Why the era of cheap streaming is over

Why we’re all paying so much more for Netflix, and what we can do about it.
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When streaming first came onto the scene, it seemingly came with a promise: the movies and TV that you love, without ads, for a much cheaper price than cable.
Less than 20 years down the line, it feels like that promise has been broken. Streaming is more expensive than ever, and prices just keep going up. Password sharing has been cracked down on, forcing more of us to pay to stream. And in the backdrop of all that, advertising is back with a vengeance, thanks to the rise of the cheaper ad-supported subscription tiers.
As a consumer, this feels infuriating. But we’re not entirely at the whim of these companies. So why is all this happening? And what can we do to not go broke while still enjoying our favorite shows?
Note: The title on this video has been changed.
Previous title: Streaming got expensive. Now what?
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- variety.com/2023/digital/news...
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- www.vox.com/recode/2023/1/5/2...
- www.businessinsider.com/netfl...
- www.bloomberg.com/screentime
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[@MrBeatzFactory]

cancel them all and sail the high seas!

[@Tiger10002]

My parents said if I hit 20k they'd buy me a professional camera begging you guys literally begging !!..

[@choocher13]

These services simply cannot compete with a $2/month vpn

[@anitanaseer1007]

Pirates ftw

[@NeonVisual]

hey all got greedy and took their content off Netflix. And now they will all collapse as these prices are living in a dream world. Almost everyone has gone back to piracy now

[@amirshahab3400]

Have done so since January this year. All of them subscriptions. Which I had done it way earlier. Such a sense of relief & no more stress or disturbances!

[@wielsonf]

Cable pushed people to piracy. Streamers replaced cable. Go figure.

[@scoops2]

I’ve seen people calling out that we’d loop back to this like 10 years ago. Became clear soon as every license holder got greedy and wanted their own streaming service.

[@jensenraylight8011]

They better figure something out, use their existing IP to sell some Merch or Tshirt, or create a Worldwide event and charge entrance ticket, build a secondary income source on top of their streaming platform. they already did the hardest work which is lined up people into their platform, people somehow accept streaming as a norm and oldie movie suddenly get relevancy again. and now they're gonna ruin all of it, just because some company named Disney trying to rock the boat. if they make their pricing inaccessible again, then all of that marketshare building will turn into a waste. people will definitely go back to Piracy again.

[@champsammy13]

And streaming is pushing 🏴‍☠️🦜🏴‍☠️

[@champsammy13]

​@@scoops2yep

[@jonathanrouse]

Cancel all services and sail the high seas! ⛵️🏴‍☠️

[@Beejrich]

No doubt that within the next few years, some of these companies will enforce minimum subscription length requirements or a forced break after cancellations.

[@maimee1]

Is that you, Adobe?

[@SomeYouTubeTraveler]

Yep. Streaming contracts will become a thing. Or it'll make like phone plans, where you can get a monthly subscription for some ridiculous price that becomes industry standard... or, you can get your old price if you sign up for a year (what a deal!!)! smh

[@MangaGamify]

Simple, support smaller businesses

[@ireallyamayuube]

Some almost do this already by offering discounts for yearly subscriptions (like Mubi).

[@wolfe4683]

don’t give em ideas

[@rynerath]

This video just seems unfinished like it just ended without a proper conclusion in my opinion

[@AnalogJourney]

Agreed !

[@lukefilippone5840]

A video about nothing

[@MeretriciousLynn]

thanks im not gonna watch this useless yapping video

[@kord2003]

Ahoy brother! ⛵🏴‍☠️🦜

[@FranzFerdinand55]

correct. its back to "you decide".

[@nevezeraa]

If buying isn't owning then piracy isn't stealing

[@eyespliced]

If someone sells you something, with the implicit expectation that you will own that thing, but according to the seller.. you don't? well, that sounds like piracy to me. So no, we aren't pirates, we're privateers!

[@javiermendoza5173]

very original

[@jensenraylight8011]

if Renting isn't owning, then House invasion isn't stealing

[@Deamee27]

if A is not B, then C is not D. Makes sense 🫠

[@LizziesLukas]

We don't necessarily buying a product and owning them forever... We're technically paying for great service

[@MatthewDax]

This video has a major flaw and completely ignores the fact that piracy exists. If things get too expensive and shows people wanna watch get split between multiple subscriptions, it's easier to just pirate it. Its not always a factor of money, but if a subscription to one service costs 100 a year, people will put up with it, if you need 10 subscriptions over different services, not only will it cost 1000, its also way more inconvenient. There's also the fact that subscription services make zero promise to keep their products up, which can lead to lost media.

[@issonyt]

Yeah piracy is a better product, one app /plateforme for them all. And for free

[@checktheneck]

@@issonyt I often come across news about huge fines for downloading pirated versions of movies or TV series in different countries (mostly European). I'm not sure that piracy is everywhere equally easy and safe for your wallet

[@issonyt]

@@checktheneck yeah you need to be careful, use a vpn and voilà

[@Plebejrick]

​@@checktheneckdepends if you download or streamed something. In Germany e.g. the majority of people in court went there for downloading, not streaming. Technically there is only a small difference but jurisdictional a huge

[@ImMaito]

​@@checktheneckthere are multiple ways of keeping yourself safe from copyright notices and all of them are cheaper than ad-supported tier from just 1 streaming service

[@corujariousa]

"Password sharing" is a poorly defined term by NETFLIX. Many people have kids in college, for example. It is the same household where members do not share the same address all the time.

[@xynyde0]

you're sharing your account with others by sharing the password.... what's so poorly defined about it?

[@yeetyeet7070]

this guy just said paying for all the streaming services at the same time is an "investment"

[@lprccac220]

🤢

[@GreyEagleFood]

Only one way, into the streaming company's pocket. The subscriber never gets any of this money back

[@GeeDoggy123]

Love the 'solutions' posed to the problem: 1: i just keep paying 2: i just keep paying...sometimes

[@matthewkondziela6733]

Free movies can be rented from the library and streamed on Hoopla

[@SalPal]

Go to the public library and get free blue rays for the week

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

Serial churning is an easy solution and very cost effective. But people aren’t that smart

[@Arxari]

​@@Homer-OJ-Simpsonit's wasting time and it's annoying... Especially when you can just pirate and have everything in one place for free

[@profmerlinpants]

Serial churning sounds like it needs a lot of effort to keep track and everything.

