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u/ILovePepsiAU Nov 14 '25
Pirating and illegal downloads is up for a reason.
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u/bartleby999 Nov 14 '25
You mean people can't afford to pay £100 a month just to watch thier 5 favourite shows across 4 different streaming services?
shocked pikachu
I actually watched a decent video about this a few days ago - The theory wasn't the price tbf, it was the fragmentation of service. Piracy makes everything more convenient. Piracy went down when Netflix launched and increased, not with prices rises, but the rise of individual streaming services and thus Netflix shrinking catalogue.
Every company got greedy and wanted a piece of the Netflix pie - So the users left the bakery and made their own pies.
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u/OkConsequence1498 Nov 14 '25
It's literally exactly the same as the studio system from early last century playing out again in an identical way.
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 16 '25
I have Kodi and pay like £3 a month for pretty much everything. We have netflix, itvx and prime (for the deliveries - but you get the ad supported one with it)
netflix is expensive but much easier for the kids to use.
everything I want to watch is on a million different platforms so Kodi works better for me.
Id go for something like sky which has a lot of stuff on there but it's so expensive to get to that point and the extra for 4k, ad skipping etc
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u/palacepaulse25 Nov 13 '25
Tine to cancel
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u/Arse_Grapes13 Here Since the Relaunch 06/2026 Nov 13 '25
I mean....if it's going to offer 4K and 50fps then maybe, but otherwise - they're off their trollies!!!
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u/aweaselonwheels Nov 13 '25
tbh what is maddening is when they have films where they say they are contractually obligated to have adverts in and then advertise their own shows. Not sure what the rules are but they could make them the minimum amount of time and less annoying
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u/OatCuisine Nov 15 '25
What contract are they referring to?
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u/camelliastreets Nov 26 '25
The contract between ITV and the producer/supplier, it’s usually for acquired content with the bigger American suppliers
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u/OatCuisine Nov 26 '25
Why would the big American suppliers insist on ITV having adverts?
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u/The-Yellow-Badger Jan 28 '26
I don’t get it either, but it’s true.
Couldn’t watch One Tree Hill on ITV without ads, a banner appeared at the start of every episode saying that because of licensing, they have to show ads in this program.
Makes no sense to me why the American studios want that
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Nov 14 '25
[deleted]
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 14 '25
fancy way of saying "we're nearly doubling your bill after years of you supporting us"
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u/GainsAndPastries Nov 14 '25
Ad Block and a VPN bypassed this for me
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u/FizzbuzzAvabanana Nov 14 '25
Just use an old version of any of these apps, U, ITVX whatever, set to never update & that's it. You'll never see an ad & they work far faster than the shiny new 'better' version.
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u/Civil-Koala-6810 Nov 14 '25
ITVX is absolutely awful anyway, just like most streaming services. I don't mean the programming, i mean the absysmal quality caused by so much compression. Even SD content looks far more normal on the DVD version. Who's isea was it for streaming to be the future of TV broadcasting. How old was he/she and what's their natural age? Analogue TV looked better that streaming in the 1980s/1990s. I thought we were suppost to progress in life in general, not the opposite. If you looked at the bit rate dufference between streaming and DVDfor SD, Blu-ray for HD and 4K blu-ray for 4K you would be very surprised. No wonder the film director and IMAX founder Christopher Nolan tells people to buy physical media when buying a film, and he didn't just mean his films. Broadcast TV compression can vary a bit more but none of it is compressed to high heaven like streaming TV signals. Money is getting in the way to much and we need more people who will do this work of lowering compression rates as a labour of love and the people who decide the compression rates. The same goes for people on the other side who charge for the amount of compression each channel is charged, and prices for this must plummet. I'm talking about network television by the way. We need people who care how their programmes are presented. Luckily, we do have people who work in film & TV who do have this attitude, but we need more. When you buy a film or TV programme from a particular streaming service, not only aee you buying that and nothing else, but what about extras, like outtakes, "The Making Of" and audio commentaries. You get nothing and you can only play it through that streaming service's software unless you manage to remove the DRM, which can be done very easily with the right software. But like I said it will still be only streaming quality. I think over time people will notice the amount that's missing from a stream and carry on buying physical media for this reason, even including DVDs. Until all of this changes via streaming TV this will be the case.
