People who pay for ad-free Max will still have access to CNN Max and B/R Sports.
See full article...
See full article...
Max is pulling CNN and sports from some US subscribers starting on March 30
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Upvote
44
(65
/
-21)
Sports media rights ruined cable, and now it's ruining streaming. Everyone wants a cut of the pie, and consumers have to pay much higher rates to do that.
Separate plans for sports streaming would solve this problem, but companies can't break the bundling habits. Blackout rules suck, too.
Separate plans for sports streaming would solve this problem, but companies can't break the bundling habits. Blackout rules suck, too.
Upvote
115
(115
/
0)
Since they're only on the ad-free tiers, that means the sports won't have ads right?
.. Right?
.. Right?
Upvote
69
(69
/
0)
Exactly. And, just as with cable, we may see many Americans dumping the streaming services as well. With rare exceptions, I’d rather read a book anyway. But the industry will never get the message.
Upvote
35
(37
/
-2)
As I've said before and will probably say again - 500 channels and nothing is on.
Upvote
46
(46
/
0)
You can already see how silly this can get on MLBTV. They don't broadcast the ads so you just get these screen saver breaks with jazzy music when the game gets paused for commercials. Personally I wish they'd just show a stadium feed of the field or something, but a lot of their streams are straight from the team's in-house broadcaster (e.g. NESN for the Sox, Root for the Mariners, etc) so I get it.
edit: to be clear I prefer the version without the ads, but the games are mangled for "media time outs" anyways so it's not like you get to just skip them. Unless you DVR it or something, of course.
Upvote
33
(33
/
0)
I already cancelled Max after we finished the Dune prequel series. I was on the grandfathered HBO Max plan, but it was unclear if I was going to keep UHD/HDR/Atmos etc. on that plan. I think it's absolute horseshit that you have to pay for the even-more-premium tier to get those features. I told them as much when I cancelled. They emailed me an offer for a few months at half price....of the shit tier.
No. I used to keep HBO Max then just Max around every month whether we watched anything or not. It was just always available if we wanted to watch something. But if you want to play that nickel and dime game, then I'll play. I'll resubscribe when House of the Dragon drops then I'll immediately cancel again. What's better for HBO, if I sub for one or two months out of the year and binge shit, or if I subscribe for the full year and maybe only watch something 6 months out of the year? I'm pretty sure they're losing out on free money from me.
No. I used to keep HBO Max then just Max around every month whether we watched anything or not. It was just always available if we wanted to watch something. But if you want to play that nickel and dime game, then I'll play. I'll resubscribe when House of the Dragon drops then I'll immediately cancel again. What's better for HBO, if I sub for one or two months out of the year and binge shit, or if I subscribe for the full year and maybe only watch something 6 months out of the year? I'm pretty sure they're losing out on free money from me.
Upvote
23
(26
/
-3)
Media shareholders makes far too much money providing things that people don't want.
It sounds an awful lot to me like market pressure isn't at ALL about the consumer voting with their wallet, but rather the supplier pressuring the consumer to accept as LITTLE value as possible for as much MONEY as possible.
Besides, 'Max' probably means 'Maximum-Profits' not "Maximuim content for customers".
It sounds an awful lot to me like market pressure isn't at ALL about the consumer voting with their wallet, but rather the supplier pressuring the consumer to accept as LITTLE value as possible for as much MONEY as possible.
Besides, 'Max' probably means 'Maximum-Profits' not "Maximuim content for customers".
Upvote
31
(32
/
-1)
At least those "baseball zen" breaks are actually kinda "zen" and relaxing instead of of someone singing about how they shit in a box and handed it to their mail carrier.
Unfortunately there are still ads slipped in there. Which is why I know about the shitting in a box thing.
Upvote
29
(29
/
0)
Ennormalification.
Every service for the last twenty-five or so years has launched in that fashion.
Corporation: We have a new service you'll love! Unlimited storage forever! Unlimited data caps forever! You can keep your data on our servers forever! All at an obviously unsustainable price! Tell all your mates! Share your passwords!
Users: Sold! Mates told!
time passes
Corporation: New rules, lads. Tiered storage limits. New data caps. Your data will be deleted after X months of inactivity. Also, prices are going up. Plus, if you share your password, we'll punish you. By the way, did we mention more adverts? There will be more adverts. On the plus side, we'll spit in your faces for free if you ask.
Users: Didn't you promise us unlimited forever?
Corporation: No, no. We said "For Eva," you know, as in Eva Longoria?
Users: This is an outrage! We won't pay!
most of them pay
Every service for the last twenty-five or so years has launched in that fashion.
Corporation: We have a new service you'll love! Unlimited storage forever! Unlimited data caps forever! You can keep your data on our servers forever! All at an obviously unsustainable price! Tell all your mates! Share your passwords!
Users: Sold! Mates told!
time passes
Corporation: New rules, lads. Tiered storage limits. New data caps. Your data will be deleted after X months of inactivity. Also, prices are going up. Plus, if you share your password, we'll punish you. By the way, did we mention more adverts? There will be more adverts. On the plus side, we'll spit in your faces for free if you ask.
Users: Didn't you promise us unlimited forever?
Corporation: No, no. We said "For Eva," you know, as in Eva Longoria?
Users: This is an outrage! We won't pay!
most of them pay
Upvote
55
(56
/
-1)
Its amazing to me how badly the WEC has handled their streaming service in the US. Originally it was $30 a year for standalone access, then they fumbled the exclusive move to Motortrends reality tv network at $8 a month, and now its on B/R network that costs $20 a month.