[@heartofdawn2341]

Subscription fatigue is also a thing. Whether it's playing online, doing office work, reading an article, watching TV - (even cars are starting to do this), there's an ever growing list of companies that want more and more of your money. It's death by a thousand cuts.

[@westbccoast]

So true, so tiring, every time you try do anything, someone is literally begging for your money, subscribe here, subscribe this, it's endless. At the end of the day the less subscriptions you have, the happier you will be. Go do things outside instead, go for more hikes, lots of free things to do in life instead, read a book, spend time with family instead of watching this greedy companies. Literally beggars.

[@darksidegryphon5393]

Bankrupcy by a thousand payments.

[@westbccoast]

@@darksidegryphon5393 I like that, so true.

[@SoftTofu123]

companies want to make more money. consumers want to save more money. it's a constant battle of greed. you just cant get around that

[@MaksB.]

What is ironic is that people were saying that communism/socialism would take your stuff away and now capitalism is slowly forcing you to rent/subscribe to everything, so you don't own it.

[@mjstrikes5264]

“If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing”

[@Daniella9658]

What bugs me is that you pay for each streaming platform and then they STILL put commercials inside the episodes. Like, why am I paying for this? It’s like watching free KZbin at this point…

[@KennytheCandyMan]

The thing is KZbin has a skip button after five seconds in most cases... now take paramount + they will run 120 seconds of ads every 10 minutes.. such greedy ad revenue for a mediocre service

[@44zeex]

Streaming stopped Piracy. But greed brought it right back

[@axa3687]

So greedy companies brought back greedy consumers? The only losers are the filmmakers. RIP.

[@thecolorgreen9022]

Infinite growth is demanded, but just isn't possible.

[@phoenix887]

🎯

[@vitoc8454]

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” - Edward Abbey

[@user-id3fc8qs7y]

Bros think population increases by 10% every year for real 💀💀💀

[@crocodileguy4319]

@@vitoc8454 that's a good one

[@finiavanamandresy5460]

Exactly

[@alexanderdergachev4822]

I feel like the main problem is that you have to subsidize a lot of content you don’t need or want. With cable, you could pick your selection of channels, but now you also get Netflix’s ridiculous reality shows and gazillion of lookalike TV shows with repeated storylines. Maybe they should make less content and prioritize high-quality stuff? Here in Europe I can get a cinema subscription for $20 and gladly pay for it, as well as occasional cinema tickets when something is not screened with my provider, but I am sailing the high seas for TV shows at this point (I actually pay about $10 to a service provider for that because I can stream all high-quality TV shows with them with a convenient interface, so that money would have gone to Netflix or HBO if they offered a wider range of things to watch).

[@d.b.cooper1]

Lol just wait until the likes of Netflix follow Apple & co into wasting billions in TV rights for various sports despite not having a separate sub option to recoup the money like traditional cable did. It's already started with the £100m gimmick Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight that's on Netflix live for free.

[@sliwka_mirabelka]

I'd argue it was not that easy with TV channels. At least where I live they had those 2 strategies: 1) They'd bundle channels with similar topics together and you'd have to purchase access to them all, even if you were interested in just one or two. 2) They'd sort channels into tiers (like bronze, silver and gold). If you wanted a channel only accessible in the gold tier you'd also have to purchase access to all the ones in lower tiers even if you weren't interested. This is even worse than option 1 as you're forced to pay for more unwanted channels. To me it still looks like subsidizing content you don't want. For that to truly change they'd have to introduce paying for individual channels/shows which would likely increase the individual cost of them, just like today you can rent films for 48 h for 1/3 of what you pay for a monthly subscription. If you watch more than 3 films a month it's just cheaper to subscribe than rent individual copies.

[@witzigevideos9858]

Hey, could you share the name of the service? :)

[@alexanderdergachev4822]

​@@sliwka_mirabelka what we pay has nothing to do with the costs of the programming nevertheless. It is pretty much a fixed cost plus whatever the licensing fees are. My argument is that they should just make less content. Nobody needs it.

[@alexanderdergachev4822]

@@witzigevideos9858 sadly would not help you as now you need a Russian bank account/credit card to pay for it. You might want to check Kinopub out though - not sure what it does, but I've heard good things.

[@lynpotter6471]

In short, it's the same reason everything else goes bad. It had to find infinite growth from a finite resource, so of course it had to put the squeeze on existing customers eventually.

[@bigpurplepops]

Pirating would feel so much worse if these companies didn’t treat their customers so poorly. Paying for shows you don’t own is one thing; paying for artificially reduced quality or more ads than the free version? Without residuals? Why?

[@AlessandroPioltelli]

Exactly I feel no guilt pirating from Disney or HBO max It’s really that simple at least for me

[@XC-Z-cv8qw]

Lol, these are multibillion-dollar companies with ped0s as heads. Zero sympathy at all.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

⁠the 20IQ 15yr old doesn’t know about serial churning Described in the video and just looking for excuses to be a criminal

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@bigpurpleDics You didn’t even watch the video. It was never going to be profitable that cheap. Maybe watch the video next time first before leaving a comment

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@@AlessandroPioltelli @bigpurpleDics You didn’t even watch the video. It was never going to be profitable that cheap. Maybe watch the video next time first before leaving a comment

[@zalfredo325]

why didn’t this video talk about piracy? seems like a giant piece of the story that was completely left out

[@AninomousUser]

i agree i feel the same way

[@billyshears4804]

oh you know why

[@CyrusYareff]

Because it's Vox.

[@AnoshterHaar]

In what way? As a result? Or a cause? Tbh I would urge you to do some research into piracy numbers and legit streaming sub numbers and compare those. Piracy isn't the cause for the higher cost. It merely is a result. Streaming lost their only positive: it being cheap. Result: piracy...

