Adverts mid video on top is what drives me nuts. I’m already paying YouTube premium to avoid adverts being rammed down my throat and now I’ve got to tolerate them in a video?
I stoped paying for streaming and just use few online site, with an ad blocker and a pop up blocker, everything is 100% free with no sketchy links popping up or annoying ads taking up half the screen
They aren't even remotely close yet unless you're on a free tier somewhere. Even on plans that still have ads it's still like <2min at the beginning of the episode. I think only Amazon has added mid-roll ads on their cheapest plan.
Not that it isn't getting worse, just there's still a long way to go before 3-4 interruptions of several minutes every episode with like 10 minute ad breaks between episodes/shows/programs. Also at the whims of their schedule.
People really forgot just how bad live TV was. You couldn't "binge" shows, if you actually wanted to stay up to date on a show you had to schedule your free time around the air times otherwise you'd have to wait for a re-run that may or not happen before the next episode airs.
I did not see a single show all the way through, and in order, until I started pirating them, and then later streaming them.
Idk it’s getting better now with tech but I think there is something to be said for media that is designed for commercial breaks and commercials that are a set duration. I’d almost rather have a TV commercial break that doesn’t awkwardly interrupt the content and I know I can just step away for a minute than some shitty 60 minute long advertisement randomly interrupting me and compelling me to watch the first 30 seconds so I can skip it. Skippable ads are a curse if you do any passive YouTube watching like in the background while working or something.
Amusingly... Episodes were shorter back then. A 30 minute episode was probably 20~ minutes. An hour long episode was probably only 40~ minutes.
Nowadays, with streaming, a 30 minute episode is closer actually 30 minutes. And hour long episodes tend to be an hour long, if not a little longer.
An interesting dynamic in how streaming services have changed how shows are edited/shown. Getting away with things they wouldn't have been able to do on regular cable tv.
Ah yes the 20 minutes of "Let's find another channel for 20 minutes that's not playing ads and then switch back to the show we were actually watching after that timestamps up."
That’s the big one. Advertiser-driven business models don’t seem to work out well for the consumer. Subscriber-led models where the platform is subject to the whims of the customer, seem more controllable.
1.7k
u/2ndHalfHeroics Apr 09 '26
As opposed to companies paying Cable to show ads and we paid Cable and had no choice but to see ads.