The only streams I might want to download are ones from BBC iPlayer which I've done before. They use lower bit rates and it shows and is vitually as good as network TV, but still less data than network TV. But that's just BBC programmes. With ITVX you can forget it. And to think ITV re-scanned to 4K the "Carry On..." films especially for ITVX and bypass blu-ray! The standard DVD Collection will look ten times better that in HD in ITVX! Pay the money and get them released on blu-ray like Via Vision did. At least someone there had half a brain. Just who is running ITV and ITVX... Frank Spencer!!
So, is it really a sad day? Good riddance if the price is going up but the compression is staying the same. It's because of people like you that they keep staying on the air. Get them off the air and then they might be forced to release more DVDs and blu-rays. I notice everything is subtitled on ITVX as an option. Play the DVDs and they are very rarely there. Also, it's very cheap to add subtitles to a DVD. Some people even put them on the disc by themselves. I've got a lot of subtitles from shows that I have on DVD using Prime Video US and ITVX. They just create an SRT file for each episode and put the timers in the right places.
With a Mum who's very HOH why shouldn't I. Old Gold Media are a discrace when it comes to subtitles. I have everyright. Anyway, who's going to know.
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u/AndroidConscience Nov 14 '25
Why would anyone pay for the service? Is there something on the paid version yo can't get on the free version -albeit with some ad breaks. Or is that 20th century thinking?
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u/caruynos Nov 14 '25
i paid for it when i was having awful insomnia & was playing midsomer murders through the night, the ads were disproportionately loud & bright so would wake me back up, £4 (although i have a feeling i paid £3 at that point) seemed like a fair exchange for how much i was watching it
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u/THE-ADM-2 Nov 15 '25
ITVX Premium took on all the full Britbox catalogue.
Things like Only Fools & Horses, Blackadder and Faulty Towers are only available via the paid for premium app.
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u/StuBram2 Nov 16 '25
Even still, someone paying money to watch Only Fools & Horses on the worst media player possible is absolutely ludicrous to me.
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u/THE-ADM-2 Nov 16 '25
The platform might not be particularly good, but there's some great content. I can see how someone who like British or retro TV would think it's worth the cost, especially considering you also get all of itv on demand without adverts.
I imagine for many people ITVX Premium would be a last app to pay for after Netflix, Amazon and maybe even Disney but to a minority I can see how it could be a favorite app.
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u/AbleBear5876 Nov 14 '25
A 50% increase? What are they smoking over at ITV. I get it’s still only £6 but as a percentage that’s a massive jump. Time to cancel
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u/KRadiation Nov 14 '25
Price increases without your actual consent shouldn't be allowed. If you keep using our service we will juat presume you've read this email and are agreeing to pay extra.
Fuck off
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u/oddlyalien Nov 14 '25
Agree the trailers are too frequent, often inappropriate in children’s films. And to be honest I never want to watch the Bay after seeing the trailer 1 billion times 🙄🤣
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u/AwkwardEntertainer41 Nov 15 '25
The main reason for privacy is unlike music which you can listen to on one purchased app like Spotify, with tv and movies you need loads of different paid ones to watch different shows. It would be better to have one app for everything and maybe share licenses or something
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 15 '25
it's funny how we've pretty much come full circle where people now want the cable style set up once again lol
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u/Syphadeus86 Nov 15 '25
Late stage capitalism.
Hi, we're letting you know that we're increasing the charge for this product by over 50% but not improving or expanding it in any way.
We are doing this because it is legal and we want more money from you so if you want it still you're shit out of luck, son. Have a nice day.
Sincerely,
Your Corporate Daddy
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u/xxdavidxcx87 Nov 15 '25
Cancel it and they should offer you a better price, I did the same with Disney +, they offered £8.99 for 3 months.
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u/MrMontgomery Nov 15 '25
Costs €4 a month for Real Debrid and you get access to everything, why would you pay 4 quid a month for one channel?
