tcm.com

In 1986, Ted Turner purchased the Metro Goldwyn Mayer film studio for a whopping $1.5 billion. However, this extravagant purchase was short lived, as Turner soon had to sell the studio back to Kerkorian under concerns regarding the corporate debt of Turner Entertainment. This could have been an embarrassing short story for Mr. Ted Turner, if it weren't for one crucial detail in the initial contract of sale. It was specified that, no matter what happens, Turner Entertainment was to retain all rights to MGM's movie library. This is the film library that, along with the already sprawling list of movies Turner previously owned the rights to, ultimately, served as the basis for Turner Classic Movies when it finally did launch, on April 14th, 1994.

After thinking about it for a moment, it does seem like the story of TCM almost sounds like a movie that you would see on TCM. A scrappy film entrepreneur risks it all on a dream, nearly fails, but eventually overcomes his struggle and achieves more than he ever could have dreamed of. Just saying? I'd watch that movie (Teddy boy, let's do lunch soon, I think we have some business to discuss).

Thankfully, Ted Turner's dream of TCM came to fruition in the end. This is the sole reason that, for nearly 30 years now, we have had a reliable source for watching classic movies on television. And, nowadays, there is an even more reliable way to enjoy TCM's top-notch content, thanks to one of the best movie streaming sites on the web, WatchTCM.

Design

by incorporating interesting design features that set them apart from the rest. I admire how Watch TCM has gone against convention with their website design. It's rare to find a streaming site that stands out from the rest, and makes itself memorable in some way. This is what Watch TCM manages to do, though; by incorporating interesting design features that set them apart from the other streaming sites. For example, one menu lists all the features of the day and another presents each movie in alphabetical order. Honestly, at first glance, it does not look like a movie streaming site. It looks more like an outlet for journalistic work, with its stark black and white theme and layout that is similar to popular news sites. Or maybe it's the fact that TCM's featured movies are presented almost exactly in the same way as popular news sources- with menus containing different genres of content side by side, instead of being split into separate side-scrolling menus. In any event, Watch TCM offers some variation from other movie streaming sites by presenting its content in an alphabetical order instead of a strictly genre-based format.

This is refreshing - a movie streaming site that strives to do something different and stands out from the rest. But it means nothing unless it is also as effective as the albeit monotonous layout of the best movie streaming sites, like Netflix, Hulu, and the rest. I would go as far as to say that Watch TCM?'s site design is almost as effective.

Although I appreciate that this site offers more content than some of the other big movie streamers, I don't love the fact that it requires more clicking around than some of the other popular streaming sites. For example, Netflix has a layout where all of their content is located on one main page, which makes it very easy for users to browse. However, by not having a traditional layout like this on this site, you are forced to click into different pages in order to get access to more movies. This can be tedious and difficult for some people.

One thing that Watch TCM does well is to be straightforward. Once you click into the page on which all films can be browsed, you will find two options for filtering results. You can choose a genre from one dropdown menu at the top of the page, and how you want your results ordered from a dropdown menu immediately to the right. It's simple and straightforward. My only complaint is that you can only select one genre at a time.

This browsing feature would be more effective if it allowed users to select multiple items at the same time. For example, I might like a noir film and a western, but sometimes I just want one or the other. The site's browsing feature should make it possible for me to filter out both genres at the same time.

Content and Features

While this TCM site does have some simple features, it does not compare to other movie streaming sites when it comes to letting users add titles to watch lists, commenting on movies, and rating them. This is a downside for me because these kinds of social features are important to me when using a movie streaming site. I believe that Watch TCM is a valuable resource for classic movies because it provides a central location for discussing these films. This is especially true given the niche nature of the content.

I think that Watch TCM offers a simple service: stream classic movies. Maybe this doesn't bother you as much as it does me. If so, feel free to disregard what I'm saying here - one thing remains undebatable, though: Watch TCM has a large library of classic movies to stream on the web today. If that's all that matters to you, Watch TCM can definitely be called one of the best movie streaming sites on the market, without a doubt. From romance to war, from crime to sci-fi, there is something for every lover of classic cinema to be found here.

If you're a cable subscriber, you can watch TCM on-demand or live online. Just click on "Watch Live," choose your time zone, and tune in to whatever movie is airing at the moment. Watch TCM is the rare streaming site that comes with the perks of live television - the best of both worlds!

Mobile and Desktop Experience

Thanks to Watch TCM's dedicated mobile apps for Android and iOS, fans of Watch TCM can watch TCM no matter where they happen to be. Whether you want to catch a flick live while commuting home from work or watch a timeless classic on-demand while in line at the DMV, the Watch TCM app has your back. I think that this movie streaming app performs about the same as the website itself. It's not the best movie streaming app that I have ever seen, but it also isn't the worst. I have a similar complaint with the app as I do with the website - it's just a little clunkier and harder to navigate than it needs to be. But it gets the job done, nonetheless.

Many people say that this app is mediocre. On the Apple App Store, Watch TCM has an average user rating of 3.9. This is not great, and it's not terrible either.

Pricings and Plans

Unfortunately, there is no way to subscribe to Watch TCM on its own. In order to use both the movie streaming site and the app, you must be a traditional cable subscriber. That is, you must already have access to TCM via old-school cable in order to access TCM online. Even though this is incredibly annoying, it is far from uncommon - most cable networks go about their streaming sites this way. Unless, that is, they take the leap and create their own standalone streaming service, a la NBC's Peacock (but this is very rare).