General Discussion Caleb D: The cord cutting dream is officially over (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Streaming is now an expensive ad filled pile of crap

 

[Robert Crawford]

Somebody posted that video in the Streaming Frustrations thread?

 

[YANG]

wide exposure and support equals wide gains and turnover. streaming folks embraced streaming contents for years, now they have to pay more... personally, i would have shouted "Serves You Right!!! You Deserved to be HELD HOSTAGE BY STREAMING CONTENT PROVIDERS!!!".
but i didn't do so... as a physical media collector or "hoarder" i'm, i could understand streaming subscribing folks favoritism due to, tidiness and accessibility.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Interesting video, thanks for the heads-up. I am currently taking a break from Netflix and Disney+, and it was Interesting that Caleb referred to a resubscription fee rather than a reduced fee to get you back.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The video didn't bring up anything new that's not been talked about on the HTF. The resubscription fee has been expected by some of us. Over the past year or so, I've been slowly giving up streaming services. Frankly, I don't think I'm going to need them in the future because I don't have the urge or desire to watch current TV series and such. I rather watch the catalog of movies I've accumulated over the years either in my physical media or digital libraries.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A re-subscription fee just means that I will be less likely to re-subscribe to the service in the future. Like @Robert Crawford , I am becoming less and less likely to subscribe to most of these services due to the amount of purchased content in my physical disc and digital libraries. We currently have YouTube TV as a replacement for live cable TV, ESPN+ for NHL regular season games (which I will be cancelling soon), Amazon Prime (which we have for reasons other than streaming), Peacock (which we get free with our Comcast Internet service), and Paramount+ with ads (which I got for a special $18 annual price). If we switch Internet providers, as I plan later this spring, we will lose Peacock. I will not renew Paramount+ in September.

We could potentially have re-subscription fees for Max, Disney+, Paramount+, ESPN+, Peacock, and Hulu, as we have subscribed to each at some point in the past. The only one that I may be willing to pay a re-subscribe fee (depending on the price) would be ESPN+ in order to watch my favorite hockey team -- the Montreal Canadiens. We can live without each of the other services.

 

[Clinton McClure]

We currently sub to:

Prime Video (as part of Amazon Prime yearly)
Netflix
Hulu
Disney+
Paramount+
Max (formerly known as HBO Max)
Conway Corp IPTV (local utility corporation’s internet tv package)

When the day comes that my parents pass or have to be moved to a rest home, I will immediately drop Disney+, Paramount+, and ConwayCorp IPTV. That will save about $150/mo.

 

[Bryan^H]

The video didn't bring up anything new that's not been talked about on the HTF. The resubscription fee has been expected by some of us. Over the past year or so, I've been slowly giving up streaming services. Frankly, I don't think I'm going to need them in the future because I don't have the urge or desire to watch current TV series and such. I rather watch the catalog of movies I've accumulated over the years either in my physical media or digital libraries.

Same here. Slowly making that transition.

 

[John Dirk]

The trajectory discussed in this video was all but predictable. Once House of Cards achieved the numbers it did, the writing was on the wall. In the end, the consumer is king but only when we act in unison. As long as a large enough majority tolerates whatever the streaming [Cable, or practically any other] companies throw at us, prices will continue to rise and features will continue to be held hostage to specialty fees, etc.

The problem with the whole thing in my view is, there's always a new generation on the horizon that lacks the historical perspective to even know how badly they're being screwed. In the end, I've realized I can't stop the train but I can certainly get off of it.

 

[Bartman]

The video didn't bring up anything new that's not been talked about on the HTF. The resubscription fee has been expected by some of us. Over the past year or so, I've been slowly giving up streaming services. Frankly, I don't think I'm going to need them in the future because I don't have the urge or desire to watch current TV series and such. I rather watch the catalog of movies I've accumulated over the years either in my physical media or digital libraries.

Does your significant other agree with your approach? I know mine doesn't & most of her family wouldn't either, watching old movies is seen as odd. I watch mine on my own in off peak hours.

 

[Bartman]

The big difference between streaming & cable is the ability to easily cancel the subscription. If they make it hard to cancel, I'll never return. When Netflix dropped DVDs I used the extra funds to subscribe to ATV+ & voila, the subs increased from $6 to $10/month. It has the best video quality (for rentals) & some good original shows. We have Netflix/Prime streaming & sub to BritBox once a year, $10/3months. This year we caught up on a year's worth of Britbox in two weeks.

 

[Desslar]

I recently dropped Hulu as I never seemed to watch it. Still have Prime and Netflix, but don't find watch much of either lately. Usually watch vintage TV series, so Tubi and Pluto are better options. Movie selections on Prime and Netflix are both kind of limited.

Would drop Netflix but my wife likes to watch new dramas sometimes. Kids just watch Youtube.

The problem with the whole thing in my view is, there's always a new generation on the horizon that lacks the historical perspective to even know how badly they're being screwed.

That's where Home Theater Forum comes in to enlighten the masses.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Does your significant other agree with your approach? I know mine doesn't & most of her family wouldn't either, watching old movies is seen as odd. I watch mine on my own in off peak hours.

My physical media and digital libraries have more than old movies & TV shows in them. I purchase many current movies too and some TV shows.

 

[Robert Crawford]

IMO, the eventual resubsciption fee will have a time limit on it. For example if you wait a year there is no fee. That’s what I think they’ll do at first.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Does your significant other agree with your approach? I know mine doesn't & most of her family wouldn't either, watching old movies is seen as odd. I watch mine on my own in off peak hours.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but my wife mostly watches traditional cable TV shows, including a lot of stuff on HGTV. That is one of the reasons we have YouTube TV - - with the other being that my traditional TV viewing is almost exclusively live sports. We can both do without the other subscription services, such as Disney+, Paramount+, etc. I only sign up for them when an appealing discount is offered.

 

[Bartman]

I know this wasn't directed at me, but my wife mostly watches traditional cable TV shows, including a lot of stuff on HGTV. That is one of the reasons we have YouTube TV - - with the other being that my traditional TV viewing is almost exclusively live sports. We can both do without the other subscription services, such as Disney+, Paramount+, etc. I only sign up for them when an appealing discount is offered.

We reserve evenings for joint viewing. I do most of the research ahead of time, I know what she likes. We absolutely hate wasting time searching thru sites looking for something to watch.
Last weekend we were with two sets of inlaws (who have only ever had cable) & are now being forced to stream. My sister-in-law's response to a description of the options was "I wanna watch, what I wanna watch", my response "It doesn't work that way", silence ensued. They are not used to having to do the work involved with entertainment options!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

We reserve evenings for joint viewing.

We do on some evenings. Other times there may be something on that only one of us wants to watch - - a sporting event in my case, some TV program in hers. At those times, we each do our own thing.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

“Re-subscription fee”? You’ve gotta be kidding. They should be happy enough to have you back as a subscriber at all, not screw you out of MORE money. I know the high seas is a verboten topic here but that would be just one more thing pushing people to that.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I guess “dream is over” is really perspective dependent.

I used to pay for both cable and all the apps I have now. By the end of my cable subscription I did not use it at all. It was literally throwing money down the garbage disposal. Now I just pay for the apps. However much the apps went up since 2019 is still far less than what the cable bill was.

If you want the convenience of just paying for service and not thinking twice about it and not putting any effort into keeping on top of it - which is not an unreasonable desire - you’ll probably pay more. If you’re willing to take a critical look at what content you consume, where it’s available and willing to put the effort into actively managing what you sign up for - you’ll probably pay less.