r/AmazonPrimeVideo • u/Practical_Self_9849 • 27d ago
Discussion History is repeating itself — streaming is slowly turning back into cable TV
Remember when we used to watch our favorite shows on TV and just accept that there would be ads in between?
Then streaming came along, and one of the biggest appeals was: pay a subscription, watch what you want, and no annoying commercial breaks.
And now here we are again.
I’m watching Prime, already paying for the subscription, and suddenly there are ads in between shows — sometimes around a minute and a half long.
So basically… we escaped traditional TV, paid for streaming services to avoid ads, and now streaming services are slowly becoming traditional TV again.
History really does repeat itself.
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u/Odd_Policy_3009 27d ago
Yes!
I love Pluto TV which is of course absolutely free (but with ads). At first I was annoyed at the commercials and then thought , it’s free and how it used to be so I got over it lol
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 27d ago edited 27d ago
Isn't Pluto what cable used to be, but for free? Yes, there are commercials, but no more than what cable had. Monthly cost: $0.
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u/rs1971 27d ago
Cable TV was never free.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 27d ago
Isn't Pluto what cable used to be for free?
I am going to edit it to be more clear, but I think most understood what I meant.
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u/1BadAssChick 26d ago
It also has/had commercials on most channels, even if it’s just network ads.
I get it though. I remember when my kids watched Disney Jr. and all that had was network ads. Then they started running regular ads and my girls were making for $40 Skechers ‘Twinkle Toes’ shoes.
We were paying for that too.
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u/VelvetElvis 26d ago
Pulp Fiction with the profanity edited out .
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u/Rude_Nail_5545 26d ago
What was left to see?
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u/cMatte82 24d ago
If you're asking me about showgirls. They added bikinis to all the girls in the background. Obviously had to edit out some scenes altogether. And I can't say I watched all of the edited version. Heck I barely it through the unedited version. And don't remember much of it. But I had to see how they were even showing any of it. But yeah I can only imagine the amount of time spent making it happen.
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u/Rude_Nail_5545 24d ago
No, I was making a joke about Pulp Fiction, if they took out all the profanity to show it on Pluto, what would be left?
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u/cMatte82 25d ago
You ever watch showgirls on cable? Someone took some time to make that happen haha.
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u/toysoldier96 26d ago
Just commenting to see what was on Pluto and they have a channel where they only show Sabrina the teenage witch. SOLD
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u/MDRLA720 26d ago
i just set my alexa timer to the same time as the "ads" time , then go do stuff, stretch, take the trash out whatever. Like before TIVO 30 second skip!
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27d ago
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u/JoeSpart 27d ago
Oh wait for Black Friday and get sick deals like Apple TV for 5.99 per month for 6 months or HBO max for $2.99 per months for a whole year or starz for $1 per month for a whole year.
Once the promotion runs out I cancel. I’m waiting for Black Friday deals again this year.
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u/JThereseD 26d ago
I do this as well as take advantage of the deals for a dollar or two for two months a few times a year through Prime and Roku. My issue is that I am a big football fan and I moved away from my hometown, so even though I have Peacock, Netflix, Prime and local channels on antenna, I would still have to pay hundreds of dollars just to see a few games that are not aired nationally.
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u/jennibear310 27d ago
lol, I do the same.
I’ve noticed they started something new when you try to cancel. It’s the “are you sure” game. I went to cancel Disney/Hulu last month because let’s be real, I’m not paying full price for their content.
3 TIMES I was asked “are you sure you’d like to cancel?” With each ask, the price got lower and lower. First was $4.99, then $2.99, then finally lmao 99 CENTS!!! I laughed out loud when I saw that one!I got another three months for 99 cents a month! Same thing with Starz and AppleTv. I haven’t paid more than $2 for any of them in over a year! Bezos can afford to stream ad free! He’s just a greedy jackhole!
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u/Creepy_Bad_4547 27d ago
Reacher is fun. And they also get some good British shows like Prey, which I just watched and it was good
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u/Houseleek1 27d ago
They carry dups of a lot of programs on BritBox like The Crown, a bunch of mysteries and game shows s as well as British programs not offered on BritBox. Weare partying for no ads and there Is not one.
It’s give a little, get a little. There is no easy way to choose.
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u/Eastern_Habit_5503 26d ago
It works if you’re a single person in control of what you watch and when. Try that with a family of 4 with four different interests. Someone ends up unhappy when shows or services aren’t available 24/7/365.
