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Netflix mulls introducing free ad-supported tier. The circle is complete

Netflix, once a pioneer of ad-free viewing that offered a break from traditional TV norms, is now contemplating launching free ad-supported versions of its service in markets like Europe and Asia, Bloomberg reported.

The plans to offer a free ad-supported tier, albeit in select markets, suggests that pivot towards monetizing user data, in other words — making users and not the extensive library of award-winning shows a product, might be well in the pipeline.

ITGuyLevi ,

When my paid service started giving me ads I stopped watching it. I’ve been paying them since before streaming and in the past couple years stopped paying because T-Mobile started paying. When T-Mobile quits paying we’ll close the account.

whotookkarl ,
@whotookkarl@lemmy.world avatar

I won’t support any streaming service that has a sub+ad tier. Ads with no sub or sub no ads, anything else is incredibly greedy and the same as cable TV.

mannycalavera ,
@mannycalavera@feddit.uk avatar

Piracy it is then…

Luvs2Spuj ,

This is step 86 in the plan. Step 87 is make people pay for the previously free service

dustyData ,

Didn’t they already had a paid and with ads tier?

sunzu ,

Yeah but now the roped in new suckers that didn't know they need the product and the price is now 10 per month

thesporkeffect ,

Growth hacking. Shake loose more market share with the “FREE!!” version and then the frog boil

Vertelleus ,
@Vertelleus@sh.itjust.works avatar

Do it!
Ill cut subscription to free tier let adblockers do the rest. Profit.

sugar_in_your_tea ,

Let me know if it works and I’ll follow. I don’t need quality, I just need something for my kids to watch occasionally.

Manalith ,

If that’s all you need, I’d probably just start using Tubi, Pluto, and Plex. Pluto and Plex have some good live channels (Tubi might also, haven’t checked). Tubi and Plex have a decent catalogue of on demand shows and movies. Of course if you already have Netflix, it might be hard if there’s a specific show they’re used to.

sugar_in_your_tea ,

By quality I meant resolution, I don’t need 4k, but I do need specific shows my wife and kids like.

I have a NAS set up with some movies and whatnot, so I’ve talked to my wife about setting up a budget to purchase content we want and then cancelling our streaming services. So we’d be limited to what’s available on DVD/Blu-Ray, but most of what my wife and kids watch are still available there.

The cost isn’t the issue, I really hate ads and I’m worried ad-free tiers will go away (or become unreasonably expensive).

phoneymouse ,

Time to bring back Tivo

dustyData ,

That’s the problem. They already wisened up and HDMI, the propietary standard they forced everyone to change to for HD+, has built-in DRM. Most smart TV have DRM built-in as well.

phoneymouse ,

Cryptanalysis researchers demonstrated flaws in HDCP as early as 2001. In September 2010, an HDCP master key that allows for the generation of valid device keys was released to the public, rendering the key revocation feature of HDCP useless.[8][9] Intel has confirmed that the crack is real,[10] and believes the master key was reverse engineered rather than leaked.[11] In practical terms, the impact of the crack has been described as “the digital equivalent of pointing a video camera at the TV”, and of limited importance for consumers because the encryption of high-definition discs has been attacked directly, with the loss of interactive features like menus.[12] Intel threatened to sue anyone producing an unlicensed device.[11]

…wikipedia.org/…/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_P…

dustyData ,

I’m aware of this. But no corporation will ever let anyone get even close to releasing a consumer product like TiVo used to be.

phoneymouse ,

Then it can be an open source project like PiHole that runs on a raspberry pi and that only cool people know about

dustyData ,

They would be ceased and desisted out of existence. There’s a reason no one on the scene right now discloses methods and streaming piracy is a closely guarded secret. I’m sure it is perfectly possible, as that is how most piracy occurs nowadays. But it is extremely technical and most likely risks exposing any person doing it wrong.

phoneymouse ,

Well it would be something that is for, you know, research. Like the core technology exists in a GitHub repo for science and the public interest, but the master keys are just not included, and up for you to procure on your own with a “legitimate license.”

yggstyle ,

I look forward to when someone releases a box to record the screen or shows you want to watch on Netflix just in case the rights gets pulled before you get the chance to watch it. Added benefit is they can make it skip ads too. Gotta have a catchy name… like… NeVO for Netflix Video On(demand)

yessikg ,
@yessikg@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Tablo already exists

yggstyle ,

Was making a comparison to TiVO and old cable/satellite programming 😂

Twinkletoes ,

Ads provide a much needed break so I can check my phone without missing anything.

