Streaming providers have been a dime a dozen since analog television was switched off. These stand out particularly against satellite or DVB-T2, because with this offer you can also watch TV on the Internet on your smartphone with an app on the go. The top dog among the streaming providers for online TV is Zattoo. But there are alternatives for this too.
Waipu.tv
The provider waipu.tv is a German service for live TV on the Internet, which can be used either via smart TVs or streaming adapters (Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV) or via mobile devices. In addition to a free offer, there are also two premium packages for 9.99 euros ("Perfect") and 4.99 euros ("Comfort") per month. The Perfect package offers you 135 channels, 104 of which are in HD and also includes Pay TV. You can also record films and series with both packages. Waipu.tv offers a free trial month for the Perfect package, which is automatically canceled. In the free version, you only have 70 channels available, excluding private channels such as RTL or ProSieben.
Advantages:
- High speed through fiber optics
- Recording function for payment packages
- automatically ending trial month without specifying the payment method
- supports smartphones with iOS and Android as an app. Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Echo and the browsers Safari, Chrome and Firefox are also supported.
Disadvantage:
- 4K channels have only been announced so far, but are not yet available
- Recordings cannot be played offline
- The recording function is not always available for series and films of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group due to licenses (mostly only in-house productions)
Price:
- Free package: free of charge - 70 channels in SD quality (public broadcasters), 2 devices at the same time
- Comfort package: 4.99 euros per month - 116 channels, HD option bookable for 5 euros per month, 50 hours of recording memory, 2 devices at the same time, can be canceled monthly
- Perfect package: 9.99 euros per month - 135 channels, HD option included, 100 hours of recording memory, 4 devices at the same time, can be canceled monthly
Joyn
Joyn is a new German streaming service that emerged from the previous service 7TV in June 2019 and belongs to ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery. Joyn-GmbH is also planning to integrate Maxdome and the Eurosport player into its streaming platform of the same name. This makes the provider attractive to the customer, as the range is expanded to include films and sports. The Zattoo alternative is currently in the starting blocks and offers free TV channels in the live stream and on-demand videos. The streaming platform combines its own private broadcasters such as ProSieben, Sat1, MTV or Eurosport with public broadcasters such as ARD and ZDF and their "appendages". There are a total of 60 different channels - and completely free of charge.Apart from the live TV channels, Joyn's content ranges from in-house productions such as Jerks to animes such as OnePiece. In addition to the free package, which is financed through advertising, there is also the premium package Joyn Plus for 6.99 euros per month. A trial period for one month is included beforehand, in which you can test the exclusive content and 6 including pay TV channels without advertising..
Advantages:
- free live TV and video streaming without registration
- 60 different channels (e.g. the channels of the ProSiebenSat.1 group such as ProSieben, Sat1, Kabel 1, but also public broadcasters such as ARD and ZDF)
- Films and series from 11 media libraries (e.g. ProSieben, Sat.1 and DMAX)
Disadvantage:
- few channels in HD
- no timeshift
- no channels of the RTL group
Price:
- Joyn: free - live TV and video streaming, 60 channels, over 40,000 content
- Joyn Plus : 6.99 euros per month - live TV and video streaming without advertising, originals and exclusive content, 60 live channels including 6 pay TV channels, HD quality
TV Now
The RTL Group's counterpart to Joyn from ProSiebenSat.1 is TV Now. The video platform offers films and series as well as live TV from RTL, RTL II, VOX, RTL Living and other RTL Group channels. Similar to Joyn and Zattoo, it is possible to buy a subscription, which allows you to watch additional content and channels in HD quality. A browser on the computer or an app on mobile devices is required for streaming. TV Now advertises, among other things, that with the premium package you can watch new episodes of well-known series before they are broadcast on TV. If you book the premium package for 4.99 euros per month, you also have access to series that do not belong to the RTL group, such as Grey's Anatomy. With the Premium + package for 7.99 euros per month you get all the benefits of the normal premium package,but without any advertising.
Advantages:
- Image quality in HD (with a premium subscription)
- Exclusive content with the premium subscription
- cheaper than the competition in comparison
Disadvantage:
- only 14 live channels available
- There is also advertising for the premium package
- Up to 5 devices can be registered per account, but streaming in parallel does not work
Price:
- Free package: free of charge - series and shows can usually be streamed up to 7 days after the TV broadcast
- Premium package: 4.99 euros per month - channels in HD quality, 14 live streams, over 500 programs, exclusive content
- Premium + package: 7.99 euros per month - channels in HD quality, 14 live streams, over 500 programs, exclusive content, on two devices at the same time, without advertising
