When I had Plex play trailers, it was only ever before movies, with trailers for movies. Seeing it every time you watch an episode of a show is too much.
As far as I'm concerned skippable ads are the same thing as any other ad. I use auto play for a reason and it's because I don't want to fuck with the remote every episode.
If anything they are worse because they make you become aware enough of the ad to make the connection to physically push a button skip it. When HBO Minimum Quality added them I dropped it. When Paramount (We can’t build a functional app) + and Disney Pus (Not a typo) added them I finally built a media server and rejoined the high seas after 20 years. I’ll never go back.
I am down for hyper on-brand, clearly denoted, clever/humorous sponsored segments. StyroPyro was able to advertise a desk this way. So well integrated, honest, and relevant, I didn’t skip even though I don’t need a chemical-resistant adjustable standing desk.
Goddddddddd this and HBO. I’m already on your fuckin platform, show me the show. If you REALLY need to push whatever new BS cash grab you’ve got, put it in a new releases section.
There’s the next one on the chopping block. It’s kind of great and freeing cancelling all these subscriptions. Just one $5 payment per month to newsgroup ninja and i got everything. I’ve been holding on to prime and Netflix for convenience but honestly fuck them.
It’s just cable tv all over again. Pay for 8 services to get a handful of shows you want to watch with the other 90% not being touched , now with ads creeping back in too .
While I’m all for piracy (obviously), there’s always a choice. Decades ago when cable was going through this, TV was at the center of culture and absolutely everyone watched it.
That’s just not true anymore. Even aside from piracy, they have to compete for people’s time and attention with videogames, social media, and all sorts of other internet-based entertainment. I suspect a lot of the executives making these decisions don’t realize this - they think it’s still 20 years ago when having some of your biggest shows on your channel guaranteed a big audience. If they squeeze too hard people will just spend their time with other sorts of entertainment.
I think that the publishing industry is a good comparison - look at where it is now. It still produces stuff but its cultural relevance is a pale shadow of what it once was and its margins are razor-thin because few people are going to pay a premium even for a bestseller. I think that that’s the long-term fate of TV and movies, especially as the generation that was weened on them dies off and a new generation that watched much less growing up comes of age.
at least you can choose to pay for one streamer at a time, binge, switch, repeat.
(for now, anyway.. until they all quit the full season drops and/or start putting their catalog on a rotation like the 'disney vault' was to home video).
Yeah, this is what is next. Another thing might be to split up one service into subcategories, like family, sci-fi, cinema or whatever and then charging for each individually. Obviously ending up more expensive if you get them all than what it is now.