under “Film” currently contains only 13 titles. We can safely assume that Shout! will beef up the available choices as time goes on, but for right now, there’s not a ton to see. But that’s hard to complain about in the face of even more good news, the best news one can hope for in a situation such as this: It’s all free-ninety-nine. Your wallets unburdened, go forth and perfect your Coach McGuirk impressions.
Below, get acquainted with the new service through a slick, informational video straight from the digital-horse’s mouth.