Interesting. I think part of the issue, in addition to the increasing cost of paid services, is the fact that it is so frustrating to get invested in a new show only for it to get suddenly cancelledā¦ having ended the season on a cliff hanger. Almost as bad is waiting three years for a new season (that character was a little kidā¦ why do they now have gray hair?).
It is a problem across the industry, but especially with the paid streaming services. I think a lot of viewers, myself included, are reluctant to start a new show until it has a finished its run, or at least has enough seasons that you can safely assume that the network/streaming service is committed to it.
Just one manās opinion.
Right now, I am re-watching the Rockford Files. The whole run is on Prime.
āFreeā is the ultimate come-on advertising word in our culture.
So, what stood out to me was āfreeā advertising-supported platforms are growing faster than paid. No surprise there.
And the āfreeā in: āThe numbers donāt lie: American viewers like their old TV favorites, and they really like TV they can watch for the nice price of free.ā
Free always has an advantage over something that costs. Free is always the best price.
I think that as long as there is OTA, there will be free OTA, more than enough to satisfy me anyway. This gen, next gen, whatever gen.
Honest Fact isā¦ all the āfreeā streaming channels are all regurgitated over and over again. 24/7 Cops, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and CSI are all streaming over and over again on different platforms. Pluto, Google Live Free, Roku Live Free, Xumo Freeā¦ its all the same after a while. Just slightly named different.
ā¦and it seems to be the same-old ad-supported broadcast television but now itās streaming.
Seems to me thereās also a lot of overlap in the content on the pricey pay services. The people who I know who are spending the most on TV seem to be getting the least, i.e. they are buying expensive subscriptions to get just one or two very specific types of programming (especially sports). Aside from those very specific special interests, a lot of the other content is the same on multiple pay services.
But, maybe my impressions are incorrect, because Iām just not that into it. Never paid as such for TV. Tablo OTA and free YT (especially the latter) are enough for me.