Do you ever had the feeling that TV sucks? Well, you’re not alone.
High-ranking TV executives also agree with us, and they know that it won’t be long before TV, as we know it, begins to die off, more so than it already has. And as more people switch off and move to streaming services entirely, cutting the cord for good, it’s likely to get worse before it begins improving, which means a few more years of trash before the sun rises.
But some people are already fed up with this constant erosion of paid services, and are opting for the alternative, legal or not.
TV is an awful experience for everyone
Except for this one specific network
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav says TV is a “terrible consumer experience.”
Way to go, David. It’s rare to hear a TV executive truly reflect how most people feel about the general television viewing experience. However, while speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, Zaslav said what most of us are thinking, along with revealing that this degradation of quality is exactly why HBO Max and other streaming services are doing so well.
The marketplace is really challenged with too many players in the market . . . When people turn on—the consumers put on their TV, it’s a terrible consumer experience. In almost every market in the world, there’s just way too many choices. And you’re Googling, “Where is it? How do I get from one to the other? How do I get into that platform?”
He’s not lying. There are numerous apps that help you track your streaming services, and websites that help you figure out where to watch specific shows and movies.
The combination of streaming services and legacy TV services makes it a confusing mess of overlapping services competing for licenses, with only one person really losing out.
Changes are coming to HBO Max
Could it be more expensive with fewer options? Let’s find out.
Of course, Zaslav has a soft spot for his own network. At the same event, he also let slip that he thinks HBO Max is “way underpriced.” So, expect more price rises in the near future? That’s just what overstretched and underpaid people want to hear.
Similarly, he talked about one of the biggest recent bugbears across streaming services and smart TVs, which is account sharing between households. Netflix famously announced its password sharing crackdown in 2023 and immediately saw a rise in new subscribers.
It all makes Zaslav’s comments about password sharing all the more interesting, suggesting it’s time for HBO Max to catch up to its rival streaming platforms.
We haven’t been pushing on the password sharing and the economics yet . . . People are really starting to love HBO Max. That’s the key. We want them to fall in love with our content, with our series, with the differentiated offering outside of the U.S.
He also added that “We’re [HBO Max] going to begin to push on that,” a strong indicator that it’ll be the next streaming service to target anyone sharing a password.
Terrible TV and price rises are pushing people back into the high seas
It’s no wonder we see year-on-year rises in piracy
It all adds up to one thing: people are pirating more content than ever before.
Pirating was the norm when I was growing up in the late 90s and early 00s. Kazaa, Limewire, Soulseek, The Pirate Bay, and the other myriad torrenting platforms were as common as MSN Messenger, along with the numerous viruses and keyloggers most of us encountered.
That changed with the advent of actually useful streaming platforms, such as Spotify and Netflix, and the subsequent onslaught of competing services. While most folks stick with one music service or another and supplement with radio, podcasts, and YouTube, the fragmentation of television and movie streaming services has really pushed consumers back towards illegal streams, torrenting, and so on.
As Steam and Valve co-founder Gabe Newell often says, “Piracy isn’t a pricing issue . . . it’s a service issue.” The two go hand in hand: scattered services, expensive prices, missing licenses, subscriptions for ad-supported tiers, and password sharing crackdowns… the list of reasons why people are turning away from TV and streaming services is extensive.
More to the point, it’s understandable. We’re not advocating for piracy, mind. But it’s no wonder MUSO tracked 216 billion visits to piracy websites in 2024, or that the European Union Intellectual Property Office can only see piracy numbers increasing.
In short, yes, the TV experience for consumers is worsening each year, but it’s largely due to the greed of streaming platforms run by TV execs that this is happening in the first place.