[@dieglhix]

@@AnoshterHaar yeah and horrible movies... in Piracy I find the classics and also movies from China which are fun too

[@SalPal]

Public libraries and their free dvds and even library apps like hoopla are always an option. Most underrated public service imo

[@joshallen128]

5 downloads Max a month which is reasonable

[@VerryBonne]

The frustrating part is we had a solution to the problem until last year. The disc rental service from Netflix had most of the history of film and TV available all for one monthly fee that cost as much as one or two streaming subscriptions. Much of the library was available on Blu-Ray which has higher picture and audio quality than streaming too. There are a few alternate disc rental services available. I'm not sure any have the same size library, but I've thought about trying some of them out.

[@LuizHenrique730]

When it was only Netflix it made sense for people to subscribe to it, you could pay a small fee to have access to a huge ton of great shows and films. Now that every studio has its own (expensive) service, people will just go back to using torrents and piracy the way they used to. It's precisely why streaming has worked so well for music but not for Hollywood - with music, you can stream every song on every platform, and they compete on a quality basis, not a catalog basis.

[@devsahay879]

Don't give them ideas!!

[@MegaKiri11]

That's true for most countries except USA. If you check a random series it's high chance it will be available on Netflix everywhere in the world, but in the US it's on Hulu. Or Paramount. Or Peacock. It would be a great KZbin video to explore why USA is so unique in this aspect.

[@burnindownthehouse]

Streaming hasn't worked for the musicians and bands though. They are paid a tiny tiny tiny amount per stream. I don't really know how professional musicians can make it anymore. The huge successful musicians can make it, but if you're an up and coming band then it's harder than ever out there right now.

[@matiasavellanal5244]

@@MegaKiri11 Because most services aren't available outside the US

[@manuelmartinez5313]

@@MegaKiri11 If you check a random series outside of USA you'll most probably find out that it isn't even available anywhere.

[@smoche]

The best thing about Netflix was that you could watch all the good shows on the same subscription plan. Companies saw that and as always, looked past what made Netflix so attractive in the first place: Convenience. The new race to essentially "re-invent" cable by basically trying to launch their own "Netflix" has just split the content across the web. I'm pretty sure there was an instance of Season 1 of a show being on HBO and Season 2,3 being on some other service entirely. Good one team, y'all just made cable 2.0

[@Arxari]

Look at the official guide where to watch Pokémon seasons, you have ti switch streaming services for basically every season

[@giantsr1eva]

@smoche The point of streaming was to become cable 2.0. The advertisers were upset that we were skipping the commercials on the DVR so they decided to fix that. The people got hooked on streaming and the companies increased the price of streaming, that’s always been the business model. I still have cable with my DVR.

[@CraftyArts]

This is another problem with companies being publicly traded in the stock market. Stock market shouldnt be a thing, you dont see Valve constantly playing the game of layoffs and increasing prices in order to increase the illusion of constant growth

[@theinsidioushat7543]

The stock market is the main metric of acquiring any investment for most companies. It's a more complicated issue than just "growth," valve is more a special case for a multitude of reasons, but at the end of the day, most companies just couldn't exist as they do without going public.

[@pantsgaming759]

All of these streaming companies have lost money for years with netflix only just profitable recently without share holders funding years and years of lost making none of these streaming services would exist. Mate learn how this stuff works for your own sake it will help you in the long run and make your life easier. Communism has killed more people then war just remember that.

[@MangaGamify]

@@theinsidioushat7543 consumers supported them until they went IPO cause consumers got value for their money, now since investors give them the most money per head, they now mostly if not all, only listen to them which on average the consumer that supported them to that point suffers. Most companies? are you sure of that? *ALL* companies started before going IPO, they can also survive by merging or private equity, or simply stop accepting more orders than they can handle. But most important is to make people survive not fatten a few board directors wallet selling the company as private equity. Everyone is their own hero in their own story.

[@BasePuma4007]

It's certainly a problem. Indefinite growth isn't even realistic.

[@SayAhh]

I won't sail the high seas but I also won't be held hostage, either. I cancelled most and right now am only keeping one.

[@mono-no-aware.Lem.]

we've gone full circle back to the early 2000s

[@Dayvit78]

The 90's and early 2000's were the glory days/

[@Mis4nthropist]

@@Dayvit78 Good old days, with DivX 3.11 and later Xvid. They sold so many CD-R at that time 😄

[@daqq]

Well, except the internet is faster 😅

[@slggyqo]

piracy is easier than ever before though. Curious to see what the consequence of that is.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@mono, no we haven’t Mrs 20IQ. 20 years ago you paid the equivalent of $100 to get those channels, had to sign a contract, and pay at least $100 in set up fee…and little “on demand” so you had to record it when it actually came on. Today I have far more content and more quality content paying $20-$30 a month. I just rotate my services on occasion.

[@PlayerSalt]

I pirated in the early 2000's because streaming didn't exist , then happily payed when that was available , now there is 50 different services, they all cost more and have a worse product I've started to pirate again, shrug , if its too annoying to pay I just wont...

[@swy334]

This

[@votdfak]

Real Debrid?

[@issonyt]

VPN?

[@bimchi]

BTN

[@Mis4nthropist]

Same here. Competition in that type of services is the worst for the consumer.

[@bigboopus5059]

Glad to see pretty much every comment indicate we're all on the same boat (or part of the same crew, if you will)

[@fernandossmm]

You've forgotten another option: sailing the high seas, and become free. Cost is way lower, and depending on your needs you might just use a laptop o desktop; without the need for a dedicated media server

[@wazoomy]

Looks like I’m gonna keep being told that Anna is 2 miles away 🤷‍♀️

[@caydenthompson126]

😂💀

[@SimuLord]

Poor Anna. So close to so many men but she never seems to have a date.

[@santostv.]

Anna is single go get her tiger 😂

[@jamilahrazzaq8780]

😂😂😂😂

[@serenas5411]

Same 😭🤣🤣

[@fakenames7065]

lol i feel like the video asked the question “now what?” and the video ended and its still “now what?”

