Support NeoGAF

[Jubenhimer]

Currently, the most popular streaming networks right now are Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video. These require a subscription fee to access. While this allows for the perks of unlimited content commercial free, not everybody has the money to pay for 7 services at once, on top of their monthly internet bill if this becomes the norm. For this reason, do you feel there should be more free streaming networks paid for by ads, or at least, should the big 3 offer free ad-supported alternatives to their paid services?

There are a few free stream networks at the moment such as Crackle, and Hulu used to be free until they switched to a subscription only model (though their cheapest option still has ads). But I think there should be more alternatives in this field. As repetitive as online video ads can be, I think people will be willing to sit through them if it can save them some money. Plus, it can give companies more places to advertise, since these opportunities appear to be shrinking as linear television looses more and more relevancy, especially among younger viewers.

I don't mind advertisements so long as they're in moderation and not overly political (IE Gillette's infamous "Best men can be" ad).

 

[Fbh]

I don't get why a lot of threads about TV streaming act as if you need to be subscribed to every service and you need to watch every new show the very second it's available.

The cool thing about all of these streaming services is that there's no contract or installation or anything.
You can pick one, watch everything that interest you and then you can unsubscribe and go to another one.


On topic though, I guess a free option with ads might work but then you are basically just going back to regular TV and escaping it was the whole point of streaming to begin with

 

[Jubenhimer]

On topic though, I guess a free option with ads might work but then you are basically just going back to regular TV and escaping it was the whole point of streaming to begin with

Streaming is popular for a variety of reasons, but I'd say ads are the least of those problems. They can be annoying yes, but if something is free to use, then they're a necessary evil.

I'd say the bigger reasons Streaming is overtaking traditional TV is due to lack of a linear schedule, letting you watch what you want, when you want. And as you said, there's no contracts or other expenses for Streaming, so you can sign-up watch a few things, then cancel when you want to. Overpriced cable packages with tons of channels nobody wants, and being stuck on a schedule are bigger reason's for traditional TV's decline IMO.

 

[bitbydeath]

I probably wouldn’t use it personally but if it prevents paid services from switching on ads later then I’m all for it.