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Here's a look at the new streaming challengers and what you get with each: 

NEW PLAYERS 

Disney+

Disney's entertainment service, featuring shows and movies from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.

Launch date: November 12

Price: $7 a month or $70 a year. Getting Disney Plus with ESPN Plus and Hulu, both owned by Disney, will cost $13 a month.

Promotions: Seven-day free trial. Free year with all Verizon Wireless unlimited plans and when customers switch to Verizon's Fios Home Internet or 5G Home Internet.

Original shows: 'The Mandalorian,' a live-action 'Star Wars' series created by Jon Favreau. A prequel to the 'Star Wars' movie 'Rogue One.' A series about the Marvel character Loki. A rebooted 'High School Musical' series. A documentary series focused on Disney.

Other shows and movies: Animated classics, including 'Aladdin' and 'The Jungle Book,' will be available at launch; others will be added as streaming deals with other services expire. Movies released in 2019 or later will go to Disney Plus rather than a rival streaming service first. Disney Plus will also house past seasons of 'The Simpsons,' which Disney got through its purchase of Fox's entertainment business.

Apple TV+ 

Apple's entry into the streaming business.

Launch date: November 1

Price: $5 a month

Promotions: Seven-day free trial. A year free to buyers of a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod Touch or Mac.

Original shows: A Jason Momoa series called 'See' and 'The Morning Show,' a comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell. The service will launch with nine original shows and movies, with more expected each month.

Other shows and movies: None.

Peacock 

The service from Comcast's NBCUniversal will carry 15,000 hours of video at launch.

Launch date: April 2020

Price: Undisclosed

Promotions: Free for many Comcast cable and internet customers.

Original shows: Reboots of 'Battlestar Galactica' and 'Saved by the Bell.' Comedy series 'Rutherford Falls,' from Michael Schur, creator of 'The Good Place' and 'Parks and Recreation.'

Other shows and movies: '30 Rock, 'Will & Grace,' and 'Cheers,' though these won't stream exclusively on Peacock. Peacock will get 'Parks and Recreation' and 'The Office' once existing deals with Netflix expire. 'Bridesmaids,' ''E.T.' and other movies from Universal Pictures, Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation.

HBO MAX

A souped-up version of HBO from AT&T's WarnerMedia, with some 10,000 hours of video at launch.

Launch date: May 2020

Price: $15 a month

Promotions: Free for about 10 million existing HBO subscribers - those who get HBO through AT&T distribution platforms such as U-Verse and DirecTV, and those who get the HBO Now streaming service directly from HBO, rather than a cable or online partner such as Amazon. Free for customers of AT&T's higher-tier wireless and broadband offerings.

Original shows: A 'Game of Thrones' prequel called 'House of the Dragon.' ''Raised by Wolves,' a sci-fi series directed by Ridley Scott. 'Strange Adventures,' a DC Super Hero anthology series.

Other shows and movies: HBO shows and movies, including theatrical releases that HBO licenses. Programs from the Warner Bros. studio, including 'Friends,' ''The Big Bang Theory,' ''The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' and 'Pretty Little Liars.' The animated comedy 'South Park.' New CW shows 'Batwoman' and 'Riverdale' spinoff 'Katy Keene' will also be available to stream after the season ends.

Source: The Associated Press 

STREAMING VETERANS 

Netflix

Launch date: February 2007

Price: Netflix's most basic plan is $8.99 per month, its Standard plan with HD quality - the company's most popular offering - is $12.99 per month and the Premium plan is $15.99 per month.  

Original Shows: Netflix features more than 1,000 original offerings, including Stranger Things, The Crown, Orange Is The New Black, Bojack Horseman and GLOW.

Hulu

Launch date: March 2008

Price: Hulu offers four levels of service: Basic ($5.99 per month), Premium ($11.99 per month), Basic + Live TV ($44.99 per month), and Premium + Live TV ($50.99 per month). Basic has ads, while Premium is ad-free.

Original shows: Hulu offers significantly fewer originals than its competitor Netflix, with 26. Popular series include The Handmaid's Tale, Castle Rock, PEN15 and The Act. 

Amazon Video

Launch date: September 2006

Price: Amazon Video is available to all Amazon Prime members. The Prime membership is $12.99 per month or $119 per year.  

