Today I got a really exciting email in my inbox, inviting me to trial Stan – Australia’s first all you can eat streaming service from StreamCo, a joint venture between Fairfax Media and Channel Nine (please note Novastream is not affiliated with either).
So after months of teasing we finally got to create an account, login and see what Stan had to offer. It is safe to say I was definitely not disappointed. Premium TV shows like Mozart In The Jungle, Lost Girl and Golden Globe winning Transparent are all exclusive and first on Stan. So if you are looking for these shows (as well as the highly anticipated Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul) the only place you can watch them (legally!) in Australia is Stan.
In other premium style shows you can watch entires series and seasons of Nurse Jackie, Californication, The Big C and if you are looking for something a little more local Summer Heights High, Jam’ie Private School Girl, We Can Be Heroes, Fat Pizza, Housos, Wilfred, Mabo, House Husbands, Upper Middle Bogan and Love Child are all available as well.
Here are some other TV highlights that are making Stan one of the best streaming services we have seen.
The Nanny
Dawson’s Creek
Party Of Five
Teen Wolf
Angry Boys
South Park
Married With Children
Will & Grace
Community
Absolutely Fabulous
Little Britain
Fawlty Towers
The Office (UK)
The Vicar Of Dibley
Dexter
Sherlock
The Good Wife
Breaking Bad
Movies wise – Stan is a little lacking in newer releases, especially when compared to Presto or Foxtel. An impressive James Bond collection with every Bond film available for streaming will be attractive for fans of the series. The movies section shines with its Aussie content, offering films like Lantana, Animal Kingdom, Chopper, Muriel’s Wedding, Reckless Kelly, Young Einstein and Romper Stomper highlighting the collection.
Some other great movie highlights are :
The Lord Of The Rings collection
The Hobbit (first two films)
The Twilight Saga
The Matrix Trilogy
Terminator Series
The Graduate
West Side Story
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
There is a separate section for kids, and you can even create up to six profiles on your account to keep everything separate. The kids will be clamouring for you television with shows like Spongebob Squarepants, The Penguins Of Madagascar, Rugrats,Rocko’s Modern Life, The Wiggles,Octonauts and Angela Anaconda.
An old school section for big kids (ok adults!) boasts Round The Twist, Teen Wolf, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Astro Boy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Thunderbirds.
Kids Movies combine new and classic films like The Neverending Story, Short Circuit and Agent Cody Banks. Unfortunately you won’t find the large Disney style range as seen on Presto so things like Frozen and recent films are not on this service (yet) but there is still enough to entertain the littlies.
The interface of Stan is fairly simple to use, and if you have been using a VPN and Netflix USA, the style is exactly the same, but with a blue colour interface. You can have your own list and add shows and movies to your queue so you don’t lose track of what you are watching. Stan CEO Mike Sneesby confirmed that Stan will stream in 1080p HD and is accessible on supported browsers on PC and Mac as well as Chromecast and Apple Play. You can download the Stan app on your IOS or Android phone/tablet.
Personally I am holding out for a PS4/Xbox One app that allows compatibility with gaming console devices. But I am sure this is coming in the future (hopefully!) and with such a large catalogue, this truly exceeded my expectations.
Stan is truly Australia’s first quality streaming service, offering HD streaming with full seasons of recent TV shows, while getting some really good quality exclusives as well. The good news is with such a large catalogue at launch, it can only get better from here on in. Stan is currently invite only and we will bring you more information as to when you can sign up for service and start watching.
Now if you will excuse me I have a season of Transparent to watch….
You can sign up for Stan here
Article by Alaisdair Dewar