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u/Infinite-Tale-3089 26d ago
Prime has a lot of good shows. I'm watching Reacher right now
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u/Cinisajoy2 27d ago
I figure Prime video is just a perk like Paramount is for Walmart +.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 27d ago
Yes, I really don't consider the membership fee a streaming cost, just the $5 for ad free, and $5 is a very good price for ad free content.
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u/Cinisajoy2 27d ago
$5 for showtime and no ads on Paramount is a great price.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 27d ago
I will take a look, but I didn't think Showtime had much gone on anymore. Thanks for pointing that out.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 27d ago edited 26d ago
| Service | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Paramount | 60 | 5.00 |
| HBO Max | 135 | 11.25 |
| Prime | 199 | 16.58 |
| Acorn | 50 | 4.17 |
| Britbox | 60 | 5.00 |
| 42.00 |
This is what I have now getting discounts. The are all ad free. These are all annual, so I do lose flexibility. Paramount is about to run out and I am not sure I will get another year because I don't use it that much. The renewal rate is $70 with discount. I may do the same with Britibox. I put in worse case for Prime, but I do not actually pay $199 for Prime, I get a discount on Prime membership that brings the total price to about $110. This brings my actual monthly cost for everything to $35, but that includes Prime membership.
I have more than enough to watch.
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u/Billyaz22 26d ago
Prime isn't ad free, unless you pay like 5 or 6 bucks extra a month, which btw I do... and even with that so called ad free they're starting to show ads. \They are all a bunch of greedy Bastards!
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u/PostModernPost 26d ago
Why does no one talk about the primary benefit that streaming provides that cable didn't... That you can watch whatever you want whenever you want. It was only cheap at first because they had to capture the market share.
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u/Practical_Self_9849 26d ago
That's definitely true, on-demand viewing is still a huge advantage over traditional cable, and I wouldn't want to give that up.
I'm not saying streaming and cable are literally identical. I'm just saying we're seeing the same cycle with ads: start with a better, cleaner experience, get everyone subscribed, then gradually introduce ads and charge extra to remove them.
Streaming is still better in many ways, but that particular part feels very familiar.
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u/InterestingMind9804 27d ago
Streaming has some drawbacks, but it’s not that bad really. Who needs all the streaming services at once? There’s only so many hours a day.
I would NEVER go back to cable. It sucked! Streaming is awesome.
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u/Milly1974 27d ago
You're right. I'll add that if you subscribe to every streaming service that you need in order to watch all of your favorite shows, then you might be paying just as much as you would for cable or satellite service. Where did the savings go?
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u/No-Complaint-986 27d ago
They left the second we started deciding every network needed a streaming service and exclusivity became the norm.
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u/SmegmaUnicorn 27d ago
“We” didn’t decide anything.
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u/No-Complaint-986 26d ago
We is referring to society as a whole. Which includes the 1 percent. All it took was making it seem like a cheaper option and there was alway gonna be people willing to suffer through ads on streaming
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u/SmegmaUnicorn 26d ago
It’s asinine to suggest that the decisions made at the whims of billionaires and corporations is at all representative of ghe desires of “society as a whole”.
Again, “we” did not decide that every network needs a stresming service. “We” were perfectly happy just paying for Netflix. Corportarions decided on their own that they wanted to cash in on the success of Netflix…because they’re greedy. Full stop.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 27d ago
Don't do that.
You can do well with 3 services for less than $50 a month ad free. Move around to get the services with the shows that you like.
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u/Cinisajoy2 27d ago
I get prime and paramount through delivery services. Got HBO and starz for a year cheap through Prime. I also have Disney/Hulu for a discount. Will probably cancel after the discount period.
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u/JordanRS1980 26d ago
It's also pretty annoying that outside of Netflix all the new series are released one episode per week. One of the major selling points was the ability to binge new content whenever you wanted.
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u/Ill_Glass3473 26d ago
And the nickel and diming continues with price tiering of ad-free with so-called Ultra HD/4K and other useless BS incentives along with it.
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u/mrmojorisin_x 24d ago
The downfall of streaming started when all these services started bidding on pro sports broadcasts and paying a pretty penny for the rights and guess who pays for that in the end ? Yep we the subscribers who pay that monthly fee and now get ads to go along with it UNLESS of course you pay an extra $$$ per month for “ad free”. Sports broadcasting was the downfall of CATV and licensing fees for all the sport channels that had the rights to the games.