/s

rem26_art ,
@rem26_art@fedia.io avatar

watch youtube videos on your phone while the Netflix ads play -> Watch Netflix on your TV while the youtube ads play. Perfection

MajorHavoc , (edited )

I’ll take “Organizations that made it to the top by doing something different, only to fall under leadership that doesn’t understand what made them successful and descend into ruins” for 200, Alex.

Seriously, Jeopardy team - this is a rich category:

  • Netflix advertisements.
  • Zoom mandates staff return to offices.
  • Microsoft forgets what the “P” in “PC” stands for.
  • Toys R Us implements a shitty holiday gift returns policy.
  • Sears decides to sacrifice reputation for quarterly stock price gains.
  • Walgreens decides bottom-of-the-barrel incompetent pharmacists can uphold their “get it all done in one visit” secret sauce.
  • Radio Shack decides that once-every-two-years cellphone contract sales are the future for holding passionate electronics hobbyists’ loyalty.
conciselyverbose ,

Netflix can’t do what got them to the top.

Fuck everything about the changes they’ve made for the last several years, but they were always going to hit a wall when content owners put their content on their own platforms.

MajorHavoc ,

Netflix can’t do what got them to the top.

They can’t grow that way but they could easily hold on and remain profitable, popular and successful.

They were well on their way to enjoying “Kleenex” or “Oreo” stable market success, but their leadership and shareholders apparently aren’t satisfied with winning.

conciselyverbose ,

The entire source of their growth was “you can get almost anything you want to watch for one low monthly cost”. They no longer have rights to any of that content, and for most of it didn’t even get an opportunity to make a bid.

It’s the equivalent of Oreo shipping 3 Oreos in a big box for 3x the price. But also they had to change their recipe because they didn’t own the old one.

HobbitFoot ,

Yeah. Netflix got really lucky with streaming for as long as they did and they knew it. Cable and broadcast subsidized their content and they were able to lease it for pennies on the dollar.

Of course, people don’t want to admit that the subsidy for their content is gone and they are pissed about rising costs.

conciselyverbose ,

I don’t care about the why. It was worth it.

Now it’s not worth it.

HobbitFoot ,

Then cancel and move on.

The way that people talk about it here, a streaming service raising rates is the equivalent of a significant other dumping them.

conciselyverbose ,

I did. A long time ago.

People are allowed to recognize a dogshit excuse for a product is a bad product.

HobbitFoot ,

I never said people weren’t allowed, but there is this weird obsession about it on Lemmy.

conciselyverbose ,

People discuss tech companies, and when a company keeps jacking up its price while making the experience worse for an offering that would be a ripoff at half its original price, people are going to be annoyed.

Especially with the trend of not being able to just buy shows any more.

dustyData ,

Oreo was originally a ripoff so it makes sense.

slumberlust ,

Ewweew hydrox

JCreazy ,

I worked at Radio Shack in 2012 for a few months and was told by my boss that if a customer wasn’t there to buy a cell phone, be as little help to them as possible.

MajorHavoc ,

That’s heartbreaking. Radio Shack was so fun, while it lasted.

slackassassin ,

It’s a shame they went under during the rise of the maker movement. What an asset they could have been. I remember they started carrying arduino near the end and thought somebody must have tried to reach for their roots. Too little, too late.

JCreazy ,

I had quit in October of that year because I found a much better job that I ended up working at for 11 years. In those few short months though it was wild all the things that happened in that store. That store was in a mall and it didn’t last a year after I quit. They had a going out of business sale and I got a ton of arduino stuff for 75% off.

Lost_My_Mind ,

Life is stupid. What are we even DOING here???

KingOfSleep ,

Building shareholder value, duh.

Blackout ,
@Blackout@kbin.run avatar

Getting stupider

stevedidwhat_infosec ,

That’s a broad leap no? Giants rise and fall. Look at betamax, BlockBuster, Kodak, etc

There’s always going to be something better out there, as long as you’re still looking and leaving the old post. Chin up!

Lost_My_Mind ,

…betamax as a giant? They entered a format war, and died in their first few years of existance.

The others I get. Kodak was around almost 100 years, blockbuster nearly 40, both at one time the dominant leaders of their industries. Both fell to failing to adapt to change.

But betamax? It came out around the same time as vhs, and vhs was cheaper.

Same with 8-tracks and cassettes.

stevedidwhat_infosec ,

I mean, my point still stands but if we want to talk about semantics - are you saying betamax wasn’t a giant?

