STREAMING – SkyShowtime arrived in Hungarian households on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. The Hungarian Movie Database compared the main streaming platforms based on three criteria – price, catalogue type and how many devices they can be watched from – to help users navigate the ever-expanding offerings.

In Hungary, Netflix is currently the most expensive streaming service available, with three different packages to choose from: 2490, 3490 and 4490 HUF. They were the first on this market, with a huge library of content, including Hungarian films, but nowadays the quantity is unfortunately starting to be felt at the expense of quality. In addition, password sharing will be tightened up, which could lead many people to cancel their subscriptions. However, it is worth remembering that the platform’s films have attracted some of the biggest stars in the world in recent years, including The Grey Man with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, they are building their own franchises (Tyler Rake: The Exodus and the forthcoming sequel), their films are regularly in the Oscar running (The Irishman) and they are sweeping the world with original series such as Stranger Things, Win Your Life and Wednesday.

Amazon, Apple and Disney Plus

The Hungarian Movie Database has picked out the other alternatives to the streaming market in alphabetical order. One of the advantages of Amazon Prime Video is that it is included in Amazon Prime, so subscribers get free shipping on their bundle orders. For just HUF 899 a month, its catalogue of shows includes a gigantic catalogue of original productions, series such as The Periphery, the (anti-)superhero series The Boys, the Jack Ryan series, as well as blockbusters such as The Lord of the Rings and the prequel series The Rings of Power. You can watch from up to 3 devices at the same time, and there’s a 30-day free trial to see if you really like what’s on offer.

Apple TV+ offers 5 simultaneous devices for HUF 1890 per month. It primarily features quality series such as Servant and 11 Emmy Award-winning Ted Lasso, keeping the classic tradition of weekly premieres. They usually broadcast sophisticated content, always with at least one big star, such as the Oscar-nominated The Way Out starring Jennifer Lawrence.  They are also going from strength to strength in self-produced films, as evidenced by last year’s 3 Oscar-winning CODA.

A favourite with families is Disney+, which for 2490 HUF per month offers a wide range of dubbed content, especially family films and comedies, and can be streamed simultaneously from 4 devices. They have one of the widest catalogues, with everything from Marvel, Star Wars, Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Star to National Geographic. What’s more, Disney films are usually on the platform less than a month and a half after their theatrical release, and this was no different recently with Black Panther 2. Content from the US TV channel ABC is also available here, with a lot of content of interest to women, and the acquisition of FOX has further expanded the catalogue.

HBO is not GOing away, just changing to MAXimum?

HBO GO has been replaced by HBO Max, a very broad-spectrum service that can be watched on 3 devices at once. For £2,390 a month, adults may be able to choose from the largest original catalogue here. Series such as Game of Thrones, The Mafiosos, The Shroud of Shiraz, House of Dragons and The Last of Us are all available here. What’s more, all the Warner Bros. movies on HBO Max – like Batman and Elvis – are available just weeks after they hit theaters. Meanwhile, kids will have fun too, with adaptations of DC comics, the Harry Potter movies and Cartoon Network content. HBO Max itself will soon disappear and merge into Discovery+, as we’ve been writing about.

Finally, SkyShowtime, which has a huge library of content, made its debut on Tuesday, bringing Sky and Showtime, NBC, CBS and Comedy Central series and MTV shows, films from Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation, documentaries from the Smithsonian Channel and children’s shows from Nickelodeon for just HUF 999 a month (starting at just HUF 999), alongside Peacock and Paramount Plus content. You can stream Top Gun: Maverick, films from the Minions and Jurassic World franchises, as well as series such as Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone and Tulsa King with Sylvester Stallone. The new service also offers Hungarian content, with two seasons of The Informer and Golden Life.

Streaming channels for Hungarian films

The Hungarian palette is also enriched by Filmio (1190 HUF/month), which offers only Hungarian films, Telekom TVGO (which is strong in Hollywood blockbusters and offers more than 6000 films at 1500 HUF/month), Cinego (1 790 HUF/month or 18 900 HUF/year), which focuses on art films, and the recently launched RTL+ (1990 HUF/month), which immediately burst into the public consciousness with the Zámbó Jimmy series The King.

-theGeek-