CBS All Access (?)

yeah, last season I was getting (some of) my CBS shows on Hulu.. sigh.. no longer there.

 

I'm trying the commercial free version for a month (not a free trial - just trying it). I am also disappointed that the full catalog of
all the currently running shows is not there but we did get hooked into their original, The Good Fight (I never saw The Good Wife although my wife watched it).

One show where all the old seasons are included is Big Brother so I'm re-watching the first 2. I forgot how primitive season 1 was but do remember that viewers voted a houseguest out. I also forgot that Dr. Will was in season 2 (I thought it was a later season) so wanted to see that again as well. That season already more resembles the current version but still rather primitive.

I wonder if the older seasons of current shows are available when the season is over (as it is with BB). Any longer terms subscribers know?

I am disappointed that for $10 per month they don't have at least 5.1 audio. We may catch up on The Good Fight, cancel and re-subscribe and binge when the next season is available. We'll also see if any other originals interest us.

 

So CBS just doesn't have older seasons of their TV shows anywhere? Do they fully rely on syndication then? What do the other major networks do?

 

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It seems to vary by show. I only checked a few but Criminal Minds, Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon have only the current season's episodes available right now. Survivor, Big Brother and NCIS have all seasons available.

I don't know if they add or remove older seasons from time to time.

 

CW has a deal with Netflix for most (all?) of their shows. NBC, Fox, & ABC are co-owners of Hulu so that’s where their shows go.

CBS has All-Access, but I don’t think they fully own the rights to all of their shows so if it’s not fully CBS owned, they don’t have all the episodes.

 

Big Brother: OTT was a version of the show made exclusively for CBS All Access. If you haven’t seen it, it was made with the live feeds as the focus so comps/ceremonies are more basic than the summer series. (More similar to the old seasons). Also Will returned for All-Stars S7.

 

I wrote to them via their "contact us' and they actually responded, albeit pretty vaguely:

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for contacting CBS All Access. We’re sorry for the inconvenience, and we understand your frustration! Due to streaming restrictions, only the latest 5 episodes from the current season of The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon will be available to stream from CBS All Access. For Criminal Minds, you will be able to stream all of the episodes from the current season. More episodes will become available as the season progresses. There are a number of factors that determine whether a show or episode is available for CBS All Access. Please know that we're always working to expand our content offerings to make more seasons and episodes available. We strive to roll out updates on a regular basis, so please check back very soon!

Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Regards,
CBS All Access Customer Service

I'll have to watch that version - I wasn't aware of it. I remember Will on the all stars show but much on his first appearance so I was interested to see how that played out already knowing the outcome.

 

They do have DD 5.1 on the newer shows if you are watching via the Apple TV app.

 

I'm still recording BBT and YS and not watching those on All Access (I'll have to check one out to see if the app on the Samsung TV is in 5.1). My disappointment is that their original show, The Good Fight, is not in 5.1, at least on the Samsung app.

 

I joined last year to watch The Good Fight - which is one of my favorite shows...
I will probably do that again next year for a shorter period and wait til then to watch any of the new Star Trek stuff.

 

The boneheaded who figured out that he could hoodwink people into buying it.

 

I’ve been a subscriber on and off since 2015. After canceling, it seems like it’s about a 50/50 chance for them to offer a free month.

 

For me it's worth it to watch current shows at 1080p, no commercials to skip and an unpolluted lower thirds. I signed up just for ST: Discovery but now I feel I'm getting value for my subscription.

The app itself sux. Episodes always start at low res and don't go clear for about a minute. It's the only one of the streaming services I use that locks up every so often (comparing to Netflix, Amazon and Hulu). And every so often it locks up completely and I have to restart the app. I have heard the theory on Cord Cutters that CBS created the service hoping it would fail.

 

I have been tempted to drop some other service and subscribe to All Access. Initially for Star Trek Discovery and JAG but also because they claimed to have the entire huge library. Ah well, so much for that. I can wait as long as it takes for whatever show ends up on whatever streaming provider I subscribe to. I'm open to changing streaming providers to get other shows, but only once I have run through everything I can think of. That would be years from now.

 

I subscribed to CBS All access becuase I wanted to watch the new Star Trek. I planned to keep it for a month and cancel it. However my sister really wants me to keep it becuase she likes to watch past seasons on Big Brother. She has a job lined up and will start working one her license comes in. So at that point I have her pay for it.

One thing that annoys me is that it dosen’t have full seasons of a lot of show. I recently wanted to rewatch JAG, but most reasons only have a handful of episode. Same thing with season 5 of Mom.

At least I don’t have to watch any commercials.

 

The public library can be your friend, depending on its location and DVD collection.