Paramount+ launched in Ireland a couple of weeks ago. It’s obviously aiming to compete against Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and other streaming services.
However as a new entrant into the space you’d have expected them to have a slick user interface and a great customer experience.
You’d be wrong.
I’ve tried the service out “in browser” as well as via AppleTV and using a Samsung TV. Whether the range of content is good or not, the user interface and the information they’re presenting to viewers is pretty awful.
One of the biggest challenges with most of the streaming services is “content discovery”. Netflix has over 17 thousand titles in its library and it adds to it on a regular basis. Services like Disney+ and Paramount+ are able to leverage the massive catalogues that the companies have built up over the past century. Being able to find titles is key for me. I like to be able to search by director, actor etc., but Paramount+ simply does not support that. At all. They also don’t even show you the cast and crew for a title when you’re viewing its details page.
Another bugbear is the complete lack of technical details.
What kind of resolution is the video in? What audio track does it have?
While most of the other services include multiple language tracks as well as subtitles, the ParamountPlus service doesn’t include either. Most other services include an English descriptive track and or subtitles, again this is absent.
What about the content?
They’ve got a small selection of “originals” and also have some kind of exclusive rights on Star Trek but the range of titles available is far from compelling.
There are a few series that I suspect I’d enjoy, but I’m not convinced I need another streaming service subscription in my life.
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