At this point, it seems like streaming services can do whatever they want, no matter how annoying. Audiences will still subscribe because we've been conditioned to feel simultaneously overloaded with and starved for content. And, we want more, more, more all the time.
That's why I have dozens of titles in every one of my streaming service queues, but still spend hours of my life scrolling, looking for the perfect thing to watch. What I'm saying, I guess, is that I'm a glutton for punishment -- I will likely continue to subscribe to many of my favorite streaming services indefinitely, despite their ongoing price hikes and ever-changing interfaces, and ever-changing programming schedules.
I know that Festivus was last month, but I'd like to air out a few grievances I have and ask the streaming overlords to listen up.
Those annual price hikes
Can we get a break for a year? In 2025, multiple streaming services significantly increased their rates, including Peacock, Disney Plus, Hulu and Apple TV. Will they dare to raise them again within the calendar year?
It remains to be seen, but Paramount Plus has already announced that it's also increasing prices on Jan. 15, which is not the news I wanted for the new year. Yes, there are savings to be had if you bundle services or get them free through mobile phone plans. But it makes me wonder: Is there a maximum price that will cause viewers to hit their limit and cancel? Or will we all start to pause our subscriptions to catch small savings here and there?
Ads, ads, ads
I shell out bigger bucks to have an ad-free experience on most of my streaming service subscriptions, but for those that are ad-supported, I ask, nay, beg, the streaming overlords to reconsider forcing viewers to watch ads if we want to rewind or fast-forward within a show or movie. It's one thing to watch a set of ads at certain intervals throughout a show, I get that. But when you're forced to watch an ad before a show begins, and then you want to jump ahead to a specific moment, only to have to immediately watch another set of ads, I feel like we are being dared not to like watching TV anymore.
When episode rollouts are a moving target
As someone who writes about streaming content for a living -- especially new releases and show premieres -- I tend to have a good grasp of which platforms do binge drops of TV shows and which shows are on a weekly rollout schedule. And while I understand that some platforms (cough, *Netflix*) eventify their content so that, say, Stranger Things gets three big premieres within six weeks of each other just to offer up a holiday experience, it's not necessarily fun for a viewer to keep up with all these premiere dates.
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