Cable TV is dead! Long live cable TV.Streaming serviceshave “disrupted” the cable TV model for years, only for them to come around andfinally accept it.
Cable TV, which boasted commercials and saw a direct correlation between a show’s success and revenue, is the modelstreaming companiesare embracing. This, of course, takes the place of the plan to make a bunch of content and hope that somehow it will make money – something made all the more apparent by recent news that Amazon, having already recently introduced an ad-supported subscription tier, will integrate more ads.
Sick of Prime Video’s new ads? Here’s how to remove them
It may require an upgrade, but you’ll be ad-free on both any Prime TV app or the web.
Get ready to watch and shop
Amazon recently announcedthree new styles of ads that viewers can expect on Prime Video. It includes “shoppable carousels,” which sounds a lot like, instead of scrolling through titles of shows and movies you want to watch, scrolling through ads for brands you don’t want to deal with. There will also be “interactive pause ads,” so that when you take a break from watching a show that mocks capitalism and warns of its dangers, like Fallout, you can embrace it right from your TV.
When you take a break from watching a show that mocks capitalism and warns of its dangers, like Fallout, you can embrace it right from your TV.
The last new ad style, which is maybe also the most absurd, is something Amazon is calling “interactive brand trivia ads.” This initiative, which feels like it was made up by Tom Wambgans and Cousin Greg right out of Succession, will allow advertisers to “elevate their storytelling by entertaining customers with factoids about their brand while giving them the opportunity to shop on Amazon.” This reportedly will include so-called ‘rewards’ for viewers, allowing you to far more easily add items to your Amazon shopping cart.
TiVo’s streaming stick enhanced my smart TV and leveled up my content game
Fast navigation and easy access to content make it easier to find what I want to watch.
This reportedly will include so-called ‘rewards’ for viewers, allowing you to far more easily add items to your Amazon shopping cart.
I don’t want to give out any ideas for free to make things worse, but it’s not hard to imagine where this is going next. How about getting an alert on your phone when you’re watching something on Prime with product placement? I can see it now: Nicole Kidman comes on screen in season two of Nine Perfect Strangers, and Amazon sends you an alert that you can buy the chic hat she’s wearing; and if you buy now, you’ll get a discount and three months from some other service that’s full of ads.
6 TiVo Stream 4K features I use to get the most out of my content
My TiVo best practices keep content organized and the remote handy.
Turns out, commercials make money
Amazon, along with Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, and Paramount+ offer ad-supported plans, many of which have been around for a while. What’s alarming though, is Amazon’s aggressive push, with this announcement coming just a couple of months since it introduced ads onPrime Video, which allows users to opt out of ads by paying an additional $3 per month.
This is the best YouTube TV feature you’re not using
Now that I’m knee-deep in the best sports seasons, I can’t miss a single game. So, here’s how I use YouTube TV to watch multiple games at once.
Balance is needed
After years of churning out tons of mediocre or mediocre-adjacent content, with a few good hits here and there, streaming platforms are scrambling to stop bleeding money, and viewers like you and me are going to pay the price, literally and figuratively.
I personally expect this trend to continue. It’s clear in this industry that if something looks like it’s working for one company, others will follow suit (which is how this mess was created in the first place, everyone trying to copy Netflix), meaning you can expect to see a lot more of them popping up. Additionally, it looks like Roku wants to sendads to your phone, and Walmart seems like it wants to buy out aTV manufacturer, so it can promote its own products.
The tech-minded leaders finally realized the successful, decades-long model of cable TV that made a lot of people a lot of money and was generally accepted by the viewing population may have had one or two things right. After years of churning out tons of mediocre or mediocre-adjacent content, with a few good hits here and there, streaming platforms are scrambling to stop bleeding money, and viewers like you and me are going to pay the price, literally and figuratively.
I’d consider these 5 factors before buying a Vizio TV
The budget TV brand has tempting prices, but there are a few compromises I’d be aware of.