[@FunnieApple]

Usually the case with these vain videos on here and TikTok, they need the clicks on their title and interactions in the comments. They don't actually mean to discuss any kind of solution or even care about the problem.

[@fakenames7065]

@@FunnieApple i love vox. i think they do an excellent job most times. this one was a miss tho which was the only reason why i commented lol it seems they made a video to make a video which seems like a waste of a few $$ they could have put towards something more enlightening

[@MangaGamify]

@@fakenames7065 Feels like the topic was just an afterthought after reading an email for a sponsor.

[@MangaGamify]

@@FunnieApple What are these kind of topics usually called aside from clickbaits? Seems like Vox is now just resting on it's laurels, and is now a glorified chatgpt TTS

[@jodeeps2287]

It looks like I will start reading novels again.

[@shanshansan]

"If only there was a way to enjoy shows without having to pay companies ludicrous amounts of money a month!" Piracy: *Mercy from Overwatch reaching out with her hand*

[@esthershi]

I canceled my Netflix subscription, that's what

[@susanne5803]

Cancelled Netflix, too.

[@Nextgen_Account]

Been a year since I cancelled

[@logiic8835]

Same

[@lalogarciag5188]

same, 3 years ago

[@AlsahliKhalidYT]

Same..

[@AkshayKumarX]

Ahoy maties, tell me what seas we be sailing today??

[@Tiger10002]

My parents said if I hit 20k they'd buy me a professional camera begging you guys literally begging !!.

[@azsoftware]

Keep begging ​@@Tiger10002

[@eyespliced]

@@Tiger10002 lies. spammer scammer.

[@Ottophil]

Instead of acting like pirates, yall should act like you’re robbing a store

[@someonetooknuggets]

@@OttophilHAHA someones mad, just keep paying them while we get them for free.

[@shanksmare8]

You can get DVDs for $0.25 at the local thrift shop, makes more sense than paying so much for an ever inflated streaming subscription price... now with ads!

[@chrominox]

4:27 - 4:41 , This, right here, I know why the script had this section written in the way that it is and I want to highlight the duality right here. No, the answer is not to do nothing. The answer is to look at the value proposition and realize how much, content truly costs us, individually. There's also ways you might access some content via public libraries. The point I'm trying to make here is, really, look at your expenditures into streaming services and scale it up to an year, maybe a few years. The total you come up with is something you must individually understand. So, the opposite of doing nothing. I understand that _churning_ and _hybird_ models were also suggested, but seriously, think _deep_ about it.

[@sarahflanagan9345]

If I am willing to wait a year, my local library has all the newest movies and many of the favorite streaming TV shows. All free. Only cost is a blu ray DVD player.

[@KnufWons]

Many libraries also make use of Kanopy to provide streaming services

[@ChurchofCthulhu]

Truth! My local library is better than when the Blockbusters were still around!

[@Wah-Fer]

Don't know where you live, but in some countries libraries have a streaming service (free or really cheap) so no need for Bluray player 😉

[@_paraluman]

Yeah not worth it. As long as it’s released on streaming platforms, it’ll be available for free online

[@Tiger10002]

My parents said if I hit 20k they'd buy me a professional camera begging you guys literally begging !!...

[@ashishhandique4391]

@@Tiger10002 what has the 20k to do with ur camera.... grow up kid.... do some real work and make ur parents proud

[@susanne5803]

​@@Tiger10002That's not the way this works. Create interesting content and hit the numbers by working for them. I won't even look at channels begging to watch or subscribe.

[@bolasblancas420]

@@Tiger10002disliked.

[@lance_374]

@@susanne5803it’s a bot just report it.

[@sharongillesp]

I’m a CHURNER! Something I discovered on my own. 1. I’m going to subscribe when ALL TV episodes of a show I want to follow are available. 2. Some channels just over stay their welcome. And 3. Some aren’t worth subscribing to, and with my base channel, Prime TV, I can initially have a free trail period of about one week then decide if it will become one of my “churn” stations.

[@justinrogers3720]

Streaming services will solve churn by doing three things, 1. moving away from the season drop and going to the weekly episode drips, 2. increasing the number of episodes per season up from 6-8 maybe all the way back to 22, and 3. they'll stagger the season releases so that when a season of your favorite show ends, you're already in the middle of another season of a show or two. Thus, we'll be forced to stick with that streamer longer or even indefinitely.

[@FBIagentObama]

I used to pay for Netflix. But I realized that I was still pirating most of the time because Netflix (in Sweden) never had the shows or movies I wanted to watch, even when it was available on Netflix US. I canceled it and haven’t looked back since. Sail the high seas!

[@zeroheroes4081]

Några tips på vad man bör eller inte bör göra?

[@FBIagentObama]

@@zeroheroes4081 ladda aldrig ner filmerna. Som jag har förstått så är det lagligt att streama filmer från sidor men man får inte ladda ner till datorn/enhet. Men lagarna ändras då och då så det kanske är annorlunda nu.

[@jessy1982]

You haven't used a VPN?

[@FBIagentObama]

@@jessy1982 free vpns rarely work or are fast enough. I had a paid VPN (included in my Norton subscription) and it wasn’t always working either. Having to pay for a separate service just to make Netflix (which I’m already paying for) work is unreasonable. Even in perfect conditions and without geoblocking I still wouldn’t be able to watch everything I wanted because not everything is on Netflix. Being a pirate however, I just need to visit one url and I have everything ready.

[@daniels-mo9ol]

​@@zeroheroes4081 jellyfin server som inte är publik på webben, wireshark för att ansluta till ditt hemmanätverk när du inte är hemma.

[@Srrrokka]

I find it very ironic that streaming platforms as a concept started with being able to enjoy media on demand *without ads*. And now it's neither on demand nor without ads

[@ravenwilder4099]

Not quite. As this video points out, Hulu has always had an ad supported tier. Plus, speaking personally, one of the main ways I've used streaming over the last twenty years is to watch broadcast network shows, which become available to stream on their websites (free with ads) the day after they air.

[@MangaGamify]

I believe they never cared about if the consumers had an honest cheaper alternative in the long run, the board directors just want to grow big enough to go IPO if not big enough to liquidate the company as private equity. Same as the electric car/whatever fad, some companies are literally made to exploit FOMO investors and ghost them.