Obviously they entered the vhs war and lost, but after that it was pretty much downhill for the rest of their company and products. They were a big name brand and crashed out by entering a war they ultimately lost. That’s all I’m tryin to get at

entropicshart ,

They already have an ad tier (tmobile bundles it into some of their plans). Is this going to be an even more ad tier?

HobbitFoot ,

Mega ad tier.

sfxrlz ,

Enshittification? ✔️

IrateAnteater ,

the ads are minimally intrusive — that is, highly relevant and engaging — they should not detract from the overall user experience

In what universe do ads, no matter how “relevant and engaging”, ever not detract from the overall experience?

Nougat ,

I've been watching Monk recently, without ads, and it's very interesting how television shows used to be written and edited for commercials. It's dead obvious where the commercials used to be, and even that detracts from the overall experience.

rand_alpha19 ,

Same, been watching Dead Like Me and Xena: Warrior Princess and it's pretty distracting when it happens.

sunzu , (edited )

we were not the customers... we were the product lol...

yeah it hurts, so let's stop allowing ads into our lives as much as possible..

the fact that netflix wants to offer it for free is telling what their core business is turning into...

rand_alpha19 ,

I'm not streaming it, it's on my media server, so there are no ads. I don't pay for any services except Shudder because it's still cheap and niche.

sunzu ,

good, same here but we are a very small minority...

half the population still pays for cable haha

altima_neo ,
@altima_neo@lemmy.zip avatar

Their core business is lost, IMO. Once they stopped offering movies in favor of their own content and tv shows, thats when it was game over for me.

sunzu ,

I agree I stopped with them mid 2010s... their OG content is just low quality engagement slop. I prefer spytube for that.

AbidanYre ,

Futurama had some jokes based around the commercial break times.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

The Simpsons as well.

BearOfaTime ,

I don’t mind those breaks… It feels like going to the next chapter in a book.

But actual ads, yea, not for a service that costs.

Though this whole thing is funny - they collect even more user data than they did with cable or broadcast, and now want to show you ads too.

Can’t wait to finish my media server setup.

PlantJam ,

I don’t mind when it’s an obvious break followed by a new scene. I do mind when the break is in the middle of a scene and they essentially replay the last thirty seconds before continuing the story. It just feels very disjointed and dated.

BearOfaTime ,

Ah, yea, that seems more like something that wasn’t intended for breaks.

Definitely disruptive.

altima_neo ,
@altima_neo@lemmy.zip avatar

Its painfully obvious when watching Star Trek TNG.

samus12345 ,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

music swells, fade to black

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t know if this was true in all markets, but in the Indiana market when we were kids, TNG would play a sort of mini-version of the theme when it went to break and now when a show or movie fades out or it’s an old show and goes to break, I annoy my wife by singing it.

CaptDust ,

Some shows we’ve watched spend their time “recapping” after the 'ad breaks", playing same scenes we just saw. Drives me nuts, wastes my time and feels so dated.

Nougat ,

Monk doesn't go that far, and it's still obvious. "Here's a joke before commercial!" Pause. Fade back in to a new scene. Pause. "Here's a little cliffhanger before commercial!" Pause. Fade back in to a new scene. Pause.

Maggoty ,

At this point if I’m ever responsible for making a tv show it will have obvious places for commercials to go just because I don’t want them butchering it.

ThePantser ,
@ThePantser@lemmy.world avatar

Good luck, if you ever watch any of the free TV apps like freevee they will just hard cut in a commercial, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. Then they have the old places where a commercial was in the OG broadcast and it just fades to black and back. It’s really jarring to watch.

Maggoty ,

This is why we can’t have nice things.

ThePantser ,
@ThePantser@lemmy.world avatar

I always thought it would be a nice addition to piracy for a release group to edit a version of shows that cuts the recaps and makes a more unified episode. I would totally only ever download their releases.

olympicyes ,

Maybe the vid angel people can get on that.

realbadat ,

Mythbusters streamlined is like that. A bit rough on some cuts imo, but overall just cuts the fluff.

Remorhaz ,

Mythbusters is 50% recap, that sounds so much more enjoyable to watch. Where would I find that?

realbadat ,

It’s on reddit going back quite a few years, with a recent tracker update:

reddit.com/…/streamlined_mythbusters_complete_may…

admin ,
@admin@lemmy.my-box.dev avatar

I was about to mention this example. It’s everything you love about mythbusters (doing crazy science experiments), without everything you hate about mythbusters and what made me stop watching. No more constant hopping over between the different myths per episode, or tons of recaps.