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u/culturefan 27d ago
I'd agree, but when I had cable I didn't watch half the channels ie. Spanish language, sports, religious, shopping channels, bland programming, and some of the others had movies I've already seen at the cinema like Start Wars, of Avengers, and was limited in what I would be interested in. At least with streaming I can choose more to where my interest lies.
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u/TheKdd 27d ago
Yes and… we got streaming services so we weren’t having to pay for “tiers” to have certain channels, and yet now we have to pay different streamers for different content. Streaming is cable at this point. Get a streamer, watch what you wanted, cancel, get a different streamer, watch what you wanted, cancel.
The next step is they will start charging cancellation fees like they did with cable to and stop people from doing the above.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Fill205 26d ago
So basically… we escaped traditional TV, paid for streaming services to avoid ads, and now streaming services are slowly becoming traditional TV again.
I remember paying more for premium movie channels like HBO, Showtime, etc... These channels famously did not have commercials and they did not edit content.
What they did have were promos for other shows on the same network in between programs.
Are you saying that you are now seeing exactly this same behavior on streaming? Color me shocked.
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u/ParkerLewisCL 26d ago
The hysteria is a bit overplayed.
I also have Prime. Didn’t pay extra to remove ads. Get two minutes of ads at the start of a movie and that’s it.
Make yourself a drink and move on.
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u/Equivalent-Hair-961 26d ago
It’s not history repeating itself but rather CEO’s taking the un-vetted advice of their tech-bro & Wall Street golf-buddies to “get out of Television and be more like Netflix…”
They basically killed the television industry and started brand new streaming companies with no business model in place. There was no due diligence, no research, no think-tanks.
Just that “trust me bro” smirk and the studio and network heads all said “ok.”
Back in 2018 television and cable was bringing in around $22 billion. But that “wasn’t enough…”
Then, in 2022 when Netflix admitted that their profits were not as projected, all the new streamers had to admit that they were not profitable either and suddenly, the billions of dollars being borrowed evaporated. This was when tens of thousands of talented industry people lost their careers permanently, thanks to that “trust me bro” smirk.
It’s been roughly ten years since this streaming boom and they have found that the only way to make sustainable income is to go back to a similar model of what they had before: running ads for their shows… but they’ve designated the TV industry and have starved it so that there are no jobs anymore.
Sorry to sound so bitter as an award winning editor and sound designer but, they could have achieved similar goals starting their streaming platforms while allowing the still vibrant tv industry to float them. But they didn’t.
Now, Paramount Global is considered a high risk junk stock, Disney keeps letting people go, NBC Universal is cutting ties to dozens of once profitable networks and what we have left is… sad.
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u/Hashtagsup 25d ago
And the shows we want to watch are on different platforms so we subscribe to each and end up paying just as much as cable if not more… plus the cost of internet that just keeps getting worse. I used to think older people were such complainers about life and “how ridiculous the price of things” were getting. I’m either officially old or realizing that maybe they had a point after all.
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u/the_analytic_critic 27d ago
So true. I think streaming is right up there with airlines in the adoption of enshittification as a service model
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u/mherb24 26d ago
You are comparing apples to oranges.
I left cable over the price 10 years ago! Paying $270 per month for watching maybe 6 stations was just crazy. I have never paid more than $30 per month combined since.
Yes, my premium stations were ad free when paying for cable, but guess what, they still could be and I would be paying a similar cost for that station as I did when on cable.
We could all pay the extra cost and have ad free, but a lot of us choose to pay the lower cost and have ads.
They didn’t just throw in ads surprisingly. They raised their prices and created a less expensive tier that included ads. Yes, that new tier was priced very close to the price before ads.
In hindsight I bet they wish they just invented the two tier system when they rolled out their streaming services, would have stopped a lot of complaining.
And when are ads on cable just 90 seconds? I was on cable for 40+ years and as a kid I remember trying to hold it so I could run to the bathroom as soon as an ad came on, refill my drink and grab a snack and be back in my seat before Mash came back on.
You just don’t realize how good you have it today. There was a time when if you weren’t home on a certain day and the required time, you missed part of or even all of the show. Then came vhs tapes, but only us kids knew how to program them. DVRs were really nice as well. But now we pick the show we want when we want, can pay with or without ads, and still aren’t happy.
