this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2024
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Netflix, once a pioneer of ad-free viewing that offered a break from traditional TV norms, is now contemplating launching free ad-supported versions of its service in markets like Europe and Asia, Bloomberg reported.

The plans to offer a free ad-supported tier, albeit in select markets, suggests that pivot towards monetizing user data, in other words — making users and not the extensive library of award-winning shows a product, might be well in the pipeline.

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[–] [email protected] 415 points 4 months ago (12 children)

the ads are minimally intrusive — that is, highly relevant and engaging — they should not detract from the overall user experience

In what universe do ads, no matter how "relevant and engaging", ever not detract from the overall experience?

[–] [email protected] 291 points 4 months ago (7 children)

I've been watching Monk recently, without ads, and it's very interesting how television shows used to be written and edited for commercials. It's dead obvious where the commercials used to be, and even that detracts from the overall experience.

[–] [email protected] 139 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (5 children)

Some shows we've watched spend their time "recapping" after the 'ad breaks", playing same scenes we just saw. Drives me nuts, wastes my time and feels so dated.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Monk doesn't go that far, and it's still obvious. "Here's a joke before commercial!" Pause. Fade back in to a new scene. Pause. "Here's a little cliffhanger before commercial!" Pause. Fade back in to a new scene. Pause.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

At this point if I'm ever responsible for making a tv show it will have obvious places for commercials to go just because I don't want them butchering it.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Good luck, if you ever watch any of the free TV apps like freevee they will just hard cut in a commercial, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. Then they have the old places where a commercial was in the OG broadcast and it just fades to black and back. It's really jarring to watch.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

This is why we can't have nice things.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago (4 children)

I always thought it would be a nice addition to piracy for a release group to edit a version of shows that cuts the recaps and makes a more unified episode. I would totally only ever download their releases.

[–] realbadat 11 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Mythbusters streamlined is like that. A bit rough on some cuts imo, but overall just cuts the fluff.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Mythbusters is 50% recap, that sounds so much more enjoyable to watch. Where would I find that?

[–] realbadat 7 points 4 months ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

I was about to mention this example. It's everything you love about mythbusters (doing crazy science experiments), without everything you hate about mythbusters and what made me stop watching. No more constant hopping over between the different myths per episode, or tons of recaps.

Just myths, one at a time, no bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Myth busters had to be the worst offender in that realm. "here a 2 minute recap of that things you just saw 5 minutes ago."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

My thoughts exactly when i was watching old seasons of Canadas worst drivers

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Maybe the vid angel people can get on that.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (2 children)

That was a trope of real tv shows especially , and also a way to fill time with less filmed content i.e cost cutting. Often you'd see many shots 5-7 times throughout the show. Opening montage , before ad tease, after ad recap, thr event itself, end of show montage summary etc. Also drives me nuts. Even back when ads were between. “Yes I know what happened two minutes ago!”. And then there were so many shows you could tell the edit project file was a template and they just replaced the footage. Same exact structure every episode.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Anime was bad for this too, especially the dubbed kind and one piece.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Reality tv shows took this the farthest its so bad

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Ahhh, I suffer from this with old animes!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

I'm gonna be king of the recaps! 👒

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Same, been watching Dead Like Me and Xena: Warrior Princess and it's pretty distracting when it happens.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

we were not the customers... we were the product lol...

yeah it hurts, so let's stop allowing ads into our lives as much as possible..

the fact that netflix wants to offer it for free is telling what their core business is turning into...

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm not streaming it, it's on my media server, so there are no ads. I don't pay for any services except Shudder because it's still cheap and niche.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

good, same here but we are a very small minority...

half the population still pays for cable haha

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Their core business is lost, IMO. Once they stopped offering movies in favor of their own content and tv shows, thats when it was game over for me.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Futurama had some jokes based around the commercial break times.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Its painfully obvious when watching Star Trek TNG.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

music swells, fade to black

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't mind those breaks... It feels like going to the next chapter in a book.

But actual ads, yea, not for a service that costs.

Though this whole thing is funny - they collect even more user data than they did with cable or broadcast, and now want to show you ads too.

Can't wait to finish my media server setup.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't mind when it's an obvious break followed by a new scene. I do mind when the break is in the middle of a scene and they essentially replay the last thirty seconds before continuing the story. It just feels very disjointed and dated.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

modern shows frame things differently to account for people watching on tiny phone screens and we might be bothered a few years down the line when we get holodecks or ~~mind control~~ implants

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

There are also shows that based jokes around the fact that they were going to or just came back from a commercial break and now you don't have those in those shows. And now, I guess, they'll go back to editing shows for ads.

What a weird modern landscape we've made for ourselves.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

What a weird modern landscape we’ve made for ourselves.

Every generation ever. Well, maybe since inventing the wheel

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I hate ads, but sometimes prime puts 2 minutes of ads at the beginning of a show or a movie and then no ads, I'm ok-ish with this, much better than imdb or tubi that play the same commercial every 15 minutes

If I start a stream and it shows that it will have several breaks I stop it and get it from the high seas

[–] [email protected] 36 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I would be fine with that if it was free and didn't reply the ads if I stop and resume.

If I am paying money, then ads are unacceptable.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Included with this, promoting one of your shows before the one your watching starts should be considered an ad and not happen on ad free tiers, looking at you HBO and Paramount.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I wish they wouldn't do that. If i have to hear about Southern New Hampshire University again I'm gonna hurt somebody.

If I agree to free thing and have to watch ads, aight fine.

But at least make them different man, i hate that they play the same one over and over again. It does not make me want to buy your product.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I was sitting in a diner the other day and one of their TV's was apparently, for lack of a better word, tuned to that Samsung TV Plus service. I watched it play the same Kia ad four times, back to back. Not in separate commercial breaks. All in one commercial break where the same ad was played four times consecutively.

Just like you, I have to say they found no success in making me want to buy a Kia.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (3 children)

But you are telling us about kia, so maybe it did work

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Engaging is the last thing I want from an ad

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

You engage with the skip button

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Especially in shows not edited for commercials. They just throw them in the middle somewhere so the show gets cut mid-sentence. It's ridiculous. If you want to show me ads after that episode, then fine. But killing the entire pacing of the show for your ads in a service people are paying for already? that's just infuriating.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Fuck, these days even in shows that are edited for commercials, they'll ignore those breaks and just put ads wherever they feel like it

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Those ads that are now inserted during the program on us tv shows are annoying as fuck Banner at the bottom or side... Goddamnit.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

When is interrupting my viewing experience to show me an ad ever actually relevant?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Cerveza Cristal?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Always does but some implementations are better than others and bills still need to get paid. Network TV can’t force you to watch ads before beginning your program, but streaming can. I’m irritated that Prime has ads even though I pay for it but at least the way they handle them (only before the program starts) is acceptable to me. Interrupting a program to show ads the way YouTube does is horrible customer experience. What’s crazy to me is the way network tv shows have gone from 22 minutes in a 30 minute block to 17-19 minutes.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Honest answer? Kids toys ads. The kids love the ads more than the show sometimes.

It sucks for parents though. Gets expensive.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)
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