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worldstarktfo t1_iubt7lo wrote

Fuck this nonsense. With prices sharply going up the way they have it’s obvious that less people would be able to or want to budget for the fortune it cost to own multiple subscriptions. Get ready for another “big squeeze” as they start to clamp down on account sharing. Privacy and anonymity will be a thing of the past as they force people to set up 2fa outside of the house thus allowing them to better target their clientele. With more restrictions and more requirements comes the ability to scalp and sell our info. This deserves a court case.

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Brave_Specific5870 t1_iubvofn wrote

Is it cheaper to own cable at this point? Does cable exist?

I didn’t have tv up to a few years ago…now I just…have Hulu and peacock.

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Vanman04 t1_iucce3d wrote

Don't know about cheaper but you couldn't pay me to put up with the advertising on cable.

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zherok t1_iucsqoj wrote

> Is it cheaper to own cable at this point?

It likely depends on how many services you pay for and whether you couldn't bundle cable TV with your internet (assuming they're your internet provider too.) But in practice they love to obfuscate the costs and even the cheapest TV packages are probably time limited deals at best, and likely making up the difference anyway through fees and the like.

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Brave_Specific5870 t1_iucsy6a wrote

Was it supposed to be like this though? I mean there isn’t ‘big cable ‘ but people wanted options but now I feel like why

I watch Pluto tv but the same three commercials can get annoying.

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zherok t1_iucusxs wrote

I think people were fine back when Netflix was really the only meaningful option.

The divisions now are largely along content owner lines, which is a mostly arbitrary division of content to an end user. I'm reminded of a credit card I had that gave bonus points for Sony Pictures films. But most people don't pick what films they watch just by what studio produced them. So a collection of TV shows chosen that way is often a weird starting point. Especially when they all expect a monthly fee on par with Netflix.

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ankermouse11 t1_iucic6c wrote

This article isn't even talking about consumers. It's talking about the streaming companies themselves and how falling share prices, lack of profit, crushing debt, and a saturated US market is causing them to cut all their mid-budget shows and look elsewhere for profitabilty.

Bottom line for the consumer? Expect longer delays between big budget shows and less "mid-tier" content, more reality, and more foreign shows. None of which are particularly good for the US television audience.

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zherok t1_iuct7eu wrote

This'll likely lead to consumers abandoning certain services as the reason to stay subscribed diminishes. Which in turn will likely lead to some of them collapsing (and quite possibly getting pac-manned and absorbed by a larger media conglomerate, like Disney.)

Which probably won't do much good for driving new content, since a handful of streaming services all owned by gigantic media companies might just rely on their existing IP and a diminishing pool of alternatives to coast on.

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United-Historian-482 t1_iufumhm wrote

zherok so Disney is also at risk of imploding?

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zherok t1_iufwv58 wrote

No, I meant Disney would likely absorb other companies when their streaming services fail. Disney is probably too big to fail even if Disney+ bombed, which as far as I know isn't the case. Paramount and Warner Brothers are probably more vulnerable out of the big five studios right now. But it's probably more eclectic services that are really at risk. That said, we're already seeing consequences of these mergers as Warner Brothers purged content in order to save money, including effectively finished films and already completed, recent television shows. Purchasing Discovery was already a move towards more reality TV-based content too.

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United-Historian-482 t1_iufyj86 wrote

Whose the fith studio in the Big Five? I know there's Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal. Is it Sony?

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zherok t1_iug1aoj wrote

Yeah. I get the impression they're the least invested in streaming out of the five.

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SerBronn7 t1_iufi5r3 wrote

More foreign shows may open some peoples eyes to the quality available in other places.

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Feniksrises t1_iucr2vv wrote

Yes I do wonder how many people have multiple streaming subs. Cutting the cord was supposed to make things cheaper! I'm already paying €40 per month for internet.

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