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Commercials Are Streaming’s New Norm, and Creators Aren’t Happy: “It’s Almost Worse Than Broadcast”
(www.hollywoodreporter.com)
this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2024
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Technology
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I have a hard time understanding why a option to view it either with ads or pay money to not show ads is bad.
I understand it's frustrating that you already pay and still see ads.
In the end you choose to buy something from a company which sells something. Either you pay with your money or with your attention if you don't want to pay, just don't use their service.
I much rather have the option to pay to get rid of ads than not having it like it was in the 90ies.
Because it's a gradual death-march to pricing out the ad free tiers entirely. Right now we're in the 'illusion of choice' phase. But ad free tiers will continue to become more and more expensive until one day corporations can turn around and justify removing them by blaming consumers. "We're getting rid of our ad-free plans due to lack of consumer interest." It won't be a lack of interest. It'll be a lack of affordability. And you can be damn sure once the ad-free plans are gone those ad based plans will end up priced at the rate for the old ad-free options. It's corporate gaslighting and it's happening right now.
Then stop paying for the service if you're not happy with it. Vote with your wallet.
Like, corporations need to make money... People understand that, right? They going to try to do things to make money. As a consumer, you decide the point at which the value is no longer there for you.
You're not entitled to streaming services. It's not a human right. I understand that it sucks to be priced out of a service you like.
Then don't be part of society is the root of that argument.
Don't want to be tracked? Don't use a phone. Or a car.
Don't want to support exploitative publishers? Don't read.
Can't afford rent?
Can't find a job?
It's all just blaming people for corporate bullshit.
I would not equate any of those things with streaming entertainment, but okay.
For the record, I'm not blaming people. I don't even know how you could read that from my message. Of course it's the corp's fault for raising prices. But as a consumer, you do get to decide when the value is no longer there. No one is forcing you to pay for Netflix.
The point everyone is making is that this, along with everything else we have the “choice” to consume, is all a greater trend. I’m sure you’ve heard the word “enshittification,” well it was the word of the year and it’s on everyone’s lips for a reason.
Things are getting worse but the price keeps going up. This has long been a trend, called many names, from “shrinkflation” to “enshittification” to “planned obsolescence.” For decades this has been happening. Products aren’t built to last, companies aren’t competing for quality and customer satisfaction. The price goes up across the board, but everyone is making cheaper products. We’re just being squeezed harder because people have less money to spend. And people are tired of this process. We are the only ones paying. There is an imbalance in the way capitalism is running—and those anti capitalists among us will point out this has always been inevitable…but that’s another story. Operating under the assumption that capitalism is the system we are clinging to:
The tipping point for all of this is that corporate profits have been at record highs. Stock buybacks and rising CEO pay and out of control inequality. It’s all part of the same problem: we aren’t the “consumers” as such in this late stage capitalist world. We are being squeezed harder and harder across the board, our paychecks dwindle in buying power…the answer to this isn’t “well, stop paying for Netflix.”
People are pissed because this is one small kernel of the larger problem. We are products and we are the sacrificial lambs for the almighty stock price. We aren’t catered to as an integral part of the capitalist system. We are pushed further and further down to make space for record profits.
They take away account sharing, then they raise the price, then they lay off workers, then they force ads in our face…and then report how well they’re doing. It’s not just about Netflix, it’s not just about ads. It’s about everything. Our very apparent place in this system. We are an integral part of their capitalist system. But we’re treated like fodder. It kind of should piss you off.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏✊ Thank you for taking the time to write all that.
I think people are reading the part where you said "corporations need to make money" and are jumping to the conclusion that you're defending the corporations.
I quit Netflix last summer, and turns out I don't miss it at all. There are ... other free sites of questionable legality for streaming, DVDs at the library, or even just like ... feeding the geese at the park instead.
These corporations can sell all they want, but we can choose not to buy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I think you're saying.
People love to jump to conclusions on the internet. I state a fact of the reality we live in and apparently I'm a bootlicker. Til we have a radical economic revolution, yeah corp needs to make money.
And yes, I said vote with your wallet. If you don't like what corp's selling, don't buy it. Buy something cheaper, buy their competitor. Or nothing.
Or yo-ho-ho :P
They make plenty of money. They're not exactly poor.
They're trying to squeeze every penny they can out of people.
Yes, they are. I pretty much said that. Stop paying for it and send them a message that the value is not good anymore.
Good concept in theory but consolidation of streaming services to a handful of providers in an $88 billion dollar industry means the reality for most is that you can culturally isolate yourself by not consuming or seek illegal means of getting your entertainment.
Voting with your dollars works for mom and pop shops, but a loss in viewership due to changes in fees was calculated and note in the ledger.
With that attitude it is, you’ve lost before you begun off you don’t try.
Considering your attitude is "won't someone think of the poor corporations" I don't think you can really judge
What the fuck are you talking about?
My whole attitude was if you give up before you start your boycott, You will fail, yes, it may take a while, but if you get enough people They will fail
The point is not to say all is lost so fuck it, but to highlight that maybe there are systemic issues with an unregulated free markets. Networks have consolidated into a handful of streaming services to a point where there are really no other options for consumers.
What are you going to do? Read a book? Go back to DVDs? They can afford the relatively few people willing to take an all or nothing proposition to squeeze consumers for all they got. They are also really good at lobbying to keep the law on their side to keep it that way.
So what solution would you like?
Thanks for providing the least nuanced take I’ve heard today
It's always the same exact same lazy argument with corporate bootlickers.
"DoNt BuY iT!!!1!"
"CorPoRaTiOnS NeEd To MaKe MoNeY!!"
"YoU ArEnT EntTitLeD tO AnYThIng!!!!"
