Goodbye Cable TV? These Tiny Devices Let You Stream Thousands of Movies and Shows for Free

Arnaud Pontin (Image : AI / Gay Globe)

These days, and this is nothing new, television viewers are gradually abandoning cable and other similar paid services in favor of a technology that is revolutionizing the world of television. Thanks to the Internet and Wi-Fi, it is now possible to access numerous television and streaming services for free.

After years of subscribing to cable, which has become quite expensive, let’s admit it, I had often thought about getting into streaming television, but I did not know enough about the subject. I thought there were only services like YouTube, which broadcast just about anything and charge money to access something else, until a friend told me about the Roku Stick.

I also did not know that these streaming services could be accessed simply through the Wi-Fi connection provided by my Internet account. I imagined that I would have to install long cables connected to set-top boxes or small computers, when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. All you have to do is buy, at a modest price, a little device that you plug into an HDMI port, connect it to your Wi-Fi network using your username and password, and voilà! You are suddenly in front of thousands of movies and television shows, from classics to the most modern productions, without it costing you a single cent. And it’s legal!

Here are the devices available on the market, accompanied by a list of approximate prices based on my research. Prices may, however, vary from one country to another.

Streaming devices to plug into your television

The other possibility is obviously to add nothing to the television: simply buy a Smart TV equipped with Roku, Google TV, Fire TV, Tizen or another platform.

For reference, here are the prices I currently find:

Personally, I have three televisions equipped with three Roku Sticks costing $40 each, and I have had them for two years now. It is an ongoing pleasure to be able to watch my old classic movies, which were already very popular, as well as hundreds of classic series, science fiction, Little House on the Prairie, The Love Boat, and so on. All without ever receiving a single bill! A considerable saving for me from the very first month.

There is one important caveat, however: programming is not universal. A Roku Stick purchased in Canada provides access to a multitude of streaming services, but the selection of movies, series and free channels varies depending on the country where you are located. Broadcasting rights are negotiated territory by territory, so a movie available for free in the United States may not be available in Canada or Europe. The same device can therefore provide access to different programming depending on the country.

The device may be international, but the television service is not necessarily.

In other words, a Roku Stick, Fire TV Stick or Google TV Streamer essentially serves as a gateway to the Internet. Once connected, viewers can install different applications, but what they can actually watch will depend on the country, their account, broadcasting rights and sometimes even the regional version of the application.

This is exactly why two people who own the same Roku Stick, one in Montreal and the other in Paris, can have a very different television offering. Roku also indicates that its search engine provides access to more than 500,000 movies and episodes from more than 500 streaming channels, but the available offering depends on the market.

And what about viewers looking for programs aimed at LGBQ+ audiences?

In Canada

Tubi is probably one of the best examples to cite. Tubi currently has a dedicated LGBTQ+ category in Canada, with movies such as The Birdcage, But I’m a Cheerleader, Maurice, Carol, Transamerica, Paris Is Burning, Wynonna Earp, as well as documentaries and more recent productions. The service is free and funded by advertising.

There is also OUTflix Movies, a free channel dedicated to LGBTQ+ cinema, available in Canada and the United States. It is offered notably on Roku in Canada, as well as on Pluto TV, Plex, Samsung TV Plus, Xumo and other platforms depending on the territory.

In the United States

The offering is even more interesting. Pluto TV, for example, offers free LGBTQ+ programming including RuPaul’s Drag Race, The L Word, Queer as Folk, Faking It, Project Runway and other productions. Pluto even has a Logo channel dedicated to part of this programming.

Tubi also has a large free LGBTQ+ section in the United States.

And what about LGBTQ+ viewers in Europe?

For LGBTQ+ television viewers, the arrival of advertising-supported streaming platforms is also opening up new possibilities in Europe. It should nevertheless be understood that the offering varies considerably from one country to another. Broadcasting rights, agreements with producers and available platforms are not the same in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Nordic countries or elsewhere in Europe.

The United Kingdom is currently a particularly interesting example. OUTflix Proud, a channel entirely dedicated to LGBTQ+ content, is available free of charge, without a subscription, notably on Freeview, where it is channel 288, as well as on Netgem, Channelbox, wedotv and other platforms. Its financing is based on advertising, according to the principle of FAST services (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television). It features series, documentaries, movies, reality television, drag culture and original LGBTQ+ productions.

The OUTflix service also offers a much broader selection of LGBTQ+ series, movies, documentaries and original programs. This version, however, is a subscription service and not an entirely free service. It is available in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while viewers in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland can notably access it through Allente.

For Europeans, one essential point should therefore be remembered: buying a streaming device does not guarantee access to the same LGBTQ+ channels everywhere on the continent. A Roku, Fire TV or another device may technically work in several countries, but the applications and programs available depend on the territory. Tomorrow’s television is therefore becoming increasingly international in terms of technology, but remains highly regional when it comes to content.

For an LGBTQ+ viewer who wants to reduce or eliminate traditional subscriptions, there is nevertheless a growing amount of free content. FAST services such as OUTflix Proud demonstrate that an LGBTQ+ channel can now be offered to the public free of charge and financed primarily through advertising. This is an important development: after having long been required to pay for a specialized subscription to access LGBTQ+ programming, some viewers can now discover movies, series and documentaries intended for them free of charge.

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