Original shows: Amazon has 39 original shows, including The Man in the High Castle, Bosch, Mozart in the Jungle, Patriot, Sneaky Pete and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 

IRVINE, Calif. – VIZIO, Inc., the #1 American-based TV brand1 and #1 sound bar brand in America, today announced that customers in the US and Canada can now access the Apple TV app on SmartCast TVs to enjoy Apple TV+, Apple TV channels, new and popular movies, and personalized and curated recommendations. For a limited time, eligible VIZIO SmartCast customers in the US can sign up for Apple TV+ and receive three months free.*

On the Apple TV app, VIZIO customers can enjoy Apple TV+, the first all-original global streaming service featuring Apple Originals from today's most imaginative storytellers, including "The Morning Show," "Defending Jacob," "Central Park," "Ted Lasso," "Greyhound," "The Banker," "Boys State" and "Beastie Boys Story," and kids and family entertainment such as "Helpsters," "Ghostwriter" and "Snoopy in Space." VIZIO SmartCast TV users can simply select the Apple TV app icon from the SmartCast Home screen and sign in with their Apple ID to subscribe to Apple TV+.

Customers can also subscribe to Apple TV channels, such as SHOWTIME, CBS All Access, and Starz, and watch online and offline, ad-free and on demand, directly on the Apple TV app.** Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share subscriptions to Apple TV channels using their personal Apple ID and password.

Additionally, VIZIO SmartCast TV users can browse the Apple TV app to buy or rent over 100,000 movies and TV shows, including titles available in 4K HDR and with Dolby Atmos, as well as access their library of movie and TV show purchases from Apple.

VIZIO customers can also enjoy Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit capabilities on SmartCast TVs. With AirPlay 2, VIZIO customers can stream, control, and share their favorite content directly from their iPhone, iPad, or Mac to their VIZIO SmartCast TV. HomeKit allows customers to easily and securely control their SmartCast TV using the Home app or by asking Siri on their Apple devices.

Availability
Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app on VIZIO SmartCast TVs, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac and other platforms, including at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month after the free offer.

*This offer for VIZIO customers with 2016 or later SmartCast TVs enabled with SmartCast Home is available to new Apple TV+ subscribers only and ends October 16. One subscription per Family Sharing group. Plan automatically renews until cancelled. Please visit vizio.com/appleoffer for more information.

**Availability of Apple TV channels vary by market.

Vizio

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video may be the easiest ways to stream content, but they may not have exactly what you want to watch. If you’ve spent the past few years building up your own collection of digital content, you can watch whatever you want, but getting it onto your big-screen TV isn’t always the most straightforward process.

If you’d like to know how to stream content from your laptop, desktop, phone or tablet to your TV, read on for a variety of options.

Two Main Methods

Generally speaking, there are two convenient ways to get content from your computer or mobile device to your TV: screen mirroring and media servers. (You could also just take the path of least resistance and hook up your device to your TV via HDMI, but you don’t need a how-to guide for that.)

Screen mirroring is exactly what it sounds like: Whatever’s on your computer or mobile screen appears on your TV screen wirelessly. The benefits of this approach are obvious, but it’s not as foolproof as it may sound. Not all screen-mirroring protocols are created equal, and you’ll need a pretty stellar Wi-Fi connection to watch with perfect fidelity. (Check out our top 802.11ac routers to get the best performance.)

MORE: Best Streaming Devices

Media servers are the more traditional, more reliable and more involved solution. By running software on your computer or mobile device, you can effectively make it into a remote server. Then, you can broadcast content to your TV easily and with no loss of quality, as long as you’re on the same network. Setting them up takes some legwork, though.

METHOD 1: SCREEN MIRRORING

Screen mirroring is the faster option, so we’ll cover that first. Bear in mind, though, that if you’re going to be streaming stuff from your computer or mobile device on a regular basis, you can save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run by setting up a media server. Scroll down for more information on how to do that.

There are three main types of screen mirroring protocols, and you’ll need different hardware and software depending on what you want to use. Each of these explanations assumes that you have already plugged the necessary receiver into your TV and have gone through any requisite setup procedures.

Google Cast

Required Transmitter: Android device
Required Receiver: Google Chromecast or Android TV device

Arguably the best (and definitely the most accessible and reliable) method of screen mirroring is Google Cast. This protocol works with almost any modern Android device, making it an extremely accessible solution. You’ll also need an Android TV or Chromecast device as a receiver, but considering that Chromecasts start at $35, it’s one of the more affordable solutions.

There are also a fair number of smart TVs powered by Android TV, such as the Vizio SmartCast P-Series.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Google Home app.

The app comes preinstalled on Android devices; iOS devices can get it from the Apple App Store.

2. Open the menu.

The menu is located in the upper-right corner of the screen and looks like three parallel horizontal lines.

3. Select Cast Screen.

Your screen should now be mirrored on your TV.

4. Watch the video as you normally would.

Just operate your phone or tablet as normal, and whatever you do will appear on-screen. When you’re done, you can go back to the Google Home app and disconnect the same way you connected.

Apple AirPlay

Required Transmitter: iOS device or macOS computer
Required Receiver: Apple TV or Apple TV 4K

If you’re invested in the Apple ecosystem, AirPlay will be your go-to screen mirroring protocol.

