The best streaming service is run by comedy nerds, not corporate giants

The huge streaming services often seem more interested in bumping a stock price than they are in creating a compelling product, thinks Ryan Coogan. Meanwhile, the small guys are doing a much better job

Dropout is an absolute goldmine of completely original content (CH Media)

Back in 2013 I signed up to Netflix so that I could watch the long-awaited fourth season of Arrested Development. My original plan was to binge the whole thing in one day while my seven-day free trial was still active, then cancel my subscription, absconding into the night like a cat burglar who only steals disappointing sitcom revivals.

I ended up keeping my subscription active because, like most people, Netflix was the first streaming service I’d ever used, and I was amazed that it offered what felt like unlimited content for a relatively small monthly fee. You won’t believe this, but back then Netflix still carried movies that were worth watching, instead of producing an endless parade of identical Christmas-themed romantic comedies and acting as a graveyard for prematurely-cancelled tv shows.

Flash forward nine years and I’m signed up to virtually every streaming service that currently exists and is available in the UK. Amazon Prime, Disney +, Bravo TV Deluxe, Quibi – each a cornucopia of mediocre third-party content and hit-and-miss original programming that I spend more time aimlessly scrolling through than I do actually watching.