The new Movistar Plus+ was released on August 1 in an attempt to offer a most exclusive service with important changes in terms of programming and channels.
For this, the operator changed certain dials removing some, moving from place others and, most importantly, premiering a series of own channels that carry the brand of the house with premium aspiration and in theory a differentiating approach with respect to the competition.
The new additions are ‘Movistar Plus+’, ‘Originals by M+’, ‘Cinema by M+’, ‘Series by M+’, ‘Music for M+’, ‘Documentaries for M+’, ‘Vamos por M+’ and ‘Ellas Vamos por M+’.
How are these channels, are they worth it? This is what they seemed to me after one month of usein my case from the UHD decoder and also occasionally from two PCs connected to the same local network at home.
What I liked the most and least about the new channels
The first thing worth mentioning is that Movistar has chosen to separate its own content to take it, in theory, to ‘Originals by M+’, although this division is not always fulfilled and it is common for the new reference channel, ‘Movistar Plus+’, to continue to be fed with varied productions in what seems to be an attempt to be a sample of the “best” of the service.
Even so, there is something more “clean” than the previous one ‘#0 by M+’ with which it shares a dial number, but if what we are looking for is a channel with a premium film and series focus, in my opinion they have not yet achieved it. There is a lot of the most varied programming but for my particular taste a little “filling”, which would be fine at certain hours of the morning, but at those of maximum audience (for example after 9:00 p.m.) it would be nice to have something more prominent.
What seems to me a great success is the channel of ‘Cinema by M+’. In fact, It’s the best of the mods. that the operator has done, since after the last eliminations of the basic grid of other movie-going spaces such as those included in the additional payment package AMC Selekt or AXN Movies, lovers of the seventh art had been left a little neglected if we did not hire them.
With a Full HD resolution and Dolby Digital soundWe lovers of the seventh art now have a meeting point with recently released movies With titles right now that include films from 2021 onwards and that are not available on the other generalist film channels of the operator or, of course, on DTT.
In these weeks they have been issuing front line titles such as ‘Matrix Resurrections’, ‘Dune (2021)’, ‘The Batman’, ‘Jurassic World Dominion’, ‘The Man from the North’ or ‘Bullet train’ and others in the second division but also recently released as ‘The mediator’ , ‘The lair’, ‘The Beast’ or ‘The weapon of deceit’.
In addition, of course, we have a swarm of films from all times with which the daily schedule is filled, as well as special film programs related to specific authors, certain premieres, sagas, etc. this channel ‘Cinema by M+’ is, in my opinion, the most interesting thing about the new Movistar Plus+ since it offers you a premium cinema space without having to pay for the additional specialized package as you had to do before the changes.
No ads between movies, although from time to time some progress on the programming of the day that comes and goes and can bother a bit in the middle of some scenes. Regarding the issue of the logo, although the ideal would be that there were none or that it be less striking, as we will discuss at the end, of the new channels is the most discreet.
The channel ‘Documentaries by M+’ It is an interesting space although with its lights and shadows. The idea when creating it I suppose would be to offer a dial where to emit premiere documentaries in certain hours of prime audience, filling the grid with other varied documentaries emulating the typical ones such as ‘Odyssey’, ‘Canal historia’ and the like, although with a more premium touch. You get it?
It depends. Although there are recently created documentaries with very good audiovisual quality, but the rest of the content is somewhat confusing in my opinion. The reason is that documentaries about whales in the arctic are mixed with others about music and about the lives of certain artists or about interviews, which may be fine, but I think it’s not their place and they should go either to ‘Originals by M+’ if they are self-produced or to ‘Music by M+’.
And precisely the latter ‘Music by M+’ It is another space with potential that at the moment does not seem to be well used. At the moment it has focused on offering concerts by certain renowned pop and rock artists, documentaries and interviews about musical careers that are repeated day after day, even some music-related film space (‘Los chicos del choir’ for example) but in my opinion it lacks some more musical content, such as music videos, compilations, anthologies, classical music concerts, etc.
The channel ‘Series by M+’ It is an old acquaintance of many clients since it already existed before, although now it also includes the contents of the old ‘Series 2 by M+’. It is a space for series of all types of orientation and in which we can find everything from the latest premiere seasons to older ones. If you like the series, it is an essential place to go to look for them, although if you are a regular consumer, you will probably run out quickly and you will be anxious for a new premiere to arrive.
Finally we have the sports channels ‘Vamos por M+’ and ‘Ellas Vamos por M+’ of which I have to confess that I am not a big fan precisely because of its theme. However, if you like both competitions and learning about the lives and miracles of the most famous athletes in history, it is a good space with relatively varied content.
Overly flashy logos and ads
Finally, a point that I have not finished liking after trying the service this month has been related to the new channel logosthe famous “flies” that, although I find them pleasant in terms of design, continue to suffer from the same problem as many other television channels, including DTT or those of Movistar Plus+: they are too big, flashy, shiny and annoying.
Reduce the size of channel logos or make them less visible (ideally, they would be completely removed for some content), such as adding some transparency or decreasing its brightness It would be most appreciated especially when watching a movie with black bands where the big “M+” of the operator takes you out of immersion in the night scenes.
if you have one OLED TV and you’re a bit fussy about panel care, some of the new logos will make you turn down the brightness to keep it in the best possible condition, but you’ll miss out on some of the awesomeness of the images especially if the room is brightly lit.
In addition, although the chains must notify about the content age restrictions that they are issuing, the ads are also annoying, especially since they are on the screen all the time as if it were another logo. Not to mention the intermittent or permanent advertising about upcoming channel content, which in my opinion bothers more than informs when introduced in the middle of a series or movie.
Cover image | Movistar Plus+
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