While it’s neither as accessible nor as ironclad as Google Cast, it’s a decent enough solution — provided that you have at least two very expensive Apple gadgets at your disposal. To use AirPlay, start with an iPhone, iPad or MacBook close at hand, and an Apple TV hooked up to your television. Then, follow these steps:

iOS

1. Open the Control Center.

You can do this by swiping up from the bottom of your screen.

2. Tap the AirPlay mirroring symbol.

It looks like a TV screen with a triangle in the middle.

3. Enter the password.

You may have to enter a password on your iPhone or iPad. The password will be displayed on your TV.

4. Watch the video as you normally would.

Watch the video the same way you normally would on your phone or tablet. When you’ve finished, you can reopen the Control Center and stop mirroring the same way you started it.

macOS

1. Select AirPlay from the menu bar.

That’s really all you have to do. You can control screen mirroring right from the home screen. Turn it off the same way.

Miracast

Required Transmitter: Android device or Windows 8.1+ computer
Required Receiver: Any Miracast receiver (including Amazon Fire TV and Roku)

Miracast was supposed to be a simple and unifying screen-mirroring solution; instead, it kind of, sort of, almost works as intended. In theory, it’s extremely simple: Just cast your screen from an Android or Windows device, and it shows up on your TV. In practice, however, you need an absolutely flawless Wi-Fi network and a little bit of luck. Either way, using Miracast isn’t hard; just don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work very well.

Mobile

1. Open the Settings menu.

Every Android phone is a little different, and yours might have a simpler way of doing this. But you’ll definitely find the options you need under Settings.

2. Select Display.

Again, the location varies, so scroll through until you find it.

3. Choose Cast Screen.

Incidentally, if you see a Cast Screen option elsewhere on your phone (like in the toolbar), it does the same thing. You may not have to dive into the Settings menu.

4. Choose your receiver.

Your phone or tablet screen should now be mirrored on the TV. If you want to break the connection, just go back into the Cast Screen options, and choose Disconnect.

Windows PC

NOTE: Not every PC is optimized for Miracast streaming. Newer machines with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 are usually capable of it, but the only way to know for sure is to test it.

1. Open the Settings menu.

You can search for it in the Windows search bar or open it from the Start menu.

2. Select System.

It should be the first icon in the menu, and it looks like a computer.

3. Ensure that you’re in the Display menu.

You should be taken here automatically, but if not, it’s the first option on the left side of the screen.

4. Click "Connect to a wireless display."

Your computer will now search for any Miracast receiver within range.

5. Choose your receiver.

Your screen should now be mirrored on your TV. To disconnect, just click the device on the connected display again.

METHOD 2: MEDIA SERVERS

Required Transmitter: PC, Mac, Android device or iOS device
Required Receiver: Almost any computer, mobile device, streaming player or game console

Although media servers require a few minutes (or a few hours, depending on how much media you’ve accrued) to set up, they’re a much more reliable and efficient way to stream content than screen mirroring is.

Media server programs essentially turn your PC into a remote server that streams video to a receiver that’s hooked up to your TV. Receivers will often optimize video streamed from media servers, regardless of the format it’s saved in, making it a good choice for anyone with a Wi-Fi connection that’s not reliable enough for perfect screen mirroring. (Of course, having a powerful Wi-Fi connection won’t do any harm.)

MORE: How to Buy a Streaming Media Player

Quality media server programs are a dime a dozen, especially on Windows and Android. While we can’t discuss the specifics of every single program on the market, we’ll give one free-software recommendation per system. If you’re curious about other options, just search for “[operating system] media server” on Google and see what comes your way. (For paid options, we like Plex and PlayOn, but neither one is necessary.)

No matter which system you use, I do have one recommendation: Put all of your media in a single, easy-to-find location; call it something like “Media,”“Media Server” or “Video Collection.” Keeping everything in one place will make your media server easy to navigate, and it will keep out all of the ancillary video and audio files from elsewhere on your system.

Also keep in mind that just as broadcasting content from a media server is different from each device, so, too, is receiving it. Generally speaking, you’re going to want to look for your device’s default media player app and then select your PC from a list of possible broadcast sources. If you can’t find it easily, do a Google search for “[device name] media server.” There are very few modern devices that can’t access content from media servers.

Windows

1. Open Windows Media Player.

You can find Windows Media Player under Windows Accessories in the Start menu. Or, you can just search for it. There are better Windows media server programs out there (for example, VLC), but this one is already on your machine, and the setup is foolproof.

2. Click on Stream.

It should be toward the top of the program, right underneath Library.

3. Select "Turn on media streaming."

This should open up a pop-up window in Windows Explorer.

4. Confirm your choice.

Click the gray button that says “Turn on media streaming.” Then, press OK.