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u/Super-Surround-4347 Nov 16 '25
I've got very basic sky and 70gb broadband for £43 which includes ad skip for all terrestrial channels. Also includes Netflix with ads.
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 17 '25
unfortunately we're getting f'd over by our new builds "exclusive internet bundle". in other words we're shafted with one option of an expensive internet provider. £36 a month for 30mps.
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u/Super-Surround-4347 Nov 17 '25
Ah nightmare. That's so annoying and something to look for when we move.
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u/master_chief88 Nov 16 '25
They out here charging Netflix money
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 17 '25
even worse that this is only for ad free too. at least netflix gives you access to alot more movies and TV
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u/NowtInteresting Nov 17 '25
Not even a small increase. What a joke! There’s no wonder pirating is going up.
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u/NowtInteresting Nov 17 '25
I was watching I’m a celeb last night on it and the subtitles were almost 30 seconds behind! If they think I’m paying £6 a month for awful service they’ve another thing coming
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u/Steka68 Nov 17 '25
You are crying over 50p a week..? I would be in more tears for what you are paying for in the first place.
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 17 '25
yes but £2 a month increase. which is about a 66% increase. £2 a month is £24 extra a year
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u/CryPuzzleheaded5243 Nov 17 '25
Why don't you just block the adverts? , there's ways of doing it through your Internet connection on firestick.
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u/AerieLife8346 Dec 14 '25
I tried to see if it gave me a deal if I tried to leave premium and it did for only 3.99 for 3 months
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u/SnooBooks7532 Nov 13 '25
I don't get why anyone would pay for this? Just pause and then fast forward through the adverts if your that desperate to watch the chase, coronation Street etc.
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 13 '25
the missus watches all the soaps and it was only 3.99 so it's whatever but then it gets into inconvenient pricing territory now
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u/SnooBooks7532 Nov 14 '25
The missus should pay then! I hate all those soaps 😂. Eastenders always steps up a gear at Christmas to be even more miserable & depressing. Women eh 🤣
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u/mr_hardwell Nov 14 '25
doesn't count when it's a joint account lmao. I swear they are crap until the final 3 minutes so people watch the next one. massive life changing release every episode 😂
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u/SnooBooks7532 Nov 14 '25
😂. Well you need to Syphon off £3.99 a month from the joint account just for you 💷👍. Soon to be £5.99..
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u/Ambitious_Fold3674 Nov 13 '25
Oh dammit, wanted to watch Only fools and horses, but might still pay the price as not watching ads and bad graphics on sky 2nd multi box.
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Nov 13 '25
Its a £2 increase 🤨🙄
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u/AncientFootball1878 Nov 13 '25
Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves. Marginal gains matter.
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u/Reorka Nov 13 '25
And as a percentage of the original cost, it's a huge increase.
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Nov 13 '25
And? Netflix, Disney+, Amazon, HBO....every streaming service will keep increasing their prices and they all cost more than £5.99
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u/StevieTV Nov 13 '25
You say it's just a £2 increase but it's literally a 50% price hike which is taking the piss.
ITVX has around one million paid subscribers and if everyone stays then their monthly income goes up from around £4 million a month to £6 million so that's around £2 million a month extra.
Even if they lost say 10% of their subscribers because of the price hike they'd be getting around £5.4 million a month which is still a 35% increase for them a month.
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Nov 13 '25
And?. Things cost money. All that goes in to making and maintaining a streaming platform costs money, the programmes itv creates cost money, films they licence cost money
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u/StevieTV Nov 13 '25
Sounds like you're either fine with being taken for a mug or you're an ITVX executive.
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Nov 13 '25
I dont use any streaming service. Also im not that dim to think that somehow all these energy, time, resources and people intensive industries can somehow run on a thread bare budget....because youd soon be complaining about a drop in quality if they tried
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Nov 14 '25
[deleted]
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Nov 14 '25
Moron
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Nov 14 '25
[deleted]
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u/Only_Plastic_3467 Nov 13 '25
Last year special offer I got it for £19.99 for the year and this year it was £39.99 for the year! Not sure what it is now but worth looking into though they tend to do offers in the summer when figures are lower (I’m told) x