[@DunnickFayuro]

There is room in the market for truly personalized content, like: pay *only* for what you watch. Nobody watches everything on Netflix, Hulu or others. Maybe 25 cents per episode or something like that.

[@disciplinereflex]

What it you start something and don't like it

[@DunnickFayuro]

@@disciplinereflex You pay only for what you watch.

[@ravenwilder4099]

They already have that on iTunes, but its more like 2 to 4 dollars an episode.

[@joshuaspruett]

We live in an era where there's a million subscription services for everything. Even apps on your phone aren't one time payments anymore. We keep this up and we'll see it fall back down. When people get tired of paying subscriptions, they will sell the solution: what we already had. Physical media will make a return. I can see people coming up with new ideas for how that looks. There's still a large appeal to owning things digitally, even though you don't actually OWN it and it's reliant on the upkeep of the services those digital items are on. You can watch anywhere, on any device. You don't have to physically put something in. It saves physical space. But all at the cost of it not being guaranteed. I like buying copies with digital codes so I have both. I think we'll see more of that somehow as time goes on.

[@Iisakkiik]

Blows my minds that somw people are willing to pay to watch ads.

[@blackfoxstudioX]

Majority of people will take whatever corporations throw at them. Thats why Netflix password crackdown was so successful if we are to believe Netflix data and others like Prime Video, Disney+ are following it. Then again people paid for cable in the past to watch ads so…

[@SuperPlayz]

Theoretically the reason is because “the subscription price isn’t high enough”

[@ShaneTheBane]

It's not all that mind blowing. That's how it was/is with cable. You paid and still got ads. Ads are a subsidizer. That's it. They help remove some or all of the cost from you as the consumer. That's all they are. They're not a fix all for the cost of producing something. The amount the subsidize depends on the amount you have to see. All that being said, the current prices *with* the current ad situation just equals greediness. Prices should've went down when ads were introduced, not stayed the same or in some cases, increased. I definitely don't see a world where ads-only completely finance a company like Netflix, but I can see one where there is a budget friendly ad option that comes with ads and reduces the main price.

[@Livefreeordont]

That’s what cable was for like 40 years or whatever. Plus you couldn’t watch what you wanted whenever you wanted. Plus you couldn’t sign up or cancel whenever you wanted

[@pb.j.1753]

Why? If you rarely use your subscription, that is the smartest way to go.

[@liora.5003]

There's a secret third option actually🏴‍☠️

[@spektred]

🦜

[@MangaGamify]

🪝

[@AiringAustin]

We're going to see a boom of piracy much like the 2008-2013 years. Streaming was supposed to be the affordable and accessible platform but now it's just cable with extra steps. I've been hopping around platforms since late 2022 and it does save a lot of money.

[@traFREAK]

This video seems sponsored by streaming platforms

[@justaweeb14688]

I always sail the sea. Nothing beats a 4k hdr Blu-ray rip

[@dylan.t180]

Agreed hope I'm not the only one who buys them so they keep getting made in the first place

[@matthewkondziela6733]

remember to check you local library first, you can rent shows and movies for free and stream on sites like Hoopla. I am all for sailing the sea but supporting the library also supports good art.

[@Sellsor]

Any recommendations? I usually don't see places on the seas with 4k options

[@justaweeb14688]

@@Sellsor FMHY

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

The actual blu-ray does (though I'd typically not watch from the disc, to preserve it. Just have it, to own the movie/show, and watch a rip) ...but a lot of streamed content, doesn't get released on physical media, so there the only option is pirating it.

[@maverickbonato8164]

When piracy is so much easier, free and often better quality I really don't see the point in all these services. They're supposed to make things easier and better for a price but they're just doing the opposite :/

[@vitoc8454]

Also it doesn't even feel like one is "supporting the industry" by subscribing since we know that the lion's share of revenue goes into the pockets of executives and shareholders instead of the people who actually make these shows

[@MangaGamify]

I believe they never cared about if the consumers had an honest cheaper alternative in the long run, the board directors just want to grow big enough to go IPO if not big enough to liquidate the company as private equity. Same as the electric car/whatever fad, some companies are literally made to exploit FOMO investors and ghost them.

[@ShaneSparkyYYZ]

I love your work and the team with you. Great episode to the point once again! 👏🏼 👏🏼

[@imjody]

As someone with zero monthly subscriptions, it's actually quite easy to live this way happily and comfortably. There's more content uploaded to KZbin every single minute, than you could watch in three weeks (500 hours of content uploaded per minute)!

[@gfwsux7984]

KZbin, at some point, will be all subscription based.

[@imjody]

@@gfwsux7984 doubt that. They would lose 98.5% of their current users.

[@grimnirnacht]

Your local library has a lot of viewing options too

[@carlosriojas2075]

Trueeee this is so true ive seen a LOT TO WATCH THERE!

[@waedjradi]

This is true for a few

[@thevivariumforhalfmeasures7698]

Kanopy ftw!

[@lazyboy300]

what's a local library?

[@carlosriojas2075]

@@lazyboy300 a local library is a place where you can get a free id and rent books,computers for free use and movies by DVD

[@darkbluebossa]

Video streaming is a total failure. On music apps like Spotify, Apple, etc, we have almost all music in one app, for a cheap price. With video, you have to pay for several apps, if you want the sama catalog. I miss the times where I could find all movies at the rental store close to my house. It had everything.

[@SuperPlayz]

Music is relatively cheap to produce and people are willing to listen over and over

[@NunoFilipe99]

​@@SuperPlayzfound the trump supporter

[@emilpersidski]

​@@NunoFilipe99 pardon?

[@benjaminhamel5280]

@@SuperPlayz duh everybody knows that ''music is cheap to produce'' is a typic trump supporter mindset !

