• geno@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Considering the amount of “yarrrr” in this thread I’ll probably get stabbed for this take, but: shows/movies take time and money to create, and running these services isn’t free either. Is $15 really impossible to pay when you want to watch a show?

    Cable doesn’t answer the problem of “I want to see [insert show] from start to finish, starting right now”, so it’s worthless as a service for most(?) people. As such, I feel like cable should be forgotten as a point of comparison - it’s a different and much more limited type of service.

    Let’s say I have no streaming subs running right now. I feel like I want to check out [insert show]. I find out which service has it, and buy a month of [service] for like $15.

    I watch the whole show. Now I also have the rest of the library to check out for the rest of the month. Maybe I find a couple of other movies/shows from the service, maybe not. It still cost me a whopping $15 to watch a full show, and I also now have temporary access to a practically random selection of shows (“random” = depending on whatever service I ended up buying).

    Sure if it’s a long show it can take multiple months to view it, but I still feel like the cost is minimal compared to what I get. Nobody is asking you to pay for all of the different streaming services every month.

    I’m using a show as an example - but if we’re talking about buying a month ($15) just to watch a single movie, I do agree that it can feel a bit expensive. But in most cases you can find a few other movies that you can check out during the next month. If you’d want to buy a single movie digitally, they often cost like $10-15 per movie anyway - might as well buy a month of sub at that point.

    Sure, I’ll also be happier if stuff stays cheap, but anyway. The usual works here: if you don’t feel like a service is worth its cost, don’t buy it.

    It’s not like there’s lack of entertainment in today’s world - some free, some filled with ads, some cheap, some expensive. Pick your poison, I guess.

    • atyaz@reddthat.com
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      11 months ago

      No I actually hope that industry becomes infeasible. I hope enough people get off their platforms so they go out of business. That industry needs a complete overhaul.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I live in Los Angeles and know a lot of people who work in the industry. The stories they tell are disgusting. Not only the business practices (which should be incredibly illegal), but the emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive atmospheres that are actively encouraged by the industry leaders.

    • cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      That money isn’t going to the Actors or Writers, it’s going to the production companies. Ya it costs money to create, but the creators aren’t getting paid.

      • BrainisfineIthink@lemmy.one
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        11 months ago

        Literally why most of Hollywood is striking right now. It amazes me the hoops people will jump through to convince themselves they aren’t being taken advantage of.

    • Kage520@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      This is what I do. I canceled Netflix and got a special for a year of HBO for less than $100 if I recall correctly. So this year I have house of dragon, gilded age, Dr who, sopranos, and many random movies. It will take me a year to get through it.

      But I want to watch Star Trek. So next year I will give up my current selection and become a Trekkie with paramount+. Maybe the following year I will want star wars and grab Disney+.

      Really you don’t need ALL the shows ALL the time. In fact, forced variation can be nice for discovering shows you hadn’t considered when you run out of the one you were watching.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        You’re in for a treat with all the new Trekkie series! I’m going through my Paramount+ Home base now and just watched for the first time, three newer series!

    • RatherBeMTB@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      Companies will charge as much as elasticity will allow them. Customers will always find the best cost / benefit relationship to maximize their limited resources.

      The new technologies will make entertainment creation a lot cheaper, we might see an important decline in prices in the next few years.

      • Etienne_Dahu@jlai.lu
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        11 months ago

        we might see an important decline in prices in the next few years.

        Did you mean “an important rise in profits”?

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I think you missed some of the points. Sure, a lot of us have no objection to paying $10-15/mon for a service to each lots of entertainment. I was more than happy to spend that on the Netflix of old.

      Streaming music seems to have stuck with a model where I see value for my money and the artists get something (even if not enough). However streaming video services actively alienate their viewers by stretching the boundaries of how painful they can make it.

      I suppose as long as I am not forced onto long term contracts, unwanted “tiers”, and excessive advertising, I’m good. I’ll keep with my two streaming services at a time and swap them out when they become too painful to use or I want to watch something elsewhere. Either way, I won’t cooperate with them rebuilding their cable tv monstrosity to extract ever more money and privacy out of their viewers while minimizing the content that brings us there

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Nah, you’re not wrong. The article is just ridiculous for most people and if it was true then pirating would be the only way many people could even begin to see the content. As usual many people are reacting to the clickbait headline.