5 Ways Streaming TV Is Changing for the Worse!

Yes, I know what a VCR is and I had one for many years! 😂I definitely should have mentioned it.

Whether it's two minutes or eight minutes, ads are hated because they are always a jarring interruption to the flow of watching a show.

Whenever I watch something with ads, I hit the MUTE and check email and Facebook on my phone. Been doing for years.

You're absolutely right about ads. I was watching a live show the other day and they ran SIX MINUTES in ONE break... and you know there were multiple breaks per hour. I thought something was broken, and we were never getting back to the program. Unbelievable! I couldn't wait to get back to my streaming apps.

I prefer all of my subscription services to be add free. I love watching my shows no ads, especially when you’re in the middle of a really good scene in a show or a movie and an ad comes to interrupt your experience. Even watching YouTube bothers me especially because of how much you have to skip ads. I prefer everything add free.

I use YouTubeTV and record everything I watch and fast forward through ads. Ads are nothing in my world.

I get frustrated when I can't find a movie available to stream over 5 different paid streaming apps. Just feels wrong to rent.

My biggest problem with the ads on some services is they don't follow natural ad breaks already built into the content, how many ads some put in the middle of a movie breaking up the flow, or how repetitive the ads are. I like how Peacock does ads on movies, being a block before the movie, maybe the end, and when you pause you get a simple static ad. Edit: my other biggest gripe, and it's mainly with Peacock, and Vudu aka Fandango at home, being a Linux user(Manjaro Gnome my distro of choice) is they block us on our laptops, and desktops even using Google Chrome, or Firefox when services like Hulu, YouTube, YouTube TV, Tubi, etc.. have zero issues with what your OS of choice is as long as you're using a modern web browser with the proper plugins.

People that own their own homes in urban area still have the option to receive OTA channels via antenna. I live in Las Vegas and put an antenna where a satellite receiver used to be. I receive all the major channels and the minor ones that could with them on DTV crystal clear. Really, only missing ESPN. Also, I could add a network DVR if I wished to. While I'm not really to leave YouTube TV, I am in a position to change what I am subscribing to at any time.

Yep!!! .. My picks .. High Cancellation Rates, Erratic Writing Quality Changes, Long Seasonal Delays, and the Extinction of Network TV Scripted TV shows. No doubt finding shows and movies is like doing a research paper. Even Google and Reelgood have at best spotty information that's often incorrect or outdated.

I never had to wait for a rerun of friends. There was this thing called a VCR.....

For 40 years, I have been able to avoid ads on TV...first by using VCRs, and later DVRs. But you can't fast forward through ads on streaming services. That's why I hate them so much. And don't think the number of ads will not steadily increase over time. I remember whe OTA TV had just 5 or 6 minutes of ads per hour.

I am now a subscriber. Besides the good info, I also like very much that so far you have not added any music to your dialogue tracks. I can't stand hearing music playing while the host is talking. For some reason, some YT hosts/channels seem to think otherwise. They are bloody wrong.

If they show me how long the Ads will be on, that helps as I can plan a Bio break or a snack break knowing how long I have.

Peacock does their ad-supported plan right. No more than 60 seconds of ads per break, and no "in-movie" ad interruptions. Hulu, on the other hand, is very ad-heavy. I watched the lastest episode of Bob's Burgers on Hulu and got hit with 5 minutes, 18 seconds of ads for a roughly 22 minute show. So it was 27 minutes total, just 3 minutes less than watching "live as it airs" on Fox. While Max and Netflix also have not-so-intrusive ad breaks, they force you to buy ad-free plans if you want to watch in 4K HDR. Ughhh.

Always brilliantly informative!

Handful of channels i watch, outside of sports channels. basically showing re runs, so it's really no different watching on Pluto tv at that point.

In the 1990s, I bought a VCR in order to skip ads. As soon as I could, I subscribed to streaming services that were ad free. And I've dropped any service that forces me to watch ads (Prime video). I know I'm a privileged minority. I just really hate advertising of any sort and I pay to avoid them.

The annoying part is, they introduced ads with all the current plans that I have. So what used to be at free, is no longer the case.

Enjoyed you review. In addition to the price hikes for ad-free watching, I am noticing that more and more streaming services are showing "promos" of their content before actually starting the show/movie. I have complained about this to the service and the government, of course it doesn't do any good but does make me feel better. To me "promos" are ads even though they only show up before the show.