[@SuperPlayz]

@@benjaminhamel5280damn I can’t believe I got caught like that

[@giobikefans]

I don’t mind the idea of looking ahead a month and strategically picking what I’m going to watch. It’s cheaper than cable packages used to be. My problem is that even if I subscribe to every streaming service there are often movies I can’t find anywhere. I can’t even buy them on the Apple or Google store. It’s hard to believe you could theoretically spend more than $100 a month on streaming and still not be able to find a movie that came out two years ago. At that point your only option is to pirate.

[@laloreta798]

Just pirate everything. No ads, Higher quality, everything on the same app, permanent offline content. Forgotten content, content not available in your country.

[@Simbosan]

Streaming became free. They cancelled one too many shows halfway through, not enabling that. Torrent here I come

[@jornalistarenatarosa4205]

yeah

[@icypeepo]

when services become unreasonable, people turn to pirating until something better comes along

[@CybershamanX]

Because corporations operate at a loss until they (hopefully) dominate the market and then they start raising the prices.

[@MangaGamify]

Operate at a loss, infinite growth, until you become a culture or too big that the government has to subsidize to bail you out(mostly for utility companies), fish for what I call FOMO investors, grow big enough to IPO if not liquidate as private equity. they've been repeating the same tactic, everyone knows their tactic. Hot take: I feel like they're in the stages of secretly planning to liquidate the company to the highest bidder or something. Either way I will not lose nothing if they do/don't neither :)

[@TisiphoneSeraph]

Surprised libraries are no where in here. Maybe there's a disconnect between what's normal for folks making a certain amount in cities versus folks in more rural areas but myself and a lot of people I know are switching to getting more and more of their media from libraries. Both in the form of DVDs and from their streaming services like Hoopla and Kanopy. I know a lot of people talk about piracy but a large swathe of people will just never be comfortable with it or have the technical know how to do it. Libraries are the most accessible alternative.

[@JuliaMisiaki]

I find it weird that you described subscription services as something you choose to "invest in". What is the return on this investment? Entertainment? Would you consider other forms of entertainment an investment?

[@laxshvrma]

Indeed, as a screenwriter, one need not rely solely on streaming services for inspiration. The human mind, when allowed to wander freely without the constraints of political correctness, has the remarkable capacity to conjure captivating fictional narratives. This is the very essence of how novels and comics are crafted, giving rise to beloved tales such as 'Harry Potter' and 'The Lord of the Rings'-stories you might pay $15 a month to watch, yet their genesis lies in the boundless expanse of imaginative thought. Moreover, let us not overlook the wellspring of inspiration provided by real-life events, which have birthed cinematic masterpieces like 'The Pursuit of Happyness' and 'Dunkirk'.

[@jerrybicchuwala546]

Yes. If I could get relief by investing my time in a movie, series or a book,etc, then I am ready to invest in.

[@rileyfletch]

I mean, yea? You are investing in your mental health. Not all investments have physical returns, in fact most don't. You invest time spent with friends, and in return get relationships and happiness. Same can be applied to books, film, music, etc.

[@steviewonder2492]

I agree. People need to stop using the term investing for everything.

[@steviewonder2492]

@@rileyfletchYou may call paying for subscriptions of these services an “investment” if you like, but you can’t tell me there is a positive return in mental health.

[@Jake-lc1lh]

Yeah, they just undercut cable to make it go out of business, and now BAM, they can raise prices to ACTUALLY cover the costs it takes. Cable, but without the regulations and worker protections!

[@FunnieApple]

EXACTLY, people seem to always forget about all of the regulations, protections, and union contracts these streaming services have been able to weasel themselves out of with no checks on their growing power.

[@Dayvit78]

It's almost as if they copied the Uber model. Or basically all tech bros just copy each other's model - which is this.

[@8is]

@@FunnieApple That's a good thing. Streaming is much better than cable ever was.

[@SuperPlayz]

Cable was always trying to trick you with the contracts and hidden fees

[@disjustice]

@@8isOnly as long as cable was competition. Now that people are locked in, we are seeing it steadily get worse.

[@lpqsilver]

Problem: Multiple competing streaming services hoard media properties to maximise respective profits, resulting in consumers paying multiples more than they used to, with the inconvenience of interacting with multiple platforms with rotating content catalogues, with properties sometimes shifting from platform to platform, other times disappearing entirely. "Solution": Keep paying them, I guess?? Pay less "strategically"???? Wait for the platforms' indulgence to consume themselves until we're left with a worse situation???

[@SpringSpark]

When people ask me "where can I watch this TV show?", I just say "I'm Russian" and give them The Look. And a rutracker link.

[@el_quba]

Most comments mention the piracy, which is strongly despised by media companies. But I think the piracy's model of distribution should actually be embraced by those companies, because it dramatically reduces costs. Streaming services are centralized so they need super expensive servers and thousands of programmers, middle managers and upper managers. But to provide seamless experience they also need CDNs and edge servers, which further raises costs. And when multiple streaming companies exists, each needs its own expensive infrastructure while capturing only some users. So currently we're multiplying costs and dividing income - not very sustainable. On the other hand, in piracy's distribution model everything is distributed. Storage consists of inexpensive home servers which are also used for other purposes, you CDN is your country's or even city's network. Your edge server is at your own or neighbor's home. So when you and your partner want to watch the same thing but at different times, data doesn't need to be transferred twice, because it can be temporarily stored locally. And there are no CEO's or managers to be payed. If someone could embrace that model while fairly compensating media creators (and only them, not tens of CEO's alongside) then costs for users will be low and no laws broken.

[@scottabc72]

Decentralized socialized media

[@matthewkondziela6733]

Many people still don't realize that the libraries of america offer free movies and tv shows to rent and stream on sites like hoopla. Support local libraries!!

[@leroypreston2973]

I agree this to me is part of why it's harder for shows to become super popular because there's 10+ services, it's hard for a show to be popular outside the service because not everyone has said service and they don't advertise new shows. Like if a new show is on Hulu, but it's hard for those without a Hulu subscription to watch it without piracy. I do hope for a method where people can pay less to access all these services but as long as they desire their own netflix, it will likely not happen. The only way it can happen is if the streaming bubble bursts and they have to work together to find a new distribution model. I wonder if the bubble could burst if enough people cancel subscriptions and streamers not being able to churn out hits.

