{"id":633958,"date":"2026-03-18T07:44:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T05:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=633958"},"modified":"2026-03-18T07:53:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T05:53:54","slug":"why-r82-youtube-is-better-than-r229-netflix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/columns\/633958-why-r82-youtube-is-better-than-r229-netflix.html","title":{"rendered":"Why R82 YouTube is better than R229 Netflix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

YouTube is a far superior streaming service to Netflix, and is only a third of the price in South Africa if you subscribe to the Premium option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t mind watching a few ads, then YouTube is truly unbeatable when it comes to pricing \u2014 a grand total of R0 per month versus the R229 you pay for a top-end Netflix subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But pricing is not the reason I rank YouTube over Netflix. Where it truly shines is the enormous variety of content on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Netflix positions itself as the modern entertainment platform of choice, it is still at the mercy of the long lead times and high costs which are synonymous with Hollywood-level productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This not only limits the amount of content that it shows, but also the variety on its platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a show is deemed too niche and will only appeal to a small audience, it is unlikely to get made, as it won\u2019t make financial sense for Netflix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouTube does not have this problem. Its army of independent creators upload content they deem best for their respective audiences, often with little regard for the addressable market size or profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result is that if you like watching anything from Age of Empires 2 gameplay to science experiments which focus on high-voltage systems, you have a range of options to choose from on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By comparison, Netflix feels very \u201ctraditional\u201d in the sense that it mostly shows mainstream series and movies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a lot more international and anime content than in previous years, but it often comes out slowly, and not all shows are renewed beyond their first season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third-party content is also frequently removed from Netflix when its licence for a particular show or movie in a region expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constant stream of new, varied videos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Hera, an Age of Empires II creator on YouTube<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A standout case study on how Netflix is being beaten by YouTube can be seen in the \u201ccar\u201d content category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples include the Carwow<\/a> channel on YouTube, which produces videos that focus on car reviews and spectacular performance tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carwow is often exclusively invited to drive and film the most expensive cars in the world before anyone else, providing light-hearted and entertaining insights along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mat Armstrong<\/a> and Mark McCann<\/a> are further examples, with long and engaging videos on everything from fixing a wrecked Bugatti Chiron to buying new, one-of-a-kind supercars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is complemented by frequent upload schedules that Netflix cannot match. Many YouTube channels publish content daily or weekly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combine this with the number of different creators who are publishing videos at this pace, and you are guaranteed to always have new content to watch every time you open the YouTube app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big players on YouTube<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mat Armstrong \u2014 YouTube<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another big plus for YouTube is the growing number of traditionally large players publishing their content on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sky News in the UK runs a livestream of its news channel. NHK Japan has daily highlight videos of every major sumo tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, National Geographic posts many of its in-depth documentaries. World Rugby posts replays of the matches from the Sevens World Cup. This list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows viewers to find and watch the content they want with a quick search, regardless of the mood they are in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted, if you wanted to watch Sevens Rugby or other major sporting events live, YouTube is not the best place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither is Netflix, however, unless your idea of high-quality sport is a 58-year-old Mike Tyson fighting a 27-year-old social media personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, many sporting bodies are launching their own streaming services at attractive rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Formula 1 TV Pro subscription, for example, is R80 per month and gives you access to all Formula 1 race weekends throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When combined with YouTube Premium at R82 per month, you get all the Formula 1 races live and the dozens of Formula 1 content creators, podcasts, and talk shows on YouTube that analyse and comment on every aspect of the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is literally too much content to keep up with, even for the most die-hard fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouTube on repeat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Formula 1 on YouTube<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This debate can be settled with the proverb: \u201cactions speak louder than words\u201d. When I get home at night, I don\u2019t open the Netflix app on my TV \u2014 I open YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit of news, a bit of sport, some video game trailers, and then an hour-long deep-dive into how to change the engine bracket of a R60-million hypercar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what modern entertainment looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an opinion piece<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Netflix positions itself as the modern entertainment platform of choice, it is still at the mercy of the long lead times and high costs which are synonymous with Hollywood-level productions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":633966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[2054,62312,2150,50853],"class_list":["post-633958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","tag-netflix","tag-video-streaming-services","tag-youtube","tag-youtube-premium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633958"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634072,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633958\/revisions\/634072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}