Q: When is "Yellowstone" returning with its new season?
A: I've been getting asked this question just about every week but now have a good answer. New episodes of the Kevin Costner series will begin with two episodes telecast on Nov. 7 on the Paramount Network (the cable service). "Yellowstone" will then provide a launching pad for two new series on Paramount Plus (the streaming service). One is "The Mayor of Kingstown," a drama with Jeremy Renner, arriving Nov. 14. The other is "1883," about the early years of "Yellowstone's" Dutton family, with Sam Elliott and Tim McGraw, arriving Dec. 19. They will get simulcasts of early episodes on Paramount Network following "Yellowstone" telecasts, to lure folks to later showings on Paramount Plus.
Just what is 'streaming'?
Q: I am a senior long past Social Security age. My question is: What exactly is meant by "streaming" as I see it so often about shows? I have a regular TV with cable and really don't know if I can watch programs that "stream." P.S. I do not have children or grandkids to explain.
A: To start with, here's one explanation of streaming from Verizon: "Streaming refers to any media content — live or recorded — delivered to computers and mobile devices via the internet and played back in real time. Podcasts, webcasts, movies, TV shows and music videos are common forms of streaming content."
In other words, it's a way of receiving content other than from over-the-air broadcast signals or cable, and as such it involves a different delivery system. To watch streaming programs, you need an internet connection (wired or wireless) to your TV set, computer, phone, tablet or other device. How you connect the two is a different question. You may be doing it via an app in your phone, by a Roku device attached to your TV, through the streaming services built into your smart TV (if you have one) or by connecting your internet-bearing computer to your TV set.
Streaming has become especially attractive to people wanting to "cut the cord" — that is, get rid of their often-costly cable service — but still access a variety of programs. But once you are connected and trying to access Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, ESPN Plus, Prime Video or other streaming channels, you may have to pay a subscription fee to see the streamer's shows. And besides a streaming service, you may still want another means of watching programs on traditional networks and local stations.
All of which is why my wife just tells me to find shows we want to watch — wherever the heck they are.
Write to brenfels@gmail.com.
