Like many other Amazon customers, the day after Christmas (Bah humbug to you, too, Jeff Bezos), I received email informing that “starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements”. That one sentence sentences my Prime membership to execution. I won’t renew when the current annual period expires.
My family’s first Amazon purchase was in 1998, and we joined Prime a decade later. One of the benefits for which we keep the service is commercial-free video content. Advertising changes everything. Free, fast shipping isn’t compelling enough.
Until this year, I had been a big fan of cord-cutting. The Wilcoxes gave up piped-in content on May 31, 2022. We switched to wireless Internet, streaming, and over-the-air broadcast television. The latter is chock full of obnoxious commercials, particularly pharmaceuticals, so we don’t so much watch as keep the set on as background (mainly GRIT, for no particular reason).
Our streaming options rapidly dwindle, as prices increase for commercial-free content and streamers introduce ad-supported, lower-cost tiers. HBO Max was $11.99 per month when we signed up in May 2020. Something similar is now $15.99 monthly or $149.99 annually. Our previous, slightly-less 12-month plan is still in effect but Max (no longer HBO) retracted 4K-streaming this month. To get that, the pay privilege is $19.99 monthly, or $199.99 annually. Eh, no thanks.
Disney+ was $79.99 yearly, and would have jumped to $139.99 during the next renewal cycle a few weeks ago. So long, Star Wars. Apple TV+ jumped from $4.99 to $6.99 monthly—thankfully with no ads—but we have a promotional offer that makes it free. We have a different deal that makes Netflix manageable and without advertising.
Occasionally, one or more of our credit cards offers cashbacks, discounts, or points-bonuses on streaming services, which made subscribing to a couple others acceptably affordable. But because of rising prices, and advertising additions, we won’t renew them.
As for Amazon, Prime “will also offer a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month”. What? Pay? And further discount membership’s value with what essentially is a price increase? Eh, no way.
There are plenty of ad-supported streaming services, which will replace those paid offerings that we will unsubscribe. To reiterate: One of the major benefits of paid streaming services has been the absence of advertising. The other: Affordability. Both are bazooka-blasted. Our family may suffer through more commercials, but we won’t be paying for the privilege to (not) watch them. We will lower our monthly expenses, too.
Strangely, sometime soon, the cord may come back. Cable looks lots more price-competitive and DVR lets you pause and skip the ads. What’s not to like about that?