I’ve been trying to decide which streaming services I want to keep since most continue to raise prices and with the recent writers and actors strike, have few shows that I actually want to watch so I’ve decided to cut down, for now, on some of these services. At the moment, I have Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Max, and SlingTV. I also have Amazon Prime which comes with Prime Video but I rarely watch anything on Amazon unless I’ve exhausted all the other services. Amazon Video just has too many B-roll content so I usually ignore it.
Advertising
The purpose of advertising is usually to build awareness of a product or service and entice someone to buy whatever is being advertised. Netflix recently succumbed to the allure of advertising dollars and now offers an ad supported streaming service but it’s not for me and I’ll tell you why…
- Ads are a waste of time – Time is the most precious commodity we all have and wasting it watching ads for products I will never buy is a huge colossal waste of time.
- Ads are annoying – I can’t begin to tell you how annoyed I get with ads on any medium. I use SlingTV for one primary purpose, to watch Bloomberg or CNBC during the day while I work from home.
- Ads are irrelevant – The vast majority of ads I end up seeing as I watch CNBC or Bloomberg are for pharmaceutical drugs (don’t need any), automobiles (don’t need one) or some other irrelevant product or service like Cramer’s Club.
I have personally noticed that when I watch ad free streaming on Netflix, I am much more relaxed and happy with the content I’m watching than when I’m on Sling TV with constant interruption for idiotic ads. Additionally and as much as I hate to admit this, advertising works, because whenever I see ads I become aware of products and services that I am completely unaware of since I work from home and usually just watch ad free streaming services.
Sadly, it seems tragic that we are bombarded with ads on our cell phones, computers, television, and now streaming services. Is there not any other business model that works without advertising?
Streaming Keepers and Weepers
For now, the #1 streaming service I can’t live without is Netflix. The sheer variety of international movies and shows is reason enough to not part with it but I also enjoy many of Netflix own shows and documentaries over other content from other streaming services.
The rest of the streaming services really don’t have any content anyone in my household watch regularly enough to keep.
Disney+ seems to be stuck on recycling Marvel Comics endlessly onto its shows and movies. I think it’s time to get more creative and come up with something new. I’m keeping this one more year then canceling at the end of my subscription.
Apple TV+ has some shows I like but there just isn’t enough content on this platform to warrant the recent price increase so it’s on the chopping block for 2024.
Max comes free with my internet subscription and if it weren’t free I would cancel it in a heartbeat. I think Game of Thrones was the last show I watched on HBOMax. Like, Apple TV+, they need new exciting content.
Sling TV is something I need to stay aware of financial news for my investment portfolio. I like the summaries of Fed activities, Treasury updates, and other commentary from most of the Bloomberg and CNBC teams except for the clown known as Cramer who needs to be retired. CNBC can and should do better.
Paramount+ we subscribed to watch one show Yellowstone! For a sci-fi fix I’ll watch some of the Star Trek series but like Disney, they keep recycling the same shows and themes. I’d love to see a Star Trek series based on the Klingon or Ferengi point of view instead of the usual sanctimonious Federation point of view.
Amazon Prime has a video service and ad supported TV service but it’s rare that I watch a show on it. There are some we have watched and enjoyed such as the Jack Ryan thriller but most of the content seems like it was discovered at bargain basement DVD sale from a decade ago. I wouldn’t pay for this streaming service but we have it as it comes with Amazon Prime.
The moment any of these services start pushing ads, I will just resort to downloading content from the dark web and be done with them all.