While I didn’t join the throngs throwing hard earned currency at cheaply made, overpriced goods, I did take advantage of some Black Friday deals on streaming channels. The prices seemed too good to be true, and that turned out to be the case as I signed into these services. In addition to the subscription fee, these channels are also supported by advertising — lots and lots of advertising. The streaming boxes were supposed to be the dream of cord cutters looking to rid themselves of the expense and less than stellar service of cable television. Having sampled some of my Black Friday bargain streaming services over the long weekend, I regret to report that streaming has metastasized into the thing it was meant to replace. It IS cable television only with a LOT more commercials! Even HBO which was the original sanctuary from irritating interruptions now runs them wall-to-wall. If I thought I was just going to bask in a filmed narrative crafted by top talents in Hollywood, I had another thing coming. I couldn’t do it without the constant ads for psoriasis medication and razors designed for the delicate areas of spectacularly unattractive people. It is grim.
After being battered by a particularly brutal barrage of paid announcements while streaming Planes, Trains and Automobiles on PlutoTV, I decided to give the little Roku box a break. The family still had a yen for holiday favorites so I retreated to the respite of physical media. We broke out the Christmas DVDs along with the Christmas decorations! I have plenty on hand, and if I run out, I can always count on my buddy and fellow DVD hoarder Bill to lend me classics such as It Happened on Fifth Avenue!
No ads! No tracking! No bandwidth limitations! Long live DVDs!
Yep, all those ‘cheep’ streaming services subsist on ads…
They wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t so repetitive.