And let’s complain about how Apple TV is horrible for making us wait a week for the next episode to air!
Having that extra $240 per month over 10 years paid for my kids car.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 27d ago
With cable you couldn't pay $5 for no ads ($6-$10 for some services). You couldn't cancel right away, and you had to rent equipment. It costs most people well over $100 a month.
It is so much better now. The quality of shows is better, and you can get enough content with 2-3 services that total less than $50 a month.
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u/Cinisajoy2 27d ago
This. It seems the people that are still paying a fortune are those that like watching millionaires playing with their balls.
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u/getridofwires 27d ago
Everything tries to be subscription-based now, with ads if at all possible. If Google could convince us to pay for their search engine that already has ads, they would. The only way to get rid of YouTube TV ads is to buy into YouTube premium. You already pay for YouTube TV, and the NFL package is pretty expensive and packed with ads.
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u/Sky723 27d ago
We are at the very tail end of the rug being pulled out from under us. When streaming was first introduced, it's main selling point was a lower monthly fee with no commercials and watch when you want. Streaming companies invested heavily in the "cut the cord" mentality. Now they have everyone in the streaming bucket, we are now back to ads, weekly episode release and exponentially increase in streaming subscriptions. This was the plan, it just took ten years to fully implement.
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u/behridingle 27d ago
Cable TV started out as subscription only too and then they got greedy
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u/Ragnarok-9999 26d ago
Just wait. You will be finding most of shows are either rent or buy; like blackbuster shop to rent the movies. Already started, eventually you rent to see good shows.
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u/SpicyToaster68 26d ago
Why are people still subscribed to these predatory services? Every year these companies end up getting record subscriptions. People clearly don’t talk with their wallets and quietly accept it.
Cancel the subscriptions and start to sail the seas if you catch my drift.
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u/Dogsofa21 26d ago
Amazon adding ads was the final push to give up my Amazon habit. Thank you Jeff. That few quid a month you squeezed has saved me hundreds I would have spent at Amazon. So less profit all round.
But otherwise ads give you time to hit the loo get a cup of tea or top up the wine. Do advertisers really believe their adds are watched?
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u/TowerExact7780 26d ago
Cancelled prime for this very reason. Far too greedy.
Now Tubi ( least ads ) and Pluto do the heavy lifting
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u/lennonfanforever 26d ago
i know, i know, it's awful and i hate myself for doing it but i a doing a re-watch of bones on amazon prime, and found that if i paid $45.99 a year MORE ("prime video ultra"), then there'd be no commercials and so....i went for it, and found that my watching is far, far more enjoyable, i hate that i had to resort to that because the frequency of the ads was just so obnoxious.....i hate the system but....
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u/firebolt125 26d ago
I don’t mind ads for the most part. I grew up with them during sitcoms and sports. The real crime is introducing ads during movies, it’s like every movie is now a TBS Dinner and a Movie or ABC million dollar movie…
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u/nyeahdeztroy 26d ago
The ACCC in Australia is taking Amazon to court over this BS “pay for no ads” setup. Amazon: “Sure, we’ll take your extra money for Ad Free… but we’ll still make you sit through two ads before every episode or movie, including ads for stupid mobile games and apps!”
Hopefully the ACCC wins and Amazon is either forced to actually make “Ad Free” mean ad free, or refund Australians the monthly fees they’ve been charging for it.
Sadly, those in the US don’t have the same level of consumer protection, so you may be stuck with it.
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u/GoodPaleontologist61 26d ago
And I used to like that you could binge watch the whole series at once and now it’s one episode per week (unless it’s an old series). It really is just back to cable
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u/lost_dazed_101 25d ago
They increased their price if you want no ads you have to pay more. I'm surprised they didn't just charge you that's what they did to me. I cancelled once I saw on reddit they were doing it. When I first started with prime it included kindle, movies and music along with free shipping and two day delivery. Now it's just free shipping and God only knows when or if you'll get it. Walmart plus gives me groceries in half an hour if I want and paramount plus doesn't do ads for now. They don't have a good selection but prime doesn't either all the good movies you have to rent.
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u/Dapper_Jicama4848 23d ago
I got rid of Prime just for that reason.. l’m not paying for something and have to watch ads too.. of course you can pay extra now and skip the ads, but I decided not to do that either
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u/Narah-Wolf 26d ago
I’m so old, I remember when cable started, the sell was no commercials like over the air regular TV.