[@RossOzarka]

In this model, where does the cash that compensates media creators come from?

[@leroypreston2973]

@@RossOzarka perhaps the aspect of piracy that's appealing is having media from different companies and the latest hit shows in one place versus having to pay for multiple services to watch the latest stuff and back catalogies from big companies. The free part would certainly not be embraced by companies, nor will this compensate creators. Rather the desire has to be to pay less to access all this stuff. To have one platform to watch this stuff and for companies to work to make these shows available elsewhere so they can make more money off it.

[@kiwifruitkl]

My public library offers movies, films, documentaries, kids movies and how-to videos. Completely free. They aren't really free, though. The library has purchased the items through tax money and donations. The items are for the benefit of the public. Some super-popular items may have long wait lines though, and I do see the benefit in buying the item outright or paying for a service long-term.

[@slimskink88]

If you live in the US, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, your library may be affiliated with hoopla, a website that offers free streaming of certain shows and films, in addition to e-books, audiobooks, and music.

[@dancotterman1267]

Hoopla wants a credit card number for access. That’s not technically free. And there’s a limit of five a month. You only watch five things a month? Not much of an alternative to me. Streaming came into being because cable got ridiculously expensive and forced you to pay for a hundred channels you were never going to watch. Eventually something new will come around that gives people a better choice too. It’s just the waiting is the hardest part. Said Tom petty. I hate the amount of ads they employ now so you have to pay more for ad free or ads less. Their holding a gun to our heads so we give them our money. It’s a soft gun, but it’s still coercion just the same. That’s robbery, slightly different from piracy. Piracy is stealing but not using a weapon. Of course the law is not on your w. It protects the big business and craps on individuals. I don’t recommend piracy I just hate being taken advantage of.

[@seanwilliams7655]

@@dancotterman1267 we have to wait for these studios to realize that most of them don't have enough content to justify having their own streaming service, and that buying into something collective like Hulu would be better for all of them. Pretty much the only studio who can justify having its own streaming service is Disney, and even they're losing money.

[@felixf4378]

Yeah but you can rarely access it. It’s always in use by another library member.

[@slowowned51]

It literally became cable TV without the box :/

[@gwendolyn0515]

I moved away from home about 60km when I started uni. I couldn't use my parents' netflix account. So now I went back to piracy like many people. Greed brought it back

[@TheUnknownCatWarrior]

Here's how to make these companies stop: Don't use it or pay them a cent. -Sail the seas.- Buy the physical copy.

[@hejrafa]

But what if they don't sell it physically? I can't buy Stranger Things or Severance as a Blu-Ray.

[@selohcin]

There are some shows, like Doc, that you can't buy physical copies of. What do you do then?

[@Yesica1993]

Exactly this!

[@Growth-Mystery]

yes

[@Conniestitution]

@@hejrafa at that point... might be worth making your own physical copies of some things.

[@tomekk0303]

How can someone with a full-time job (and life) have time to watch all five streaming services? I barely manage to watch one or two series in a month. In summer probably even less.

[@lylecohen1638]

I was wondering the same thing

[@dschonsie]

schizophrenia

[@deadlock_problem]

they don't most of these services don't' even produce one good show every 6 months.

[@AcvaristulLenes]

@@dschonsie :))))))))))))

[@arvindhmani06]

If their career involved watching lots of TV maybe? Even then yeah I can't justify full price for all the services

[@MachFiveFalcon]

The only advantage over cable left is that you don't have to wait for a set time to watch a show when it premieres (or record it with a VCR or DVR). The only content that needs to be watched live is mainly sports (and kind of news).

[@Sacto1654]

A reason why Netflix price may go up again is because there is a real chance that they may end up hosting shows that used to be on Paramount Plus, MAX, and possibly even Peacock, as the major media companies wind down their streaming efforts. Disney will likely hold out because of the likely spinoff of ESPN into its own separate streaming service.

[@crowxar2891]

Literally just steal it. I haven't paid for a subscription service in years I torrent all my shows. It's so easy and nobody can take it from my hard drive

[@Tiger10002]

My parents said if I hit 20k they'd buy me a professional camera begging you guys literally begging !!...

[@Curling_Rack]

salute!

[@thedarkdot2977]

Where do u find torrents that aren’t viruses lol

[@MrSnyper360]

Well, technically, they can. They just need a warrant.

[@mmneto0620]

@@thedarkdot2977 used to use rarbg, it went down, now 1337x

[@FootballCrush7]

Torrent: "You couldn't live with your own failure, where did that bring you? Back to me?"

[@votdfak]

Even better cached torrents on Real Debrid.

[@Oncopoda]

Facts

[@nutmeg0144]

based.

[@dotapark]

Movie and TV shows really have to realize something from Music industry. Secret of blocking piracy is NOT stopping people from having the media in their position, but let people to have multiple way to possess medium. If this keeps up, movie/TV show piracy will be unstoppable.

[@rosesarered8634]

Remember bootleg dvds? If u think that ppl wont find a way to watch shows/movies they like without paying or for a cheaper price u better think again.

[@MangaGamify]

sub for one month per year, and sail the high seas for a cleaner conscience

[@vukktri]

just pirate it all ?

[@shivambinge]

stealing is not good maybe

[@lukkkasz323]

Piracy isn't stealing ​@@shivambinge

[@azn1011]

@@shivambinge if buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing

[@shivambinge]

@@lukkkasz323 but production house work very hard for the money and you pirating it all makes it you dont respect people hard work.

[@JohnCollins-vy4nf]

​​@@shivambingeTry before you buy, if the film is actually good I'll buy a dvd of it after I pirate it to support the filmmakers.

[@BrentBlueAllen]

Here's your regular reminder that public libraries exist and lend out plenty of dvds and blurays -- so long as your tastes lean old enough

[@delighted2849]

we are paying so much? Im not, since buying isnt owning

[@PastaAivo]

Paying for all those services indefinitely sounds so bizarre, like you don't leave your car running and your stove on while you're away. Paying for more than a single service per month would already be an anathema to me.

