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The only company making money on streaming is Netflix (and I think some of the FAST services like Pluto may be profitable, but I'm not sure), largely because they don't have the old studio way of thinking and operating. That, and they were there first.
And that is why these services continue to lose money. They need to move past the old studio way of operating. Those days have come and gone.
 
And that is why these services continue to lose money. They need to move past the old studio way of operating. Those days have come and gone.

They need to get rid of the old studio executives first, like Bob Iger. Netflix, as already discussed, is a step ahead.

Disclosure - as discussed in post #6, I do not subscribe to any of these services.
 
Amex platinum is $700/year... that's $60/month. Unless you're living in hotels and international airport lounges, it makes zero sense to regular people who travel 1-2x per year.

The card pays for itself easily if you take advantage of all the offers and benefits. I already got an international flight's worth of points for free with the signup bonus, 200/year streaming credit (hulu), 200/year hotel discount, 200/year airline fee credit, 100/year saks 5th ave credit, precheck/global entry covered, tons of discounts and bonuses for a rotating list of retailers, etc.
 
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The card pays for itself easily if you take advantage of all the offers and benefits. I already got an international flight's worth of points for free with the signup bonus, 200/year streaming credit (hulu), 200/year hotel discount, 200/year airline fee credit, 100/year saks 5th ave credit, precheck/global entry covered, tons of discounts and bonuses for a rotating list of retailers, etc.
Your average American isn't paying using a credit card with a $700 annual fee. Period. High rollers, sure. But us peons? Nah, we're still with our no-annual-fee rewards cards :D
 
I've whittled my streaming Subs down to Netflix and Amazon/no ads. Nothing else. If something I want to watch on other service shows up I'll subscribe for month and binge it. If they ever change the monthly model then not sure what I'd do. Guess I'll miss out, lol.
 
Your average American isn't paying using a credit card with a $700 annual fee. Period. High rollers, sure. But us peons? Nah, we're still with our no-annual-fee rewards cards :D
I can make the case for Blue Cash Preferred at $95/year for 6% cash back on groceries up to $6000 in a year. My wife and I have more than covered the fee because we've got a family... but yeah, the average working stiff, is never going to be shopping at Saks or Marriotts often enough to make it worthwhile. Even if we live in airplanes, that's all on a corporate card we don't get the perks of, the company does.
 
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I’m getting so so so so so tired of being nickel and dimed to death over these streaming services and their constant price increases. It used to be that you would get ad-free by default and it was very affordable and only once in a great while would you see a price hike and even then it was only like a dollar.

Now we’re getting increases every three months and while the price goes up, the quality of the content goes down. It’s at the point it’s not worth it anymore. No, I don’t mean it’s getting there, it is at that point now and has been there for some time.

These days, I have to wait until there is multiple shows (like 3 or more) to pile up on a service that I want to watch before I will subscribe and once my month is up I’ll cancel. It shouldn’t be like this. It would be smarter to keep a customer subscribed year-round by putting out great content but nope, I’m one and done. And it’s like this everywhere. It just sucks.
 
Your average American isn't paying using a credit card with a $700 annual fee. Period. High rollers, sure. But us peons? Nah, we're still with our no-annual-fee rewards cards :D
If you travel 2+/year then one of the pay for cards quickly pays for itself. Maybe not the $700 AMEX without some thinking, but something like the Venture X certainly does. Given all the people I see traveling now, I don't think it's just high rollers doing all the flying anymore :D
 
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I think the problem with some of these streaming services is that they came in too low on price (to attract subscribers) and are now having to start to bring prices up to more realistic levels.
This. The golden age of content is over. The last ~10 years saw more money spent producing content than anyone was going to recoup, spoiling all of us. ZIRP certainly helped, and all the studios didn't want Netflix to be the only player. We're about to see prices go up and huge consolidation. And, much less content will get created.
 
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They're cutting their own throats. Every little freaking thing nowadays is just a bit more, all the time, we never get a break. Don't they understand that as the economy worsens, prices continue increasing, and people spend less, the first casualties will be extraneous things like ANOTHER streaming app?
 