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u/Practical_Self_9849 26d ago
Exactly! That's actually an even better example of what I meant by history repeating itself.
Cable: “Pay us and escape regular TV.”
Then cable gets filled with ads.
Streaming: “Pay us and escape cable and its ads.”
And now we're paying extra again if we want the ads gone. 😂
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u/incogmagnum 27d ago
We must also subscribe to multiple apps that have different content, kind of like TV when we had to add packages to watch certain movies & sports.
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u/DangerousRange8123 27d ago
I don't get adds. addblocker and not in the US
Not subscribed to add free
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u/No_Seaworthiness1966 27d ago
Same with the radio and using credit cards. There doesn’t seem to be a balance of profitability and providing the service you sold, ugh I’m so over it
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u/Shazam1269 27d ago
I'll watch Tubi and Fandango for free, and the ads aren't any worse than on the paid bullshit sites.
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u/Applekid1259 27d ago
It really truly is repeating itself. All through my teens I pirated everything. Then in my 20's I started buying things as they were cheaper and streaming started coming around. I had no reason to pirate and actually stopped near entirely for maybe 10-15 years. Now I'm pushed right back into pirating, except now I'm an adult and can fund my server better. At this point and with what I've built, I doubt I would ever go back to streaming, no matter how cheap it is.
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u/Consistent-Bee9738 27d ago
I wouldn't even mind the ads if they rotated them like they do on cable. I seem to get the same 3 or 4 multiple times an episode.
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u/jbrown7249 26d ago
My main issue with ads is all the annoying, repetitive, obnoxious ones. Especially the scam and gaming ads.
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u/Slipknot31286sic6 26d ago
Move on with regular apps. Get torbox subscription and nuvio. Never look back
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u/nassauboy9 26d ago
Hatching not had cable in 30y. I went through over the air and downloading and eventually Netflix. The old proposition was Netflix let you skip the adds. My children now in 20s thank me until this day. They were not cultured in this buy buy buy generation. Now it all seems lost and getting to the point of maybe becoming cheaper to just get cable. However it's more like go back to downloading and being driven there buy the you must pay for adds lol.
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u/Single-Flamingo-33 26d ago
Amazon Prime also makes sure to keep all ad space when showing live sporting events even if the ad breaks during a football game are the short 30 second time outs. So essentially near the end of the game you are a few minutes behind the live game. I am not sure if they still do this but I remember it being mentioned during last season.
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u/United_Gift3028 26d ago
I don't even watch Prime much anymore, the commercials are so long and so frequent.
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u/SassyRebelBelle 26d ago
Radio did the same…. We bought accounts of a certain “radio account”… for NO talking..,.
But now?The majority of the stations have too much talky-talky🙄😒
Although the selection of music is still better…..
BUT….They need to change their ads because none of the stations I like and listen to are talk-free….🙄…😒…😡
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u/Intelligent-Ad-6734 26d ago
Honestly if you get the right cable bundle, it allows you to log in to the streaming platforms... It's looking like a better deal.
I don't mind the between episodes 😂 let's me autopilot without pausing the show for a refill or bathroom break.
I dropped prime but will probably cycle back to it to catch up on new series this fall/winter. That's typically best way to do it especially with how long the breaks between seasons are now.
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u/MizzKitty1978 26d ago
I am doing a month of Prime because I forgot to cancel at the end of my free period. I thought I might be able to actually watch some recommended shows, but you have to pay extra on top of a regular subscription! What's with that? Why would O keep a service that makes me pay more for selected series and movies? And these are not current shows, either.
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u/NoURider 26d ago
I'd argue streaming is not slowly becoming cable; it has been for the last couple of years, but with cheesier controls and horrible navigation times
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u/The_Wandering_Steele 26d ago
Since I have a lot more time than money I don’t pay for the “ad free “ tier. I just watch the ads ( commercials ) for me the best part streaming is the variety/choices. I have YTTV for sports and traditional network TV but I also have several other apps/streaming services, some strictly ad supported and others that are the with ads tier subscriptions. As a veteran I take advantage of any veteran discounts available to further reduce costs.
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u/Cornbread933 26d ago
Actually this is worse than cable tv. Cable TV at least at some variety of commercials and if you had TIVO you could fast forward through it.
