Well, if the content isn't on the traditional channels, why would I pay for them?
Streaming is about to get very expensive
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Well, if the content isn't on the traditional channels, why would I pay for them?
As we've come to find, many of these services don't prorate so you may be stuck paying for a full month if you only use the service for a few days or miss your cancellation deadline.
Most conventional cable and satellite providers prorate on at least part of your bill. That said, as of January 4th, AT&T (DIRECTV, UVerse, phone and fixed Internet) doesn't prorate anymore and they also charge a $15 disconnect fee but they're not setting any trends in pretty much anything they're doing.
At the same time, you can't weasel any discounts out of the OTT providers for buying longer intervals (like DISH prepaid) or committing to a term and you can typically use their promotional offers only once.
Many don’t prorate if you cancel before the month is up, that is true, but you can add mid month and get a partial charge for add on services and channels in most cases.
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I rather pay for the full month then for 2 years if I discover that I am unhappy with the service.
When I was with Comcast for TV service I was in the middle of a 2 year contract when they started down converting 1080i content to 720P and starving the bitrate, stuck in a contract and was so happy when it was done, switched to OTT Service and have not looked back.
But there are ways to get discounts on OTT services that are not available to traditional service, stock up on gift cards when on sale, I have alerts set up when that happens, last week Sams had Google Play cards on sale on their website 20% off, this week Best Buy has $50 itunes cards on sale for $40.
The best time is Black Friday till xmas.
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Yeah, that is the price of pre-paid. I have switched to pre-paid cell service. If you are already a person that plans ahead, it shouldn't be a big deal.
That's a rather monumental if.
OTT is not a replacement for conventional pay TV -- it is a whole new approach with more than a little oversight and planning involved. For those who are interested in that level of control, it is great. For those who aren't, not so much.
I realize a lot of people probably don't fall into that category of "planners." I luckily happen to be one of the ones who does. The hard part is to not succumb to analysis paralysis.
True dat!
Combining that with the idea that you're getting some of the same content from different providers and it can cause a little second guessing when you could still be saving money.
Yeah, it seems impossible to avoid paying for some content twice, short of getting an OTA DVR and buying movies and seasons of shows on Amazon/iTunes/Vudu.
I see it as a glass half-full situation: the streaming services are saving many good network and cable shows from permanent cancellation. That was certainly the case with Longmire, The Expanse, The Killing, Arrested Development, Lucifer, and a few others. With Orville, Seth McFarlane wouldn't have been able to deliver a season 3 in time for the network schedule, so Hulu provided a more flexible platform to allow the show to continue, as explained in this Variety article. Hulu is also rebooting Veronica Mars.
Speaking of flexibility, streaming services also save shows in the sense of allowing for varying episode run times and removing a lot of the network content restrictions, allowing the show's creators freer rein in realizing their original vision. Not to mention, in general, the video and audio quality on streaming can be a big improvement over the bandwidth-starved, over-compressed quality of many cable TV providers. We'll certainly see new episodes of The Expanse in 4K long before we would've ever seen it on Syfy via our local cable provider.
While this flexibility may be a godsend for the creators, I'm not sure it works for the consumers and their schedules.
I'm an advocate for having limits on content if for no other reason than to see how the show's creator approaches them. Lucifer may not be as interesting if they present content that viewers might expect to happen in a different way. Who hasn't developed their own personal vision of Decker's infamous scene in the movie Hot Tub High School?
I know of one,Hallmark Movies Now,which I subscribe to annually,and in November,2019,I will subscribe to Disney+ annually.
I do not think we are that far off from the steaming services not release a full season at one time. I am not sure it will be a weekly release but I can see for a 12 episode season that they release 4 episodes at the start of a month for three months. If there are enough jumping in and out to binge watch this will happen IMO. Now you can wait until they are all released but many will not want to.
Regarding consumer schedules, I don't think it gets any more flexible than being able to watch shows whenever you want on OTT platforms. While at the same time, I'm sure the big steamers put set some parameters for their creators.
For The Expanse moving to Amazon, for example, I'm sure there was an understanding that it would be "an hour show" of approx 45-60 minutes run time per episode, with a possible exception of a longer-running season finale episode. So instead of lopping off important scenes to force a given episode within the standard 42-43-minute run time for cable TV, the show's creators can decide that episode's story fits within 48 minutes of time, while the following may need 58 minutes. So there are parameters, but with flexibility, which helps avoid plot holes and other unbelievable situations.
Now that you mention it, Amazon Prime (which includes other stuff) has an annual price. I also know Tennis Channel, Brit Box, Acorn TV, Curiosity Stream and some of the classic and indie movie services do too. I'm sure there are plenty of others outside of the MVPD services, Netflix, Hulu, and CBS All Access.
While Prime itself demands an annual subscription, few, if any, of their subscription offerings within the Prime offering are other than month-to-month.
Those services are perhaps a little narrower in both their offering and their appeal.
Demands ? You can get prime, or just the video offering monthly, with a discounted yearly price option.
I learned something today.
You can also give Amazon Prime for three months as a gift.
My point was actually in the other direction where you can't subscribe to HBO or Showtime through Prime Video for other than a one month interval. The subscriptions don't appear to be prorated (at least my CBS All Access subscription wasn't).