Just myths, one at a time, no bullshit.

xpinchx ,

Myth busters had to be the worst offender in that realm. “here a 2 minute recap of that things you just saw 5 minutes ago.”

Jarix ,

My thoughts exactly when i was watching old seasons of Canadas worst drivers

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

My wife and I recently started watching that. Skipping the first 6 minutes of episodes because we don’t need to meet all the drivers again, skipping at every commercial break because I don’t need to see what’s coming up or what we just watched…

Jarix ,

Great show, but binging seasons gets rough

stellargmite ,

That was a trope of real tv shows especially , and also a way to fill time with less filmed content i.e cost cutting. Often you’d see many shots 5-7 times throughout the show. Opening montage , before ad tease, after ad recap, thr event itself, end of show montage summary etc. Also drives me nuts. Even back when ads were between. “Yes I know what happened two minutes ago!”. And then there were so many shows you could tell the edit project file was a template and they just replaced the footage. Same exact structure every episode.

Jarix ,

Reality tv shows took this the farthest its so bad

webhead ,
@webhead@lemmy.world avatar

One of my favorite skits for that: youtu.be/7MFtl2XXnUc?si=i6He7wklxdSt8gpn

Jarix ,

Nail, head

GreatAlbatross ,
@GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk avatar

I was eagerly anticipating “I’m looking for a gift for my aunt”.

Riven ,
@Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Anime was bad for this too, especially the dubbed kind and one piece.

kratoz29 ,

Ahhh, I suffer from this with old animes!

bitwolf ,

I’m gonna be king of the recaps! 👒

ShepherdPie ,

God I’ve been watching through Bleach and it’s like this. Each 22 minute episode is really only about 12 minutes long with the rest being a 5 minute recap of the previous episode, the intro, credits, and post credit filler.

Edit: a tangent of this would be watching a sitcom with the laugh track removed. Imagine seeing the actors awkwardly standing there in silence in the middle of their dialog where the laugh track would normally be inserted.

A funny second tangent is the musicless music videos on YouTube. Definitely worth checking out for a laugh.

umbrella ,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

modern shows frame things differently to account for people watching on tiny phone screens and we might be bothered a few years down the line when we get holodecks or mind control implants

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

There are also shows that based jokes around the fact that they were going to or just came back from a commercial break and now you don’t have those in those shows. And now, I guess, they’ll go back to editing shows for ads.

What a weird modern landscape we’ve made for ourselves.

rottingleaf ,

What a weird modern landscape we’ve made for ourselves.

Every generation ever. Well, maybe since inventing the wheel

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

It’s even worse if you’re watching competition shows:
“Coming up: things you’re going to see in the next 5 minutes.”
“Welcome back: recap of what you’ve seen in the last 5 minutes.”

gibmiser ,

Engaging is the last thing I want from an ad

Silentiea ,
@Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

You engage with the skip button

criticon ,

I hate ads, but sometimes prime puts 2 minutes of ads at the beginning of a show or a movie and then no ads, I’m ok-ish with this, much better than imdb or tubi that play the same commercial every 15 minutes

If I start a stream and it shows that it will have several breaks I stop it and get it from the high seas

snooggums ,
@snooggums@midwest.social avatar

I would be fine with that if it was free and didn’t reply the ads if I stop and resume.

If I am paying money, then ads are unacceptable.

Manalith ,

Included with this, promoting one of your shows before the one your watching starts should be considered an ad and not happen on ad free tiers, looking at you HBO and Paramount.

Bluefruit ,

I wish they wouldn’t do that. If i have to hear about Southern New Hampshire University again I’m gonna hurt somebody.

If I agree to free thing and have to watch ads, aight fine.

But at least make them different man, i hate that they play the same one over and over again. It does not make me want to buy your product.

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

I was sitting in a diner the other day and one of their TV’s was apparently, for lack of a better word, tuned to that Samsung TV Plus service. I watched it play the same Kia ad four times, back to back. Not in separate commercial breaks. All in one commercial break where the same ad was played four times consecutively.

Just like you, I have to say they found no success in making me want to buy a Kia.

sem ,

But you are telling us about kia, so maybe it did work

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

Quick! Name a cheap import!

Manalith ,

Nissan! Shoot, I did it wrong…

sem ,

Hyundai?