[@daqq]

Now what? Yo ho, yo ho, ☠️ 🚢

[@Tiger10002]

My parents said if I hit 20k they'd buy me a professional camera begging you guys literally begging !!...

[@eyespliced]

@@Tiger10002 untrue, you scammer spammer.

[@666Tomato666]

@@eyespliced don't engage, report for spam and carry on

[@matthewkondziela6733]

sail down to your local library where you can rent movies and shows for free and stream them on sites like hoopla

[@AlexMathiesen]

Where are my physical media people at?

[@TopDiggerYT]

Right here buddy!

[@oyuyuy]

Locked up inside Jurassic Park I figure

[@Megasteel32]

20th century called, they want their format back

[@emilygonzales3118]

They can pry my DVDs from my cold, dead hands. I get great quality, bonus features, and guarantee that some company can't just decide that they don't want me to have it and take it away

[@mohitrahaman]

fossilized

[@SECURITEH]

I have literally dropped all subscriptions and stopped watching things altogether like I did with cable back in 2006. A streaming service is something nice to have so as soon as it gets too expensive or they introduce ads they get dropped for me and I feel like more people should do the same instead of treating these services as a must have no matter how much anti consumer junk gets pushed with it.

[@HermitKing731]

And so begins the golden age of piracy. *One piece theme starts playing*

[@TheLieselMD]

Vox becoming like netflix: Pointless. You couldn’t even answer your own question in the video title.

[@camerona_]

If what you buy over the internet isn't owning the content, then 'borrowing' the content isn't stealing.

[@ShaneTheBane]

That's not how that works lol come on now, we may be pirates, but that doesn't mean we can't be honest pirates

[@XD-bx6ee]

​@@ShaneTheBaneI pirate absolutely shamelessly, unless it's a small creator, and that applies to everything starting with game devs and ending with content creators those clowns at the top aren't entitled to 1 CENT of my hard earned money, shouldn't be yours either

[@ShaneTheBane]

@@XD-bx6ee sure. I'm all for pirating, as my comment should suggest. Just saying, pirating isn't "owning" something without permission, making it where if a company claims buying something digital doesn't mean you own it so that means downloading the stuff from shady sites means it's not pirating, because according to the company, you don't "own" it. No lol. Pirating is just using stuff without permission. Ownership has nothing to do with it, so the original commenter is wrong when they're saying it's not pirating/stealing. It still is lol and I'm all for it. That's why I said lets be honest with ourselves and what we are doing

[@mynameisben123]

It’s copyright infringement not stealing. It never was stealing. Mainly the people doing it reference stealing by exclaiming that it’s not stealing. The copyright owners know it’s copyright infringement.

[@ShaneTheBane]

@@mynameisben123 it is stealing. You are taking something that you do not have permission to take. It's all of the above, stealing, copyright infringement, and piracy. However, it's only copyright infringement for the one distributing it. If you're just streaming/downloading it and using it for your own personal use, it is not copyright infringement, just piracy. Under US law, copyright infringement only has these things fall under it: copying, distributing, publicly performing or transmitting, publicly displaying, and making derivative works. So you streaming it in your bedroom, alone, does none of these.

[@wilsonli5642]

The biggest issue that this video doesn't cover is the fact that the low interest rate era is over. Media companies don't have free money to play around with anymore, so they have to actually think about actually generating revenue instead of merely expanding their customer base.

[@StarshipTheseus]

Instead of buying a subscription service, buy a subscription to a VPN, then sail to the Caribbean. The grass is so much greener in Caribbean, why would I ever go back?

[@casbot71]

The whole model of streaming is being more convenient that piracy... once that no longer holds true....

[@lukkkasz323]

You can stream torrents, so piracy was always more convenient.

[@undyingforce]

Get a blu ray player and go straight to your local library to check out DVDs and blu ray discs.

[@OhGeeWillickersMister]

Yes! Also Lobby, Hoopla, and other free apps

[@OhGeeWillickersMister]

Libby*

[@erbsenkaffee8720]

Our library charges 2€ to rent a movie for a week. That’s a bit too expensive imo…

[@langerjunge]

​@@erbsenkaffee8720 renting it on amazon for 24hrs costs more than that 🤷

[@EpifanesEuergetes]

@@erbsenkaffee8720 Your library is not a library.

[@waffles8664]

I like how they left out the actors strike where they now get residuals of everything that's played on the streaming services

[@juanantoniodomenechrubio5780]

Here in Spain, thats what most people do: OPTION 1 Moving from one streaming service to another (Churners) OPTION 2 Buy a bottle of rum and an eyepatch OPTION 3 Combine option 1 and option 2.

[@YggdrasilMarcus]

- Now what? - Yarr 🏴‍☠

[@AnirudhTammireddy]

0:37 *cues the jack sparrow end credits cut to black and music* Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[@CrowdPleeza]

I'm curious to see what streaming will be like 2 years from now. An interesting article to look up. "Every streaming service is raising prices. How come? The price of a streaming subscription is going way up because the services were too inexpensive for too long. Internet companies thrive by undercutting the establishment on price. Netflix, Amazon and Google all offered products - be it TV, books or news - more cheaply than the legacy players. These low prices made their services popular, and some of the companies used that popularity to raise money during a time of low interest rates. They needed that money to fund unprofitable businesses. While this has been great for consumers, it couldn’t last forever..." From: Hollywood Strikes Are Over. Get Ready to Pay More for Less. Bloomberg

[@posthocprior]

I would have defined “debt clock”, which is casually mentioned once as the primary motivator of why streaming advices are raising prices.

[@zaj5924]

What now? Yarr! Captain Jack Sparrow

[@cylian8422]

If piracy is more convenient than streaming, then streaming providers did something wrong

[@d.b.cooper1]

100% this. So much easier to go to 1 site knowing it will likely have everything you want & more without separately googling what platform it's on & the inevitable disappointment that follows. The fact google now has icons in search for every show highlighting where it is says it all. Market failure imo. It's a demand-elastic product that's the first thing to go in any financial review.

[@kevinmantilla8563]

OWN PHYSICAL MEDIA

[@bluepotatoes223]

Sail the high seas like the old days