Look, if there are going to be ads, these services should be completely free. No excuses. 

 

I've been reading the past few months in some of the trades about the main streaming services. According to some experts, once Netflix no longer had the streaming landscape all to itself and started facing expanding competition (Apple, Amazon, Disney, etc.) they started churning out record amounts of programming, most of it very expensive, until the inevitable happened. 

It cost them so much to effectively beat each other's brains out with innovative new shows and movies that it wound up costing them more than they were making. Price hikes only caused defections, which led to the spiral we're seeing now. The very thing that made them so different and desirable (i.e. sheer volume of programming, a price point cheaper than cable, on demand viewing and no interruptions) has started to unravel.

Now that commercials are being offered on almost all of these places for the same original price and multiple services are costing consumers the same or even more than cable did, they may be starting to lose the very advantages that made them so attractive in the first place. 

I see this as them saying these guys were flying too close to the sun and like Icarus, the wings have finally started to melt. 

If I'm paying for ads, in my case, it's more likely I'm not going to be paying at all. This could be an interesting year to see how they all do as people's finances are already stretched to the limit. I wonder how many subscribers will keep one streamer and give up on multiple others. 

I'm pretty sure I've heard there's no fast forwarding allowed. You can turn down the volume, you can leave the room or you can close your eyes. But from what I've read, you'll have no choice but to let them play. Otherwise, everyone would just skip them like on a DVR. No sponsor is going to allow that to happen for the money they're paying. 

Too many channels/services and not enough viewers/subscribers.  That's why if you watch any network almost every break includes a promo for their streaming service or a deal they are offering.  

RadioActive wrote:

Or I suppose you could do what a friend of mine does. Wait until all the seasons of a show you really want to see are out, subscribe to the service for a month and binge watch every episode, then cancel it before you get charged for another month.  

I did something similar when HBO was running Boardwalk Empire. Rogers had a three month free preview of HBO. Empire usually had 13 episodes per season which fit nicely into the preview window. I was able to watch the entire series by this method.

Interesting timing. They're adding commercials but subtracting a ton of employees.

Amazon to Lay Off Hundreds of Staff From Prime Video and Studios Divisions