We can’t move for on-demand TV services these days; if there’s a device out there that’s got a screen and can connect to the Internet, chances are you can stream some video through it.
Which is why of all of the categories this year, the Best On-Demand TV Service 2015 was the hardest to pick. We argued long and hard into the night on this one, with some of us fighting the corner for Prime Instant Video and all the benefits you get with an Amazon Prime subscription while others laid out the case for Now TV, with its flexible payment plans and wide range of Sky content.
And let’s not forget the PSB heroes too – BBC iPlayer is available on virtually every platform going and All 4 lets you access a ton of current and classic Channel 4 content on a smaller (but healthy) range of devices, for free.
But content, as the old saying goes, is king. After we put it to the vote it was Netflix that emerged as the winner.
This is entirely down to the fact that we’ve had some great stuff from Netflix this year, like Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, a new take on Marvel’s Daredevil that’s so good it’s (almost) erased memories of the unfortunate 2003 big screen outing, sci-fi series Sense8 from Matrix creators the Wachowskis and – literally kicking off today – Jessica Jones, another gritty, grimy take on the usual technicolour superhero fare.
On top of that there’s been some welcome returns – new seasons of Orange is the New Black and House of Cards – as well as the sixth run of everyone’s favourite narcissistic alcoholic cartoon spy Archer.
Not to get all Oxford English Dictionary on you, but we felt that it should also be acknowledged that the emergence of popular phrase ‘Netflix and chill’ be taken as a sign that its very much a household name now. Or at least a bedroom name. Or wherever it is you like ‘chilling’.
Put simply, it’s Netflix that we’ve found ourselves putting in front of our eyeballs at the end of the day (or on our lunch break, or on the commute) more than any other on demand service this year. We voted with our wallets as much as anything else on this one, which is why we’re crowning Netflix the Best On-Demand TV Service of 2015.
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