TechGraphs’ Monthly Streaming Device List — October 2015

Much like Futurama’s Lrrr (ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8) in the episode When Aliens Attack, many are getting upset at their current television situation. At this point it isn’t just the millennial crowd versus traditional TV package customers. Certain companies who have helped bring cord cutting to the forefront of people’s minds are now splintering.

Recently Amazon, creators of the Fire Stick and Fire TV, announced they will no longer sell Google’s Chromecast or Apple’s AppleTV. Via Bloomberg, Amazon has not offered new listings for said devices nor will the online retailer continue sales of the Google or Apple products after October 29th. As the linked article notes, it is curious to see Roku among other stream devices, unaffected by these events. Both Google and Apple still have various options for purchasing in stores or online, but seeing the the streaming options battle each other rather than the likes of Comcast, Charter and AT&T et al is disappointing.

For now, the table below is as up-to-date as possible, though again, any Amazon price listed for Chromecast or AppleTV is a deal with an October 29 expiration date. I’ve also separated the table to separate apps based on cost, determined by whether they are a monthly recurring cost, one-time payment, free, or needing a cable subscription.

Streaming Devices
Box/Dongle Opening Price Point Recuring Cost Apps Notable Free Apps One-time Cost Apps Cable TV Subscription Required
Amazon Fire Stick $39.00 HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, GaiamTV Twitch.tv, YouTube MLBtv, NBA League Pass, Amazon Video WatchESPN, Fox Sports Go
Amazon Fire TV $99.00 HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, GaiamTV Twitch.tv, YouTube MLBtv, NBA League Pass, Amazon Prime WatchESPN, Fox Sports Go
AppleTV (Revision A) $73.28* HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, GaiamTV CBS Sports, 120 Sports, Twitch.tv, YouTube NFL Game Pass, MLBtv, NBA League Pass, NHL Gamecenter, MLS Live, Amazon Prime, Fox Soccer 2Go HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Fox Sports Go, USA Now
Google Chromecast $35.00 HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, GaiamTV 120 Sports, Twitch.tv, YouTube NFL Game Pass, HBO Go, NBA League Pass, NHL Gamecenter, Fox Sports Go, Fox Soccer 2Go, MLS Live HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Fox Sports Go
Google Nexus Player $49.99 HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, GaiamTV 120 Sports, Twitch.tv, YouTube NFL Game Pass, HBO Go, NBA League Pass, NHL Gamecenter, Fox Sports Go, Fox Soccer 2Go, MLS Live HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Fox Sports Go
Microsoft Xbox One $349.99 HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, GaiamTV 120 Sports, Twitch.tv, YouTube MLBtv, NFL Game Pass, NBA League Pass, NHL Gamecenter, ESL, Major League Gaming HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Fox Sports Go
Nvidia Shield $199.99 HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV Twitch.tv, YouTube MLBtv Fox Sports Go, Watch ESPN
Roku Stick $46.99* NFL Now, HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, UFC TV Twitch.tv, YouTube, Vevo, PBS NFL Game Pass, MLBtv, MLS Live, NBA Game Pass, NHL Gamecenter NBC Sports Live Extra, Watch ESPN
Roku 3 Player $97.95* NFL Now, HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, UFC TV Twitch.tv, YouTube, Vevo, PBS NFL Game Pass, MLBtv, MLS Live, NBA Game Pass, NHL Gamecenter NBC Sports Live Extra, Watch ESPN
Slingbox M1 $129.99* N/A N/A N/A Steam any currently subscribed channel
Sony Playstation 4 $399.00* HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, GaiamTV YouTube, PlayStation F.C. MLBtv, NBA League Pass, NFL Sunday Ticket, NHL Gamecenter, Amazon Video HBO Go

*Limited to Amazon Prime members





You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.

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John Thacker
8 years ago

“As the linked article notes, it is curious to see Roku among other stream devices, unaffected by these events.”

Not surprising to me. On the immediate level, it’s because Roku has Amazon Instant Video and Google and Apple don’t. Then the second question becomes why do the big conglomerates not have each others’ services. It appears mostly to be because they compete in a lot of different areas, and all have business strategies based on dominating one area and using that dominance to extend into other areas (and also trying to commodify or make free their competitors’ markets, such as Apple with ad block and Google, or Google going after high phone margins with Android.)

Roku is a pure play, which is why they tend to get along with everyone and that has helped them so far keep their market share.

John Thacker
8 years ago
Reply to  John Thacker

Incidentally, it’s an oversight that your table doesn’t list Amazon Prime Video for the Roku, when it is officially available.

John Thacker
8 years ago
Reply to  John Thacker

Similarly, not sure why you bother to put the (woefully inadequate) CBS Sports app in the listing for Apple TV but not Roku.

Several streaming devices have the CBS All Access app, but that excludes sports, important for people to know.

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8 years ago

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