Streaming Chicanery

[Devilmaycare]

A couple pieces of news. First Apple is raising the price of Apple TV+.

Apple raises price of Apple TV+ to $9.99 a month

The price increases will also hit Apple's Arcade, News+

www.cnbc.com

Second a few of the services are adding ads to the pause screen. This one really irks me. A lot of the time I pause because I want quiet for a few seconds for something else that I'm doing. I also don't like that they're doing something that can cost the user additionally. Video isn't small and bandwidth isn't free. Most of us have caps.

Hulu, Max and Peacock are introducing a 'pause ads' feature – and I'm not a fan

'Pause ads' are here to make your streaming experience that little bit more annoying

www.techradar.com

 

[puckhead]

We're all probably going to end up paying more than we ever did for cable eventually but it will just be less convenient than those packages were.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

A couple pieces of news. First Apple is raising the price of Apple TV+.

Apple raises price of Apple TV+ to $9.99 a month

The price increases will also hit Apple's Arcade, News+

www.cnbc.com

Second a few of the services are adding ads to the pause screen. This one really irks me. A lot of the time I pause because I want quiet for a few seconds for something else that I'm doing. I also don't like that they're doing something that can cost the user additionally. Video isn't small and bandwidth isn't free. Most of us have caps.

Hulu, Max and Peacock are introducing a 'pause ads' feature – and I'm not a fan

'Pause ads' are here to make your streaming experience that little bit more annoying

www.techradar.com

Peacock has had pause adds for a long time. I don't see why they are a big deal. I'd much prefer pause ads vs ads in the middle of an episode or movie...

 

[Devilmaycare]

Peacock has had pause adds for a long time. I don't see why they are a big deal. I'd much prefer pause ads vs ads in the middle of an episode or movie...

If I'm paying for a service I don't want ads.

It's also going to depend on if they're video ads or stills. I'd put up with the latter to an extent while the former will get me to cancel. The impression I had was that they're toying with doing videos.

 

[SunsTzu]

We're all probably going to end up paying more than we ever did for cable eventually but it will just be less convenient than those packages were.

I think we'll see a lot of consolidation between these streaming services. Everyone saw how much Netflix was making off their licensed properties and thought it would be a goldmine to make their own streaming service. Now companies are finding these services are just a money pit and can't make them profitable with so many competing services that have diluted catalogs.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

If I'm paying for a service I don't want ads.

People have been paying for ads with a service like cable for the past 30 years...

 

[Devilmaycare]

People have been paying for ads with a service like cable for the past 30 years...

Just because we've allowed ourselves to be punched in the face for the last 30 years doesn't mean we should continue to allow it.

 

[Devilmaycare]

4k on MAX is now $20/month. The $16/month ad free tier is 1080p. They're also dropping the number of concurrent streams.

Max’s Standard No-Ads Plan Is Dropping 4K Ultra HD Content, Reducing Concurrent Streams From Three to Two

Max's standard ad-free plan, priced at $15.99 per month, will no longer include 4K titles and will be able to stream on only two devices at once.

variety.com

 

[puckhead]

4k on MAX is now $20/month. The $16/month ad free tier is 1080p. They're also dropping the number of concurrent streams.

Max’s Standard No-Ads Plan Is Dropping 4K Ultra HD Content, Reducing Concurrent Streams From Three to Two

Max's standard ad-free plan, priced at $15.99 per month, will no longer include 4K titles and will be able to stream on only two devices at once.

variety.com

I think you're supposed to be thankful that they're not charging $4,000.00/month for 4K streaming.

 

[Dan H]

I’ve canceled everything except Prime and Peacock. I get the latter for free with my Internet subscription.

I’ve also been buying a lot of physical media. There’s a store near selling used Blu Rays for as low as $3 on sale.

 

[Devilmaycare]

So glad I dumped Prime almost a year ago. https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/26/24015595/amazon-prime-video-ads-coming-january-29

 

[Cheesebeef]

So glad I dumped Prime almost a year ago. https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/26/24015595/amazon-prime-video-ads-coming-january-29

they're going cut in ads... during movies? man, that's awful.

 

[Stout]

Yeah, I got the email yesterday. I was so freaking steamed. But wait, just pay an extra 3 bucks a month and you get no ads! Shove it up your tax dodging ass, Bezos!

 

[AzStevenCal]

Yeah, I got the email yesterday. I was so freaking steamed. But wait, just pay an extra 3 bucks a month and you get no ads! Shove it up your tax dodging ass, Bezos!

I pay for too many services and prime is one of them. When I got the email I immediately chose the option to pay for no ads. But upon reflection, I realized I almost never watch Prime anymore since their viewing catalog shrunk from respectable to almost zero. If it got me ad free access to the stuff that used to be on Prime but now is only available from Freevee or Tubi or IMDB, I'd gladly pay the extra few bucks. But it doesn't. It's money for nothing because that's all they give me.

 

[Devilmaycare]

I pay for too many services and prime is one of them. When I got the email I immediately chose the option to pay for no ads. But upon reflection, I realized I almost never watch Prime anymore since their viewing catalog shrunk from respectable to almost zero. If it got me ad free access to the stuff that used to be on Prime but now is only available from Freevee or Tubi or IMDB, I'd gladly pay the extra few bucks. But it doesn't. It's money for nothing because that's all they give me.

It's part of the reason I dumped my Prime membership when it came up for renewal last year. It's not a value anymore at $140 IMO. Prime Video has nothing that interests me now and they removed a lot of the stuff that I used to watch. The bigfoot and UFO documentaries were my go to when sick. Brainless to sit on the couch with all day. They got me through covid. Last time I got sick they were all gone.

Shipping is the only part of Prime that I really use. It's generally not hard to get a $35 order for free shipping too. So it's harder for me to justify $140 for the few orders that I need now and can't wait a couple days to receive. It also got me shopping around a bit. B&H has been as good or better pricing on computer and networking gear plus they give free 2 day shipping. So it's been a plus in that I got rid of the lazy mindset of only looking at Amazon.

 

[Stout]

It's part of the reason I dumped my Prime membership when it came up for renewal last year. It's not a value anymore at $140 IMO. Prime Video has nothing that interests me now and they removed a lot of the stuff that I used to watch. The bigfoot and UFO documentaries were my go to when sick. Brainless to sit on the couch with all day. They got me through covid. Last time I got sick they were all gone.

Shipping is the only part of Prime that I really use. It's generally not hard to get a $35 order for free shipping too. So it's harder for me to justify $140 for the few orders that I need now and can't wait a couple days to receive. It also got me shopping around a bit. B&H has been as good or better pricing on computer and networking gear plus they give free 2 day shipping. So it's been a plus in that I got rid of the lazy mindset of only looking at Amazon.

It's definitely still great value for me and saves me a ton over the year. If it didn't, well, it would be gone now.

 

[MrYeahBut]

I don't watch anything there anyway. I just canceled too.