This is for a series that puts all their races on Youtube for free 2 weeks after they happen.
This is for a series that puts all their races on Youtube for free 2 weeks after they happen.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Huh... sounds like their version of live TV option. Some similarities to Hulu Live TV, or YouTube TV, but seemingly much less content and much less in price.
TBF, in these cases, online sites like Ars Technica are the vocal minority. While w'ere here complaining, making threats, and making good on such threats, the rest of the consumer base is just happy to stay subbed.
Upvote
15
(17
/
-2)
I wish Disney+ would pull ESPN from their plans here and go back to the price they had before adding it, I would probably resubscribe.
Upvote
20
(20
/
0)
For me they show their own MLB promos between innings, almost always heavily promoting the Yankees, so I have a routine set where I can mute for two minutes so I don't have to listen to it.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
You'd like NBA League Pass -- they show the halftime show to all subscribers (they can be surprisingly entertaining). During ad breaks you normally see ads but if you pay extra you can see the in-arena feed.
Upvote
2
(3
/
-1)
Upvote
0
(1
/
-1)
I have the ad-free Hbo subscription and never watched any sports or god forbid CNN anyway.
We have several streaming services but a different family member pays for each one. So far only netflix has been a douche about account sharing. If I had to pay for every service, hbo max wouldn't be one of them.
We have several streaming services but a different family member pays for each one. So far only netflix has been a douche about account sharing. If I had to pay for every service, hbo max wouldn't be one of them.
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
I have the ad-free version of Max - they can take CNN from me too.
Also feel free to remove all the 'Discovery' content as well; dumbest pairing in all of streaming IMO
Also feel free to remove all the 'Discovery' content as well; dumbest pairing in all of streaming IMO
Upvote
12
(13
/
-1)
It took me way too long to realize that you were talking about that colon cancer poop test, instead of somebody just being malicious and
Upvote
14
(14
/
0)
I'm sure from my mailman's perspective, there's really no difference.
Upvote
16
(16
/
0)
No thanks. I want an ad-free tier without sports or the need to pay for it. And their version of CNN that's on Max is too pathetic for me to bother with.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
Such innovative new ways to utterly kill the value of your product, great ideas WBD I expect nothing less from you
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
Weird, most streaming services are trying to push people onto the ad-supported tiers because those subs are worth a lot more money per sub to the company. Here they are pushing people to the premium tiers.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
This is the same argument as to why billion dollar sports teams need tax breaks and incentives to build a stadium with a crater of parking surrounding it that's useless 80% of the time. While I'm sure sports brings in a lot of money and employment, they make way too much money to be subsidized the way they are.
Upvote
43
(43
/
0)
Which reminds me, I should binge watch "This Flag Means Death" since I just finished all of Fargo.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
I sure hope that isn't a new trend we start seeing. Live sports are the one content that's a bit more convenient to pay for access to. I'm happy to pay a reasonable price for access versus shady websites with poor quality or signing up for some illegal IPTV service.
I wasn't watching B/R anyway, but if it comes to Peacock, I'm done watching the EPL.
Upvote
-3
(0
/
-3)
What's baffling to me is that they somehow think that putting CNN behind a higher tier is actually going to drive many subscribers to that tier. CNN+ got 100K subscribers for a heavily-discounted $3/month intro price before it was killed -- and that's way less than the upcharge for the next Max tier. CNN has arguably fallen even further into irrelevance in the 3 years since -- their top show has 1/7 the audience of Fox's top show and they're barely beating out freaking Newsmax for total viewers.
You'd think they'd want the opportunity to sell more eyeballs to the advertisers on CNN.
You'd think they'd want the opportunity to sell more eyeballs to the advertisers on CNN.
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
Again, we're the vocal minority. The people who stream likely won't pirate because...
A) Moral reasons
B) Too much hassle
Case in point.. we're supposed to be making our own salads, but get salad kits and bowls. We're supposed to be cutting up whole chicken, but opt for pre-portioned and eve precooked meats! Convenience is king.
C) Too tech inept. Esp. old timers.. they can barely use the internet without "calling tech support" (asking neighbors, family, for help). There's no way they're going to understand how to set up a VPN, and go to those sites.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
Most ad free customers are legacy HBO subs. They don't watch much sports. Ad based viewers are mostly Discovery and sports. Sports fans can be flipped to the higher tier...or at least that's what they think.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
I am so tired of streaming services adding sports (and pretend-sport wrestling) to their lineups and raising fees. Disney+, MAX, Netflix, AppleTV+, and Paramount+ have all added sports content that I'm never, ever going to watch. I'm about ready to cancel all the streaming services because they're as bad a cable TV for giving you content that you don't want and charging you for it.
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
Hulu has started locking down remote access. I am also pretty sure that extends to Disney+ as well.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Not just happy, they will get mad at you for pooping the party.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
Yeah, I have Max only because it's bundled with my phone/internet/cable in the complex I live in. I don't think I've ever deliberately watched CNN or sports on Max. I'm there for a small handful of shows, foreign live-action films, and the Studio Ghibli back catalog.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
You've got it backwards, all of us who don't give a rip about sports were subsidizing those who do. Sports were never optional on cable, you were paying for it even if you never watched any of the sports channels. And even if one or two sports channels could survive on their own, there would have been a bloodbath if they had to compete for viewers. Nobody needs, or wants, ESPN568473
Upvote
21
(21
/
0)