Amazon Prime is an interesting case because almost no one is subscribing to it just to get Prime Video. I subscribed before Prime Video existed, and would continue to subscribe if Prime Video went away. In a sense, that makes Prime Video free.
I hate TV commercials and always DVR past them. If a service like Netflix forced commercials on me, I would cancel it. If Prime Video forced commercials on me, I would just stop watching Prime Video. I'm fine paying $3/month to not see the commercials. I watch something on Prime Video maybe twice a month on average.
I have to take issue with the suggestion that dropping Amazon Prime because of commercials is “just idiotic”. I think it is a rational response.
Unlike cable television, which as you note was built on an advertising/monthly subscription charge system, Amazon (and many of the other streaming services) explicitly made it a selling point that there were no commercials. They sold that as a benefit. That was why you should cut the cord, they said. Pay us a straight monthly fee and will give you content without annoying ads. To now tell people you have to pay extra for that is galling. The viewer shouldn't be blamed for being upset when the product they were sold is not the one they receive. It does have a bait and switch feel.
If Amazon can’t afford to spend billions on destroying IP properties such as the Lord of the Rings without forcing the less than 50% of people who stuck it through the entire first season to also watch ads for the Kevin James standup and or the latest Judge Judy show, then perhaps, as you intimate, Amazon should not be in the business.
Finally, you note, “Amazon has never released any clear indication of how many Prime members actually regularly use Prime Video,” but then go on to mention how overall ad revenue, aside from those you term ‘malcontents’, should more than make up for those who drop the service. But if there is no data to show how many people use the service, then no one, outside a few execs, knows what that number is. If Amazon claims to need the ad revenue to keep things afloat, every person who drops the service completely (or stops watching Prime), is another set of eyeballs not watching which will require additional ads to be shown in order to meet the target. The more ads shown will probably result in more ‘malcontents’ dropping the streaming service, requiring more ads to meet target levels, etc. That suggests Amazon is in danger of a death spiral.
(And I seriously doubt Amazon will keep the ad load low. If the Freevee model is any indication, it will make a lot of shows virtually unwatchable. Try to watch an early episode of an old show such as Columbo. There are ads every 5-7 minutes, completely destroying the flow).
Amazon Prime is an interesting case because almost no one is subscribing to it just to get Prime Video. I subscribed before Prime Video existed, and would continue to subscribe if Prime Video went away. In a sense, that makes Prime Video free.
I hate TV commercials and always DVR past them. If a service like Netflix forced commercials on me, I would cancel it. If Prime Video forced commercials on me, I would just stop watching Prime Video. I'm fine paying $3/month to not see the commercials. I watch something on Prime Video maybe twice a month on average.
I have to take issue with the suggestion that dropping Amazon Prime because of commercials is “just idiotic”. I think it is a rational response.
Unlike cable television, which as you note was built on an advertising/monthly subscription charge system, Amazon (and many of the other streaming services) explicitly made it a selling point that there were no commercials. They sold that as a benefit. That was why you should cut the cord, they said. Pay us a straight monthly fee and will give you content without annoying ads. To now tell people you have to pay extra for that is galling. The viewer shouldn't be blamed for being upset when the product they were sold is not the one they receive. It does have a bait and switch feel.
If Amazon can’t afford to spend billions on destroying IP properties such as the Lord of the Rings without forcing the less than 50% of people who stuck it through the entire first season to also watch ads for the Kevin James standup and or the latest Judge Judy show, then perhaps, as you intimate, Amazon should not be in the business.
Finally, you note, “Amazon has never released any clear indication of how many Prime members actually regularly use Prime Video,” but then go on to mention how overall ad revenue, aside from those you term ‘malcontents’, should more than make up for those who drop the service. But if there is no data to show how many people use the service, then no one, outside a few execs, knows what that number is. If Amazon claims to need the ad revenue to keep things afloat, every person who drops the service completely (or stops watching Prime), is another set of eyeballs not watching which will require additional ads to be shown in order to meet the target. The more ads shown will probably result in more ‘malcontents’ dropping the streaming service, requiring more ads to meet target levels, etc. That suggests Amazon is in danger of a death spiral.
(And I seriously doubt Amazon will keep the ad load low. If the Freevee model is any indication, it will make a lot of shows virtually unwatchable. Try to watch an early episode of an old show such as Columbo. There are ads every 5-7 minutes, completely destroying the flow).
You make some good points, even though I don't necessarily agree with all of them.
But you're right, the "idiots" comment was a bit harsh. Thanks for this feedback and I'm going to address it a bit in today's newsletter