This. The golden age of content is over. The last ~10 years saw more money spent producing content than anyone was going to recoup, spoiling all of us. ZIRP certainly helped, and all the studios didn't want Netflix to be the only player. We're about to see prices go up and huge consolidation. And, much less content will get created.

I'd actually be ok with less content and lower prices because the majority of it is horrible. Initially, streaming companies were making some good things but the quality has dropped across the board and most stuff is just derivative, bland, woke, or just low in overall quality.
 
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Is there literally even one person on the planet that has just Hulu with no ads? Now for $18.99? Who wouldn’t pay $1 more to just get the Duo Premium plan? I mean I get that’s the point but still crazy to actually see the option.
 
Don't they understand that as the economy worsens, prices continue increasing, and people spend less, the first casualties will be extraneous things like ANOTHER streaming app?
They understand it. They just dont care because they assume that people will continue to shell out for entertainment, even if the economy goes into the toilet. It's gone beyond the "Entertainment Business". It's now the "Distraction Business".
 
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I'd actually be ok with less content and lower prices because the majority of it is horrible. Initially, streaming companies were making some good things but the quality has dropped across the board and most stuff is just derivative, bland, woke, or just low in overall quality.
Here's the thing. You're horrible is someone else's favorite show and vice versa. With a pullback on spending we'll see less risks taken and more formulaic derivative content created.

Luckily for me, the list of shows I want to watch is longer than I'll have time to see in my lifetime at this point.
 
Is there literally even one person on the planet that has just Hulu with no ads? Now for $18.99? Who wouldn’t pay $1 more to just get the Duo Premium plan? I mean I get that’s the point but still crazy to actually see the option.
Thanks for reminding me to hold off subscribing to watch the latest Bear and Fargo seasons until there's a new season of The Mandalorian.
 
Transmission. Hello old friend, I'd like to introduce you to my pal Plex.
I see the appeal, but I'm not necessarily going to jump in on a pirate the movies train. I do find value in entertainment and slowly started purchasing blu-ray (in 4K where available) of my favorite movies and shows.

I know there will be a time when I and missus cancel most if not all streaming services as the prices are now exceeding what we paid for cable and later on satellite.
 
I can make the case for Blue Cash Preferred at $95/year for 6% cash back on groceries up to $6000 in a year. My wife and I have more than covered the fee because we've got a family... but yeah, the average working stiff, is never going to be shopping at Saks or Marriotts often enough to make it worthwhile. Even if we live in airplanes, that's all on a corporate card we don't get the perks of, the company does.
Yeah, I play the rewards game. I have an Amex Everyday, Chase Flex, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and Amazon Prime. I play the rotating 5% rewards categories game with my Flex and use the others to maximize the rewards based on what I'm buying.

The Amex is a good everyday card, as I use it for groceries (2x), but they currently have a promo that gives an extra 4x points on grocery purchases through September.

And to the bolded part, yup. My company books all of my travel, so I get nothing of that. However, my wife and I recently took a vacation to Greece, so I used my Chase Travel to get 5x points on the flights on the Freedom Unlimited card.
 
At least you can cancel those. In Germany we HAVE to pay for public television, even if we do not own a TV or will never watch it. The price has gotten pretty high and they want another raise although they already receive more than eight billion Euros per year.

I once paid for Netflix for one month and that is all I have spent on streaming services in my entire life so far.

The problem with those services is that you have to watch A LOT, if you want to keep the costs below one or two dollars per watched hour. So those services make you waste your precious life time, just because you want to get the most value for your money.
 
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Haven’t had it for about a year now, any Disney offering.

Won’t ever be using Disney again in my life and will actively boycott any Disney content from any of its monopolies.
 
I have a simple rule, once a streaming service hits $20, I go the pirate route. Same with my Spectrum home internet, went from $95 to $115 in the span of 3 months. Glad Sonic is finally coming to the SouthbayLA.
Thanks for sharing how you systematize your criminal activity.
 
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