I’ve started spending 100% less on streaming services this year.
When all the content I could possibly want was on Netflix, I happily and without reservation paid for it. I would have even paid more, (and did, when 4k streaming became a thing) and was generally happy with what they offered.
But of course, we all know that their content licenses were not renewed, and then they engaged in a non-stop campaign of cancelling any show I found remotely interesting, and that was basically the end of a 15-year subscription history with them.
And it’s not like any of the replacement services were better: they all had little bits and pieces of shit I might want, but they had multiple tiers, mostly with ads, and I just couldn’t be fucked to figure out which service had what content - and, worse, sometimes they had the content but not EVERYTHING: who the hell wants to watch a show on a service that has season 2,4,5 and 6, but not 1,3 or 7?
You would have to subscribe to several services to get everything, and suddenly they were looking worse than the cable subscription they were supposedly replacing, but were claiming to be better than.
Basically, they made a product worse than me doing it myself, and so, after a very long stretch of paying for shit, I went back to uh, not paying for it.
Spotify is in that list too: I realized I was a grumpy old man and that for my purposes I could just buy and rip second-hand CDs and build a library that didn’t cost me money every month, and well, if I bought a couple of CDs a year, it was STILL in my favor by a huge margin. (And, as a bonus, I wasn’t contributing to certain poor choices of podcast funding they had made.)
The season thing drove me up the wall. How did any, and I mean any TV executive think that was a good deal? Worse is how are people still paying for it? Oh yeah, I love watching a show, seeing a big cliffhanger, then speeding forward 2 seasons skipping everything in between. Why the hell would anyone want that?
Or with Netflix, you’re exactly right. I also love falling in head first into a show, then having it completely changed or outright cancelled after the first or second season. Netflix made a money printer with the Witcher. Everyone I knew was watching it, nerds, parents, random friends, anyone I asked they were watching it. Then they just decided “Nah, fuck the money, we’ll just completely change the show to the point where even the main actor leaves”. What the actual hell are they thinking? Why do people still give them money?!
How did any, and I mean any TV executive think that was a good deal?
I doubt they thought about it and/or care. It’s probably a case where they don’t have the rights to offer the missing seasons, and threw what they had up anyways because fuck it, someone will watch it.
Or with Netflix, you’re exactly right.
I don’t honestly expect Netflix to survive long-term, since there’s absolutely no reason to subscribe to them anymore.
They don’t have any shows that I could name that I’d be interested in, and it’s damn internet meme that they’re going to kill everything after a season or two.
It’s utter incompetence by the c-levels, and has pretty much put them on a trajectory to eventually just glide into irrelevance.
Another issue that probably doesn’t affect US residents much, is that a decent amount of content isn’t available in all regions. So even if I were to switch to a streaming service, it would mean I’m effectively getting an inferior product because some of my favourite albums are missing due to idiotic regional licensing. Just like with TV streaming, for that matter.
when i finally dumped cable (which i had pretty much just for broadcast reception and one cable network), i figured i’d sub to services instead. i could basically get all the major ones and still have money left over.
or so i foolishly thought.
it’s been like a year and a half…
number of months paid for streaming services: zero
my greedy landlord got all that ‘saved’ money instead.
I’ve started spending 100% less on streaming services this year.
When all the content I could possibly want was on Netflix, I happily and without reservation paid for it. I would have even paid more, (and did, when 4k streaming became a thing) and was generally happy with what they offered.
But of course, we all know that their content licenses were not renewed, and then they engaged in a non-stop campaign of cancelling any show I found remotely interesting, and that was basically the end of a 15-year subscription history with them.
And it’s not like any of the replacement services were better: they all had little bits and pieces of shit I might want, but they had multiple tiers, mostly with ads, and I just couldn’t be fucked to figure out which service had what content - and, worse, sometimes they had the content but not EVERYTHING: who the hell wants to watch a show on a service that has season 2,4,5 and 6, but not 1,3 or 7?
You would have to subscribe to several services to get everything, and suddenly they were looking worse than the cable subscription they were supposedly replacing, but were claiming to be better than.
Basically, they made a product worse than me doing it myself, and so, after a very long stretch of paying for shit, I went back to uh, not paying for it.
Spotify is in that list too: I realized I was a grumpy old man and that for my purposes I could just buy and rip second-hand CDs and build a library that didn’t cost me money every month, and well, if I bought a couple of CDs a year, it was STILL in my favor by a huge margin. (And, as a bonus, I wasn’t contributing to certain poor choices of podcast funding they had made.)
The season thing drove me up the wall. How did any, and I mean any TV executive think that was a good deal? Worse is how are people still paying for it? Oh yeah, I love watching a show, seeing a big cliffhanger, then speeding forward 2 seasons skipping everything in between. Why the hell would anyone want that?
Or with Netflix, you’re exactly right. I also love falling in head first into a show, then having it completely changed or outright cancelled after the first or second season. Netflix made a money printer with the Witcher. Everyone I knew was watching it, nerds, parents, random friends, anyone I asked they were watching it. Then they just decided “Nah, fuck the money, we’ll just completely change the show to the point where even the main actor leaves”. What the actual hell are they thinking? Why do people still give them money?!
I doubt they thought about it and/or care. It’s probably a case where they don’t have the rights to offer the missing seasons, and threw what they had up anyways because fuck it, someone will watch it.
I don’t honestly expect Netflix to survive long-term, since there’s absolutely no reason to subscribe to them anymore.
They don’t have any shows that I could name that I’d be interested in, and it’s damn internet meme that they’re going to kill everything after a season or two.
It’s utter incompetence by the c-levels, and has pretty much put them on a trajectory to eventually just glide into irrelevance.
Another issue that probably doesn’t affect US residents much, is that a decent amount of content isn’t available in all regions. So even if I were to switch to a streaming service, it would mean I’m effectively getting an inferior product because some of my favourite albums are missing due to idiotic regional licensing. Just like with TV streaming, for that matter.
when i finally dumped cable (which i had pretty much just for broadcast reception and one cable network), i figured i’d sub to services instead. i could basically get all the major ones and still have money left over.
or so i foolishly thought.
it’s been like a year and a half…
number of months paid for streaming services: zero
my greedy landlord got all that ‘saved’ money instead.