To you.
Mama told me Ms. Palin now has a TV station on the internets. I don't believe that. But was wonderin', since we already steal Netflix from my husband (he went away but bought a year subscription), do we need to supliment add the Sarah Palin TV for our viewing pleasure?
Thanks
Hoss.
It's a great question, Hoss!!
As you know, America's favorite ex-governor has started her own Internet channel. Which means it's just one more streaming choice of content in a world already full of it. Think of it as just another option to further dent your couch.
The Sarah Palin Channel, which debuts on -- well, I'm not really sure, it could already be up and running -- is modestly priced at $9.99 a month. That's either an amazing deal (think of all of the unedited video clips that are bound to be released at some point from some spy-intern over at MSNBC), or completely overpriced. Remember, she's doing this to, "talk to the people." If you'll recall, she was the Governor of Alaska, so she could very well have talked to people as governor, and FOR FREE. Didn't she at one point turn down a talk show? Well, whatever. She's charging you to hear her speak. Quite frankly, this seems to be a dressed up version of a Kickstarter campaign, because she's basically asking for money in exchange for talking to you.
Nonetheless, if you're overwhelmed about, "Should I buy this, Chris?" (Yes), or "How does it compare to other content available, like Netflix and Hulu Plus?" Don't worry. I have it all covered.
We know Netflix charges $7.99 for its most basic plan, which gives you the ability to stream one video at a time in standard definition. For the extra buck, though, you can stream in HD. So let's go crazy and do that.
Here is a small sample that I'm sure we're all familiar with of what we can get for $8.99:
On Netflix:
We know Netflix has amazing original content, like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. But it's also home to harder-to-find shows, like the BBC's Broadchurch, and Sundance Channel's, Rectify, which are both amazing, by the way. You can binge watch for days and weeks on hundreds of shows, like that episode of Portlandia when they binge-watched Battlestar Galactica, and forgot humans existed and lost everything. Speaking of humans not existing, YOU CAN GET YOUR ZOMBIE ON WITH THE WALKING DEAD!
On the Sarah Palin Channel:
A zombie (coincidence) talking about crony-capitalism and "the issues the main stream media won't cover." [ref: GUNS, OBAMA/KENYA]
Verdict: I have to be honest... this is a tougher decision than I thought it would be. Sure, Netflix has thousands of options to choose from, and if you don't like whatever rom-com your girl (or boy) put on, you can always press stop and put something else on like, Sizzling Bacon.
The Sarah Palin Channel on the other hand, may only offer a one-woman view of the world (in a world where Africa is country), but it is kind of a train wreck pulling into the depot. And we do love train wrecks.
Sarah will talk to you, too. She says so in the first twenty-seconds of her introduction video. You'll be able to speak, "directly to (her)" AND, "share some of the fun that goes on in the Palin household," like "adventures and the great outdoors (i.e. killing deer with machetes or shooting elk with machine guns)." That's a personalized service that you don't get with Netflix.
And if you're tired of pleasing your spouse when stopping mid-season of season 4 of Breaking Bad because they want to watch Justified, well you don't have to with the Sarah Palin Channel. She's not going to please the powers that be.
Phew!
I'm really going back and forth with this, but I think, and based ONLY on the amount of content available to me, I'm going to give Netflix the slight edge.
Slight.
Chris Peak is a freelance writer from Boston. He's contributed to Huffington Post, Gawker, Deadspin, and Point Magazine. Follow him @chrishpeak where he tweets about awkward randomness and social annoyances.