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The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

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Re: The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

#31
post #16

$702 more is relative and tells nothing without the basis. It's 61% increase in 5 years.

So in real terms it's up 26%. Which of course is to be expected, people have a set amount they are willing to spend on entertainment, in the past it was cable -- in 2015 the average US cable TV subscription was about $100, that's about $140 today in real terms, or $1700 a year. Seems that streamers have a long way to go before they extract all that money.

That’s the average household cable tv subscription, no?

I subscribe to YouTube and my partner subscribes to Prime. We have a joint cable-like tv package too, and one of us pays for Disney Plus. In the past we’d have been consolidated into one cable subscription consumption, but now we appear in the stats as lots of distinct consumptions.

I think all-in, streamers plus other subscription based entertainment services are nearer to the $140 figure per household than the individual figures describe.

Re: The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

#32
post #9

What is the alternative to subscribing to streaming services? Can you purchase your movies online and be guaranteed to have access to the movies in the future?

1/ watch in theatres

2/ consume free streaming (tt, ig, YouTube, etc)

Just don’t watch movies at home.

Re: The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

#33
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Piracy is one.

If you want guaranteed future access, then this is probably the only online option that actually fulfills this guarantee... other than that, physical media.

Physical media isn't guaranteed to retain future access. There are protocols for players to update various bits of data from the newest disk you have ever inserted into them. The Nintendo Wii certainly does this, I'm not sure if BluRay does but I don't see why they wouldn't.

Re: The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

#35
Any price comparison over time should include inflation.

Otherwise this is akin to comparing speed of 2 objects in a relativistic setting without stating the frame of reference.

Side note: I don't know why, but the existence of a "cite this" section on this page made me sad.

Re: The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

#36
post #9

What is the alternative to subscribing to streaming services? Can you purchase your movies online and be guaranteed to have access to the movies in the future?

No. Sony has recently removed 551 movies that people "bought". Sony's distribution license ran out with a studio and they didn't renew it.

They seem to have gotten away with it so far, so there's no legal protection for "buying" digital at the moment.

Re: The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

#38
post #16

$702 more is relative and tells nothing without the basis. It's 61% increase in 5 years.

So in real terms it's up 26%. Which of course is to be expected, people have a set amount they are willing to spend on entertainment, in the past it was cable -- in 2015 the average US cable TV subscription was about $100, that's about $140 today in real terms, or $1700 a year. Seems that streamers have a long way to go before they extract all that money.

Or another way of reading it: a 61% increase over 5 years indicates a 10% annual pace of inflation for this particular basket of goods.

Re: The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021

#39
post #25

I am still happy with my decision to never get entertainment subscription services. I buy CDs (that I rip) and BDs (that I let someone else rip, since that's a science in itself). This guarantees me access forever and I get to sell down the line, if I feel like it. It is way cheaper long term.

Streaming services do not offer you what you like forever, they offer you what you didn't know about for the amount of time you need to watch it. So these are two different things
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