So between rewiring and configing hardware this weekend I got caught up in trying to watch an episode of a SyFy show. I finally found it on Vudu. They have episodes even Amazon does not have. One catch is you pay by the show / movie. Shows in SD start at $2/episode, $3 for HD. Another is it streaming only. They also seemed to have movies before others, though they seemed a bit pricey at $3 for old stuff and $7+ for new. So I did a quick compare. For example renting at SD/720p/1080p
Terminator 3 Vudu:$2/$3/$4 , Amazon:$2/$3/$3 Netflix: unavailable.
A Good Day to Die Hard & Oblivion Vudu:$5/$6/$6 , Amazon:$5/$6/$6 Netflix: unavailable.
Europa Report Vudu:$7/$8/$9 , Amazon:$7/$8/$8 Netflix: unavailable.
Terminator 3 Vudu:$2/$3/$4 , Amazon:$2/$3/$3 Netflix: unavailable.
A Good Day to Die Hard & Oblivion Vudu:$5/$6/$6 , Amazon:$5/$6/$6 Netflix: unavailable.
Europa Report Vudu:$7/$8/$9 , Amazon:$7/$8/$8 Netflix: unavailable.
The Avengers oddly is available on Netflix but can only be bought on Vudu $18/$23/$23 and Amazon $15/$20/$20 unless you are a Prime member in which case you can stream if free but only to your PC. And the Blu-ray/DVD combo (cheapest DVD version available) can be had for $22 (including shipping) on Amazon.
So it seems Amazon is currently your best bet for movies and you just have to go hunting to find shows. If the studios do streaming deals they are increasingly exclusive deals and often do not even mention they are available anywhere. CBS and "Under the Dome" seems to be the exception to this. Netflix has lost so much content that every movie I searched for to do this compare came up as unavailable. I finally went to their what is new page to find a movie they had. They do seem to still have the older shows but one has to wonder for how long. Thinking it might be better to take that Netflix money and put it towards buying shows. Seems to be where the studios are driving us anyway. Though with the prices these days that money will not go far. I remember how VHS tape used to be as high as $100 for new movies. Only rental stores bought them. Then they got the idea to sell them under $25 and they flew off the shelves and prices fell even further. Studios seemed to support streaming till it all but killed DVD rentals and now the studios seem to be trying to starve out streaming and DVD prices have been steadily rising. Funny how they never seem to learn from history.
[Update: 6/26/2017] Still seeing the trend to have own sites instead of throwing in with likes of Hulu. Though it seems like the networks are not quite as sure about it. Oddly CBS has reversed course and shot to the other end of the spectrum, keeping almost all their shows to themselves AND expecting you to pay monthly to be able watch the last 5 WITH COMMERCIALS!