Badeendje ,
@Badeendje@lemmy.world avatar

Those ads that are now inserted during the program on us tv shows are annoying as fuck Banner at the bottom or side… Goddamnit.

elver ,

Cerveza Cristal?

olympicyes ,

Always does but some implementations are better than others and bills still need to get paid. Network TV can’t force you to watch ads before beginning your program, but streaming can. I’m irritated that Prime has ads even though I pay for it but at least the way they handle them (only before the program starts) is acceptable to me. Interrupting a program to show ads the way YouTube does is horrible customer experience. What’s crazy to me is the way network tv shows have gone from 22 minutes in a 30 minute block to 17-19 minutes.

Maggoty ,

Especially in shows not edited for commercials. They just throw them in the middle somewhere so the show gets cut mid-sentence. It’s ridiculous. If you want to show me ads after that episode, then fine. But killing the entire pacing of the show for your ads in a service people are paying for already? that’s just infuriating.

Silentiea ,
@Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Fuck, these days even in shows that are edited for commercials, they’ll ignore those breaks and just put ads wherever they feel like it

surewhynotlem ,

Honest answer? Kids toys ads. The kids love the ads more than the show sometimes.

It sucks for parents though. Gets expensive.

Stovetop ,

That shit should be illegal.

crank0271 ,

When the content isn’t that good to begin with?

Silentiea ,
@Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

When is interrupting my viewing experience to show me an ad ever actually relevant?

avidamoeba ,
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

Perhaps to people who are used to watching ad infested cable and don’t pay for ad-free streaming. So it’s not that ads aren’t detracting from the experience but that some folks are used to it. Getting those folks is growth. Number go up.

rottingleaf ,

Maybe some old-school 60s’ “episode is financed by <something very good soap>” text in the beginning?

Or product placement, if the events (EDIT: on the screen) unfold in our time.

TheAlbatross ,

Streaming is just cable

cm0002 ,

Not until we’re having to sit through upwards of 20 minutes on ads per “1 hour” episode

wizardbeard ,

There is one benefit, at least for now. You aren’t locked into long term contracts like cable has/had.

bobs_monkey ,

Imo that’s pretty much the only benefit these days. But I’m also waiting for those 1 year, 2 year, etc “deals” where they offer $1/mo off or something

dustyData ,

Don’t they already do that? I swear I saw a streaming service that offered 20% off the price if you agreed to pay 2 years in advance or something like that. That is already a thing on SaaS subscriptions.

bobs_monkey ,

I know Hulu has an annual billing option where they won’t prorate your bill if you cancel mid term, but I don’t know if there are any that just flat out won’t let you cancel.

foggenbooty ,

I expect to see this soon as a way of combatting people who join one for a month or two, binge, then switch to another provider.

It might not come in the form of contracts at first, maybe they will just jack up the price of month to month high enough that people will voluntarily buy into a contract or yearly pre-purchase.

Trust me, there is always a way to make more money if you’re OK with being anti-consumer. It’s just a matter of time.

adespoton ,

The difference is that my ad blocker is quick and painless to set up, where TiVo involved some capital and planning.

jubilationtcornpone ,

Didn’t some cable companies get all butthurt that you could fast forward through the recorded commercials?

HobbitFoot ,

For now. YouTube is already starting to dedicate serious resources to anti ad blocking. I’m sure other streaming services aren’t that far behind.

adespoton ,

I remember when I had to set my VCR to record a program I wanted to watch; if YouTube gets that bad, I’ll just do the same thing; pre-record the video stream and skip the commercials.

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

but more more inconvenient since now you have about ten different apps instead of everything in the same place.

SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

I just wish they could bundle all the subscriptions into packages or bundles and I could watch the shows at pre-determined times.

InquisitiveApathy ,

Stop it. Executives don’t understand sarcasm and you’ve doomed us all!

SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

It’s okay.

Executives got were they are by being smart and making good decisions, not by listening to idiots on the internet.

CaptDust ,

Maybe they could add some kind of auto scrolling view that informs what is playing at those times? That’d be handy, sometimes I can’t find anything to watch.

SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

I’d probably end up watching that more than I watch the shows.

jubilationtcornpone ,

They could even provide an electronic box (for a nominal fee, or course) that shows me a menu of all the shows and movies that are available and what times they are going to play. That way I wouldn’t have to search through a bunch of streaming services. It could all just be in one place.

SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

Why not sell a book that has that information at grocery stores?

stellargmite ,

Cool thing about this is they could assemble these bundles into parallel live streams we could simply flick between to find what we prefer to watch. If they run into a problem of people flicking away when ads run then just align the ads to run at the same time on each “channel” if I can call them that ?

lando55 ,

They could bundle in my idea of having a telephone in your house, not a cell phone more like a land phone

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