Podcast Introducing.... Home Theater United: The Home Theater Forum Podcast! This one goes to 11! (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

I’d be curious to see numbers - which these companies aren’t likely to release - to see how many people go for one tier vs another. Initially I said I had no interest in Peacock but I ended up signing up for the free version because I had wanted to see some Alfred Hitchcock Presents and that was where it lived. The free version only made me watch one fifteen second ad per episode. That wasn’t unreasonable to me. It was a better solution for me than ordering a disc and waiting for it to arrive all to see one or two episodes, when it was just a whim I wanted to indulge in that second.

I don’t know if that’s the standard Peacock experience but a 15 second ad to watch one 30 minute program was a balance I could live with.

Peacock is the super-weirdest of the trial services:
Free + Ads + random subset of shows.

I gave Peacock a look. And the shows have some seasons, but not all the seasons. Or some episodes. but not all the episodes. It is bizarre and unlike any other service I've used, and now I've used a lot.

I started watching Warehouse 13 (because I really enjoyed Eureka, and W13 is a successor), but it wasn't interesting, and I haven't looked at Peacock since.

 

[DaveF]

To my surprise, CBS All Access has risen to my top "must have" services, rivaling Disney+ for me. All the Star Trek. The Good Fight. Next year, I can see dropping Hulu but keeping CBSAA as I prune my subscriptions.

 

[John Dirk]

I found Peacock equally uninteresting. I've been reasonably happy with Netflix as my "go to" streaming service as I enjoy older TV shows I missed during their original runs but I am getting annoyed by the constant price increases.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Yeah I get that my stance on ads makes me sound like an entitled douche but I can't stand them. I hold with Banksy on this one.
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And yes. Either fully ad free or 100% ad supported. Tiers are dumb. Having 'sorta' ad free in the middle is even dumber.

I'm on the Hulu ad-supported $1.99/month Black Friday Deal. What I find is that on TV shows, there are ads before the show and during planned commercial breaks, but these are often shorter breaks (90 seconds or less) than what you would find on broadcast television. When it comes to movies, though, Hulu only plays one advertisement (usually only a 30-second or shorter spot) prior to the movie, and that is it - no further commercial interruptions! Yes, it sucks that I can't fast-forward through commercials, but considering there are fewer commercials than broadcast and only one at the top of a movie, I can live with it. Granted, I'm only paying $2 per month thru November, and initially we subscribed to the Black Friday deal as more of an on-demand backup for when for whatever reason our DVR failed to record our favorite ABC or NBC show over the air.

Peacock is another animal all together - their "free" tier is a joke, with most of their programming behind the $5 ad-supported pay window. None of their original programming has interested me, and most of the movies and TV shows we would watch are often duplicated on Hulu anyway (at least for the time being, until Comcast eventually divests its minority ownership of Hulu entirely to Disney).

 

[Todd Erwin]

How did we got on the topic of streaming, anyway?

(@Sam Posten - that's a subtle hint to a possible upcoming show....??)

 

[Sam Posten]

How did we got on the topic of streaming, anyway?

(@Sam Posten - that's a subtle hint to a possible upcoming show....??)

Yep, it comes down to Brian's avoidance of all streaming services and my gorging myself on them. So it always comes up =)

We've just sent out invites for next show on the 8th, but definitely want to get you back on to talk about your Streaming Annoyances thread sometime soon. I'd like to find someone who has either insider info on the services or a different counterpoint to you to bounce ideas off of if you know anyone!

 

[Todd Erwin]

I'd like to find someone who has either insider info on the services or a different counterpoint to you to bounce ideas off of if you know anyone!

Sorry, I really don't know anyone. It's just research, research, research, plus wasted calls to tech support.