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See: [[Currently Streaming]]
I started this page as a place to help track what's currently available to watch on various streaming platforms. I think it's handy to know what's available out there and where you can find content.
However, with a few high profile exceptions (such as Disney+ or HBO Max where the catalog is highly currated and their licensing agreements are more exclusive and semi-stable), we're not likely to catch when certain tites come and go from the various streaming platforms and then remember to go check and update 15+ pages on a regular basis. Tracking what's "currently" streaming on inidivudal platforms can potentially be a big game of "whack-a-mole" and, given our general rules, should be avoided.
So rather than updating who's streaming Muppets From Space this month on a platform's individual page (and then hoping the catch and remember to update it when it leaves), this page can be a guide for the "current" home of various titles and then the individual pages (such as Hulu or Netflix) can be written in a more evergreen style "with this is the original content produced for the platform" and "here is a list of library content that appeared on the platform at some point." This would be more in line with what we do with broadcasters; we list what titles Disney Channel produced and what titles titles they aired, but we don't list every time a movie re-aired or when shows are "currently" in rotation on the network.
I included listing when it was "last checked" to help potential readers know if it could possibly be outdated info and it can remind us that it's been a while since we last verified what's on, say, Roku or Tubi which may have fallen off our radar (allowing us to reconfirm and update).
This resource could live under the Current Events list of upcoming/recent/current events and be a tool to help editors and readers know what's available where. I think having an crowdsourced page of what's currently streaming could be a bennificial resource.
Thoughts? -- BradFraggle (talk) 21:58, 19 December 2022 (UTC)
- I'm feeling mixed off the bat, though it is looking better (as far as where it would live though. Current Events isn't a category, so the page couldn't actually live there; we'd have to put it in a Muppet Wiki category or something, and quite possibly protect it from drivebys). Right off the top, I'm concerned with the "with Showtime" and any other paid subscriptions after paying a subscription. I don't think those differ much from listing where you can buy or rent, and Amazon Prime has those too so anything floating that way will always end up on multiple pages and it's a little confusing when the rest are either free with ad services or subscribe but they have this movie, no extra signups and money involved. That becomes rather like tracking each network's website, as they too have the same on demand libraries, and Dish, etc. I'd vote for not including any of those.
- Then there's the repetition in the way it's structured. Dog City is, in addition to the three services listed, also on YouTube through Nelvana's official channel Retro Rerun] and two not on that page yet, Hoopla and Popcornflix (one season on each). Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story is also on Shout Factory (they added it at the same time it did Gulliver's Travels), fubo (not sure if they're worth tracking, mostly a live TV service, I believe can only be watched *on* a TV or otherwise by being a subscriber as you would to Dish or AT&T's TV services etc.), and FilmRise (which has all the Robert Halmi/Hallmark stuff, including Gulliver) also has it on a channel.app available via Roku, Vizio, XBox, etc. So this winds up less useful in some ways than simply adding a link to Justwatch.com (which does track these things nicely). Roku never lost Farscape; that might be its own discussion, but right now it's on six services listed on that sandbox, plus Plex (another kind of oddball but free with ads service). I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is for now on Freevee (very high turnover for stand alones on that service in general) but also PlutoTV, PopcornFlix, Plex, and again for now at least free with ads on RedBox's site. Perhaps either include multiplatform titles in their own section at the top or bottom, especially once it's three or more, or just in those specific cases, link to Justwatch.com and anything else official/licensed like a YouTube channel can go there as well. (The text about streaming at the top on Dog City is way outdated anyway except the RetroRerun link, as Prime hasn't had it on demand in over a decade or so.)
- There's also deciding what to track. I think the Jim Henson's Creature Shop-effects stuff, unless the whole production was that way, is best omitted to avoid "Here's who has Alice in Wonderland but not The Flintstones" sort of discussion, or else set up some sort of guidelines. It's already just random right now.
- I'm not sure if it's useful to repeat all the Disney+ stuff there and on the streamer page. I think the page is the better way to handle that one (the only Henson content removed there to date has been a single Dinosaurs episode. HBO Max is far less stable these days, though it's still probably easier to track their removals there, but which approach works best will probably come down to how much they even have in a few more months or less.
- Finally, this is just about our streaming/digital purchase coverage period. Is it useful to include all the "once was on" galleries unless it was for the titles which hop every few months or even every other month (the Sony ones, mainly Muppets from Space and Muppets Take Manhattan)? It looks especially bad on NetFlix (and The iTunes Store isn't much better) because of how they've developed, and streamers like Disney+ have, won't be readding any Muppet movies or Sesame Street episodes in the foreseeable future and so on. To continue the TV comparison, that feels like just keeping a page cluttered with non notable rerun airdates. That may seem like a side note but I think it fits into the overall issue, which is as much how we handle the streaming and digital world which has ballooned and shrunk in cycles in Muppet Wiki's lifetime, how much to include on actual show pages, and so on. I do overall feel better about implementing this "Currently Streaming" but there's still some things to work out. -- Andrew 02:01, 20 December 2022 (UTC)