Digital media veteran since the 1990s finds latest wave of Prime Video advertisements to be the last excessive step

Streaming Stinks: More Ads and Less Joy on Prime Video

Sick of it, mate? So am I! Amazon Prime Video has cranked up the advertising for its paying customers, and it's bloody annoying! According to AdWeek, the initial ad load of 2 to 3.5 minutes per hour is now sitting at a whopping 4 to 6 minutes.

Now listen here, Amazon let slip to investors back in 2023 that they'd be ramping up the ads and annoying us more when we pause or browse. But bloody 'ell, as a subscriber, I can't help but wonder if the service is worth the price when it's just getting bloody worse!

You see, I'm from the UK, where ads on telly are a bit more civilized, which is why I'm not yawning about US-style ad stuffing. Sure, American viewers have been exposed to 13 to 16 minutes of ads per hour for ages. But over here in Blighty, the regulator says that the main broadcasters can only average seven minutes per hour.

That means, love, Amazon is still keeping its promise to show fewer ads than the linear TV networks it competes with in the States while increasing the ad load to show vastly more advertising than UK broadcasters! And those broadcasters ain't charging me a monthly subscription to watch their ads!

This isn't just a Scot complaining about having ads shoved down his throat; it's about the problem of tech firms trying to squeeze more cash out of us by making their products worse.

Steaming: A Love-Hate Relationship

Streaming once ruled, you know. It was less of a bother than piracy, and Netflix was a no-brainer with one flat fee, tons of great content, and no ads. But now, there are endless streamers clamoring for growth in a saturated market with soaring costs and stagnant incomes. Spotify and Netflix beat piracy because they offered better experiences. But is that still true? And for how long?

Get Ready for More Pain

When tech firms can't win over new customers, they squeeze the ones they've got harder. We've seen these tactics before: password crackdowns, ads, price hikes, annoying ads on ads, reduced quality, upgrades for Atmos, and, of course, ads. It's a vicious cycle that makes streaming services feel more like a pain than a pleasure.

Ads, Ads, Everywhere

Just like Ryanair, tech firms think we've got no choice. But do we really have no choices? Of course not! There are other options for viewers, albeit not with the exact same shows. But for those not available, there's always piracy—often in high quality with 4K, HDR, Atmos, and no bloody ads!

More to Come

I'm not here to argue the legality or morality of piracy. But as someone who's been covering online media since the 1990s, I can tell you that bingeing Breaking Bad on Netflix was less of a pain and a way better experience than assembling the episodes via The Pirate Bay. Is that still true? Will it last? Only time will tell.