"X,Y,Z IsNt A HuMaN RiGhT"
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think you may be the only person in my life that's described me as a corporate bootlicker.
Apparently telling a consumer to vote with their wallet is somehow pro corporate?
Its cause you're parroting bootlicker shit right now.
Yes, it is. Because it ignores the reality of living in society. A kid that grows up without access to pop culture shows etc is bullied and harassed because they're different and don't fit in.
It ignores the reality that viable alternatives to ad supported content are becoming harder to find, creating a situation where people have to choose between a social disconnect and supporting a funding mechanism that they don't agree with.
If "voting with your wallet" is the only option, then nothing changes in the consumers favour, because that's the reality of capitalism.
Piracy is voting with your wallet.
How do you clean your tongue when you finally get it off billionaire boot. Do you need a special cleaning product or like does a regular tongue scraper do the trick?
Lol I'm anything but a billionaire sympathizer. Billionaires shouldn't exist.
Dude, your answer to excesses of capitalism is “let the market solve it”. The only person you’re fooling is yourself and that only because it is the lowest bar possible
What am I fooling myself about, exactly?
That the market actually responds to consumer desires.
Unfortunately with the excessively oversized conglomerates that do vertical integration in an ever increasing number of industries, there is only the illusion of choice left for consumers. Not using any type of media (books, movies, etc.) is not actually a solution or a choice. So consumers are left with no choice but what is offered, and the offering is not dictated by their desires but by the companies who will screw you over to increase already obscene profits. The "vote with your wallet" argument you use leaves you with "pile of crap A" and "pile of crap B" to choose from, with no alternatives. Your solution is social disconnect from everything and everyone, that is not actually a solution or a real viable choice.
My guy, I'm talking about not paying for Netflix. Social disconnect? You're so dramatic. I haven't had Netflix in years.
You're cutting one...but now they're all doing the shit that made you quit Netflix, and you have no (legal) way of getting access to pop culture without endorsing the shitty behaviour that doesn't listen to consumer desires. That is why "voting with your wallet" doesn't work, because there is no alternative to vote for with your wallet. So unless you keep endorsing the shitty corporate behaviour, you're pulling the plug on basically everything, and that is definitely a disconnection from many social interactions since you'll have no clue what they're talking about.
You don't have to watch the latest, hippest new show of streaming services so participate in society. I can't believe I'm even having this conversation, truthfully I'm baffled that I need to repudiate this.
But despite my sanity, I will engage with it... You know people still have dvd players, right? And libraries still exist? To be clear, I'm just trying to rebuke the absurd claim that you have "no way of getting access to poop culture" without streaming services.
How do you think people and libraries obtain their material? They dont get it for free, they buy it. So that still puts money in the hands of companies you're trying not to give money. Every time you borrow something from the library, they pay a little to the copyright owner of that material. So you're still supporting anti-consumer companies with your wallet by doing it like that. Like I said, voting with your wallet only works when there are alternatives, and we pretty much have none left.
We’re a day deep in you not understanding that proposing a market mechanism (consumer choice) as a solution to a problem created by markets is risible. I could try and explain it you again but I can’t understand it for you, so let’s call it a day. i’m happy for you to be the only person in the room not getting it.
What solution do you propose?
Ok, tell you what. i’ll engage with you as a good faith participant if you can meet the minimum bar. everyone else here knows what’s wrong with your suggestion. if you can persuasively explain that you also understand it (without reusing my words) i’ll happily believe you’re not an idiot and a waste of time and we can dig into what else might be an appropriate response
That doesn't seem like good faith at all.
As a reminder, this exchange between you and I begun because you called me a billionaire bootlicker. When I replied that I didn't think billionaires should exist, you said I was fooling myself. Instead taking me at face value when I told you my belief, you insinuated I don't know how I feel about my own beliefs.
You've been nothing but antagonistic when I'm pretty sure you'd find we would agree on probably a lot of things. We apparently disagree on the matter of if someone doesn't like the rising prices of Netflix, they should stop paying for it, though.
That is a lot of words to say “no i can’t explain what’s wrong with my argument” but at least you’ve saved me a bunch of time champ
They shouldn't exist? But you're ok with the systems that actively reward and sustain the behaviour that creates them?
No? When did I say that?
I'm with you right up until the end.
Then I start downloading everything again. 🏴☠️
Another way to look at this, is that we were all shoved in to a society with a financial system that basically requires the expenditure of money to get along. If I'm not entitled to the media, why are they entitled to my money? At the end of the day, none of us asked to be here. Since the dawn of time, people have been taking what they've wanted and what they've needed--be thankful we're in a phase of society that were taking pirated media and complaining about pricing, instead of taking eachothers lives for survival (which isn't even universally true yet lol). I would also argue, but not with any conviction, that we need to consume at least -some- of this media to be able to participate maximally in society. Everyone loves movies and media, and if you're the one person not consuming it, you're an outcast. Outcasts proverbially die alone away from the warmth of the communal fire. It's just human nature, tbh
They're not entitled to your money.
Yeah. The risk of piracy is just the cost of doing business, imo. If you want less piracy, all they have to do is improve price and ease of access. But they've already run the numbers and determined that the current price point is where they will see maximum profit. It's like they've approved the "theft" themselves haha
So back in the day we did this thing called boycotting and it worked pretty well. If people didn't care they just kept their mouth shut and their lives improved anyway
They probably wouldn't need to pull stunts like this if people just accepted that the price will slowly increase over time. However they don't. People hate when someone increases prices. The issue here however is that 10 euros 5 years ago buys you more than 10 euros today and that's how it will always be. If a company like Netflix just sticks to the 10 euros a month price for decades then the only way to maintain the same amount of revenue is to gain more customers each year. However if the number of customers stays the same aswell as the prices then they're effectively making less profit each year.