Sen. Angus King Wants Streaming Services, Including Netflix, to Be Free This Winter

As the winter season slowly creeps in and the coronavirus pandemic continues to permeate the nation, one of Maine's senators is making a public plea.

According to News Center Maine, Senator Angus King is asking major streaming networks to release their content for free as a "public service" this winter, in hopes of keeping people home, entertained and safe from potential exposure to COVID-19.

On the surface, the idea makes perfect sense. If people have more entertainment choices within their home, the more likely they will be to pass on gathering with friends or venturing out in public to a potentially crowded place.

However, the biggest hurdle is the most obvious one, who pays those subscription fees or what is really in it for streaming services?

That's likely going to be the reason why Senator King's plea will stall.

He sent a letter asking for content to be made free to the heavy hitters of the streaming world. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBOMax, AppleTV+ and Amazon Prime were on the list.

For so many people across Maine, they already have one or two of these subscription services at home, but all six? Probably not. If King's request were granted by these major streaming players, other streaming subscription services may follow suit including ESPN+ and the soon-to-be-launched Discovery+.

Where that leaves people who already subscribe and pay fees is something that isn't addressed in King's letter.

But at least the conversation has started. Would you be more willing to stay home this winter if all major streaming subscription services were made free?