The greed of the streamers. If you haven't noticed 2023
was the drop off in new content. We'll see even less this year. Yet
the prices continue to soar. And when not increasing their prices, they
seem to be all trying to add advertising. Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez (FORTUNE) reports:
Amazon spends billions of dollars every year on
programming for its Prime Video platform and now it wants customers to
pay up or get used to seeing ads on their favorite shows.
On
Monday, the tech giant made ad-supported streaming the default on Prime
Video for its more than 200 million subscribers. The company originally announced
the plan in September, saying that it was needed, “to continue
investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment
...”
Maybe it
wouldn't be so bad if it was another streamer? No, not MAX. MAX is the
worst streamer that has nothing to offer but those ridiculous and
crappy shows from Chip and Joanna and the other basement dwellers.
AMAZON really doesn't offer that much original content. Not any worth
watching. We watch REACHER and we're watching EX PATS. If AMAZON
serves up two series worth watching a year, that's considered epic for
them.
Maybe it's also the fact that, unlike HULU, AMAZON didn't start out with ads. Want to skip them? Quiroz-Gutierrez explains:
Amazon
claimed in its original announcement that Prime Video will show fewer
ads than regular TV or other streaming services, but those who want to
avoid them altogether will have to pay an additional $2.99 per month on top of the $14.99 monthly fee that already exists.
Expect even more advertising to come in AMAZON's future.
Need a scary thought?
How long exactly is AMAZON's future?
It
will go the way of many brick and mortar stores one day. When that day
happens, do we kiss goodbye all the streaming films we've bought from
AMAZON? All the music? All the books for KINDLE?