Amazon to include commercials in all programming
 

Recently got a notice from Amazon that starting 1/29/24 they are going to include commercials in all movies and series. Supposedly one can opt out of ads for an additional $3 per month.

It seems to me we're gradually returning to network TV and their commercials (one big reason we opted into streaming services), only now we'll be paying a monthly fee for a similar service that we had with traditional TV!

Are we heading full circle?

Re: Amazon to include commercials in all programming
 

Watching TV nowadays is like the death of a thousand cuts.

In film noirs that's called the protection racket. Ugh, good thing I don't give Amazon streaming any money.

It was a sign of things to come when the home video (VHS) release of Top Gun had a Diet Pepsi ad at the start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpLOWGjYvq0
Then again, it was probably also a sign when they started placing advertisements in family Bibles.

https://external-content.duckduckgo....f62&ipo=images

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to find an ad for Fred's Big Rock Moving Company imprinted on some stone at Göbekli Tepe.

They're get away with whatever they can get away with. And they can, over a long enough timeline, get away with murder. The stupidity of cable was that people paid a monthly fee to be fed a steady stream of advertisements. Is it any surprise that streaming is going the same way?

Don't worry, you can always go "premium" to get rid of the ads. And once everyone goes premium, they'll start poking in little adverts at the edges.

If there was ever a case for piracy, this reality is part of that case.

Re: Amazon to include commercials in all programming
 

I’m not bothered by this small increase. Cannot watch anything with ads so glad we have the choice to opt out.

Re: Amazon to include commercials in all programming
 

It's almost like Amazon thinks it needs even more money.



Or rather, all of the money.


One of my great moral failings is that I actually give this creep my business out of total laziness. Maybe this is the time to cancel my subscription with them, not because I actually care about the occassional commercial, but because Amazon deserves to die.

Re: Amazon to include commercials in all programming
 

It's happening industry-wide, so it's pretty clear this speaks to the real, on-the-ground viability of streaming as an economic model. We were enjoying lower prices/services/amounts of content on the backs of venture capital, and now the reality's setting in and it turns out the economic model of television wasn't that far off from the natural equilibrium.

Same here!

Re: Amazon to include commercials in all programming
 

The part that annoys me is that I pay for Prime yearly rather than monthly. I "re-upped" back in August. So they're just going to change the terms in the middle of my subscription? I've got 7-8 months left but I'm not getting what I signed up for (ad-free movies). I'm sure I gave them permission to do this when I pretended to read the terms of service but it's still sucky.