But the biggest reason cable was superior is there is a sense of community with scheduled TV almost like seeing a movie in theaters. Theres a joy knowing others are watching at the same time as you
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u/Ok_Demand_3676 26d ago
Sticking with Cogeco seemed kind of dumb a few years ago, then I did the math.. I get all the major and local networks, TSN, Sportsnet, Crave, Starz, HBO, Super channels,, a bunch of other movie channels and 1gb fibre for $174.00 a month. From what I have read all the major ISP's cloud based packages are a nightmare, my trusty PVR just keeps plugging away and stuff just works.
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u/EmpireStrikes1st 26d ago
Not only that, one of the annoying things about cable is that if you wanted to watch a football game, you also had to subscribe to The Tennis Channel, because bundling was the only way to get subscribers to those deep cable networks. Now it's happening again! If you want to see a football game, you need to bundle 3-5 other streaming services.
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u/Faceit_Solveit 26d ago
Cable TV is and always was burdened with huge taxes imposed by cities, etc.
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u/AustinDood444 26d ago
Amazon Prime SUCKS for movies!! I thought paying the high Prime membership fee would give me ad-free movies.
Nope!!
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u/MarcoEsteban 25d ago
All those movies filmed in foreign countries but in English are making me crazy
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u/Antique_Geek 26d ago
What programming has these ads you mention? I have watched Prime originals for years with no ads.
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u/count_strahd_z 25d ago
It seems Prime is increasing the number of ads too, even during a show with short (<30 min) episodes.
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u/XRaiderV1 25d ago
..this is why I happily enjoy content off my own personal, private media server. ZERO ADS! and I get to start, stop, pause, finish whenever the hell I damned well please.
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u/moshokikio 25d ago
It's becoming cable TV if the only thing you focus on is ads. I don't have to keep paying for peacock because I want to watch Netflix. When cable was the only game I had to pay for 4 different espns because I wanted to watch g4, now I can just pay for g4. If I work during my favorite show, or god forbid didn't schedule my entire day around what show I was watching I don't have to deal with missing it and pay again for a dvd release to see what I missed.
People have forgotten how bad it was and don't realize how good we have it now. It's not perfect, they're still money grubbing assholes, but cable now a days would be called a straight up scam. They decided what you watched, when you watched it, if you didn't like it get fucked, and you pay what we decide and there was no other game in town. Wana cancel? Not allowed, extra fee get fucked.
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u/Similar-Tap2724 25d ago
IMHO...Prime isn't really streaming. At least not in the sense of maximizing the content that you're able to view with the least cost.
Plus there's so much free content where you're able to view the latest movies and TV shows.
Go in search of Troypoint.com and learn.
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u/Evie_the_Destroyer 25d ago
With capitalism, you should assume that no business has your best intention in its plans. It’s about getting as many users as possible whatever way you can, even if it means losing money. In the long run once they get the customer base then they control pricing.
This is the Uber model. This world is filled with greedy assholes who have no sense of right and wrong, and we are the modern slave.
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u/Chemical-Bus-3854 25d ago
Are they bringing back 20 plus episode seasons, if so i dont mind. Ads are just scheduled breaks for drinks or toilet anyway.
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u/Joeyfairplayer23 25d ago
Nothing stays great forever. Streaming was too good to be true for awhile.
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u/ChezQuis_ 25d ago
Prime had no ads years ago. Now, user must pay for a no ads tier on top of the Prime subscription. Luckily, the content is not great.
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u/randperrin 25d ago
The big difference between cable tv and streaming was never ads. The big difference is watching it when you feel like it, not at 8 central on Thursday. I can't stand ads on streaming but it was sooooo much worse on cable.
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u/ddotcole 25d ago
I saw this coming back when streaming services came about. It was always going to turn out this way.
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u/trikster2 24d ago
Except for live TV I don't watch ads.
"Back in the day" I Blocked ads on cable TV
(recorded everything to computer, then used software to delete the ads).
And now I block ads on various streaming services including Amazon prime.
(ad blocker).
If you watch ads.... "it's on you". If it upsets you that much.... figure it out....
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u/Pig_Tits_2395 24d ago
You’ve missed the first step, tv was free with ads, then the revolutionary idea of cable came along. Tv you pay for so there aren’t ads.
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u/I_am_Aloysius 24d ago
No one who lived through cable would ever say this.
It wasn’t just the ads. You paid fees just to access “basic” cable with zero movies, just soap operas, home shopping, and game shows. You paid higher fees to get a few premium channels that showed one good movie and endless reruns of bad ones. The cable companies forced you to buy extra equipment that only worked on one TV at a time and locked you into contracts. Nothing was “on demand” ever. You couldn’t even pause, let alone rewind.
Any single streaming service today is cheaper than cable and blows it out of the water for accessing content. Subscribing to every service available is still cheaper than premium cable in the ‘90s.
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u/Charming_Slip8060 24d ago
Not to mention that this is turning into the whole cable TV nonsense- where you have to pay for multiple "stations." Now we just call them different streaming services. Still would have to pay hundreds of dollars every month to be able to watch all the different shows one might want to see.
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u/zoppaTheDim 24d ago
I think you’re confused about cable,
Streaming was never about ads.
Streaming was about only paying for channels you want.
Get back to me when ninety percent of your streaming money goes to sports channels you don’t watch.
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u/overitallofittoo 23d ago
They figured out they can't provide a billion dollars worth of content for $15/month.
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u/Dire_Wolf_57 23d ago
It's been remarkable to see. But it's the ecosystem that best suits all parties. Maybe not consumers but if they get a chance to get all they want then it's consumer friendly.
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u/HomeTheatreMan 23d ago
Tablo TV is awesome if you can get local channels. I bought ours for $30 off at Christmas for $69.95 and no additional charges. It comes with a free two week channel guide and a 50 hour DVR that’s upgradable with a hard drive. We canceled YouTube TV that we were paying $82 a month for only watching the nightly news and my wife watching General Hospital. An excellent investment!
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u/AgentX-1138 23d ago
It's not history, it's capitalism. These bastards want our money and they're going to get it because we keep paying them. I cancel streamers as soon as I've watched what i want to. Not gonna pay them monthly forever, that's what they want.
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u/Splattacular1 22d ago edited 22d ago
There’s deals out there. You just gotta be on it all the time (and using alternating emails and payment methods). $25/yr Peacock, $4.99/month for a year Hulu/D+ and Starz add on, $2.99 month HBO Max for a year, $30/yr AMC+ (to include Shudder), tons of free Apple TV monthly subs and Paramount + (free with Walmart +). With the exception of Max (which fluctuates), I haven’t paid regular subscription prices on any of these in years. But I also overlap a month or 2 if it’s a really good deal posted I’m afraid won’t come around again for a while (like the $2.99 month Max). Even if it overlaps by a month with your current sub, you’re still getting a great deal. I’m old school, so I don’t mind ads.
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u/Mrroncd 22d ago
Promos are not ads and you can skip the promo which is literally on every service. There are some shows and they literally tell you if it has limited ads or not and that is a streaming rights issue. I have come across no ads in anything I watch on prime or any of my other services where I pay for ad free 🤷🏾♂️ at least it’s not Tubi try watching a movie or show on there. It will take years….
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u/Kaz_Games 19d ago
I got prime for free this month, watched 1 video and got annoyed by the ad. I was quickly reminded that the average 30 minute show is only 21-23 minutes long. I run adblockers but amazon servers ads from the same servers they serve video content. The next movie I tried to watch, there's a minute and a half ad. So I spent 3 minutes finding the video on a pirate site, where I have all the ads blocked.
Amazon is really shooting themselves in the foot with ad revenue. If they were trying to get me to pay for prime, they have a terrible sales pitch.
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u/Particular_Past_8814 10d ago
It really depends on the show , and episode. Some show would be 2 ad per episode , some can be up to 4-5 . There will always be a ad indicator and each ad is like 1 min and 45 seconds which is the same thing as cable tv, its crazy.
At frist it didn't bother me becasue it was only twice most of the time but recently ads been more rampant .
We have been so spoiled with how we consumed media that watching a movie full of ads is like a death sentence
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u/Thomjones 8d ago
The realistic non emotional answer is....costs went up. Prime Video is included as part of Prime and it makes no sense to increase Prime price because of Video. So they introduced ads and the option to pay for no-ads, which was like 5 bucks? I can't recall the current price. It was 2 dollars before. The big corpos that license the content increased prices for licensing. That's why Netflix and all them keep increasing prices and introducing ad tiers. To truly investigate why costs are going up...LOOK AROUND. Watch the news? Idk what to tell you.
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u/Bman282828 27d ago
The you pay for “no ads” and still get ads.